A new beginning

The next morning

Annie heard about the passing of Amber, she felt bad for her father. She knew what it was like to lose your only child. She wanted to make her condolences known, so before she rode out to tell Jake and Lizzie she went to town. As she drove down main street, she noticed the black ribbons on the door of the bank. She felt the sorrow of losing her Larissa come to the surface.

Even though Amber was no good,she was still someone's daughter. Annie stopped in front of the Woodson's house,she walked up and knocked onthe door. The preacher's wife came to the door"Annie what a pleasant surprise."

Annie nodded" I came to pay my respects to the family."

Ken came forward and was red in the eyes" you, what do you want?"

Vera nodded " now Ken it isn't Annie's fault Amber is gone."

He turned and angry glare towards Annie, she proceeded to tell him" I am truly sorry about your loss, I know how you feel."

He glared at her " you don't know how I feel, she was my only child."

Annie stared at him" well anyways I am truly sorry for your loss."

She turned on her heel and walked away not before she flicked a tear away. Vera looked at him" I understand that you lost your only child, but that woman lost her husband in a freak accident."

Ken glared at her" so,that doesn't give her the right to say she knows how I feel."

Vera sneered" oh but she does you forget that her only child was killed by the fever, next time before you say something so callous think about it first.

She turned on her heel and followed Annie" Annie wait!"

Annie stopped before climbing up into the wagon" I have to go, I shouldn't have stopped and said anything."

She noticed the tears running down Annie's cheeks" no he had no right to say that to you, he is grieving and not thinking."

Annie smiled" I know, but still I should have stayed away, I just wanted to do the christian thing and say sorry."

Vera smiled" Well between you and I, he deserves it for letting her run around like he did."

Annie nodded" he wasn't the best parent but it still hurts when one looses one's child."

Annie climbed in the wagon" I am on my way to get Lizzie and Jake, she can come back to town now since Amber is gone."

Vera nodded" I am glad that we can all put this all behind us, well I have to get back and attend to the funeral details." Annie smiled" yes lucky you, I have been there one to many times." Annie slapped the reins and was off to collect her granddaughter and her husband.

Jake left me to sleep, he was a very patient husband. He was the perfect husband so far he didn't push to bed me. He said " we will when you feel you are ready to take that step." I was trying so hard not to" okay so you sleep here on this settee and I have the bed." He grinned and bared it, I could hear him groan and moan about how uncomfortable it was. I would snicker" well consider this a warning for future references, when you are in the dog house." Jake groaned" I think this has more boards then padding, I could force you to share that bed." I laughed " oh you can try but I will stick my ice cold feet on your backside to warm them." He groaned" what to do? I guess your feet will have to stay cold and I will be dealing with the hard settee." I laughed " darn I really was considering on having you come warm my feet, oh well good night." He groaned " good night." I was disappointed at how he was being a gentleman about this whole situation. I don't know how much longer I can hold out on making him pay. I sat up from sleeping and stretched, the bed was cold. I was cold and needed to warm up by the fire, I walked out didn't care what I looked like. Grandma sat at the little beat up table, she was drinking coffee. I smiled" Good morning Grandma, I could use some of that." Jake smiled" wow you are a mess in the morning, and no coffee for you, I made some tea for you." I stomped my foot" how did you get in, I want coffee!" Jake laughed " well you are so hell bent on making me pay for my mistakes, well so are you honey." Annie smiled" this should be entertaining a Battle of wills, wonder who is going to win?" I sent her a look that could freeze her coffee" I am drinking coffee, I need coffee." Jake shook his head " no you aren't it is bad for my baby." I smiled" well I am carrying your baby and I want coffee and so does your baby." Jake shook his head" sorry not going to work on me, here is your tea." I smiled so sweetly " oh but Jakie poo I want coffee to drink and will do what ever you want to get it ." He smiled" you want some of this?" I leaned closer and nodded my head" yes I want that." He held the cup up for me to grab, but when I went to grab it he brought it up to his lips and drank the black liquid. He grinned" mm that is so good." I smacked him " you aren't playing fair Jake, I can't believe you did that ." We both were standing there and forgot that Annie was sitting there watching. She let out a loud laugh" you two act like an old married couple." I glared at her" Grandma are you going to stand there and let him treat me this way?" Annie laughed " he is your husband dear and I have no say." I groaned and went back into the bedroom and slammed the door. Jake and Annie laughed harder, Annie lowered her voice" well did she forgive you yet?" Jake shook his head " no not yet she is going to make me pay for my mistakes first." Annie shook her head" she will come around in a day or two trust me." Jake shook his head " I don't know about that she is stubborn just like someone else I know." Annie batted her eye lashes" wonder who that could be?" Jake laughed " might be you, so what is going on that brings you out here this early?" Annie nodded" well I have some good news and some bad news, LIZZIE DEAR COME OUT HERE PLEASE!" I walked out while brushing my hair" yes you called?" Jake smiled" we took a vote and we're going to let you have that one cup of coffee, and Annie has some news." I smiled" there is a god in heavan above, What news?" Annie told them about Amber and how she died, and how now they could go back to the farm.

