A Husband for Margaret (15 page)

“
Was that part of the plan?”
Joseph asked.

Margaret decided to reveal that much to
him. “I told Charles to stay with Debra. As for Ben, he clings to
anyone if there’s a new person around, so I knew she’d have to hold
him. Doug and Bob asked if they could climb a tree as long as they
stayed on the lower branches. Then Doug and Bob thought it would be
fun to scare Debra by falling and getting hurt, though Doug is
really overdoing it.”

“
And the other woman?” he
pressed.

“
That’s Connie James. She
happens to have an available son who is Debra’s age.”

“
Oh.” His eyes lit up with
understanding. “I see. That’s not a bad plan.”

“
Thank you.”

Debra bent down to console Doug, but he
only wailed louder and cried for Margaret.

“
Those boys have grown
attached to you,” Joseph commented, pleased.

“
I’ve grown rather fond of
them as well.” She gave him a pointed look. “I’m dismayed you
didn’t trust me in doing what’s best for them.” When she realized
Bob was carrying something she didn’t recognize, she patted him on
the arm. “We’ll discuss this later. I need to go.”

Margaret emerged from behind the tree
and slipped onto the pathway lining the park grounds. When she
realized Bob carried an empty wasp’s nest, she stopped for a moment
to dumbly watch everyone.

Connie returned with the hat just as
Bob reached Debra. Holding out the nest, he asked, “Can I take this
home?”

Debra glanced at him, saw it, and
screamed.

Bob dropped it in her lap and threw his
hands up in the air. “Sorry!”

Debra quickly set Ben on the ground and
bolted to her feet as she shook her dress that was marred with
streaks of purple and red candy.

Biting her tongue so she wouldn’t burst
out laughing, Margaret made her way to them.

“
It’s empty!” Bob called out
above Debra’s shrill screams. “There’s nothing in
there.”

“
Yeah,” Doug added, standing
up. “And I’m alright. See? I can move my arm just fine.”

Debra grunted in disgust and scampered
away from the nest which remained on the ground.

“
Ma!” Charles and Ben said
as soon as they saw Margaret.

“
I am not your mother!”
Debra hissed. “I would never be a mother to the likes of you
boys.”

“
We knew you didn’t like
us,” Bob replied.

“
Insolent children,” Connie
told Debra.

“
So I gather you’re not
interested in Joseph then?” Margaret asked Debra, stepping right up
to everyone. She bent down to pick up Ben and held onto Charles’
hand.

Debra’s face was flushed and she
anxiously tucked in stray strands of hair under her hat. “No man is
worth all this trouble.” She glanced at the boys and shuddered. “I
don’t know how you put up with this, but they obviously need
someone to...to...”

“
See them to adulthood with
as few scrapes as possible,” Connie inserted.

Sighing, Debra nodded. “I’m not up for
the task. Perhaps if I had them one at a time... But not like
this!”

“
That’s the only way to do
it,” Connie agreed. “These children are already set in their ways.
Margaret, it’s not in my nature to intrude on the affairs of other
women, but you did make your vows before God, and it would be wise
to keep them.”

“
I agree. I’m sorry,
Margaret,” Debra said. “I won’t bother you or Joseph ever
again.”

Margaret’s eyes grew wide in surprise.
Debra Potter was apologizing to her?

“
Apparently, my ways are too
refined to handle these children,” Debra added.

“
A truer statement has never
been said,” Connie agreed. “You know, I raised my Peter to be a
most upstanding citizen of this community, and he never did
dastardly things like climb a tree or get his hands sticky with
candy.” She glanced at Bob who held his hands up and grinned.
Shaking her head, she said, “Those children are beyond refinement,
Debra. What you need is a man who doesn’t have any yet. Then you
marry him and when you do have them, you can start to train them
from the very beginning on how to properly behave.”

“
Yes, Mrs. James. I gather
you’re right.”

“
I am. I’m a mother. I know
these things. I have a feeling there are better things in your
future.” Connie smiled and patted Debra’s hand. “You know, I would
be honored if you’d come by my house for a nice dinner
tonight.”

Debra looked at her dress and shook her
head. “I couldn’t possibly come tonight.”

“
Then tomorrow?”

“
Yes. That will be
fine.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Connie turned
to Margaret and said, “Now, you do what’s right and take care of
these children.”

Margaret pretended to think about it.
“Well...alright. You’ve convinced me. I’ll stay with
Joseph.”

Connie nodded. “Good. Do your
duty.”

“
And good luck,” Debra added
with a slight shake of her head as she glanced at the
children.

Connie and Debra strolled off together,
already discussing Mrs. Lonny and how they knew the
woman.

Margaret waited until Connie and Debra
were out of hearing distance before she gave the four children a
big hug. “You all were wonderful!”

“
It worked, just like you
said!” Bob cheered.

“
It did,” Doug added,
amazed.

“
You bet it did,” she said.
“I knew that Miss Potter was all talk. When push came to shove, she
backed off. She won’t be a problem anymore.”

“
And we get cookies?” Bob
pressed.

“
Of course, you do,” she
replied, looking over her shoulder to see if Joseph would venture
over to them. Sure enough, he was heading in their direction. “You
go on and play with Charles and Ben right over there. I need to
talk to your pa for a moment.”

They obeyed and she turned her
attention to a bewildered looking Joseph. “It worked.”

“
Of course, it did.” She
raised her eyebrow. “Now, will you trust me to do what’s best for
these children?”

“
Our children. And yes.” He
leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry I gave you a hard
time.”

She pretended to think it over and
smiled. “As long as it doesn’t happen again, I can overlook this
incident.”

“
It’ll never happen
again.”

