Three Years Later
Elizabeth was stressed. She could find her husband anywhere. She knew he was on their lands, but she honestly couldn't find him. She looked everywhere before giving up and going to dress her daughter for the day.
"Where's Daddy?"
"I don't know, Roisin, we're going to go find him. You have to get dressed first, though. You'll catch a cold going out to find your father in these clothes." Her daughter smiled at her, letting Elizabeth assist her while he dressed. She was two and a half now, being born less than a year after their marriage. Roisin was Elizabeth's world. Elizabeth finally had a family of her own. It wasn't much, but it was hers. "C'mon now, let's go find your father." She lifted Roisin into her arms, grabbing her jacket first, before slipping on a jacket of her own. "Where to first?"
"The barn!" She smiled, putting Roisin on her own two feet and let herself be dragged towards the barn. The light was on, and she saw a silhouette in the window. She sighed, feeling absolutely ridiculous for not looking closer before actually panicking that her husband had actually run away. "Daddy!" Elizabeth let her daughter run ahead of her, into the barn.
"Hey, Bub, you sleep well."
"Yeah! Mummy was afraid you left though!" She heard her husband grunt from picking up his daughter. "Did you go to the bad place last night?" Elizabeth sighed, as she walked into the barn, seeing her husband at his workbench, a piece of wood in front of him. His entire concentration was on his daughter however, his work completely forgotten.
"Yes, but I'm all better now, yeah? Let's go eat some breakfast before our guests arrive." It was then that he looked up, his blue eyes meeting his wife's. "Good morning, Love."
"Morning. Are you okay?" He smiled at her, putting on his cap before he went around his work bench, kissing his wife on the lips before walking out into the cold morning air.
"I'll be okay. C'mon, we've got a few hours before they get here. Enough time for our family to have a nice breakfast together, yes?" Elizabeth smiled, following her husband and her daughter. She watched as her daughter talked to him and he responded in an animated fashion, making Roisin smile. "C'mon, Love, I may burn down the house if I have to cook by myself!" Elizabeth smiled, chasing after the rest of her family.
~~
"They'll be fine, Love, it's okay."
"I haven't seen them in years. Grace and I have been writing, but I'm nervous. What if they think I've changed too much."
"You've been honest with Grace, you're no different from your letters." She sighed, letting her husband run his hands from her shoulders to her hands. "It'll be okay."
"Promise?"
"I'll make sure of it, okay? Just no crazy loud noises." She smiled, turning around, kissing her husband quickly. He was getting better, but loud noise and crowds was something that he was still struggling with.
"No loud noises. It's just us and the other two, okay? We'll be okay." Before he could respond, Elizabeth heard a car coming up the road and she turned, smiling as she saw Grace basically hanging out the car door. As the car parked, Elizabeth ran out to meet her best friend halfway, hugging her. "I've missed you, Grace."
"Lizzie, you have no idea how boring Dover is without you! Alex is always working and Tommy now has a bird and is working, so I barely see him. How're you?"
"I'm good. I got a job at a local hospital that helps keep Damien on the farm. I don't think he could handle the town at the moment." Both women looked at where Elizabeth's husband was standing in the doorway, their daughter now in his arms, as he watched Grace and Elizabeth talk. "C'mon, let's go say hello, yeah?" Grace let Elizabeth lead the way to Damien and Roisin, Alex meeting them on the way. "Hello, Alex."
"Hi, Betty." It was awkward, she could tell. They hadn't really talked since before the war, Elizabeth didn't want Damien to lose any more trust in her, so she made sure that Damien or Grace was always there with them. "Who's the young one?" Damien practically glared at Alex. The two men never became friends, they tolerated each other for their wives' sake, but that was about as close to friends as they seemed to get.
"This is Roisin. She's our daughter." Alex smiled at the young girl, waving gently to her, but she hid her head in the crook of Damien's neck. "She's shy, gets that from her father. Now, come on inside before we let all the cold air in. It's difficult keeping our house warm." She let Damien lead the way into their home, watching as he let Roisin down. "How are you two doing?"
