Blessed Are Those Who Love – Extended Epilogue

Six years had passed since the day of her wedding. 

Hazel was seated on the porch swing, tapping the ground with her toe to move her forward and back. Her eyes looked out over the lawn to where Rupert and Bella, her and Alec’s four-year-old daughter, where they were chasing each other. Rupert was ten and had announced long ago that he was no longer going to respond to “Roo”, as he was pretty much an adult now.

Over the last six years, Hazel and Alec had worked hard to bring the ranch back to where it was before the death of his parents. Despite the work Larry and Dani had put into the place, it was apparent after their deaths they hadn’t really known what they were doing. The fact that it took Alec so long to fill up the empty positions they had open was proof that Larry had been doing most of the work himself. Lenny informed Alec as much early on but knowing that hadn’t helped the fact that it was happening.

“Mama!” 

She was brought out of her thoughts by the children both running toward her.

“Hunry, mama!” Bella cried out. “I’m hunry. Can I eat?”

“I will make you both something to eat if you like. Rupert, are you hungry, too?”

“Yes, I’m starving to death.”

“Let’s hope not. Come on inside, children. You’ve got to wash off your hands before you eat. You should probably change, too. You don’t want to get your food all dirty, and I just cleaned the kitchen floor.”

She followed the two inside and watched as they went up the stairs to their rooms. She was touched when Rupert gave his hand to Bella, and she took it so he could help her navigate the stairs more easily.

She considered Rupert a real blessing. She had from the beginning, but ever since she had Bella, he had been an amazing cousin, treating her like she was made of gold and diamonds. He was always kind to her and never rough. He helped take care of her like he was a little papa. 

She went into the kitchen and took out the bread from the bread box and some butter and cheese from the icebox. Using a pan, she made cheese sandwiches on the stove. She heard a sound outside and leaned back to look out the window. Lenny and Alec were unloading a bunch of metal sheets that they would be using to reroof the barn and the stables. It was a big job, but they had been talking about it for weeks and were more excited than Hazel thought they should be about it.

She let them be, though, and only teased them a few times about their boyish excitement. 

She smiled, leaning back to the stove, and removing the pan from the oven. She went to the window and pushed it out, leaning on the sill, so her upper body was outside.

“Alec! Alec! Yoo-hoo!” She waved one hand and called out loudly.

“Yes?” he yelled back to her, standing up straight.

“I’m making cheese sandwiches for the kids. You and Lenny want some?”

The two men looked at each other. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw Lenny nod his head, and Alec shouted, “Yeah, we’ll have two each and some milk and if you have any beans, put them in a pot for us.”

“I’ll do that!”

She leaned back inside and closed the window, smiling to herself. She loved being married to Alec and being a mother to Rupert and Bella. She also had some news of her own to share with Alec. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she told him. 

She heard them come through the door as she was slicing off more bread from the loaf. She glanced over her shoulder when Alec came in, followed by Lenny. She immediately smelled the dust and sun on their heated bodies.

“You two go clean up!” she demanded in a soft tone. “You stink of the barn and animals.”

“Sorry about the, my love.” 

Lenny immediately turned and left the room to head upstairs to the washroom. Alec, however, came over to her, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. She lifted her face to meet his lips and smiled at him.

“You’re sweet,” she said lovingly, “but you still stink. Go on, go get cleaned up for lunch.”

“Just gonna get stinky again after lunch,” Alec warned, but he still hurried out of the kitchen after she stuck her tongue out at him.

She went about making their lunch, and by the time she was done, all four of them came spilling into the room, laughing, and talking. Even Bella, who was in her father’s arms, was holding a conversation as if she was twenty.

Alec set her down on her chair, and the rest of them sat down.

“Well, it’s sure nice to be having lunch with your family, Alec. Thanks for inviting me.” He said the last sentence to Hazel. She nodded at him. 

“You are always welcome at our table, Lenny. I’ve told you that many, many times.”

“And I will always be grateful, each time,” he responded, smiling at her.

“We got a new contract for cattle, Hazel,” Alec said, gratefully accepting the plate and glass she handed to him. 

“Oh?” she responded, glancing at him as she went back to retrieve more food and drink for the others. 

