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  “Do you want to get another dog? Maybe we can find a puppy in town.”

  “I’m not sure…I love animals, but I think I need to get the girls trained first.”

  “How did that go, by the way?”

  “Really well! I helped train my sister, Ida Mae, so I’ve done it before. Both girls like the idea of using the water closet. I think they’ll be trained within the week.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “They’re old enough, and they’re ready. It won’t take long.”

  “Have I told you yet how thankful I am that you were the one to answer that awful letter Mrs. Johnson sent?” He couldn’t imagine another woman who was as willing to throw herself into their lives.

  “Yes, but would you tell me again?”

  “I would…but I don’t want it to make you think you’re better than everyone around you!”

  She laughed. “Good night, Harv.”

  “G’night, Doris.”

  Chapter 6

  Doris woke well before dawn and sewed by the light of a lantern. She worked as quickly as she could, getting the dress done just in time to start breakfast for her new family.

  She quickly made scrambled eggs and toast from the bread she’d baked the day before, then went to wake the girls. They had done really well with their training the day before, but she’d put them in diapers to sleep. She dressed them in the dresses she’d made while they slept, and then covered them in towels to eat their breakfast.

  Harvey came downstairs with the boys just as she was getting the girls seated at the table. “I didn’t hear you get up this morning.”

  “I got up really early to finish Pauline’s dress.”

  He grinned at her. “You got them both done?” He’d believed she’d set herself an impossible task, but he hadn’t wanted to discourage her by saying so. “I’m really impressed!”

  She smiled, scooping eggs onto each plate. She set food in front of each of the children before getting plates for herself and Harvey. “I’m tired, but the girls will look beautiful for church.”

  “They sure will! I can’t wait to see them after breakfast.”

  After the prayer, Doris looked over at the boys, who had sullen looks on their faces. “Is something wrong boys?”

  “You made the girls new clothes. What about us?” Matthew asked.

  “I’ll be making you new clothes as soon as I can. I had to get the girls something that fit before church this morning. You can wear your brother’s old clothes for a little while at least. They had nothing.”

  “Do you like them better than us?” Bobby asked, his face sad.

  “Not at all! I love you all equally, just like a mother should. I made a list yesterday of everything I have to do to get the house and your clothes ship-shape.” Doris got up and walked over to the work table where she’d left the list. “I put numbers by the things that needed to be done first, second, third, and so on. See?” She handed Bobby the list where number one was getting the girls dresses and number two was clothes for the boys.

  Bobby looked down at it and frowned. “So we’re next?”

  “You are most definitely next! I’ll make clothes for you boys, and then I’ll make something else for the girls.” She leaned forward, as if to impart a great secret. “Want to know a secret?”

  Bobby nodded. “What?”

  “I’ll be making clothes for you four children before I make anything for your papa. He comes last.”

  Matthew giggled, covering his mouth with his hand. “We’re more important than Papa?”

  “Absolutely!” She grinned over at Harvey, seeing that he approved of her explanation for the boys. “I’ll start on clothes for you boys right after church today.”

  Matthew’s face fell. “It’s church day?”

  Harvey shook his head at Matthew. “You know it’s Sunday. Just keep on smiling, son.”

  “Why don’t you like church?” Doris asked, surprised. She’d always loved going to church and seeing the other children there.

  Matthew just shrugged, looking down at his plate.

  Bobby pushed his food away, mostly uneaten. “People don’t like us there. They call us the Butler brats.”

  “My brothers and sisters and I had bad names too. The women at church thought they were clever making up names to call us, but the names are hurtful, aren’t they?” She hoped she could explain to the kids in a way they’d understand how she’d been treated when she was young. Of course, she and her siblings had deserved the names and done their best to live down to them.

  “Yes,” Bobby nodded emphatically. “We’re not brats!”

  “No, I really don’t think you are. I think you acted out a few times and made people think you were brats. Do you want to know how to confuse people like that?”

  “How?”

  She lowered her voice, though she knew Harvey was listening. She thought the boys would like it better if they thought she was imparting some great, secret wisdom. “Go to church today and act perfectly. Sit with your hands on your laps. Don’t squirm. Don’t throw anything. Don’t tear off the numbers at the top of the pages in the hymnal so people can’t find their songs…”

  “How did you…?” Matthew stared at her as if she were some sort of magician, able to read their minds.

  “How did I know you did that? Because my brothers and sisters did the same thing. We’d move to a new location in church every week so we could make sure none of the hymns had any numbers, and everyone was confused.” She sat back and shrugged. “Trust me, there’s no mischief you’ve ever thought of that I haven’t already done.”

  Harvey sat quietly watching his new wife with his children. She connected with them better than he’d imagined anyone could. It was as if she spoke their language. “Isn’t it sad that all the tricks you’ve played have already been done?”

  Bobby looked at Doris with wonder in his eyes. “Could you help us with a prank then?”

  Doris threw back her head and laughed. “I’m out of the prank business, and in the mother business instead. I think we can figure out other fun stuff to do. Don’t you?”

