Chapter Eight
Sunday morning, Millie rose early to make pancakes for her family. She smiled on her way to the henhouse happy to be able to provide a special breakfast for her family. She’d brought the molasses up from the cellar the previous night, so they could have it with their pancakes this morning.
She waited until the batter was mixed and the skillet heated before waking George. She knocked lightly on his door and he jumped out of bed and went to do the milking. Once the pancakes were finished, she woke the children and they all had a leisurely breakfast, talking about what special things they’d like to do with it being Sunday.
“Could we go on a picnic, Papa? We used to go to the lake every Sunday,” Patience asked wistfully.
George looked at Millie. “Do you think you could have everything ready for a picnic before we leave for church this morning?”
She nodded. “That sounds like fun. I haven’t been on a picnic in ages.” They’d tried to do one big outing like a picnic every summer while she’d live at the orphanage, but it would be so different to go with her new family.
After she and Patience had finished with the lunch dishes, she packed a basket with bread, jam, and a jar of fruit, along with plates and utensils and a jar of fresh milk. They’d have a regular feast down on the banks of the lake.
Millie was happy to help her girls into their new dresses for the first time. She saw a few tiny flaws, but she smiled as she brushed their dresses flat. They looked beautiful. She put a pink ribbon in Patience’s pretty blond hair and a blue ribbon in Grace’s red hair. They looked so good in their matching dresses. Grace spun to let her skirt flair out around her. “I look like Sissy!”
Millie laughed. “You do look like Sissy!” The pleasure on Grace’s face from wearing a new dress made Millie want to hurry the other dresses so they would have three new dresses apiece. She wanted the best for those two little girls who already owned such a large piece of her heart.
Millie sat still and paid careful attention during the sermon that week. The sermon touched her heart in a surprising way. It was about how God had sent his only son to die for her sins. Millie thought about that as she listened. He hadn’t done it just for people who were good. He’d done it for her, too. She knew then she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing what was right. Not because it would make the people around her happy, because it would make God happy, and after all he’d done for her, she had to do what He wanted.
After the service, George drove them down an old dirt road to the banks of a small lake. She spread the quilt she’d brought and fixed plates for everyone while George played with the children in the tall grasses. She smiled as she listened to the children’s laughter, remembering her first day with her new family. She’d wondered that day if they were able to smile. Now their laughter warmed her heart.
They all gathered together on the quilt and George said a quick prayer for them. As they ate, George asked the children about the sermon. They all talked about what had stood out most for them.
“What stood out for you, Millie?” George asked her.
She smiled. “What really touched me was the fact that God sent Jesus to die for my sins. Not just yours. Not just faceless people who always do what’s right. He did it for me, even though I’m a sinner. He loved me enough that He wanted to save me. Even though he knows I’m not worthy.” Her eyes shone with tears and her voice was filled with awe as she said it.
George reached out and took her hand. “You understand now.”
She nodded happily. “I’m so sorry I lied to you, George. You have my word it will never happen again.”
He smiled and kissed the back of her hand tenderly. “I believe you. I’m so glad you understand what God wants from us.”
Patience watched her new ma with her papa and wondered what had just happened between them. She wasn’t sure why, but somehow she knew that everything would be all right from then on.
That night, after the children were put in bed, George didn’t get down the Bible as he usually did. Instead, he sat down at the table with Millie and talked to her about her decision to serve God. They talked for hours about how it feels to be saved by Christ’s sacrifice.
“I understand now why you wanted a wife who is a Christian. If you don’t share something so basic, there can never be real peace in your home.”
He smiled. “You’re right. I’m so glad the sermon touched you like it did today.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t the sermon that made me feel this way.”
He gave her a questioning look. “What was it then?”
