“We’re sure glad you made that woman go away,” Bob said.
“Alright,” Joseph said. “We have to walk back down the aisle. Then you can talk to her all you want.”
She followed Joseph’s lead and stepped forward, accidently bumping into Doug who jumped in front of her.
“You have to watch where you’re going,” Joseph told him with a chuckle in his voice.
“Oh, Pa. Doug is clumsy,” Bob replied. He looked at her. “You get used to it.”
“I’m not clumsy,” Doug said, narrowing his eyes at his brother.
“Fight later.” Joseph pointed down the aisle. “Right now, walk.”
They stopped their bickering and obeyed.
As they passed her parents, Margaret saw that Ben and Charles had gotten fidgety on their chairs, so she decided they might as well get up. She might not be familiar with children, but from what she did know, she suspected they had a hard time sitting still for any length of time. She motioned for Charles to join Joseph while she picked up Ben.
She smiled and told Joseph, “If we’re going to be a family, we might as well walk down the aisle together.”
He returned her smile and nodded before they continued past the guests.
Chapter Seven
Margaret thought the day went well despite Miss Potter’s arrival. She wanted to ask Joseph about the woman, but the guests surrounded them during the potluck lunch. She kept expecting the woman to pop up again, which she never did. Even so, she couldn’t fully enjoy the day. It was a strange thing really, for as soon as the vows were said and everyone started to go home after wishing them well, it occurred to her that this was the beginning of her life with Joseph. And that meant this wedding day led to a wedding night.
Why the thought hadn’t occurred to her sooner, she didn’t know. Perhaps it was the thought of being a mother right away. Or maybe it was because she was too busy thinking of the wedding day and making sure everything was as perfect as could be. Either way, it was on her mind now, and the closer evening came, the harder it was to push it aside.
Her mother had explained the facts to her and advised her to relax. Relaxing, after all, helped to ease a woman’s body so it wasn’t as uncomfortable for her first time. Now, if she could just will herself to relax, then things would be fine. But that proved to be a futile endeavor. In fact, the more she tried to relax, the more tense she became.
At least the process of taking her things to her new home distracted her enough so she didn’t insist on staying with her parents. It also helped that this was the home she used to admire as a child. Even if she was apprehensive about being a wife, the house was absolutely charming—more so than she remembered. She did so want to live in it.
The walk to the place was a mere three blocks from the one she grew up in. Her father and Joseph carried the bulk of her clothing and grooming supplies, and all she carried was a travel bag, which didn’t weigh much at all. She didn’t realize she had so little possessions to her name. Was that all her life was summed up in? Two armfuls and a travel bag’s worth of contents? Just what had she been doing with her life up to that point? Wearing clothes and brushing her hair?
One moment she was a girl dreaming of house and home and suddenly she was a woman with those dreams fulfilled. And even though she wanted to properly enjoy this moment, doubt nagged at her. Was she ready for this?
Before she knew it, they stopped at the front door. Bob opened it up and barged through with the other children in tow. She was beginning to understand that even though Bob was the second child, he was the one who took charge and spoke his mind whenever he felt like it. Doug was more reserved but took his duties seriously. As for Charles and Ben... They were still too young for her to determine how they would be.
Her father followed the children and set her things in the parlor.
Joseph asked her to wait at the doorway, ran inside the house to place the things he carried down, and headed back over to her. “I want to carry you over the threshold.”
Her father chuckled as he walked past them. “I’ll leave you to yourselves.” He gave her a hug. “I’m proud of you, Margaret. You’ll make a fine wife and mother.”
“Thank you, Pa,” she said, partly startled since she wasn’t used to hearing such sentiments from her father. But the words meant the world to her, and she was glad he said them.
Once he bounded down the porch steps, Joseph turned to her and smiled. “Are you ready to enter your new home, Mrs. Connealy?”
“Come on in, Ma!” Bob called out from where he sat on the couch in the parlor. “We checked for vermin.”