  Bobby shrugged. “I guess. Having a mom who pranks with me would make me the envy of all my friends, though.”

  “I’m sure it would. Finish your breakfast so we can go to church and confuse everyone.”

  Matthew shrugged, taking a bite of his eggs. He was obviously game.

  As soon as breakfast was finished, Doris untied the towels from around the girls. Harvey looked at them and shook his head. “You girls look beautiful! You can’t be my girls, can you?”

  Pris giggled. “It’s really us, Papa!”

  Pauline nodded emphatically, agreeing with her sister.

  He got down on his knees on the floor, enveloping both girls in a hug. “You know you’re always my favorite girls, right?”

  They nodded emphatically, their braids bobbing up and down.

  Doris turned away to do the dishes, more so her family didn’t see the tears in her eyes than because the dishes needed to be done.

  When they walked into church as a family for the first time, Doris had one hand held by Pris and the other resting on her husband’s arm. The boys were wearing clothes a little tighter than she’d like, but at least their pants were long enough. By next Sunday, all of the children would be wearing clothes that fit properly.

  Harvey started to go into a pew at the very back of the church, but Doris shook her head. She moved instead to a pew in the middle, confident that the children would want to behave, if only to confuse the people who had called them names for so long.

  The children stayed with her and Harvey as people came over and introduced themselves. The church was small, but Doris had time to meet six or seven ladies before the pastor cleared his throat to start the service. “Let’s open our hymnals to hymn number twenty-three.”

  Doris reached for the hymnal in front of her and flipped a couple of pages, seeing that she had guessed right. There were no p
age numbers in the hymnals in that pew or any others it seemed.

  Gradually everyone began singing along with the pastor’s loud baritone voice.

  After the prayer, the pastor greeted everyone. “I want to extend a warm welcome to Mrs. Doris Butler. She married Harvey Butler this week, and she’s moved here from Massachusetts. I hope you’ll all find time to greet her.”

  People turned and looked at her, and Doris saw many women whispering to their husbands. She refused to let it bother her. She knew they were all talking about the mistake she’d made in marrying Harv. She’d show them all she was made of stronger stuff than they thought.

  After church, there was a young woman who walked over to her and introduced herself. She was obviously in the advanced stages of pregnancy. “The people here are good people. They just like to talk…and they don’t think much of your boys.”

  Doris shrugged. “I can tell. We’ll change their minds.”

  The woman grinned, her whole face lighting up. “I’m Gretchen Lindon. It’s nice to meet you!”

  “It’s good to meet you too.” Doris felt deep down that this woman was meant to be her friend. “When are you due?”

  “Another two months.” Gretchen patted her belly. “I’m looking forward to the day. My man died right before we were supposed to get married, so everyone keeps looking down their noses at me. You probably don’t want to talk to me if you want others to like you. None of them do.”

  Doris shrugged. “I’m not without sin, so I can’t cast stones. I think you and I are meant to be friends.” She looked around and saw many of the older women whispering behind their hands again. “Would you like to come over for tea tomorrow? I’m going to need a break from sewing by early afternoon.”

  “I would be happy to come and help you sew, if that would make you happy.”

  Doris nodded. “That would help me a lot! Is there nowhere you need to be?”

  Gretchen shrugged. “I live with my parents, but they’re ashamed of me, and if I can get away from another lecture about how I’m going to burn in hell for my sins, I’m willing to do that.”

  “All right. Come as early as you want, then. Any time after eight is fine. I’ll be working on making clothes for the boys around housework and baking all day. And watching the twins, of course.”

  “I’ll see you at eight, then. Thank you so much for the invitation.”

  “Seems to me we both need friends right now.”

  “We do!” Gretchen walked away with a smile on her face, and Doris was glad she’d invited the other woman over. Maybe no one else in town thought much of either of them, but that was no reason they couldn’t like each other.

  Doris walked back to Harvey’s side. “I invited Gretchen to spend the day with me tomorrow.”

  Harvey nodded, smiling at her. “I think that’s a good thing. She needs a good friend.”

  Harvey left her with a kiss that had her toes curling the next morning. He had agreed to wait to consummate their marriage, but he wouldn’t wait to kiss her and touch her. He said those were his rights, and he wasn’t giving them up.

  She fixed a lunch for the boys to share and put it in their lunch pail. As she handed the pail to Bobby, she said, “Remember. You can live up to others’ expectations of you, or you can rise above, and show them that you’re not who they think you are. Either way, your father and I will love you.” She kissed each of them on the cheek and sent them off to school. She wasn’t worried about them misbehaving in class, because she knew she’d done worse than anything they could think up.

  After watching them leave, she turned her attention to the dishes. The twins sat at the table with paper and pencils, scribbling away, while she did her morning chores. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was ten minutes after eight. Where was Gretchen?

  As she finished the last dish, there was a knock on her door, and she rushed over to answer it. “Oh, I’m so glad you made it! I was getting worried!”

