"I hadn't thought of remarrying, either. I just wanted to go home. But now...well, you're my home now. You and Wyatt, you're my family. And I would never back out. I think you know that, but just in case you don't, I love you, Aurelian, and I will never leave you. 'Til death do us part."
Lucinda squeezed her husband's hand and met his eyes, her expression sober. But she didn't stay that way for very long. There were so many things in life that one could worry about, but this wasn't the time to think about them. She was thinking about their dessert, and her stepdaughter. "Do you think we should wait for Clara to come out to talk to us, or should we sneak around the back so she doesn't have to leave the kitchen?"
"I hadn't thought of remarrying, either. I just wanted to go home. But now...well, you're my home now. You and Wyatt, you're my family. And I would never back out. I think you know that, but just in case you don't, I love you, Aurelian, and I will never leave you. 'Til death do us part."
He reached out and squeezed one of her hands, "Oh I do know that. I'd have never asked you to marry me if I didn't think you would be faithful and a proper mother for Wyatt too. We are in this til the end, just the way I want it."
"Do you think we should wait for Clara to come out to talk to us, or should we sneak around the back so she doesn't have to leave the kitchen?" Lucinda now suggested.
That made sense, Aurelian nodded affirmatively.
"I like that idea. It seems we are both on the impatient side. Let's do this," he stood up and waited for her to rise then the couple went straight on thru to the back kitchen.
Clara turned to see who was entering HER kitchen? After all, Constance was already within, picking up a plate of food readied for another customer.
"Father..............Lucinda," she liked the woman but no, she would never get to the point where she would call her Mother. She had only had one real mother.
Daughter," grinned Aurelian.
"Well, do you have a complaint about your food? If so, I do not wish to hear it," Clara declared, with a straight face.
And so Lucinda and Aurelian both made their way back to the kitchen to surprise Clara. And she did seem surprised to Lucinda, who suddenly worried that her impulsive idea might not have been the wisest. But fortunately Clara met them with humor, although you wouldn't know it was humor from looking at her stoic expression.
Lucinda threaded her arm through Aurelian's. "I don't know about him, but my only complaint about the food is that I finished it! I could have eaten a whole cow cooked like that roast beef." She realized this comment would probably prompt some sort of ultra-practical response from Clara and hasted to say, "Or maybe just a whole roast. I know you can't make a roast out of the whole cow."
She hadn't always known that, but now that she was cooking more she'd had to familiarize herself with many different cooking terms and ingredients, including cuts of meat.
"How is little Emeline? You don't have her peeling potatoes already, I hope?" Lucinda said this with a dimple poking out. She wasn't sure if Clara would find it amusing or not. Although she and her stepdaughter got along fairly well, Lucinda was still trying to figure out how to really connect with Clara, especially after they'd been apart for so long over the winter.
Aurelian grinned, Clara had cracked a joke, something she used to never do.
"I don't know about him, but my only complaint about the food is that I finished it! I could have eaten a whole cow cooked like that roast beef," Lucinda hastened to say, "Or maybe just a whole roast. I know you can't make a roast out of the whole cow."
"Why thank you, Lucinda. Had I know you were so voracious I would have cooked the hooves too," Clara remarked in that deadpan fashion of hers.
"My dear wife is making great strides in her cooking, daughter dear. You would be proud of her. Besides if she doesn't do the cooking then it would be me doing it and well..........we all know how that would go," Aurelian jumped in.
"Good for you then," Clara addressed the woman, "I am certain Wyatt is happy then. You know, he is in a growing spurt. Last week I saw him and he looks a good couple of inches taller."
"How is little Emeline? You don't have her peeling potatoes already, I hope?" Lucinda inquired.
"Emeline is fine. She is a happy baby, always smiling and gurgling happily. Must take after Jacob not me," Clara answered then added, "No additional commentary needed, Father."
Aurelian only chuckled.
