Unbroken

Chapter 26

I intently watched the scene before me with a wide smile on my face. There were two girls running through the grass with bright red hair billowing behind them in the wind. They skipped and galloped enjoying the warm afternoon.

The older raced on long legs quickly and gracefully. The younger fell behind and huffed at the effort it took to keep up with her older sister with her shorter legs. The older sister noticed the struggle behind her and she slowed her pace to accommodate. Both girls were happy as they raced away the afternoon together.

There was the sound of men's voices as they talked and worked. There was wood to be cut and nails to be hammered into place. Together they made quick work of their project. They were adding an additional room onto the house. My house. Our house. After all these years it felt like it was a dream and if it was, I never wanted to wake up.

The two girls were crouching down in the dirt digging. Neither of them cared that their fingernails instantly filled with the dark soil. What were they searching for? An insect? A pretty rock maybe?

"Look mama!" Elisabeth called to me holding in her hands a long earth worm. Elisabeth raced over gently cradling the worm against her chest so she wouldn't drop the creature. Anne followed close behind her with a rock held tightly in her fist. The rock would surely be rinsed in the sink then join all the other glistening pebbles on the window sill.

Elisabeth skidded to a halt in front of me and held out her hand to show me the worm. She watched in awe as the worm stretched then wiggled all the way across her hand. She giggled as it wrapped around her thumb. She was a wonderful five year old with a big heart. She was always learning from the world around her and helping her younger sister with anything she needed.

Anne tugged on her sisters skirt and Elisabeth lowered her hands for her to see. Anne looked at the worm as it inched over Elisabeth's hand and gasped with excitement. They held their hands together side by side and the worm wiggled across their palms like a bridge. Anne was three and she loved her big sister. She idolized her. Anything that Elisabeth did Anne was sure to follow.

The men behind us were adding a room onto our house to hold our family. Grant had teased me that we would have to put our children in the barn to sleep with the cows and horses if we didn't add on to our house soon. We had met so many new people and gained many new friends to help us along our way. Many of our friends were over today giving us the much needed help to finish the room that was being added on to the house.

When Grant and I found this town we decided to stay. It was one of our better decisions. Together we built out home. It was so small that the entire house could have fit inside my old room back at the castle but that didn't matter. Unlike the castle every inch of our little house was filled with love. The girls shared their room sleeping in the same bed. They could be heard through the thin walls talking and giggling early in the morning and late at night after their bedtime. 

Elisabeth shrieked and took of sprinting towards the house with the worm held against her chest. Anne raced after her sister giggling with excitement she tucked her rock in the pocket of her dress. I shielded my eyes against the sun to see Grant walking towards us with Nathan up on his shoulders. Nathan was our oldest at age seven. Nathan held onto Grant's collar as he rode on his shoulders. 

The girls hugged their father around the knees forcing him to haul both of them up one at a time. He held Elisabeth on one side and Anne on the other. They wrapped their arms around his neck and planted kisses on his cheek. Then they showed him the treasures that they had found. He looked impressed by the worm and the rock. Even though Nathan pretended to not be interested in the girls I could see him sneaking looks down at the worm with a look of amazement on his face.

All of the children loved their father and it was clear that he truly loved all of them.

Everything was absolutely perfect. 

I stood up from my spot in the shade and stretched my back. Grant placed all of our children on the ground and approached me with a mischievous look on his face. He took me in his arms and kissed me in front of the children. They howled in complaint and looked away back to the incredible worm that Elisabeth had found. I could feel Grant smiling against my lips. When he pulled away his hands gently touched my slowly expanding belly.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I replied not wanting him to worry. He didn't want me to get too much sun or to get too hot and if he caught me working or trying to lift anything I was scolded like a naughty child. He insisted that I needed my rest. I was only in the early stages of pregnancy but he didn't want me to lift an unnecessary finger to do anything that he could do for me. After many failed attempts at making meals for the family he decided that I could cook but that was all that he would allow.

When I was pregnant with Elisabeth he had tied on one of my aprons and slaved over a meal for hours. He insisted that he would cook and take over my chores and still do all of his. In the end we had to eat left over bread and milk. The stew had turned into something that resembled glue and the cake was closer to a brick of charcoal than a cake. The memory of all the failed meals made me smile because he had tried. He tried so hard to be a good husband and a good father. He worked long hours and many strange jobs to support me and his family.

Our children were the light of our lives. They made every day exciting and fun with all of their little comments and ideas. Grant was the best husband that I could have ever dreamed of. He made me feel important and he respected me. In return I loved him with my whole heart and supported him.

It was a good life and it was our life. There was nothing in the world that I would ever trade it for because our life was perfect in every way.