A Husband for Margaret(19)

“Yep,” Doug agreed from beside Bob. “There’s nothing to make you scream.”

She chuckled. “That’s always a good thing.”

“You ready?” Joseph asked.

She nodded and let him pick her up. Her cheeks grew warm. He was solid and strong, and she rather enjoyed being in his arms like this.

“Don’t drop our new ma!” Bob warned as Joseph crossed the threshold.

Charles watched them as he sat beside a sleepy Ben who was lying on the floor in front of the couch.

“It looks like someone’s had a busy day,” Margaret commented, pointing to the two boys who looked exhausted.

“We should get you all down to bed,” Joseph agreed before he set her down.

Her heart fluttered with a strange nervous excitement. Did he take her innocent statement to mean that she was eager to be alone with him? That wasn’t what she meant, but he was already across the room and lifting Ben. She wiped her hands on her dress. It was no big deal really. Every wife did this. She recalled how happy Jessica looked a week after she married Tom. Her other friends seemed just as happy. That meant that this was a good thing. They didn’t have to say it. It was in the way they talked and acted.

She continued to repeat this to herself, assuring herself that her nerves would be settled soon enough. While Joseph took the youngest two to their beds, Doug and Bob helped her with her items. They surprised her because she didn’t expect them to be concerned with making sure all her things were put away where they belonged.

But when Bob mentioned that they wanted to make sure she was in a good mood so she’d make them lots of cookies and pies, she realized this was really a set-up. Amused, she made a mental note to start in on those treats once she was able to go to the mercantile to buy the items she’d need. She couldn’t blame the boys. Didn’t all children enjoy dessert? She paused as she placed her extra pair of shoes under the bed. Actually, adults enjoyed the sweets just as much. Children, it seemed, were just more obvious about it.

Joseph entered the room and waved to Doug and Bob. “Time for bed.”

The knot in her stomach tightened. Once they were in bed, then there was nothing stopping her husband from... She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. There would be nothing to stop him from doing what husbands had been doing with their wives since people existed. She wondered if other women experienced the same mixture of curiosity, excitement and apprehension as she was at this very moment.

Well, one thing she knew for sure was that she needed to get out of her clothes. She decided she’d do that while Joseph was putting Doug and Bob to bed. She had a hard time going through the simple task because her hands kept slipping on her buttons, but she didn’t want him to come back and catch her without her clothes on. Of course, that was ridiculous. He was about to be intimate with her, and they weren’t going to have clothes on anyway. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to stand naked in front of him, so as soon as she threw her clothes onto the small chair by the window, she slipped under the bed covers and waited.

She heard the sound of his footsteps across the hardwood floor in the hallway before he entered the room. Without thinking, she pulled the cover up to her chin and gripped the blanket as if her life depended on it. All of her efforts to assure herself that she’d be fine went right out the window.

Joseph offered a soft smile and closed the door behind him.

She inhaled and slowly exhaled. For some reason, this room didn’t seem so small when the boys were in here.

“All things considered, I think the day went well. I’m sorry Debra came. That wasn’t something I enjoyed.”

She gathered that much, and though it was on the tip of her tongue to ask more about the rude woman, he took off his tie, signaling an instant change in mood. Suddenly, it seemed any mention of Debra just wouldn’t do for the rest of the night.

He started to unbutton his shirt. “You’re a good woman, Margaret. I’m glad you agreed to marry me.”

He took his shirt off and she wondered if he was going to fully undress in front of her, a prospect which intrigued her as much as it terrified her. But he dimmed the light on the kerosene lamp until the room was dark. She heard him shuffling around and swallowed the lump in her throat. Alright. This was it.

He lifted the blanket and sheet and slid in next to her. She jerked when he reached for her, and he chuckled. “I promise it’s not scary.”

“I’m not scared,” she squeaked. Her cheeks flushed. How could her voice betray her like that?

“I remember the first time Hannah and I were together. There’s a lot of uncertainty involved.”