AnnaSophia Robb as Luci Jo James-Gilbert
Luci's Pov
I was laying in bed listening to Brantley snore. Brantley and I have been married for only a 3 days and things are good. Brantley has been acting like the perfect husband and treating me like a queen around here. I know today I'm going to be deep cleaning this cabin. Brantley told me that he wasn't the best cook, but I think he wasn't the best house cleaner. Oh well. This is why I'm here. To cook and clean to make him happy so he can help me get to my grandmother. I just wish she would have written me back. I hope she's okay. I looked up at Brantley and smiled at him. He's laying on me and I know he's dead tired. He's been working his butt off around here. I didn't know how much he had, but since he was the first person to have a clam on the mountain he owns over 2500 acres of land. All of it is woods and that's the way Brantley wants to keep it. I looked at Brantley's watch and saw it was already 5 in the morning. Brantley said he wanted to get a head start on what he is doing today. Some how I need to get this big old teddy bear off of me so I can cook him some breakfast.
"Don't leave Darlin." Brantley said to me. How did he even know I was even up.
"I know you think it's time to get up, but it's not." Brantley said to me.
"Yes it is. I need to cook you some--" Brantley cut me off by kissing me.
"All I need is you to hold me for a few more minutes." Brantley said to me. I kissed his forehead.
"What are you doing today?" I asked him. Brantley just laid on my chest.
"Working on something." Brantley said to me.
"Nothing dangerous right." I asked him. God, I don't know what I would do if something would happen to him. I have no clue how to get help.
"Life is dangerous." Brantley said to me. I looked at him. He kissed me on my lips.
"But nothing for you to worry about." Brantley said to me getting off the bed. I moved the blanket off of me.
"Just please be safe." I said to him.
"I will. I want some eggs for breakfast." Brantley said to me. I looked at him.
"Get me the eggs and do your morning chores and you will get some eggs." I said to him. Brantley wrapped his arm around me.
"I'm happy." Brantley said to me. Little does he know I'm starting to fall for this man. I mean I've only knew him for 3 days, but I needed him. He saved me. I looked up at this big mountain man and smiled at him.
"I am too." I said to him. Brantley was moving down to give me a kiss, but my belly did a flip and I knew I was about to get sick.
"No." I said to him running out of the bedroom. I opened up the back door and puked.
"I'm sorry Darlin." I heard Brantley tell me.
"It's okay." I said to him. I washed my mouth out and wiped down my teeth I walked back inside to find Brantley getting the stove ready for me. I walked behind him and wrapped my arms around his body.
"Thank you Brantley." I said to him. In some way I wish I could really make him happy. But I need to think about my baby and me.
"Your welcome Darlin. How are you feeling?" Brantley asked me.
"I'm good. Doc Jackson said this might take a few days to a few weeks to get over this morning sickness." I told him.
"How far are you?" Brantley asked me.
"12 weeks and 3 days." I told him. Brantley looked down at me.
"You need to eat more and do less around here." Brantley said to me. I looked up at him.
"Brantley Keith Gilbert, you better get out of my kitchen right now before I hit you with this wood spoon." I told him. Brantley smiled at me.
"I'm going old woman." Brantley said to me, giving me a kiss. I patted his butt when he was walking away from me. He turned back at me.
"Do that again and I'm taking you to the bedroom." Brantley said to me. I smiled at him.
"Get the eggs old man!" I told him. Brantley just gave me a wink, and walked out of the cabin.
"That man." I said to myself. I got everything that I'll be needing to make Brantley his eggs. Plus I'm making biscuits and gravy for him. He's a big man and he needs all the food he can get. I want to ask Brantley about all of them scars he has on his back, but not yet. I have my guest but I don't want to say for sure since I don't know.
After Brantley and I ate our breakfast he went back outside to get the chores down and I started on cleaning the cabin. I was on my hands and knees scrubbing on the floor when I heard another man yelling.
"Yo Gilbert you home!" The man yelled. I got up and walked over to the window and saw a man and a woman with a baby and 3 small kids. I walked over to the door.
"Damn it David you don't need to be yelling." Brantley said to the man.
