An Overprotective Mother

You Are My One and Only!

Tania's day improved with the arrival of the mail. Pushed through a slot in the door of the company house her parents rented, Tania saw the flash of red and blue on a white envelope and struggled from the expensive couch her father was still making payments on to the company store. She'd have crawled on her hands and knees if that's what it took to reach the piece of mail. She knew who it was from and who it was to.

There, on the face of the thick envelope, was her name, her new name. Well, not so new now but still new enough that it thrilled her. She'd only had the name for a short time but it was still capable of making her feel pride, of blushing as she remembered what being married meant. Intimate moments shared in the privacy of their own world. Nobody else could intrude on that world and she pushed the envelope into her shirt, tucked it into her bra, to keep it from the view of her parents. This was only for her.

His tight, small, capitalized letters always made her smile. Her husband was impressively intelligent, logical, an amazing fount of knowledge, but his handwriting, well, he should have been a doctor she often thought when looking at his handwriting. With another secret smile she headed into her bedroom once more and closed the door, leaving the other pile of letters, not caring what they contained. She had the only thing she needed from that pile.

Carefully, using the same cautious movements that she used when she opened presents, Tania run a fingernail under the lip of the envelope, tearing at the glue his tongue had touched to seal. She felt the thrill of anticipation as the paper opened, revealing a light blue paper inside. Pulling the folded stack of papers out Tania began to unfold the pages.

A song came on the radio, released the year she was born, but still one of Tania's favorites and a soft, sweet smile spread over her face.  Rolling on the bed, bracing her burdensome stomach with some pillows, Tania pushed her dark hair out of her face and began to read the words her husband had written to her.

She'd loved him for years but he was the golden boy of their small village, his family well-known and well-respected. Hers was an older family in the area but they did not have the influence his family had. She wasn't meant for him, not with her independent nature, her flashing eyes, and her quick wit. No, he was destined for some fluffy, comfortably airheaded women like that Jan Dellorso. She was compliant and sweet, at least on the outside. Boys rarely saw the true venom behind Jan's wide, blue angelic eyes. Only other girls.

Somehow though Tania caught Stan's bashful smile one summer afternoon as they were both strolling along the creek, both looking for a spot to fish. He's smiled at her and offered to show her "his" spot, and off they'd gone, tackle boxes in hand, drifting lazily into the future they didn't know they'd created in that shy moment.

Stan had been a gentleman throughout their courting time, always holding her hand innocently, never taking advantage, and Tania had gone to their marriage bed as pure as the driven snow. He'd never even properly kissed her until their wedding night. The world of married people was magical, and she often felt like screaming her joy but now, well now he was hundreds of miles away and all she had of him was these letters.

He wrote about his days, the training he was getting, about an incident where one young man had caused some problems and all of the soldiers were worried about punishments. The Army often did that, punished all for the indescretions of one. Tania hated that but knew Stan accepted it as the way of the world.

It was the last two pages that really caught her attention. This was the part he'd written at night, by a flashlight, in the dark hours of performing his fire duty, when the others slept while he kept an eye out for fire or intruders. This was the part where her stoic, quiet, mountain boy told her about his loneliness, about his man's heart and how it longed for her and only her.

Tania sighed as her eyes filled with tears. This was her man and his words stirred her passions and broke her heart. He missed her so. This was the place her husband was able to talk of the things he could not speak, in his letters to her he could admit his weaknesses, his love, and his longing to be back with her and their coming babies.

Stan was the only one that believed her, the only one that truly believed she had two babies inside of her. The only one that truly made her feel loved.

Her mother had always treated her with coldness, more a caretaker than a mother. Sometimes she didn't even do that. Especially when her mother was carrying her two younger siblings. Tania took on the role of wife and cooked and cleaned even after the babies were born. Her father, a kind but quiet man, would solemnly look at what his wife was doing to their oldest girl and sometimes he'd step in but not often.

One time Meg took a large knife to her daughter and smacked her across the face with it. Charles had quietly stepped in, took the knife, and stared down at his ranting wife until she'd gone quiet. Tania had sobbed and ran away, not understanding her mother's violent reaction over nothing more than a broken jelly jar. She hadn't heard any words between the pair but Meg had stopped hitting Tania at that point. That was a saving grace.

She'd never felt really loved by either parent and the younger girls just ignored their older sister now. She didn't want to play with dolls or talk about boys, thus she was excluded from their world. Tania also suspected they thought she was little more than a servant anyway, the way they were always ordering her about. It had only ever been Stan that made her feel loved, that had shown her that she was loved.

With a sigh Tania pushed those thoughts away and went back to her letter, back to the world Stan promised her, the one where he told her how he felt about her and the things they'd do once he was done with his training. When their children were here and they could be on their own again.

With her hands protecting her stomach, Tania closed her eyes, and drifted into sleep, dreaming of that place that only Stan had ever promised her. The place where they were all safe.