A New Beginning

Chapter 5: A Family History

Chapter 5: A Family History

Emma spends the rest of the day in the nursery with her sister. She and Mrs. Baxter chat as Patrick learn to play nicely with Sybil. Once in awhile, Patrick would get up and walk around in search of new toys. Emma could see the envy on Sybil's face as all the other children were moving around freely and she was stuck where she was.

Emma lifts her sister up and whispers in her ear.

"Your time will come soon."

Sybil puts a toy in her mouth and kicks.

"So, tell me, Emma, what brings you on the finest ship in the world?" Mrs. Baxter asks.

"Well, we originally came over to England to go to Ireland and scatter my parents' ashes. You see my father's grandparents immigrated to Canada from Ireland in what was it...?" She pauses. "In 1834, I think it was and set up a small farmstead out in Ontario, Canada. Eventually, my father's father left the small farm to work in the city, which at that time was not much of a city. He ran his own carpentry business for over 40 years and he planned to hand it down to my father when he came of age, but my father went out on his own to seek his own fortunes. He met my mother not long after he established his own law business back into Ontario. She too had come from the green country, except she had lived in New York for more than three generations. She then moved to Canada for finishing school. Anyway, my great-grandfather made his son and grandson promise to be buried in Ireland, to never forget the roots from which we came."

"That's quite interesting." Mrs. Baxter says.

"There was just enough money left over from the funeral to get us tickets on this ship."

"You are quite lucky. My husband recently got a promotion at his job in real-estate and his boss was willing to treat us to this lovely cruise to England and back."

"Where are you from originally?" Emma asks.

"We're from Boston, Massachusetts. Our family has been in that town since the Boston Tea party."

"Really?" Emma says.

"Oh yes, several of my husband's ancestors helped plan the protest against the British all those years ago."

"Wow, what about your ancestors?"

"Mine, well... my mother and father never told me very much about their backgrounds, the most I knew is that my great-grandfather was a travelling doctor and he travelled to the African continents. When he came back, he opened his own pharmacy and it has been passed down to the family ever since." Mrs. Baxter explains.

"Who owns it now?"

"My brother does, with his sons," is the answer as the mother picks up Patrick to sit on her lap.

"Was he the oldest?"

"No, I was the oldest."

"So why didn't you inherit the business."

"Inherit the... why child a woman running a business?! How ridiculous." Mrs. Baxter laughs, fanning herself after the shock of Emma's implication.

Emma turns a shade of red. "I'm sorry, I did not mean any disrespect."

"It's quite all right. I assume that you are one of the "modern" children in society; fighting for women's rights?"

"I try to be," Emma says. "I'm usually not very political, but I think that women can have jobs and a right to vote."

"I see, well child, you see the world is still very much in the Victorian era. The upper crust still owns the world it seems, and women are expected to be homemakers."

"Well, that is definitely changing for me because as of recently, I own my father's business."

"Do you really?" Mrs. Baxter says, her mouth agape in surprise.

"Yes, my father left everything to me and Sybil."

"I can't imagine such a young thing like you taking on a business. Well, fortunately, you have your fiancé to help you."

"Yes." Emma sighs.

"Tell me how did you two meet?" Mrs. Baxter asks.

"Well, it was almost two years ago now. My father had just relocated his business to Manhattan, New York and I was quite new to the neighbourhood. I was having trouble fitting in and I kept to myself mostly at school. My mother suggested that I go to a school dance or something fun like that to make some new friends. You see my parents were very willing to let me have my freedom at this age. So, I went to a school dance and I listened to the band in the school gym. I tried to dance, but it is hard to do so without a partner and I knew no one at the time. Anyway, I was sitting on the side of the room like any wallflower would be and I think this is true...as Peter may have exaggerated the details, but he saw me across the room and he swore that everything in the room seemed to stop and it was only himself and me in the room. He came to me and asked me if I was the most beautiful girl in the room. I blushed, and he asked me to dance. I was quite nervous, and little did I know that he too felt the same way. He twirled me around during relatively slow songs, but I took the lead when it came to the fast ones. By the end of the night, everyone was calling us Isadora Duncan and Danny Kane. He then offered to walk me home and we continued to dance until we reached my front porch. My father was still up as expected, waiting for Cinderella to return and I introduced the two of them. They shook hands and Peter said that he would love to take me out again. I agreed, stars in my eyes. And I never looked back."

"How lovely!" Mrs. Baxter squealed. "Truly a fairy tale."

"I did feel a lot like Cinderella that night," Emma blushes. "Except I did not lose my shoe."

Mrs. Baxter laughed. "It was so sweet that he asked you if you were the most beautiful woman in the room."

"And she still is..." a voice comes from behind them.

Emma turns to see her fiancé walking towards them. Sybil immediately squeals in delight and reaches out for Peter.

"Pardon me for interrupting ladies, I just wanted to ask if the most beautiful woman in the room would like to go get some dinner."

Emma turns red and blushes. Mrs. Baxter chuckles.

"I would very much like to," Emma says. She hands Sybil to her fiancé and stands.

"It was lovely to meet you, my dear," Mrs. Baxter smiles. Emma extends her hand to the woman.

"You as well Mrs. Baxter and to you too Patrick."

Patrick leans into his mother and smiles.

"Can you wave goodbye to Emma and Sybil?" Mrs. Baxter asks

Patrick sticks his hand out and waves. "Bye-bye," he says.

"Goodbye Patrick, don't worry, Sybil will be back tomorrow," Emma smiles.

"Have a lovely evening," Mrs. Baxter says. "And if you are ever in Boston, please look us up."

"We will," Emma says. "We'll exchange contact information tomorrow."

"Absolutely, Goodbye now."

"Goodbye."

Emma reaches over and takes Sybil from Peter, she grabs his hand with her free one.

"Still think I'm the most beautiful girl in the room?" she asks quizzically.

"Without a doubt," Peter smiles.