Chapter Fifteen Part Two

Katherine woke in a most unusual mood. She had a feeling in her heart that something wonderful had or was about to happen. She could not explain why she had this feeling, it was not as if anything had happened to bring it to her, a lightness and renewed vigor had simply entered her soul, and she could not wait to start her day.

She had risen early, as it was Sunday, she needed to help Sissy, and then come back to dress for church. She threw on an old dress so she could milk the cows, swept her hair into a bun, and donned her socks and boots.

She found herself humming a hymn on the way down the road to the shore, and she smiled at the lightness in her heart as she went along.

When she arrived, Sissy had already filled the buckets with milk, she was filling the watering trough, while Jake tossed armfuls of hay over into the feed bin. "Good morning, Mama Katy, what a glorious day 'tis today."

Katherine laughed with pleasure at the sight of Sissy's glowing face.

"I was thinking the same, you are not suffering this fine morn, thanks be to God!" Katherine waited until Sissy hung the pail back on it's hook, then took Sissy's hands in her own to search her eyes. There was no trace of the illness that she could detect, especially as Sissy grinned at her and shook her head.

"Nay, not this day, today I woke right as rain, if you would like to help me put the milk to save, I can ready the children for church." Sissy had not felt well enough to attend services for a good while recently, Katherine had taken the children along with her.

"I had a very good feeling upon wakening this morn. I am so pleased you can come with us, we shall pray it has passed, and you will not feel poorly any longer." Katherine lifted a milk bucket on their way into the kitchen. Working together, the ladies put all to rights, so they could go and worship together on this fine day.

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The storm had passed, the days had passed, Betsy was having the lessons with the babes, while the boys went about their chores for the morn.

Paulie was making a cake, the first baking he had done in a while, but this was a special occasion. It was wee Jonah's birthday and he would be five years old. Paulie was making a special cake, one of the few recipes he actually enjoyed making, but only because it was so delicious to eat.

He kept a small stash of ginger beer in his sea chest, and had uncorked a bottle for this special occasion. It was his secret ingredient. His cake was a golden creation of goodness, dense and sweet, sprinkled with a mix of raw sugar, flour and a small amount of boar fat, which became a crumble on the top. It was a favorite among the crew, and when he did make it, it did not last very long. Since his ginger beer was a limited commodity, he was very careful to get his salt and sugar right.

Betsy and the children were sitting at the table, where Betsy was trying to help Jonah with his L's.

"La la la la la," Betsy sat across from him, and showed Jonah her tongue pressing against the top of her mouth, right behind her front teeth.

Lila sat to the side of Betsy shaking her head.

Jonah could not get his tongue to do what he wanted it to do. He tried to do what Betsy did, but it just came out 'wawawawa'. He smiled, as this sounded fine to him.

Betsy was at a loss, he was turning five years old, and she feared it would become an ingrained habit if they did not figure it out soon.

She tried again, "LILA,".

"He can hear, Miss Lizbeth, he just can not say it." Lila nodded at her, as Betsy realized, she had raised her voice a bit much.

"I am sorry Jonah, try Jonah, please, Lila..." Betsy watched him move his mouth, an expectant look upon her face.

"Wiwa." Jonah grinned, and Betsy dropped her forehead onto her palm. She turned her head sideways, to peek at Lila, who sat there drawing her letters, shaking her head.

"What?" Betsy asked her.

"You should not make him try, he will just get it right one of these days." The five year old, who was almost six, but had an older demeanor, and a very extended vocabulary, deigned to impart her wisdom.

"At this moment, that sounds fine to me." Betsy blew a stray strand of hair, from the twisted bun she had wore her hair in today, that had come loose and fallen in front of her face.

"What sounds fine to you, my love?" Violet entered the galley and came to kiss her upon her furrowed brow.

"Nothing." She answered, "Doing absolutely nothing." She raised her face as she grabbed his shirtfront and brought him down for a much needed kiss.

"That is not nothing." Lila kept drawing her letters, but kept a running commentary on the situation.

Violet chuckled, "She is right about that."

"She is right about everything, Violet, all the time, just ask her." Betsy rolled her eyes at Violet, as he chuckled some more.

They had grown to know the children very well by now, their personalities had come out more and more as they realized they were truly safe, and had a family they could be comfortable with.

