𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒗

Chapter 53 - Bittersweet Farewells

Maria begged Marcell not to leave.

He ignored her plea, saying he wanted to fight for his country. Andrei also wanted to fight. Anastasia let him do so, even though she would miss him very much. Vasili, Tikhon, and Guri, also wanted to fight.

For their last day together, Anastasia and Andrei took a long walk in the garden back at the house while Marcell drove to the beach with Maria. The couple had the beach to themselves. It was a cloudy day, fitting for the gloomy mood of war. Marcell thought this as a happy day, just the two together, no kids around, but Maria wasn't happy.

As much as she wanted him to serve and protect their country, she didn't want him to leave. One of her worst nightmares had come true. There was another war.

She knew the horrors of war.

"Cheer up my sweet Marie. I don't want our last day together to be filled with sadness." Marcell put his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Marcy. I just can't be happy right now."

No matter how many times Marcell would tell her that he would come home in the end, nothing helped. Marcell grabbed his camera from out of a bag he had brought.

"Take a photo of whatever you want," he advised her.

Maria wanted to question him but she felt she should trust him with what he asked her to do. Maria walked ankle-deep into the seawater, shivering when she did. She took a quick photo of the water. Marcell waited a few minutes for it to develop.

"A true artist always brings his supplies wherever he goes." he chuckled as he took a pen from his bag and wrote on the cover.

"I'll give you this tomorrow." he put the photo into his pant pocket.

The two spent the rest of the day on the beach, reminiscing and remembering the wonderful memories they shared together.

Soon enough, the day had come. The family awoke just as the sun was beginning to rise and drove to the train station in Kings Lynn where thousands of people, mostly soldiers, had crowded the platform. The men had said their goodbyes to the children the previous night so they didn't come to the station.

Since the station was so crowded, the family said their tearful goodbyes outside. The sisters walked the men inside. It wasn't until they were inside that they realized there were so many people. The sounds of crying filled the air. The four managed to find a break in the crowd and decided to stop there.

"I'm sad to see you go," Anastasia smiled, sadly.

"I'll miss all of our swimming. Our cake-baking competitions. Our snowball fights when it snows." Andrei said, a hint of worry developing in his voice.

"I have something to show you." he added.

He revealed a gold locket that was around his neck.
Anastasia started to laugh.

"You baby!" she teased.

"Now we both have lockets!" he beamed proudly, showing the necklace off.

He opened it to reveal a miniature portrait of his official wedding portrait with his wife on the right side and a miniature single photo of her that he had taken in the past month.

"All jokes aside, that's very sweet of you." Anastasia ruffled her husband's hair and kissed him on the cheek. Maria, who had been anticipating this moment, began to cry.

"My Maria." Marcell said softly as he took her in his arms. Like Andrei, he also kept a locket with a photo of Maria.

"There wasn't enough room in the locket for the children." he laughed sadly. Although he was trying to make his wife happy, nothing would comfort poor Maria.

"My angel. Please know that I am leaving for good. I want to protect my family and I am doing just that. Don't think of it as me leaving because I want to put my life in danger. Think of it as I'm doing it to protect you."

"But what if you don't come home?" Maria wailed. Marcell didn't want to think about that.

The train's whistle blew and Marcell knew he had to say his goodbyes quickly. He looked at his wife for a moment before taking a folded slip of paper out from his pocket. It was the photo Maria had taken yesterday! He pressed it into his wife's hand, sealing it between her fingers.

"Don't open it until you get home. You must be with the children. Okay?" Marcell asked. Maria nodded.

"I love you. Take good care of the children for me."

Marcell turned away to board the train. The station was full of wives and girlfriends crying but Maria was the saddest of them all. She dropped to her knees. This would be different if Marcell didn't have children. He would miss everything while he was away. Marcell felt his heart shatter. He didn't want to leave her either.

" I remember! On that first night we met, I said that I never wanted to leave you! Now I am leaving you!" Maria sobbed. Marcell kneeled down to her and whispered:

"You never will leave me. I'll always be with you."

Kissing her forehead one last time, Marcell smiled at his wife and disappeared into the crowd of people. Andrei disappeared along with Marcell.

After watching the train depart, the girls returned outside to the car. When she got home, Maria trudged up to her bedroom. Following her husband's directions, Maria called her children to her room.

After a deep breath, Maria unfolded the photo. She began to cry at what was written on the photo. Her tears weren't of sadness but rather reassurance.

Maria hugged the photo to her chest and yearned for a certain someone who was on his way to the front.