I listened to my grandmother tell us about what happened to Amber. I knew that she deserved to be punished but not by death. Then I kept thinking about it and realized that I was going to have a baby too. I dropped my cup of coffee and it shattered into tiny pieces, I started to cry and run from the room. Jake and Annie were stunned, then it dawned on Annie what happened. She looked at Jake " I shouldn't of said about the delivery part, that was very insensitive of me." Jake didn't understand" I don't understand what was wrong with the way you said it ." Annie smiled " you wouldn't because your not a woman." Jake nodded" well can you tell me what I am missing then?" Annie smiled" I just frightened her about having a baby, it is a very dangerous thing a woman has to go through." It then dawned on Jake " Lizzie baby , are you okay?" There was no sound coming from the door, Jake opened it to find his wife crying. He pulled me into his arms, I couldn't help but cry I messed up by getting pregnant now I am going to die. Jake cradled me close to his chest" Lizzie it was just a freak accident, it isn't going to happen to you." I shook my head " but it could." I choked on a sob, Annie came in and smiled" Lizzie, there is nothing to worry about you are a fighter like me." I nodded" but what if I die like the rest of my family has done before me." Jake pulled me close" I won't let nothing happen to you, God needs you here." Annie smiled" besides you have already survived death how many times now,? and you have fought it every step of the way." I nodded" I know it is just scary that happened to her and could happen to me." Jake placed kisses all over my face" come on baby settle down, you are not going any where unless it is with me." I nodded " I know and I can't help it, being pregnant does weird things to your emotions." Annie smiled" well on a happier note you can leave here and come home now." Jake smiled" well it is kind of cozy out here in a sad run down sort of way." I started to giggle" well I was very happy Junior put me so close to this place,you should have seen it before I cleaned it." They all laughed, Annie smiled" I also want to talk to you about where you two are going to live." Jake smiled" I have been scouting for a place to build a grand home for my little woman." I playfully slapped him" little woman my arse." Annie smiled" well when your grandfather first got married, we lived in a cabin." I smiled" well where is this cabin?" Annie smiled" it is close to the property line near the main house." I smiled" so Jake and I can live there?" Annie giggled" heavens no, I am going to move out of the main house and live in the cabin." Jake and I looked at each other, I smiled" grandma, you can't do that I won't let you give up that big house of yours." Annie smiled" It is time for me to retire it to someone who can do all of the work, besides I am getting old." I laughed "no you aren't and besides we want just a small cabin to live in at first, then we can trade." Annie looked at them both" are you sure cause your going to be needing the room for when you have the baby."Jake smiled" I have seen that cabin Annie and it is plenty big enough for us to use for the time being." Annie smiled" okay if you two are sure , but it is going to need some work done on it." I smiled" it is okay I can help fix it up again and make it nice." Jake smiled" a home of our own, has a nice ring to it." We smiled at each other and Annie got up" well let's get you all packed and back at the farm and we can go look at what needs to be done." I smiled" okay what are we waiting for, let's go." Jake laughed " that's my girl, I love you Lizzie." I smiled" I love you too." We gathered everything that was ours and loaded it up in the wagon.

Vera was not going to put up with any more of Ken's ranting and raving one minute. The next minute he would be crying, she was miserable and wanted to go home. But being a preacher's wife she couldn't just up and leave on one of her husbands flock. But he really had to get over himself. His daughter was gone, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to bring her back. After what he said to Annie, he did realize that his rude comments were not needed. She was a strong woman after all. Vera had suggested that maybe he could find himself a bride and could have more children. He laughed " I wish it was that simple, but no one would have me." Vera sighed' maybe if you changed a few things, you could get yourself a real nice christian lady not some light skirt. What happened next was going to blow Vera and her husband's mind for sure.

I know it is a short chapter but it is getting late and so sleepy. Please vote and comment, I lke to hear from who ever is reading this book. After the book is done I will go back and edit it. And I have added pics of the cast and music to set he scene. I am a working progress, hope ya'll enjoy this and please leave me a message and please vote. And please let me know of any thing you would like to see in this story. Well off to bed I will write more tomorrow. Good night and sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite. lol