Chapter 20 February 1868 Emily The day Annabeth was born, Joseph sat with me the entire time. While it’s not traditionally done, I needed his presence and support. I told him later that he was to always be with me during those times. Having the ability to lean against him while his arms surrounded me, his hands massaging my belly, had such a calming effect on me. I decided that I wanted that every time. Clara had initially frowned on his being in the room, but finally relented when she realized that it actually helped me. The moment that Annabeth was in my arms, tears of joy fell from my eyes. I leaned my head back against Joseph’s shoulder so he could look at her too. My shoulder became wet from the tears that fell from his eyes. His arms encircled mine and together we cradled our daughter in our arms. Her little eyes flitted open and as she took in the world around her, she began to cry. Clara helped me to teach her how to suckle at my breast. Once she had latched on, Joseph’s a

Emily POV After the Knightshade’s left, we sat down to supper and chatted about our neighbors. I pondered over the interaction between the elder Knightshade and his wife. She was a lovely woman and Annabeth did not fuss in her arms. That told me a lot. Babies could usually sense if someone meant them harm or had bad intentions. And since she didn’t fuss, I wasn’t concerned. But what I did ponder over was the fact that Draco seemed so sure of himself. He carried an air of confidence. What happened to that confidence that would cause him to accidentally cut himself with the scissors. And then he brushed aside my concern, as if the cut was nothing. “Emily?” Clara’s voice cut into my thoughts. “What, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought,” I answered her. “Why dinna ye sit with Joseph for a while this evening. We’ll take ca

Joseph POV   In the days that followed my waking up, Mum and Emily tried to insist on my resting as much as possible. It was difficult to say no to either one of those two women. They were persistent. I complained to Da about it and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn’t know what I should do. So, I decided I would let them have their way for a few days but then I was going to get back to work.   I honestly felt better and stronger than I had in my entire life. My wounds had healed so well, that even my shoulder didn’t ache if I over worked it. In the past, an injury to my arm would take several weeks to heal. But this time it was as if I had never been injured.   After four days of rest, I insisted on getting up, telling Emily that I was fine. I wanted to go and see for myself that the bear was dead. I walked to the smoke house and Thomas was working on the hide. I could see that it had been cut into two secti

September 1868 Joseph POV Emily was so nervous when her Mum showed up at the homestead unannounced. I was nervous for her, but as they talked, it became very clear that her Mum truly regretted her actions. No one could truly blame her; I can’t imagine what I would do if I lost Emily. I would be devastated. Losing our Aurora was hard enough and we hadn’t even met her. Grief is a hard thing and people cope in different ways. But, as I said, I was glad that her Mum came. It seems her visit to the boarding house was an eye-opening experience and it aided in the grief process. I also think that the delay due to the winter months helped calm her down as well. And it was sheer luck that she happened to be at the boarding house the day Thomas showed up. She had shared that normally she had returned to the hotel by that time of the day, but had been delayed in leaving. Anne decided she would stay

April 1889 Emily POV In December 1868, Joseph and I welcomed our second child into our household. With all of the craziness of that year, Josiah Brody was a happy blessing and a joyous way to end the year. He was a large baby, weighing in at over eight pounds. Where Annabeth was a happy and quiet baby, Josiah was loud and cried constantly. He was a very colicky baby and I had a terrible time trying to keep him content. I was so glad when he finally settled at about eight months of age and began to sleep during the night. Due to the ongoing stress of Josiah’s constant crying, I was adamant that we had to wait until he was almost two before we would try to have another child. It didn’t quite work out that way, Malcomb Adam was born a month before Josiah turned two. Three years later, in the summer of 1873, we welcomed Fiona Clarabelle to our family. Malcomb and Fiona were both calm babies and I was grateful. Ha