For the most part, Lila was a know it all, the problem was, she was usually right. She just recently had started to always state her true opinion about every little thing.

Everyone had been having fun with it, asking her, what? And, huh? Making her repeat herself all the time. She had finally caught on, so now when the boys and men were around the table at supper, she just went ahead and said everything twice, she repeated herself very slowly the second time, as if they were hopelessly dense.

Jonah was incredibly bright also, Betsy just wished he could sound out his L's, as he loved speaking, he had a broad vocabulary for his age and it just did not seem right that his speech be handicapped in this way.

"What is Lila right about this time?" Violet walked over to the counter and asked Paulie for a coffee.

"That she should leave poor Jonah alone to say his W's, and not make him try to say la la la la la." Lila offered the information.

"Ahhhh, ye think to improve his speech, eh?" Violet slipped into his 'pirate talk', as Betsy groaned and put her head into her crossed arms.

Violet joined them at the table. "Jonah, try this one, me hearty, 'ye lily livered rapscallions'."

"Ye wiwy wivered wapscawons!" Jonah stated proudly.

Betsy's muffled voice came from her arms, "Ye just made it so much worse."

Violet laughed, smacking his hand on his knee that stuck out from under the end of the table where he sat, sandwiching Betsy between him and Miss know it all.

"I give up," She spoke directly to the tabletop.

"Jonah, can you not say Violet?" Violet asked him to try.

"Viwet." The boy grinned.

"See." This, from Miss know it all, also.

"And what do you suggest, Miss Lila lizard?" Violet always tried to get her goat, and he usually succeeded.

Lila huffed at him, "I am not a lizard, Sir Violet, and I said, she should leave him be, and he will just do it one day."

Betsy raised her head and smiled weakly at Vi.

He raised a brow at her, "She does have a point. Mayhap, he will."

Violet drank his coffee down and stood, "I will see you later on deck?"

"Yes, love, I will be there." Betsy wanted to go get her gun and practice shooting, or go to her cabin and work off some frustration with the sword she had been secretly practicing with. She realized she was only frustrating herself, no one else seemed to mind that Jonah spoke as a little babe.

She was just glad that Violet had not noticed the nick she had put in his desk.

It was a fine desk, and it had been an accident.

She had rubbed oil on the spot and it had darkened the wood until you could hardly tell.

She would not have hit the desk at all, if she had not heard Violet's whistle coming down the hallway. She had just enough time to throw the sword back on the wall and snatch down the foil, before he had entered.

Her arm had been very sore the next few days, but she just loved the way it felt to wield it, as if she were in a battle, such as the ones in her bible. Fighting for the greater good, or a knight of old, fighting for her King.

She did not know why she did not tell Violet. She should, he would probably only help her, yet there were no corks for the swords, they were lethal, and she was not sure he would permit it. She did not see the harm when she was alone, though.

Michaels came into the galley and addressed the small group at the table, "I heard 'tis someone's birthday this day, and that someone is five years old."

Betsy turned, seeing him and Luke standing a little behind her, facing the birthday boy.

"Me, me!" Jonah cried. "'Tis mine birthday!"

"We have a little birthday gift for ye then, Jonah." Michaels produced a drawstring bag and handed it to Jonah. Coming to stand at the end of the table, he stroked Sarah's hair, as she sat next to Jonah at the end.

She was the quiet one, turning to smile up at Michaels and Luke, who had followed his friend, and was standing closer to Betsy.

"Open it, Jonah." Luke encouraged him to reveal the present.

Jonah emptied the bag of a pile of wooden blocks, each had a letter on one side that would spell out his name. Luke had painted the letters with iodine to make them stand out. There were numbers on the other side, one through five.

"Oh Jonah, those are very nice. Can you spell your name?" Betsy encouraged him to try.

Which he did, very quickly, Betsy was pleased. He was learning at a fine rate, it was only those W's that he needed to overcome.

"Tank you, Michews and Wook." Jonah was pleased with his gift, as he began stacking them, while spelling his name out from bottom to top.

Well, maybe a little more than his W's, she had been trying the "th" sound with him too.

"Ye be very welcome, Jonah." Michaels ruffled Jonah's curls, then he and Luke went to harass Paulie about how long until that cake would be done.

