AN OCEAN OF EMOTION
Chapter Ten
Victoria
The sun was out and the breeze
had a slightly warm feeling to it. Anna and I had gone for a walk and had
stopped next door to check on Rose, Jack, and James. Harry had gone over there
earlier in the morning to help Jack with some repairs. Without even bothering
to knock, I let myself in. "Rose?"
I heard Jack call out from the
back that she was upstairs with the baby. I saw my husband with Jack.
"Having fun?"
Harry looked up from the sink.
"Clogged. Jack and I are fixing it. Or trying to, at least."
"I see. Well, I’ll leave you
men to the chores while we go visit."
Harry came over to the baby and
me and I gave her to him for a minute while he took a break from the sink. I
walked upstairs, leaving the clogged sink, Jack, Harry, and Anna downstairs.
"Rose?"
"In here!" I heard her
call out from behind James’ door. I pushed it open to find her changing the
baby. "This is the part I do not like." I watched as Rose was
fastening the diaper, then pulled James’ gown back down. She tossed the soiled
diaper into a hamper next to the changing table. "Where is Anna?"
"She’s downstairs. Harry
took a break from your sink to spend some time with her. The sun is out and
it’s not quite as cold as it has been, which is strange for this time of year,
so she and I went for a short walk. And how is this little guy?" I held my
arms out and James responded with a gurgle and a laugh before Rose handed him
off to me. "You’re so handsome. I bet you get told that all the
time."
We made our way back downstairs
where the men were. "Get it fixed yet?" Rose looked at Jack, who had
his upper body under the sink.
"Almost." He stopped
doing whatever it was that he was doing long enough to look at us, and then
back to the sink he went.
Rose and I exchanged a silent,
humorous glance towards the men and went to the parlor to sit down and talk.
Harry brought me Anna so he could help Jack.
We were about to start our
conversation when Harry and Jack announced they were going into town to pick up
something for the sink. After watching our two handymen walk out the door, Rose
and I had to exchange a glance.
"Think they have any idea
what they are doing?"
I shook my head a little.
"Harry might. He is good at stuff like that. How about Jack?"
"His forte is artwork, not
plumbing. How’s the little one doing?"
I shifted Anna where she was
cradled in my arms, looking up at me. Her blue eyes were fixated on something
above my shoulders. "Doing well. She isn’t sleeping through the night.
Harry is really helpful, though. He goes to get her. Then he goes back to sleep
while I feed her."
Rose laughed. "Sounds like
Jack. He wasn’t much help at first. Between the two of us, we hadn’t a clue
what to do. I had always had servants, and Jack, well, he’s a man. He’s not
supposed to know. But little by little, we’re working it out. I guess if James
grows up strange, we’ll know why. Maybe by the time the next one comes, we’ll
have all this down."
"I used to hear my mother
telling my father when I was little that no matter how much practice you have,
you never really get it. I guess now with Anna, I know what she means. It’s all
just a shot in the dark sometimes."
"True. Do you miss your
mother? I know it’s different with me. I chose to leave mine. You didn’t have a
choice."
I swallowed hard. "It’s
hard. It was really hard. I wish every day she would be here. She’d love Harry
and Anna both. I would love nothing more than to hear the advice she has. The
birth scared me. I felt so drained. I was terrified the same thing would happen
to me as it did my mother."
Rose was looking at me intently.
"She died with your sister, right?"
I nodded. "Yes. She had too
much bleeding. I remember drifting in and out of consciousness and hearing Mrs.
Miller say something about the blood loss with me. It terrified me. Then, when
I passed out, I was afraid I’d leave my baby and my husband." I stopped to
collect my thoughts before I started crying. "As for my mother, I was mad
at Shannon for the longest time for killing our mother. But then I realized
that I was at an advantage. I got to meet her and spend nine years with her
before she died. Shannon never got a chance to meet her. All she’s seen is a
few photographs, and has had to listen to stories about her from Father and me.
I can’t imagine what that’s like for her. Do you believe that it’s been a long
time since my mother died and I still feel like it was yesterday? The pain
subsides, but it never goes away. Shannon is lucky, I guess. She doesn’t have
the pain of losing our mother. She just has the pain of never meeting
her." Rose started to say something, but we were stopped by a knock at the
door. "Expecting company?" I looked at her, and she shook her head
after I spoke.
"No." She got up to
walk to the door. "Maybe Jack forgot his key or Harry needs you?"
"Harry would use the side
door like he always does. I don’t think he knows this door exists." I
stood up and walked a few steps behind her. As Rose opened the door to expose
the person knocking, even though I couldn’t see who it was, I could see the
horrified look Rose had on her face as she saw who had knocked.
I heard a male voice that sent
shivers down my spine. "Hello, Rose." I was frozen. Rose was frozen.
Cal stood at the doorway with a smirk on his face. "It’s been a while. How
are you?" He stopped and saw me with Anna. His attention went back to
James and Rose. "And a better question is, what are you doing here? You
belong to me."