Wonder of wonders, a joke from Clara in response to Lucinda's joke! Was the world coming to an end? Lucinda tried not to show her surprise, but decided just to enjoy the moment.
"Well, I doubt that my cooking has contributed to Wyatt's extra inches very much, but I agree that he is growing into a fine young man like his father is." She patted Aurelian's arm and beamed at him. "And of course Emeline is a happy baby. She's got you for a mother, Clara."
There were many reasons that Clara was a good mother, chief of which was her fierce love for her family, and followed by her common sense and talent for cooking good food.
"Can we see her? Or would it be inconvenient right now? I don't want to keep you from your business." Lucinda didn't want to be a bother but desperately wanted to hold Clara's adorable baby and just sit with her for a few minutes. Babies were such ray of sunshine, and even though she figured she'd never be able to have one, she still loved them.
"Young man? My father, I would hardly apply that adjective to him," again Clara and Aurelian exchanged knowing glances, this was quite common for them to tease each other like this.
"So kind, child," Aurelian grinned.
"And of course Emeline is a happy baby. She's got you for a mother, Clara," Lucinda complimented.
"My Clara and the word 'happy'? Unsure of that match," now it was Aurelian's turn to toss out a verbal shot however much in jest.
Clara merely nodded, no one would ever mistake her for jolly.
"Can we see her? Or would it be inconvenient right now? I don't want to keep you from your business," Lucinda asked.
"Oh certainly though she may well be asleep. Last time I ran up there to check on her she was. She is up in her crib and I run up there and check on her four five times an hour in between my duties here," Clara explained, gesturing toward the stairwell which led to the upstairs apartment from the kitchen.
"A crib I made by the way," Aurelian pointed out to his wife.
"What? You mean there still is someone in town who you have not told of your carpenter prowess, Father?" Clara feigned shock.
"Oh and if she is awake she might start fussing, just to warn you. Probably hungry. Just to warn you," added the brunette young woman.
"Your father may not be young," Lucinda said, elbowing Aurelian, "but he is most definitely a fine man." Although neither of them were young, so to speak, she felt like their marriage had given both of them a new lease on life. It was especially easy to feel that way in the spring, when everything was new like it was right now.
And everything was so unserious! Oh, Clara might put on a façade of severity, but Lucinda could tell she truly enjoyed the back and forth banter between her and her father, banter that she was included in -- or at least referenced in. She pretended to stop and think for a minute, staring at Aurelian.
"You know, I do believe someone mentioned that you had some skill as a carpenter. Who was it? He was tall and had the nicest brown eyes, and a mustache that tickles just right. Oh, it was you!" She in turn pretended to be shocked, opening her eyes wide, then leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I'm very proud of all your skills, dear."
They got the all clear to go up and see Emeline, all though Clara's permission came with a warning that the baby might be hungry and fussy. Lucinda smiled and moved toward the stairs. "I'll be quiet, then. Are you coming, Aurelian?" She turned with one foot on the first step.
@ [Wayfarer
"Gah!!"
Lil Em stirred in her cot - the stair creak noise!!! Was that ol' milk-on-legs on the way up? 'Bout time, too. What the Hell did the woman do when she wasn't feeding her, just sort of moved around the downstairs area talking to people and standing about.
No, wrong kind of creak. Not Mama, not Papa. How about that woman with the big milk containers? No... she wondered who, then closed her eyes as they entered. As soon as they touched her... no-one could resist picking her up, of course, after all, she was the most beautiful girl in town... she would open her eyes and scream her head off.
That'd learn 'em.
Then Mama would have to come and feed her. It always worked. She'd tried to teach General Wheeler some of these tricks but the kid was dumb. So well behaved! What a baby.
She sniffed as she feigned sleep. Cow pats and rosewater? Oooooh, it was Grandpapa Ticklytash and his flat-chested floozy (Em generally tended to judge people on their milk-giving possibilities or the funniness of the faces they could pull): he he he: this screaming would be earsplitting!