“
Good.” She jabbed him in
the side. “You better get back to work. I didn’t marry you so you
could run about town and see what mischief I’m up to.”

He chuckled. “Yes, dear.” He leaned
forward and whispered, “You do know I love you, don’t
you?”

Blushing, she replied, “I love you
too.”

After he gave her another kiss on the
cheek, he went over to the boys, and she caught a sudden notion
that it might possibly be nice to have another child to welcome
into the family. The thought caught her by surprise. She must be
crazy to anticipate another one when her hands were already full,
but she reasoned that what this family desperately needed was a
girl or two to help even things out. As it was, she was horribly
outnumbered by the boys.

Yes, she decided. Now that she got the
Debra Potter situation resolved, it was time to move onto the next
mission: a girl.

Chapter Sixteen

One year later

Margaret set down the pancakes on the
table already filled with enough food to feed an army. Charles and
Ben hovered nearby, watching everything she did with unbridled
interest. One boy even patted his stomach in anticipation for the
feast to come.

“
You boys eat all the time,
but looking at your hungry stares, one would swear I never feed
you,” she commented with a shake of her head. “When your sister is
old enough, it’ll be nice to have her help in here.”

She went over to the open kitchen
window and saw that Doug was chasing Bob around the
backyard.

“
Breakfast is ready!” she
called out.

They immediately stopped, cheered as if
this was a grand old event, and ran to the kitchen door.

She rolled her eyes. Seriously, she fed
them every meal and even gave out snacks. Turning to Charles and
Ben, she helped them into their chairs and began dishing out their
portions of the meal.

Joseph entered the kitchen just in time
to be bombarded by Doug and Bob who pushed him aside so they could
sit at their places. “You need to be careful,” he admonished them.
“I’m carrying your sister.”

“
Sorry, Pa,” Bob
said.

“
I’ll take her.” Margaret
took the one month old girl and cradled her in her arms. Looking at
Joseph, she said, “This is the big day.”

Joseph gave her a kiss and nodded. “I’m
not going to miss working at the mercantile.”

“
I’m excited for you,” she
admitted. She knew how much working at the paper meant to him, and
now he could work there full-time. “Well, you better sit down and
eat so you have your energy for the day.”

They all sat down, waited for him to
say grace, and then they began their meal.

She smiled at her daughter who stared
back at the four boys who ate as if they hadn’t eaten in years.
“You’ll have to get used to it, Charlotte. Your brothers are
animals.”

“
Hey!” Doug protested before
he stuffed a waffle in his mouth.

“
We’re not animals,” Bob
agreed. He poured syrup on his eggs and then dug into
them.

“
I swear, Bob,” she began,
“if it doesn’t have sugar on it, you won’t touch it.”

“
Aren’t you going to eat
anything?” Joseph asked her as he spread butter on his
pancakes.

“
I already did.” She learned
that it was best to eat ahead of time because this crowd was too
much to keep up with and eat. There was always someone who needed
something.

Bob, like usual, was done first, so she
put Charlotte down in the basinet in the corner of the room and
helped him clean up. He brought his plate and cup to her and she
washed them as he washed his hands. The process went unusually
smooth that morning. She realized that this was going to be one of
those good days. Each kid got done, one at a time with Ben taking
the longest as he tore apart everything, carefully inspected it,
and then took small bites of it. Ben was working on his last piece
of toast when Joseph stood up.

He brought his dish and cup to the sink
before kissing her good-bye. “Have a good day.”

“
You too,” she replied as
she washed his dishes.

After he left, Ben was done and she
instructed Doug to wipe down the table and Bob to pull in the
chairs. Charles bent over the basinet and made funny faces at
Charlotte who turned her wide eyes in his direction.

“
She’s just a baby,” Bob
told Charles. “She doesn’t know what you’re doing.”

Margaret brought Ben to the sink and
washed him up. “I’m sure she’s enjoying it,” she told Bob who
didn’t look convinced.

Once the boys were clean and the
kitchen in order, she decided to take them to the park across the
street. This year Charles was four, so Doug and Bob declared that
he was old enough to play ball with them. Ben, however, was still
too young, but she gave him his own ball to toss around. Ben had
gotten comfortable with her enough by now, so he often ran off to
play with Charles or by himself.

They went onto the porch, and she set a
gurgling Charlotte into the baby carriage and placed the rattle in
the child’s hand. Charlotte squealed and shook it. Margaret smiled
and tapped her daughter’s nose.

“
You fuss over her too
much,” Bob said, holding his ball under his arm.

“
That’s because I’m going to
need her help keeping you boys in line,” Margaret told him. “I need
her on my side.”

Doug closed the screen door. “Women
like babies, Bob. It can’t be helped.”

“
Babies are cuddly and
cute,” Margaret replied. “They’re meant to be fussed
over.”

Doug and Bob grimaced so she ran over
to them and hugged them.

“
Oh gross!” Bob shrieked
while Doug grunted.

“
You boys need fussing from
time to time too. But not as much as girls, I’m sure.” She nearly
got tackled by Charles and Ben who decided to take that moment to
rush in to hug her. Laughing, she tickled the four delighted boys
before she realized that if she did this too long, she’d have no
energy to walk around the park. “Alright, alright.” She stood up
straight and took a deep breath. “I promised Jessica I’d meet her
in fifteen minutes, so we better go.”

Doug and Bob shot across the yard and
made it to the park before she could get the baby carriage to the
ground. Charles and Ben were trailing after their older brothers,
but Ben tripped and fell. Ben cried and waited for her to come over
to him.

She stopped pushing the carriage and
knelt beside him. Pulling up his pants, she saw the pink knee and
patted it. “You’ll be fine. No blood. See?”