And that had a whole lot to do with the man who had just walked in through the door after a long hard day of work. The man that she could now call her husband, thank goodness.
Their wedding ceremony was never the big affair that it would have been had they held it in London, nor was it as fancy. There it would have been a huge society event that everyone would have wanted to attend. It would have been the talk of the city, considering the big family names involved, and everyone would have wanted to judge them. It would have created whispers for a long time afterwards.
Maybe it was not as glamorous, but having a small ceremony with only Charlotte and two of Edmund’s close friends from work in attendance, made it much more romantic and only for them. Mary wore an elegant ivory coloured dress; Edmund wore one of the suits he had brought with him from England, and they exchanged silver band rings while they said their vows to one another. They even added in some of their own words which made it even more special. Mary could not have asked for more. Edmund had told her that he had fought hard for her, and that he always would no matter what, and Mary had told Edmund that she would sacrifice everything for him all over again without a second thought. It made it that much more personal and a day that both of them would remember for the rest of their lives for all the right reasons.
“Happy anniversary,” Mary said with a smile as her husband walked towards her. Even after a year of marriage, he still made her heart skip a beat; she did not think she would ever tire of him coming in to see her. She loved him more now than she did when they left their old lives, and that grew every single day. “How was business?”
Edmund cupped Mary’s cheek in his hand and stared lovingly into her eyes. “It was just fine,” he said evasively. “But I do not want to worry about that right now. I want to know how you two are getting on.”
Mary’s eyes glanced downwards as Edmund rubbed his hand over her ever-swelling belly. The baby inside of her was growing restless; she could sense movement inside of there all the time. It gave her the strong hint that it would not be long until he or she was born. She rubbed her bump too, and her grin grew even wider.
“We are both fine, thank you very much,” she said happily, almost dreamily when she tried to picture how everything was going to change for the better. “I think we might get to meet our little one soon. I have a feeling that it will not be long.”
“Remember, it is not easy,” Edmund warned. “Do not forget how challenging it was when baby Johnathon was born.”
The couple had been through child rearing before, even if they had not had a baby themselves. When Charlotte’s little bundle of joy was born, it was only those two there to help her, and while they were happy to do it, that did not make it easy. Johnathon created chaos; he was a fussy baby that did not like much sleep. While there were three of them to take turns with him, it was still very challenging.
“I am hoping that since we did not travel the ocean to the other side of the world with this baby in my belly, that we will not have the same issues.” Mary giggled. “Although Johnathon is doing just fine now. Ever since his first birthday, I believe that he has been doing very well.”
“It is certainly quiet since Charlotte and Johnathon moved out.” Edmund kissed down her cheek and neck. “I hope that they are doing well.”
Charlotte had since moved in with a very handsome cowboy, Richard, who Mary more than approved of. It was challenging at first when she started dating the good-looking man because she could not be fully honest with him about her life. He knew that she had a child, but she pretended to be a widow to save the uncomfortable conversation, but eventually when things started to get serious Charlotte had been forced to sit him down and tell him everything. Luckily, he was a very good man, so he understood well. That was the moment that he asked her to move in with him, and since he had such a good relationship with Johnathon already, she immediately said yes.
Of course, there might come a time later on when the issues surrounding that situation would come up, but at the moment, everything was good, and that was all that mattered. Mary had never seen Charlotte so happy; she was like a different woman these days. She was freer, more confident, and always laughing ... the way that Lord Jones had knocked her confidence was long gone. That faded along with the endless bruises that he gave her, and now she could finally be herself again. It made Mary and Edmund proud to have brought her out of that situation. Who knew where they would have been if they had stayed? The violence would only have worsened.
“I am sure that they are. We shall soon find out anyway since they are coming for dinner. Whatever we have to eat smells delicious anyway.”
Edmund stepped away from his wife and shook off his thick, heavy jacket. The fashions in America were slightly more relaxed, but in business, he was expected to dress very smartly. It was hot in California, and that made it very challenging to dress that way.
Mary stepped away from the pit and admired her lovely husband. “Who would have ever thought that we would end up this way?” she mused. “Imagine knowing when we first met that we would end up married and living in America, about to host a dinner party for Charlotte and her cowboy partner? It would have sounded insane.”
“I know, but sometimes the best things that happen in life are the most unexpected.”
Mary nodded slowly. “Yes, you are right about that ... oh.” She gripped onto her stomach and bent over as a shocking wave of pain washed over her. It seemed to come from nowhere and almost knocked her for six. “Oh, my goodness.”
Edmund was there in an instant. “What is happening?” he gasped. “Is everything alright? What is happening to you? Is there anything that I can do to help?”
“It is ...” Mary puffed. “It is the baby.” She looked up at him and gave Edmund a needy look. She was not sure exactly what she needed, but she knew that it was something. “I think the baby might be coming now.”
“But ... your waters ...” Edmund knew that this would come soon enough, and he was excited for it, but now that it had happened, he felt petrified. All of a sudden, he was overwhelmed with images of all the things that might go wrong. “They have not broken.”
Mary huffed and puffed, ignoring Edmund’s remark. She could not help noticing that the pain was easing slightly. Now that her brain was clearing, she could remember this happening with Charlotte when she gave birth. At least this was normal.
“Is ... that ... the door?” she puffed, slowly loosening her grip around herself as she pushed into a standing position. “It might be Charlotte. I hope it is because I could use her advice right now.”