"We're good. Alex is working all the time, so we barely see each other. I'm usually asleep by the time he gets off. But, we're good. You know basically everything, I don't really leave anything out of our letters."
"How's Tommy?"
"He's good. He's got himself a nice little home on the beach and he finally got himself settled with a nice girl. She's from France, apparently. Came over to volunteer in a hospital, stayed because the pay was better." It was the first time that Alex had spoken more than two words to her in a few years. His voice was different, thinner, almost like he was sick, or tired. "Still wants to come here, but he couldn't get the time off in the office."
"What does he do?"
"This is such a boring topic. I want to know how Ireland is. You're in a gorgeous country, there are no trains littering every mile."
"Yeah, well the Irish depend on farming a lot more than you lot do," Damien chipped in, which had a bit of an edge underneath.
"Yeah, well, England's a bit more advanced than the Irish countryside, Mate." Damien opened his mouth to respond, but Grace cut them off with the words, "Show me around, will you? Our home has almost nothing that feels warm at all." She stood up, taking Damien's arm, leaving Alex, Elizabeth, and Roisin alone. "So, are you happy?"
"Alex-"
"It's a genuine question. He seems like a mess to be honest."
"Alex, he's fine. He's doing really well. He's fine as long as there's not a big crowd or really loud noises. We're fine. I know that was your actual question. We're happier than ever. Damien just got a really good offer from the state actually, and with Roisin, we can't help but be happy."
"Happy, yeah, sure."
"How are you and Grace?"
"She's driving me insane. She's trying to control everything I do. It's fucking annoying." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You seem bloody fucking perfect."
"Alex, stop it."
"You do! I forgot what you looked like. You look good. Happy and in love. It's what you deserve, honestly Betty."
"Yes, well, I love Damien. I've finally got my family. Damien got his farm. We're happy as can be. Grace seems happy too."
"Yes, well, she got her nice home she wanted. She's teaching in the school as well, she's happy. Seems like everyone is fucking happy?" Elizabeth sighed. She knew what Alex really wanted to talk about, but she wasn't going to budge. She was happy with Damien. She wasn't going to ruin it for another man's unhappy marriage. "Let's go find Grace and Damien, I want to see what you've done with the land you've got."
~~
Damien and Elizabeth walked around the property after Roisin had gone to bed and their guests were settling in the guest bedroom. They walked hand in hand, Damien helping Elizabeth over the stones that littered some of their pastures.
"That wasn't that bad, was it?"
"No. I still can't stand Alex, but he was tolerable. He was intolerable on the ship from Dunkirk." Elizabeth sighed. "Sorry. Grace seemed to enjoy herself though. She loved our property and the fact we have sheep." Elizabeth smiled. It sounded like Grace. "I'm sorry that I can't give you much else besides this. Alex could've given you so much-"
"Hey, I don't need anything else, Damien. I don't want anything besides you and our little family. I love our life, I wouldn't change it for the world." Damien sighed and Elizabeth stopped walking, making Damien halt as well. "Damien, look at me." She took his face in between her hands so she knew that he was looking at her. "Fuck everything else. I want you. I want Roisin. I want our farm. I want everything we have together, okay? I don't want anyone else. I don't want anything else. You're all I need."
"You're too good for me." Elizabeth sighed, leaning into Damien and kissing him, hoping that he could tell how much she loved him. Only him.
"I love you, Damien, don't you ever think differently."
"I saw Alex and everything you two-"
"It's in the past. You said it yourself, okay? It's over. You got me and you're all I want. I married you to prove it, yeah? So, you best believe you're all I want. I hope I'm enough."
"You're my best girl, yeah?" Damien smiled at his wife, kissing her.
"Let's go home."
"Lead the way." As Elizabeth led Damien back to their home, she couldn't help but think that she and Damien had everything they had ever hoped for. It was everything she ever wanted and she was happy. Happy enough to barely remember her illicit affair.