"Sorry mate." The man said. I opened up the door and looked out there.
"Uncle Brantley who's that?" The small boy said.
"Luci, come here. I want you to meet the McRoy family" Brantley said to me. I walked over to him.
"Everyone this is my wife Luci. Luci this is my best friend David and his wife Meadow, and there wild brew of children. David Jr, he's 12, Carter he's 10, Thomas is 8 and the new baby Meadow is holding is Running Star. He's what 6 months old." Brantley asked David.
"Almost. Hi nice to meet you." Meadow said to me. I looked at her and smiled.
"You too." I said to her.
"Darlin, David and the kids are helping me out today, so Meadow and Running Star is going to stay here with you." Brantley said to me.
"Yeah that's fine. Please come on in." I said to her.
"Perfect we can leave now. Darlin we will be back at noon to eat." Brantley said to me.
"Okay." I said to him, giving him a kiss.
"Boys be good and listen to your pa and uncle Brantley. You hear me boys." Meadow was telling her children.
"We will mama." They all said to her.
"Bye be good woman." David said to his wife.
"I be good. You keep an eye on my boys you hear me. If something happens to them you will be sleeping in the barn with the live stock." Meadow said to her husband.
"Yes mama." David said to his wife. We waved bye to all the men.
"Now that they are gone we can gossip. Lord know's I nee a woman to talk too." Meadow said to me walking right into the cabin. Oh, I know she and I will get a long just fine now.
"So how long have you and Brantley been married." Meadow asked me. I looked at her.
"If you let me hold that sweet baby I'll tell you everything." I told her. She smiled at me.
"Girl, you don't have to ask. Here you go. If you want to keep a few of them you can." Meadow said to me. I smiled at her.
"Yeah 4 boys. Lucky you." I said to her.
"Hey, God wanted me to be a mother to them boys." Meadow said to me. I was just looking at her baby. I can't believe I'm going to having one of these precious little things in my life. But if David is white and Meadow is a Indian and the older boys are white.
"I know that look." Meadow said to me. I looked at her.
"What look?" I asked her.
"The look that read's 'Why is this baby mix and his brothers are white' look. And to answer your question I'm not there birth ma. She died giving birth to Thomas." Meadow said to me.
"I'm so sorry." I told her. That poor family.
"Thank you, but in someway their mother sent me to them." Meadow told me. I looked at her like she was nuts.
"My people lived way up on the other side of this mountain and the other tribe who hated my people for years. And for years just kept on pushing us farther and farther up the mountain. Killing as many of us as they can. Old men and women. Children. Men. Women. They just wanted us to die. I was running for my life. My parents where killed. My older brother and his whole family was killed right in front of me. I never got hit by nothing. And I didn't understand that. In someway I wanted to die. Maybe just to be with my family up in the heavens or just to stop running. I don't know. Then on a cold winter night I was so hungry, lost and almost on my death bed, I saw this tall woman in the darkness pointing in the distance.---" Running Star giggled at his mama.
"That's right baby boy. So anyway I walked over there and I saw a cabin." Meadow said to me I looked at her.
"David's cabin." I said to him.
"Yes. I was so scared he would hurt me, but he saw me and let me in to his cabin with his 3 small boys. Thomas was now 9 months old by this time. After David told me about his wife dying in child birth he was still learning how to be a single father. But he couldn't leave his boys like he used to do when his wife was still alive. I knew that angel that I saw when I got lost was his wife telling me safety is this way. Been apart of that family for 8 years now, and David and I been married for 6 years." Meadow told me. I smiled at her.
"That's a beautiful story Meadow." I told her.
"Thanks. Love my boys. So now tell me yours." Meadow asked me. I looked at her.
"My pa killed my mama when I was 16---" Meadow cut me off.
'You poor dear." Meadow said to me.
"Thanks. The night he killed my mama he hanged himself. I had no where to go. We didn't know papa was so far in debt that they was going to take the farm from us." I told Meadow.
"I'm sorry." She said to me.
"After I lost my mother and I lost the farm I was only 16 and I got a job working at Amos Saloon as his maid. Still nasty job. I got touched all the time by men. And smell of their breath still gets in my mind from time to time." I stopped talking for a second.
