Christmas Plans

CHAPTER 15

POV : Clarice 

Clara looked up from her knitting as someone walked into the drawing room. She had to get her Christmas present for Jamie done. She was surprised to see Mel come in. She set her work down on the table beside her and smiled. 
"I didn't think I would see you again for a while. It's a pleasant surprise." Mel smiled and sat down in a chair across from Clara. 
"I have something for you. Don't open it until Christmas. I didn't know if I would see you again before then, so I decided to stop by and give you it." She blushed and Clara took the wrapped box. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Mel's cheek. Clara then went to put the gift under their tree. They had only recently put it up. They still had a week until Christmas, but Clara wanted to decorate it. She had helped Tamara string cranberries and nuts to put on the tree. When she turned back around, Mel was standing there. She placed her hands on Clara's hips and pulled her in.
"Is this ok?" She asked in a voice barely higher than a whisper. Her breath tickled Clara's ear as she nodded. Mel smiled and brought her lips to Clara's. It was brief and sweet, but it still made Clara's head spin. They rested their foreheads together and just stood there for awhile. 
"Clarice, your child is making a ruckus-" Her face went from annoyed to enraged. "Get out." Mel made a move to leave. "And you Clarice." Clara felt her face drain of all blood. 
"Mom?" Her mother hid her face.
"You have already disgraced this family enough. Be out of here by tonight." Clara felt the heavy, silent tears making their way down her face. She nodded and took Tamara from her mom. Mel followed Clara down to her room and sighed. 
"I am so sorry, Clara. I didn't think that would happen." Clara looked up at her and smiled. 
"It's alright, really. I'll find somewhere to stay. Jamie probably has something for us." She tried to keep her smile on while she packed but the tears kept flowing. 
"Stay with me. I don't have much, but I have a room and the library, if you don't feel comfortable sleeping with me." She hung her head. "This is my fault, please let me do this for you and Tamara." Clara gave Mel Tamara and moved to put the rest of her clothes in her bag. When she was done, she grabbed a bag and went out to the garden. She put all of her tools she could fit into her bag. She looked around and felt the tears well up again. She had put to much work into that garden. She turned around and buried her face into Mel's shoulder. She let out a shaky breath and nodded to Mel. Clara went to fetch her horse as Mel put Tamara in a wrap Clara had found. They got on their way as soon as they could and up they went to the castle. She hoped she wouldn't run into The Prince, but luck wasn't on her side that day. 
"Oh, hi Clara. What are doing here?" He took one look at her red eyes and splotchy face and them both being stung with bags before his face fell. 
"Clara will be staying with me for a while. Just until she can get her own place." He nodded and held out his arms. "Can I carry anything up for you? I can take Tamara so you can hold things better." Clara smiled and handed Tamara to him. She adjusted her hold on her bags and began to follow Mel up to the library. They arrived at her room and placed the bags in a corner. She hadn't brought Tamara's crib because she knew that neither of their horses could carry it. So, she set up a small encasement of pillows and blankets in a corner and tried to smile. She always tried to be optimistic, even when things got as bad as they were then. Adrian gave Tamara back to her and stood there awkwardly for a minute. 
"Thank you for your help. It really means a lot." He smiled at her statement.
"Anytime. I mean that. You helped us all out when you did the flowers for the ball." He appeared to remember something and smacked his forehead. "We never payed you. Did we?" Clara shook her head. 
"It's fine, though. You provided most of the flowers and that is supposed to be my job." He shook his head. 
"I'll arrange something for you." He thought for a moment before bowing and running off. Clara sighed and her shoulders sank. 
"Mel, I am so sorry to crash at your place. I really would go stay at Jamie or someone else's house if you don't want to or can't." Mel shook her head. 
"No. You need a place to stay, which I have. Plus, it's my fault you are in this position anyway. Please, let me do this for you. I need to be able to do something to fix my mistake.." Her shoulders slumped and Clara walked over and wrapped her arms around her middle. Mel responded instantly and rested her head on Clara's shoulder. She felt a light dampness on the edge of her shirt and knew that Mel was softly crying. She knew Mel felt bad, but she didn't think that anyone would care enough to be crying over accidentally getting her kicked out. 
"Mel, I'll be fine. I've survived on my own before. I had to for a while before my parents let me back in. I had been living at my old shoppe before I got pregnant. Then, when I took a pregnancy leave, my income went down so much that I had to go back to them. It was humiliating..They love to remind me of what scum I am." She smiled softly. "Until I met you and Adrian, I only had Jamie on my side. He would come almost every morning and take tea with us or spend hours sorting our herbs. My parents were never any good at that and put whatever closely resembled the herb into the labelled container. Which, might I add, he made himself!" She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't know what I'll tell him." 
"Adrian probably will. He has barely left James alone. I feel bad for the boy. Adrian is pretty clingy to the people he likes. That's why he offered to take Tamara. He wouldn't do that for just anybody." 
"No, I think he would." Mel laughed and Clara chuckled a little. 
"Yeah, he would. But, he offered to carry a heavy bag. He has all sorts of servants to do that for him, so that was a big offer coming from him." Clara smiled and closed her eyes. The sweet, booky smell coming from Mel was making Clara tired. She rested her head on Mel's shoulder and, without realizing it, drifted off to sleep.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! And, I forgot to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you have a great year going forward!