A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Forty-Two
February 6, 1918
"I got a letter from him
yesterday," Rose said, nonchalantly. She and Maggie were downstairs in the
kitchen. Maggie was washing beans in the sink, while Rose peeled potatoes at
the counter. She smiled brightly at Andrew. He laughed excitedly at her, and
picked up one of his toys. Rose was astonished by him. Today, he was exactly
nine months old. He could sit up all by himself now. He could grab things. He
had started to respond to everything. She watched him stare intently at his
mother as he sat on the floor. Rose touched her stomach. She was five months
along. Whatever that baby was, she hoped it would be like Andrew. He was the
sweetest, happiest, most well-behaved child she had ever come in contact with.
She couldn't help but feel sad, though. Every
day, Andrew did something new. And Brian had missed all of it. Andrew knew who
Maggie and Rose were. He even knew Erik. She knew that when Brian came home,
Andrew would have no idea who he was. That pained Rose, too, because she
thought about her child. How old would he or she be when Jack came home? She
didn't even want to think about it.
"What did the letter say?" Maggie
asked.
"Well...he asked how I was doing. And he
said how much he missed me. He talked about the war. The usual." Rose
acted like a letter from him was no big deal. They meant the world to her,
though. She didn't make a big fuss about them, though, because Jack always
poured his heart and soul out in the letters. She wanted to keep that to
herself. Those were the words nobody else in the world heard.
The letters scared her, too. Every time, he
wrote how it was getting worse. There were letters that broke her heart when
Jack wrote of losing a friend. He would go without food and sleep for days. It
gave her nightmares, thinking of him having to live like that. He always
reassured her, though, that soon it would be over.
"What about you? Did you get a
response?" She was referring to the letter Maggie had written to Brian,
but he had never sent a reply. She saw Maggie grow more worried every day that
the mail came and there was no letter from Brian.
"No, nothing yet. But I'm sure I'll get
one soon." She sounded as confident as she could, but the sorrow in her
voice was unmistakable. She smiled sadly at Rose.
Rose saw her look down at Andrew. There were
tears in her eyes, but in a quick moment, they disappeared.
"You will get one soon, Maggie. I know you
will." Rose smiled reassuringly at her.
"Thank you," Maggie said gently.
The two friends finished preparing dinner.
They had been eating together since Jack left. Rose enjoyed it. She learned new
recipes. Maggie loved it because Rose always had a story from the theater.
Sometimes, Maggie wished she worked there, too, but, of course, she had Andrew,
so it was impossible.
Rose set the table, and Maggie put the food
out. She lifted Andrew into his high chair. He waved his arms up and down, and
smiled wildly at Rose. Maggie watched. She had been noticing how close Andrew
was to Rose. She thought it was adorable. Rose was so good with him. Maggie
knew her friend would be a fantastic mother.
They ate dinner, and then went into the
living room. Andrew played on the floor, while Maggie and Rose just talked. At
around seven o'clock, there was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" Maggie asked.
She got up and walked to the door. She noticed that someone had slipped a
letter through the door.
Rose walked in, holding Andrew. She looked
down at the letter. "Open it," she said to Maggie.
Maggie studied the envelope. It was from the
war department, and it was from Brian. "It's from Brian."
Rose smiled. "See, I told you he would
write."
Maggie ripped the envelope open and pulled
out the paper. She gasped.
Rose was overcome with fear. She knew the
news was bad. "What does it say?" Her voice was fearful.
Maggie's eyes filled with tears. "It
says: I'm at the door." Before she had even finished what she was
saying, she opened the door, and Brian's arms were around her.
"Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian." She
said his name over and over, and kissed his face repeatedly.
They were both crying. He kissed her, too.
"I'm home. I'm here," he said quietly. She cradled her head on his
shoulder. But then he put her face in his hands. "This face. I've been
waiting to see this face for nine months." He kissed her again and again.
Rose's eyes were teary. She smiled. She was
so happy he was home. The Fagins were a complete family again. Rose looked at
Andrew, and kissed his forehead. He laughed with delight.
Brian's head immediately turned when he heard
the sound. He completely stopped moving. There was his son. The last time he
had seen him, he couldn't do much. He now saw a bright-eyed young boy, who was
laughing and grabbing at Rose's curls. He could hold his head up all by
himself. Brian slowly walked towards Rose. He stared at Andrew for a moment.
"Can I hold him?" he asked quietly.
Rose laughed. "Of course. He's your
son."
He started to take him, but Andrew pulled
back, and grabbed on to Rose's neck. Brian looked like he had just been slapped
in the face. He put his hands down. "He doesn't know who I am." His
voice made Rose want to cry.
"He'll get to know who you are,"
Rose said reassuringly. She pried Andrew's arms off her, and placed him in
Brian's arms.
He squirmed and cried at first, but Brian
calmed him down. Maggie walked over, and rested her chin on Brian's shoulder.
Andrew smiled at her. After a while, they all sat down in the living room.
Brian explained that he had been released from his duties. Everything he needed
to do had been done, so he could go home. He wanted to surprise Maggie. Maggie
said she had been terrified that something had happened.
Brian was still holding Andrew. He smiled
over at Rose, but then his eyes grew wide with shock. "My God! You're
pregnant!"
Rose smiled and patted her stomach.
"Five months. I'm halfway there."
"When did you find out?"
"About a month after Jack left."
Her voice grew sad by the end.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I know he would want to
be here." His voice was full of compassion.
"I know. But we've both agreed I need to
stay happy and strong. So that's what I'm doing." She smiled.
"Well, that's wonderful. I know you will
be the best parents."
"Thank you."
They talked and talked and talked. Maggie
went over every detail of Andrew's growing. Brian was happy that as the night
went on Andrew was more comfortable with him. Brian talked about the war. He
left a lot of details out, for Rose. He was glad to hear Jack was still alive.
Even though Brian hadn't been fighting, he saw some horrible things. Things he
would never forget. Men died right in front of him. His biggest fear was that
one day one of those men would be Jack. After a while, Rose decided she was
tired.
"I'm going upstairs for the night."
She stood up. "You know what?" She took Andrew from Brian. "I'll
take him for the night."
"We couldn't..."
"No, no, no, I need the practice. And
you need the time alone." She smiled and walked upstairs with him.
Brian looked over at Maggie. She smiled.
"Did you miss me any where near as much as I missed you?"
"You have no idea." He pulled her
to him and kissed her passionately. "I've been waiting to do that
forever."
"Brian...let's go to our room."
"I'm two steps ahead of you." Brain
pulled Maggie off the couch and started walking her to their room.
Upstairs, Rose sat on her bed with Andrew. He
was starting to drift off to sleep. She smiled at him, and rocked him gently.
After a few minutes, when she felt he was in a deep enough sleep, she laid him
in the bed that she had in her room. Maggie and Rose had decided to put one in
there because Rose would often watch Andrew, and he needed a place to sleep.
Rose climbed into her bed, and thought about
Brian coming home, and Andrew getting so big. She started to cry. She wanted
that to be her life. She missed Jack so much. Rose pulled the sheets tighter to
herself. After almost an hour she fell asleep. She just wanted things to back
the way they were.