Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 42 - An Unexpected Memory

Greg, Susan and their girls spent a very short night at the hotel following Neil and Rosemary's wedding. Despite their plan to stay close to the venue in order to help them get to bed at a more reasonable hour, it was still past midnight before they arrived at the hotel. Both girls fell asleep in the car, so just getting them inside, in their pajamas, and put to bed took also took time. As a result, the clock in their hotel room read 1:12 a.m. by the time Susan laid down.

To Susan, it felt like her head just touched her pillow when she felt a small hand patting her arm. Susan opened an eyelid to find Melody was out of the bed she was sharing with Jessie, and trying to get her attention.

"I need to sleep more, Melody," Susan said groggily to her daughter.

"It's too early to be up," Greg agreed. "You need to go back to bed."

"Okay," Melody said. She managed to climb back into the bed with some effort, but her activity woke up Jessie.

"What are you doing?" the older girl demanded.

"No up," Melody told her. "Be in bed."

"I am in bed," Jessie protested.

"Mama said," Melody insisted.

"Lay down then," Jessie said. "Go back to sleep."

"No sleep. Be in bed," Melody said, and though she pulled the covers up to her waist, she didn't lie down. Instead, she remained sitting. Melody grabbed her Raggedy Ann and Jessie's bunny and began to entertain herself by acting out a wedding between them.

"A bunny can't marry a girl," Jessie told her, leaning on her elbow.

"Can too," Melody said. "Bunnies get married."

"Yeah, I know, but not to a girl," Jessie said. "Bunnies marry other bunnies. You know, like Peter Rabbit's mama and papa."

Melody furrowed her brow as she thought about that. Handing Mr. Bunny back to Jessie she asked, "Mr. Ann get married?"

"You mean Raggedy Andy," Jessie told her.

"Andy?" Melody repeated.

"Uh huh. Raggedy Ann has a boyfriend. His name is Andy," Jessie said. "He's sort of like me and Bert. They're mostly friends, but he'll be her boyfriend when they get older."

"Get married?" Melody asked.

"I think so," Jessie told her. "They seem like soulmates to me."

Melody sat studying her sister. "Me too," she said finally.

Meanwhile Greg and Susan lay quietly in the bed next to the girls, trying to doze but in truth listening in on their conversation. The perception of a two year old on the wedding she'd been part of was fascinating; especially given Melody's unusual connection to the spiritual world and the things of the Lord. To their astonishment, despite her young age, she seemed to instinctively know what Jessie meant while talking about soulmates.

"Maybe it isn't so unexpected," Greg commented to Susan later in the day, after they were up, dressed, and on their way home. "You and I have long suspected being soulmates was a thing of the spiritual realm rather than of the earth. Given Melody's history and the role we know she played in one of our previous lives, it's not surprising to me that she recognizes the concept."

"I suppose not," Susan agreed. "After all, we do know she was present the first time Neil and Rosemary were married."

"Was I, Mama?" Jessie asked.

"Yes, you were. But you were a baby, Jessie; younger than Melody is now," Susan told her.

"How old was I?" Jessie asked.