  “My mother stopped me on the way out. She told me that you didn’t really want me to come over, but you felt like you needed to pity me. And then she said that what you really wanted was to steal my baby.” Gretchen shook her head. “I was glad to get out of there.”

  Doris rolled her eyes. “I promise you, there was no other reason I invited you than companionship. I need friends, and I think you’ll be a good one. So I had you come over. Seemed like a smart thing to do to me.”

  “So what can I do?”

  Doris sighed. “There’s so much to do, I can’t even express it all. Would you be willing to work on pants for one of the boys while I bake some bread?”

  “Of course!” Gretchen settled into one of the chairs at the table and picked up the pieces of pants that Doris had already cut out.

  Doris gave each of the girls some of the dough from the bread. “Can you make a face out of it?”

  The twins giggled and played with the dough while Doris and Gretchen chatted about the people in town. “So far, most people seem to really hate the boys,” Doris said with a frown. “I’ve never seen anyone hate children so much. Even the people in our old town didn’t have quite that much antipathy toward my siblings and me. Of course, we deserved it a lot more than the boys did.”

  Gretchen shrugged. “It’s the way they are, but I’m not sure why. I remember when their mother died. Everyone was here every day to help. Mothers brought their daughters to talk to your husband. I think they were trying to marry him off right away. When he refused, people got angry with him. And that seemed to make things worse for the boys.”

  “I can see that. And no one seems to be exactly pleased with me. They all tell me they’ll pray for me. If one more person tells me they’ll pray for me…well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but it will be bad!”

  Gretchen laughed. “What a threat. I’m sure all of the townswomen are shaking in their perfectly shined boots!”

  Doris turned from the bread she was kneading. “What is with everyone having to be perfect here? I’ve never been perfect a day in my life and don’t intend to pretend to be perfect. They just need to realize that people are imperfect and have human frailties.”

  “I really don’t know. I just know that my mother is mortified that I’ve brought shame on her by getting pregnant when I’m not married. I’m surprised she’s even letting me continue to live in her house.” Gretchen shook her head. “I love my baby. I loved his father. I don’t care what they say.”

  “How did he die?”

  “He was a fisherman, and he went out to sea one day and never returned. The water was choppy, and it was stormy. We can only presume he died at sea.”

  Doris frowned. “That’s sad. Well, if you need a friend who will celebrate the life of your baby with you, that friend is me. It’s going to be tough to raise a child on your own, but I know you can do it.”

  Gretchen smiled, looking at the twins. “I know I can too. For Reginald, I’ll do anything.”

  Doris sighed, wishing she had those feelings of love for her husband. She certainly wanted to.

  Chapter 7

  By the time the children came home from school, new pants had been made for both of the boys. Gretchen sat and worked diligently all day while Doris took care of the twins, baked, cooked, and cleaned. While the twins napped, Doris sat down to help sew, and the two ladies got to know one another better.

  Bobby came in from school with a note from the teacher that he gave to Doris. She accepted it with a bit of trepidation, but as she opened it, she reminded herself that the boys couldn’t have done anything worse than she’d done with her siblings. Why that helped her stay calm, she didn’t know. But it did help!

  Dear Mrs. Butler,

  I would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience concerning the behavior of Robert and Matthew. I want the two of us to work together to ensure a better schoolyear than we had last year. I almost didn’t return to teach this year due to their shenanigans.

  May I come by after school on Wednes
day to discuss this matter with you?

  I await your response,

  Miss Hughes

  Doris took a deep breath before going to fetch a pencil and a piece of paper. She quickly wrote out a response and set it on the table to be put into the boys’ lunch pail for them to take back to Miss Hughes.

  Dear Miss Hughes,

  Thank you for the note. I would love to work with you to ensure the boys have a good school year. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I will have a light snack ready when you arrive, and if you’d like, we’d love to have you for supper on Wednesday night as well. Then you would have the opportunity to talk to both my husband and me. I will plan on you for supper unless I hear otherwise.

  Sincerely,

  Mrs. Butler

  It felt odd to Doris to sign the new name, but she presumed every woman felt that way so soon after a marriage. As soon as she was finished, she said, “Are you boys hungry for a snack? Your father won’t be home for another couple of hours, so I made some cookies for you.”

  Bobby looked at her with a perplexed expression. “You’re not mad?”

  “Now why would I be angry? Did you do something I don’t know about?”

  “No, ma’am. I just thought you’d be angry that the teacher wanted to speak with you.”

  Doris grinned. “Want to know a secret?”

  Bobby nodded, his eyes wide.

  “My mother was sent a letter just like that at the beginning of every school year. Of course, we’d usually already done something that the teacher needed to discuss with our mother, and no one ever came back to teach us for a second semester. Many teachers wouldn’t even finish out their first semester with us. We were loud and obnoxious.”

  Gretchen watched the whole thing with her head bowed, seeming to concentrate on the work in front of her. She said nothing, but Doris could see her hiding a grin.

  Bobby studied his new step-mother for another moment, but then he sat down at the table. “I’ll take those cookies now.”