A Husband for Margaret (16 page)

Ben inspected his injury with
tear-filled eyes. Assured that he was going to be alright, he
nodded and stood up. She kissed him on the top of his head and
noted he didn’t take offense to it.

“
At least you’re still young
enough to enjoy some motherly affection,” she commented.

He smiled at her and took a step
forward.

“
Um...Ben? The ball?” She
motioned to the brown ball in the grass.

“
Oh!” He ran over to
retrieve it and came back to her. “It’s my ball.”

“
Yes, it is.”

They walked to the park where his
brothers were already kicking their own ball around.

“
Not their ball,” Ben said,
holding up his ball.

“
Nope. That is all
yours.”

He nodded and hugged it. “All
mine.”

She chuckled and stopped at a bench.
“Yes, it is. Now, go on and play. I need to take a break. You boys
wear me out.”

She sat down and waited for Jessica to
arrive. As tired as she was, she couldn’t deny that she was
happy.

Jessica came along about ten minutes
later, holding her four month old daughter.

Margaret’s eyebrows furrowed. “You
didn’t bring her in a carriage? Aren’t your arms sore?”

“
Nelly’s not heavy,” Jessica
replied as she sat beside her and set the girl on her lap so she
could sit up and study her surroundings.

“
She looks so big from the
last time I saw her.” She glanced at her own daughter who had
fallen asleep. “I suppose it won’t be long before Charlotte’s off
running around with her older brothers. I kind of enjoy
babies.”

“
Me too. But that’s why we
can have more than one, and then, after that, we get
grandchildren!”

Margaret laughed. “You are always
thinking ahead, aren’t you?”

“
I take time to enjoy the
moment too.”

“
Yes. I know you do. How are
things with Tom?”

“
They’re fine. I think he’d
like a boy some day, but he was tickled pink when he first saw
Nelly.”

“
I think men like the idea
of having a son to follow in their footsteps.”

“
How did Joseph feel about
having a girl?”

“
He was relieved. He said at
least a girl won’t pee in his face if he changes her
diaper.”

Jessica gasped. “He changes
diapers?”

Margaret smiled. “He had to do that and
more with Ben and Charles before he married me.”

“
But now he has you to do
that.”

“
Maybe. But if he wants me
to have the time to cook, he has to chip in and help. You think I
can handle all these children without a helping hand?”

Jessica seemed to think about
it.

“
You just wait until you
have a couple more children and talk to me about what is and isn’t
a man’s job in the house.”

She sighed. “You’re probably
right.”

Two distinct sets of laughter caught
Margaret’s attention. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Peter
with Debra and his mother. They had apparently decided to take a
stroll through the park, and Debra held his arm on one side while
his mother held his arm on the other.

Margaret nudged Jessica in the
side.

Jessica looked up from fussing over her
baby and turned her gaze in the direction Margaret motioned
to.

“
I know just the color that
will suit your new home,” Connie said to Debra.
“Yellow.”

Debra nodded. “A cheery yellow might
work. It certainly is a friendly color.”

“
That it is.”

“
And the fence needs to be
white. I always wanted a white picket fence,” Debra added. “It’s
been a childhood dream.”

Connie turned her attention to Peter
and said, “That settles it. You’ll paint the house yellow and the
fence white.”

Margaret wondered how he’d take this
apparent running of his life, and maybe she shouldn’t have been
surprised when he simply smiled and agreed to what his mother and
his wife wanted. In fact, she couldn’t recall a time when Peter
James looked happier.

The three passed Margaret and Jessica
with a polite greeting that the two women returned. Then they
continued to their conversation to discuss the types of flowers
Debra would plant in the front yard.

Margaret and Jessica watched them for a
good minute before Margaret turned to her friend and said, “There
goes the most content man in the world.”

Jessica shook her head. “I don’t
believe it. Those three get along beautifully, don’t
they?”

“
A better match was never
made,” Margaret agreed.

“
I guess you showed the rest
of us.”

“
Meaning?”

“
To be honest, I thought it
wasn’t going to work. I thought Connie or Debra would be miserable,
but they’re not.”

“
Nope.”

“
I suppose you knew what you
were doing when you got Debra and Connie together.”

“
I like to think I know
something about people and how they think. Debra and Connie needed
each other, and Peter needed a wife who could be friends with his
mother.”

Jessica chuckled. “Remind me to never
doubt you again.”

Margaret grinned. “Oh, I’ll be sure to
do that.”

The two women turned their attention
back to their children and enjoyed the rest of the
afternoon.