"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it we don't have too." Meadow said to me. I looked at her.
"It's fine. It's over now. So I was outside at the saloon and some man raped me. I'm 3 months pregnant with a mans baby that I don't even know." I told her. I began to cry.
"Hey, Brantley is doing something big to you. Your safe and I'm so sorry that happened to you, but honey we are married now and we have families to take care of. I'm not trying to be mean, but a wise old woman told me this, if we don't act our age, they will walk all over us." Meadow said to me. I looked at her.
'If we don't act our age, they will walk all over us'
"You okay Luci." Meadow asked me. I smiled at her.
"Yeah I'm good. Thank you for listening." I said to her. Meadow smiled at me.
"Any time. We are friends after all." Meadow said to me.
"Yes we are. So anyway, Brantley and I just got married 3 days ago and so far best 3 days of my life." I said to Meadow
"Good for you. I knew someone could handle that man." Meadow said to me. I smiled at her.
"Look at you. Mother of 4 boys." I said to Meadow.
"Honey, I'm a single mother to 5 boys." Meadow said to me.
"Do they change?" I asked her.
"Do what change?" Meadow asked me, taking a drink of coffee.
"Men. When they have children?" I asked her.
"Yes. With my David he was a cold man with his boys at first. He was hard on them, but when I had enough of him yelling at them, I went off on him. After that he's been the best papa to them boys. But at the same time they need to learn the balance of being a father and being a husband." Meadow told me.
"Thank you. It's nice to have a woman to talk too." I said to her.
"Right. So how old are." Meadow asked me.
"18. You." I asked her.
"26." Meadow said to me.
"Do you know what Brantley and David are doing" I asked her. She smiled at me.
"All I know is that my husband woke me up at 3 in the morning to tell me that he was going to go help Brantley with the logs and I have to come to keep an eye on the boys." Meadow said to me. I looked at her.
"And the boys are with there pa, yeah I know. But hey I'm glad we are here in the cabin instead of doing the log work." Meadow said to me. I laughed at her.
"Me too." I said to her.
After about 3 hours of none stop talking Meadow and I was cooking everything up for lunch for the boys. I know when they get here they will be so hungry so Meadow and I are cooking up fried chicken, ham and taters with gravy and a sweet corn. Meadow and I was almost done with all the food when we heard the team pulling up. I walked outside and saw David and Brantley and the boys just dirty as the can.
"Hey boys wash up before you go into uncle Brantley and aunt Luci's cabin." David said to his boys.
"Yes sir." They all said to him.
"Boys come with me." Meadow said to her kids.
"Yes mama." They all said to her.
"You too old man." Meadow said to David.
"Hey, you don't need to tell me twice." David said to his wife. I walked over to Brantley.
"Need any help." I asked him. He looked down at me.
"Please." He said to me.
"Sit down." I said to him. Brantley sat down. I began to wash off Brantley's back.
"How was your visit with Meadow goin?" Brantley asked me.
"It's going good. Thank you for letting me meet all of these great people you know." I said to him. Brantley smiled at me.
"Your welcome Darlin. Lunch looks great by the way." Brantley said to me. I gave him a smile.
"Thank you, but Meadow did most of the cooking. I was to busy holding Running Star." I told him. Brantley smiled at me.
"Just think in a few more months we will be having one of those around here." Brantley said to me. I smiled at him. I don't know if he is just saying all of this due to the fact that we have the McRoy family over, or if he really means it, so I just gave him a hug.
"Come on let's eat so you can go back logging." I said to Brantley.
"Yes Darlin." He said to me, Brantley wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked back to the picnic table.
"So how much longer for the day boys." Meadow asked Brantley and David, as we was getting everyone's plate ready for all of them. So glad she told me that all of her boys would eat all of this food.
"Maybe another 5 more hours." David said to us. I looked at Meadow who was smiling at me.
"Yeah then we will be done for the day. Boys thank you again for all of your help." Brantley said to the boys.
"Your welcome uncle Brantley." David Jr., Carter and Thomas all said to Brantley.
"Meadow you have some great boys right there." Brantley said to Meadow.
