Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 39

May 1945

Grace

It was over.

After almost six years the war was finally over. It still sounded like a dream, but it was very much true. The war had ended in Europe, we were at peace again.

Peace. What a strange word.

I don't even remember who life was before the war. It felt like a distant memory, but now it was real.

So many people have died because of this bloody war. Husbands, wives, brothers and sisters, sons, and daughters, so many lost their lives. We were all affected by it on a personal level, it changed us forever.

I lost my oldest brother, my youngest is still missing somewhere in the war, hopefully, he will make a return soon. My dearest friend Martha was long gone now but there is not one day I don't think about her.

And my Harry...

After I received that letter from the British Army I couldn't believe what was written in it. Those letters never bring good news, I remember very well when we received the letter telling us about Andrew's death all those years ago.

So I was expecting a similar letter, telling me how sorry they were, how bravely Harry had fought for his country, and how he had died serving this great nation.

I was ready to start living without him. The life of a widow. It was more common than ever for such a young woman like me to be a widow at this age. There were thousands of girls in the same situation as I was.

But then, that letter did not say Harry was dead.

At first, I did not understand what it meant.

Harry was being considered a war hero, for his achievements in war, and for how bravely he had fought, protecting his mates on the battlefield. While reading it I thought it was a way for the British army to honour his soul and tell his family what a great man he was. It is the least the army can do when so many people risk their lives fighting for a war they never asked to begin with.

But I could not be more wrong.

Because the letter clearly said how he was safe in Paris after having secured the territory of the north of Italy. He and the rest of his colleagues were just waiting for things to settle before they could finally come home. The nazis had lost but Europe was still in ruins, and I know very well how hard it can be to come home. 

Harry was coming home. And that was something I still found hard to believe.

Every day for the past weeks, I woke up and I thought it was nothing but a dream. Harry was not coming home and I was a widow, pregnant, and alone. But it was not true, he was coming home, and he was a war hero.

"Your papa is a hero." I whisper to my belly as we sit on the lovely sun in the front yard.

My fat baby has been getting bigger each day, and I don't think he will last long in there. I have been taking these last few weeks very slowly, especially after the wonderful news I received the other day. Although they were good news, I was under so much stress that my body craved some well-deserved rest. After I read the letter, I almost fainted, but my mother in law actually fainted in the ground and had to go to the hospital. It was an emotional roller coaster for us.

We were all just anxiously waiting for Harry to return home. It could happen today, or in a few days, but all I wanted was for him to come home to us. So we can finally start our life together, our family.