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After the day's lessons, Paulie elected to put the wee ones down. Betsy went to her and Violet's cabin, to wield her weapons for a bit, before joining Violet topside. She walked straight into the bedroom and used the privy, then washed her hands, drying them well. She rubbed her hands together as she went to choose her weapon. She looked up on the wall and gasped.

He knew!

His sword was wrapped in a light linen, from the tip, to the hilt, tied off with a twine, and there was a woolen blanket covering his desk.

She fell back into one of the leather chairs and stared at the sword, then the shrouded desk.

How did he know?

She smirked, Lila was not the only know it all aboard ship, it seemed.

She grinned, and pulled the sword off the wall, to engage in one quick, mock battle, before meekly approaching her husband at the helm.

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"I have been thinking." Violet and Betsy were cuddling in their furs, he held her in his arms, both of them looking up to the ceiling, she lay next to him, her head on his shoulder.

"About what, my love?" She turned her head to look at him, and he smiled at her as he answered.

"Would you marry me when we arrive at our destination?" He raised his brow, as Betsy blinked at him with a questioning look.

They lay in a bed together, entwined, she in her nightgown, he in his skivvies. She giggled and rubbed his naked chest. "I believe the deed was done a while ago, my love." She turned in his arms and drew a heart on his chest with her finger. Then she rubbed his fine chest with her palm, as she waited for him to explain himself.

"In a church, with my mother and Marcus present, and all of our family and friends. I think you deserve a better ceremony than the hurried vows we spoke on the beach."

Betsy's small smile lit up her eyes as he explained his reasoning. She had been glad that the Duchess, and her friend Carmelita, had been present for those, but she knew what he was saying, as they had not truly known one another's full hearts upon that day.

"I know were your Papa alive, I would fetch him to perform the rites, but we do have a very nice pastor where I grew up."

Betsy laid her palm on his heart, she just loved this man so much. He had the most loving heart towards her, and all of their 'family' aboard his ship.

"I am my mother's only, I know she has been patient with me, even though she has carried hope I would marry and give her grandchildren, and I think she would be a bit disappointed to not have a wedding to celebrate." He looked down into Betsy's eyes, and she could see the love he carried for this woman she had yet to meet.

She herself could not wait to extend her family, as she had none for so long before Violet, and these who sailed with them. "I have no objections to marrying you as many times as you would like, I would marry you every morn if you wanted to."

Violet chuckled, "I too, would do the same."

"Mayhap, I could send word to Lady Eleanor and she could come, it would be the closest to having my Papa there, they were such good friends, and she was the one who made sure I was cared for when he went to be with the Lord."

"That is a wonderful idea, we shall do it! Hopefully we can accomplish this while Marcus is able to be there, he is the closest to my father as I can imagine, I only wish your other family were not so far away." Violet joined his hand with hers that was resting on his chest.

"You are the only family I need Violet. You are my gift from God. I have not had extended family all my life that I can remember. All I have ever had at a time was one I could call my own, and you are now all to me."

He raised his head to kiss her brow, "I can not wait for you to meet my mother. She has always wanted a daughter, shy of Josh's Sissy, she has always been wistful of a woman to share her concerns with."

"I too am anticipating having a mother, as I have not had one I can remember all my life, I just know I will love her as you do, Violet. Yes, I will marry you, my beautiful man, before God in His church, with your family and friends to witness our joy in His bringing us together."

"Our family and friends, Kitten." He squeezed her hand, as she raised up to kiss him, purring her pleasure at this lovely man's heart that considered everything.

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The next morn, upon meeting up with Paulie in the galley, Betsy announced Violet's intentions.

Paulie was gladdened that she and Violet would be renewing their vows in a church, as her Papa would have wanted that, he thought.

"I would like if you would give me away, Paulie." She smiled, as her eyes twinkled at the roughened, yet, softening seaman.

He stared at her for a moment, then shaded a slight red, as he realized what this meant to him. His heart squeezed in his chest, and a tear came to his eye. He never thought he would have a daughter to give away at the altar, but God had provided him with that very thing. "I would be more honored than ye could know, Elizabeth." He nodded at her, as she saw the emotions move over his visage. "Right honored, that be for sure!"

They proceeded to spend the morn with the children. Betsy caught him several times, lighting up with pleasure when he looked upon her.

She felt the same about him, and they shared secret smiles throughout the day, at the honor she had bestowed upon him.

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Love these men, they are too fun to write :) Blessings all!