“It was the way you so calmly and patiently read the Bible to me each evening. That night when you read Matthew chapter six to me, I truly understood what it meant to be a Christian. To not worry overmuch about all the little things. I was so worried about how it would look for me to take the girls in public with their dresses too short. I thought it would reflect badly on me.” She paused, looked down at her fingers entwined with his on the table. “Then suddenly it all made sense. Sure, the girls needed new dresses, but they weren’t more important than obeying you and doing what was right. God would take care of those things. And he has.”
They talked long into the night discussing the future and what they wanted for their lives.
“I was afraid to get too close to you for fear you would want to go back to Boston, or run off with the first young man you saw. Now that you’re a Christian, I can let my feelings for you grow.”
She looked at him shyly. “You have feelings for me?”
He laughed. “You’re a beautiful young girl, both inside and out. I’d have to be made of stone not to have feelings for you. Of course, I do.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve come to love you in the time you’ve been here. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you in it.”
“Does that mean that someday we can have a real marriage? And children of our own?”
He nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want more children. Four is already a handful at times.”
She shook her head. “The children are a joy. I can’t think of anything I want more than a few more to add to the ones we already have.”
He stood then, and pulled her gently to him, dipping his head to brush a kiss across her lips. “I’d be proud to have you for a real wife.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “When I first got here I kept telling myself if I worked hard and you saw the children liked me, then maybe you could start to like me too.”
“I always liked you. I just couldn’t trust having deep feelings for a woman who wasn’t a Christian.” He took a deep breath. “You understand now why I didn’t think you were a Christian when you got here?”
She nodded, her head rubbing against his shoulder. “A real Christian wouldn’t have lied to you just to make her own life better. I really did think I was a Christian, because I’d gone to church every Sunday. I truly didn’t understand the difference. Now I do.”
He smiled down at her. “I’m so glad.”
“Thank you for being patient with me. And thank you for loving me. I’m going to be the best wife you could possibly imagine.”
He smiled. “Just be yourself and you’ll be the woman I love.”
“I love you, too, George.”
Chapter Nine
We’ve been married four months today, Millie thought to herself as she put dinner on the table. Her life had changed so much. The house was now spotless at all times. Dinners were much easier to deal with, because she rarely had to look at her recipes for help.
And the children. Grace was potty trained now, and her life was much easier as a result. And it was a good thing. She was going to need those diapers again in a few months. Her hand went to rest on her still-flat stomach as she thought about it. She’d have to tell him tonight, she thought. Should she tell him alone, or tell them all
at dinner tonight?
It had been over three months since she’d moved into George’s room with him. She was happier than she’d ever dreamed she could be, but not only because of the love she and George shared, or because of the children. There was a peace in her faith that was different than anything she’d ever experienced.
After George’s prayer before dinner, she decided to tell him in her own way. “We need to make some changes in our seating arrangements around the table soon.”
George looked at the children. They were all eating happily. There didn’t seem to be any problems to him. “Why’s that?”
“We’re going to need to have a chair for Grace, so the new baby can sit in her highchair,” she said with a grin.
George’s eyes opened wide and his lips spread wide in a grin. “Really?”
She nodded. “Really. We’re about to become a family of seven.” The excitement filled her voice as she said the words. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to have a child of her own.
George sighed contentedly. “I can’t wait to add one more.”
“You’re not worried about the new mouth to feed?”
“Matthew chapter six tells us to keep seeking first his kingdom and all those other things will be added to us. So no, I’m not worried at all. Are you?”
She shook her head. “Not as long as we’re going to do it together.” She smiled at him with all the love that filled her heart.
Patience looked from her papa to Millie. “Are you really going to have a baby, Mama?”
Millie felt the tears prick her eyes. The little ones had been calling her Mama almost from the first, but that was the first time Patience had called her that. “Yes, we are. In about seven months.”
Patience smiled. “I can’t wait. What will we name her?”
Millie smiled. “Well, I don’t know if it will be a girl, but if it is, I like the name Faith. That’s what being here has given me. Faith.”
George nodded. “Faith. Patience, Grace and Faith. It fits beautifully.”
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