“See them to adulthood with as few scrapes as possible,” Connie inserted.
Sighing, Debra nodded. “I’m not up for the task. Perhaps if I had them one at a time... But not like this!”
“That’s the only way to do it,” Connie agreed. “These children are already set in their ways. Margaret, it’s not in my nature to intrude on the affairs of other women, but you did make your vows before God, and it would be wise to keep them.”
“I agree. I’m sorry, Margaret,” Debra said. “I won’t bother you or Joseph ever again.”
Margaret’s eyes grew wide in surprise. Debra Potter was apologizing to her?
“Apparently, my ways are too refined to handle these children,” Debra added.
“A truer statement has never been said,” Connie agreed. “You know, I raised my Peter to be a most upstanding citizen of this community, and he never did dastardly things like climb a tree or get his hands sticky with candy.” She glanced at Bob who held his hands up and grinned. Shaking her head, she said, “Those children are beyond refinement, Debra. What you need is a man who doesn’t have any yet. Then you marry him and when you do have them, you can start to train them from the very beginning on how to properly behave.”
“Yes, Mrs. James. I gather you’re right.”
“I am. I’m a mother. I know these things. I have a feeling there are better things in your future.” Connie smiled and patted Debra’s hand. “You know, I would be honored if you’d come by my house for a nice dinner tonight.”
Debra looked at her dress and shook her head. “I couldn’t possibly come tonight.”
“Then tomorrow?”
“Yes. That will be fine.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Connie turned to Margaret and said, “Now, you do what’s right and take care of these children.”
Margaret pretended to think about it. “Well...alright. You’ve convinced me. I’ll stay with Joseph.”
Connie nodded. “Good. Do your duty.”
“And good luck,” Debra added with a slight shake of her head as she glanced at the children.
Connie and Debra strolled off together, already discussing Mrs. Lonny and how they knew the woman.
Margaret waited until Connie and Debra were out of hearing distance before she gave the four children a big hug. “You all were wonderful!”
“It worked, just like you said!” Bob cheered.
“It did,” Doug added, amazed.
“You bet it did,” she said. “I knew that Miss Potter was all talk. When push came to shove, she backed off. She won’t be a problem anymore.”
“And we get cookies?” Bob pressed.
“Of course, you do,” she replied, looking over her shoulder to see if Joseph would venture over to them. Sure enough, he was heading in their direction. “You go on and play with Charles and Ben right over there. I need to talk to your pa for a moment.”
They obeyed and she turned her attention to a bewildered looking Joseph. “It worked.”
“Of course, it did.” She raised her eyebrow. “Now, will you trust me to do what’s best for these children?”
“Our children. And yes.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry I gave you a hard time.”
She pretended to think it over and smiled. “As long as it doesn’t happen again, I can overlook this incident.”
“It’ll never happen again.”
“Good.” She jabbed him in the side. “You better get back to work. I didn’t marry you so you could run about town and see what mischief I’m up to.”
He chuckled. “Yes, dear.” He leaned forward and whispered, “You do know I love you, don’t you?”
Blushing, she replied, “I love you too.”
After he gave her another kiss on the cheek, he went over to the boys, and she caught a sudden notion that it might possibly be nice to have another child to welcome into the family. The thought caught her by surprise. She must be crazy to anticipate another one when her hands were already full, but she reasoned that what this family desperately needed was a girl or two to help even things out. As it was, she was horribly outnumbered by the boys.
Yes, she decided. Now that she got the Debra Potter situation resolved, it was time to move onto the next mission: a girl.
Chapter Sixteen
One year later
Margaret set down the pancakes on the table already filled with enough food to feed an army. Charles and Ben hovered nearby, watching everything she did with unbridled interest. One boy even patted his stomach in anticipation for the feast to come.