Cradle Creek

Chapter 1, Fall on Me

Alice Jane laid in the narrow twin bed. The sheets were old and faded, but soft and clean. Her knees curled around her growing belly and her right arm draped over her enlarged breasts. There were eleven other beds in the long room and the windows were sparkling from decades of ammonia use. Six of the other beds sat empty. She had had no idea that places like this still existed today, let alone would allow a mid-twenties woman to stay on at the convent. But, like most things, she assumed special exceptions could be made with the right kind of donation.

It was shortly after five in the late-May morning as she waited for Sister Mary Something to flick the lights and for a new morning to begin. Another day away from Blaise, another day closer to being back in his arms. The dawn giving short hints of the heat and humidity to come.

She stroked her belly, closed her eyes and allowed herself to pretend for a moment that he was beside her. The plans they had made were already in place. In her mind, it is five years in the future. In this pretend reality, she's pregnant again with a large diamond on her left hand and a lawyer for a husband who will become a father to her unborn son. 

A son would come first.

But, reality was around her; she was unmarried, pregnant with a bastard. A nameless child, tucked away in a convent, waiting to give birth, pass the child to parents that could not conceive, and return to the life she left. Alice Jane knew what was at stake and how important it was to keep this baby a secret until, well, always.

Before she left, her little white Mercedes loaded with very few things, Blaise met her on the edge of her father's estate. Leaning against his navy LandRover, he was classically handsome with cropped brown hair and eternally tan with olive skin. AJ stopped the car in front of him and stepped out. He immediately enveloped her in his familiar warm embrace, feeling secure wrapped up in him. Kissing her behind her ear, he whispered, "Pidge, you do this and I'll do that. We'll get through this together while we are apart and then we will have fourteen more babies. We'll have all the babies you want and never be apart again. Let's knock out this hard stuff early, so we can get to our happy ending. You're my happily ever after."

She sobbed, making his golf shirt wet with salty tears and waterproof mascara. "I can't go without you."

What had been her decision scared her and worse, made her feel weak.

"Pidge, you said it yourself. You have to. Our life will be amazing and I will take care of you for the rest of your life. But, you have to go. We will be back together before you know it. This time next year, all of this will be in the past." One more tight squeeze and he helped her back behind the wheel and she was up the highway. Bitsy, her sister, sat in the passenger seat, as the mode of transportation— any mode, white Mercedes not withstanding, was one of the many things the convent did not allow, including a computer, television, Netflix, and probably hot showers for all she knew. Her only concession was an iPod stocked with music and podcasts that she had hoped would last months.

—

March, two months before

Blaise Woodhull watched the white Mercedes turn the corner before he finally allowed the tears to gather in his eyes. The car was taking everything he held dear and when it returned, it would be holding a little less.

It was hard to sit here and not let the last few weeks wash over him. Their life roller-coastered up and down before screeching to a stop in mid turn. He had been a father for less than six weeks to the unborn child. How could a baby, a baby conceived in love and happiness no less, cause such upheaval? When she told him that she was pregnant, the joy he felt could be neither measured nor quelled.

She had stood before him last month, nervously apologizing with the sentence that would change everything: I'm pregnant.

His eyes widened like saucers with his lips curving to a boisterous smile. Immediately, Blaise dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed the small curve above her naval. "Pidge! It's a baby, Pidge! Hello, Little Squeaker," he whispered into her belly. "I'm going to marry your mama and we will live happily ever after."

Fear absolved into the love she knew he would always give her, "You mean that?" she whispered.

No longer on both knees, he raised one. Taking her hand, he said, "Pidge, never apologize. I have loved you since we met that New Year's Eve. I want you in my life for the rest of our days as my wife, my partner, my lover, the mother of our children, my beacon and lighthouse. Without you, I am nothing, but with you, I am everything. Be the woman that grounds me, humbles me, loves me. Marry me and give the name of Mrs. Morrison Blaise Woodhull IV legs that won't quit, a brain that won't stop, and compassion that never ends. Will you, will you please marry me?"

Tears rushed to her eyes, her head bobbing fiercely. "I'll take care of both of you," he said, standing and picking her up into his arms, bringing her into a deep kiss. "I'm going to love you for the rest of my life. How 'bout we spread the good news, Pidge?"

He called his parents, elusive in his word choice: exciting times ahead; Alice Jane's family is coming over for supper.

In the navy LandRover, Alice Jane texted her father, Daddy Jack, and Bitsy, inviting them to dinner at the Woodhull house. The newly minted engaged couple had fingers intertwined, a ring yet to be purchased. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the cool window and her hand over her still taunt belly as she began planning and dreaming the rest of her life.

—

Alice Jane sighed at the memory, feeling the presence of the woman before she opening her eyes.

The light flicked on and Sister Mary Something said, "The glorious day is upon us, Children of God. Let's start anew, washed clean with the morning dew. Morning Lauds in twenty minutes, my doves."

"It's going to be a beautiful day," she thought as her feet met the floor.