"Oh I know. I'm really blessed to have them all." Meadow said about her boys. I looked at her boys and they only had eyes for there mama. She may not have given birth to them, but she runs her family as the boss. I like that. Maybe one day I can do that.
"We are the ones that are blessed here. Aren't we boys." David said to his well minded boys.
"Yes sir. Our other mama sent this mama to raise us and love us." Thomas said to us.
"That's right Thomas. And we love mama just as much as we love our other mama don't we boys." David Jr. asked his younger brothers.
"Yeah." They both said. I looked over at Meadow and I knew what she meant when she told me that she was sent there to raise them boys as her own. They love her just like she was there mama.
"You got some sweet boys David." I said to him.
"Thank you ma'am. I do like them myself." David said to me. I giggled at him.
"This smells really good Darlin." Brantley said to me, after I gave him his plate.
"Thank you." I said to him. After we all got our plates Brantley said a pray and we began to eat. The boys all made small talk with each other. Brantley and David was talking about the logging that they was doing. But Meadow and I just talked like we have been best friends for 200 years now.
"Boys we are leaving in about 10 minutes so why don't you try and use the outhouse before we leave okay." David said to the boys.
"Yes sir." They all said and ran back to the outhouse. Meadow and I was trying to get all of the dishes done and putting everything away. We want to take a walk around while the boys are gone. It's a nice spring day. We just want to be outside right now.
"Meadow we are leaving." David said to his wife.
"I can see that David, I'm not blind." Meadow said to her husband. I looked back at Brantley and he waved for me to leave the cabin.
"Why are you getting mad woman?" David asked Meadow. Brantley shut the door so we won't hear what they are talking about.
"Are they okay." I asked him.
"They are fine Darlin, that's how they talk to each other." Brantley said to me. I smiled at him.
"Really. There love is so strong I didn't think they would act like that." I said to him.
"That's how they are. David really does love Meadow. And I know Meadow is in love with David." Brantley said to me. I was about to say something when the front door opened up.
"The hell with you old woman." David yelled at his wife.
"Love you too Jackass. Bye boys mama loves you and be good." Meadow said to her kids.
"Bye mama. Love you." They all said to Meadow. Meadow smiled at them and looked over at David and gave him a wink. I looked up at Brantley.
"Told you Darlin. See you soon. Bye." Brantley said to me, kissing me on my cheek and running back over to the wagon.
"Bye. God be with you all." I said to them, waving bye to them. Meadow walked outside with Running Star in her arms.
"Did you and David get in a fight." I asked her. She looked over at me.
"No. He's just being David." Meadow told me. I laughed at her.
"Come on mama to be, let's take a walk." Meadow said to me, taking my hand in hers.
I was sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair sewing up some of Brantley's clothes for him. He's out in the barn locking up the animals for the night. It was a good day getting to know David and Meadow McRoy and their children. I just do wish they living a little bit closer to us. I could really use her around, when I need a woman to talk too.
"Okay everything is done now." I looked up and saw Brantley sitting down next to me.
"Are you tired Brantley." I asked him, smiling at him.
"Yes. But David, they boys and I got a lot of the job done today and they will be coming down every Saturday to help me." Brantley told me. I looked at him.
"That's perfect Brantley. I like Meadow. She's a great woman and a very strong woman. And you can tell her whole life is about them boys." I told him. Brantley smiled at me.
"Well, I'm calling it a night Darlin." Brantley said to me. I looked up at him.
"I think I'll stay out here for a few more minutes then I'll be right in." I told him.
"You want me to stay Darlin." Brantley asked me.
"No you worked hard all day. You go in and I'll be right behind you." I told him.
"Okay. Night Darlin." Brantley said to me, giving me a kiss. Brantley walked into the cabin and I was just out here with my own thoughts.
I have a lot on my mind these days. I wish my mama was here to help me. She was the light to them darken nights, when pa would come home all drunk and mean. Wish I could hold her hand and give her a kiss. I just want to show her I'm trying to get a better life for me and my baby that I'm caring.I just wish I could talk to her one more time. I didn't know I was crying until I saw the tears falling on Brantley's pants.
Dear God, what should I do?
A/N
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