“Yeah,” he continued. He wouldn’t start eating until everyone had their food. She took the pot of beans and set it on the table for them to get a portion of it. “We’ve really come back into our own and made this place a success. We are going to go places.”

“I don’t want to go places,” Bella spoke up, looking at her pa with frightened eyes. “I want to stay here. This is my home.”

The rest of them laughed but not too much. Bella was a sensitive girl and got her feelings hurt easily. 

“It’s not a literal term, my dear,” Alec hurried to explain. “It just means that Papa is making good money, and more people are taking notice of my farm and my cattle.” He turned to look at her again. “We’ve hired all new people besides Lenny here. We’ve got two maids, as you well know.” She grinned at him. “We’ve got people willing to invest in the ranch if we need something extra done. Even the government seems to be on our side right now.”

“That’s amazing to hear, my love,” Hazel responded, finally able to sit down herself and get her plate ready.

They said grace and began to eat. 

Halfway through their meal, they were all startled to hear a knock on the door. It was rare for anyone to visit the ranch who had to knock to get in. 

“Who do you think that could be?” Hazel asked, tossing her napkin to the side after wiping her mouth with it. She scooted her chair back and stood up. “I’ll find out.”

She stepped out from the kitchen and saw that one of the maids was letting in a man, followed shortly by a woman. 

Hazel let out a surprised laugh and ran toward her sister and Mark, her husband.

“I don’t believe it!” Hazel said, looking down at her sister’s large belly. “Another one! You two are going to have a lot of children, aren’t you? Like you told me I was on my wedding day!”

The sisters embraced. She shook hands with Mark and then drew him into a hug, too. She bent at the waist and looked into the eyes of six-year-old Nicole, the baby Mark and Leslie had just after her wedding to Alec. “And look at you. Tall, pretty girl with blue eyes. Oh, you’re a sweetie, aren’t you?” Then she turned to hug each of the twins, Michael and May. 

She stood back up and looked at her sister and brother-in-law. “We just sat down to eat lunch about twenty minutes ago. Would you like some cheese sandwiches and beans? Maybe some lemonade?’

“Tea!” Nicole said loudly. “I want some tea. Do you have any, please?”

“I’m sorry,” Leslie put in, smiling down at her daughter. “She’s anxious and has been talking about your tea ever since the last time we visited. I swear I might be a little mad at you for making such good tea. Now she won’t drink mine.”

“Aww, that’s touching.” Hazel looked back at the girl after glancing at her sister. “I do have some tea in the icebox. Go on in the kitchen and ask Uncle Alec to get it for you, okay?”

“Okay.”

The girl ran off to the kitchen and disappeared. They quickly heard the greetings of everyone in the kitchen. 

She looked back at Leslie and Mark, who were sharing looks between themselves that made Hazel suspicious.

“What’s going on, Les?” she asked.

“We have something to ask you, Hazel. We don’t want to have to do this, but we need to ask a favor of you.”

Hazel was confused and drew her eyebrows together. She’d never seen her sister look this way before. She almost looked nervous to ask the favor. 

“Well, I do wish you’d go ahead and ask me so I can stop being worried about what this is all about.”

Leslie took in a deep breath and turned to her husband. “Mark, go on in the kitchen, will you? Talk to Alec for me? For us?”

He nodded. “Of course, my love. Hazel.” He simply said her name, nodded once, and headed for the kitchen. Hazel watched him, wondering if he was being rude or not. 

“Don’t mind him,” Leslie said softly. “He has a lot on his mind.”

Hazel was beginning to be afraid for her sister. A hundred scenarios raced through her mind.

“You better come with me into the parlor and tell me what’s going on before I let my imagination take over!” 

Hazel waved to her sister, even though Leslie knew full well where the parlor was. 

They sat down beside each other on the couch on the far side of the room next to the window. They faced each other at an angle, so only their knees were touching. 

Leslie took her sister’s hands, and Hazel waited to hear the news, her heart slamming in her chest. “Tell me what going on, Les!” Hazel said firmly. “I have to know before my heart comes out of my chest.”

“It’s this baby,” Leslie said softly. “Well, it’s not really the baby. It’s my body. My doctor says there is something wrong. We’ve discussed it with him and decided I will have to be bedridden and taken care of for the next six to eight weeks. We can’t afford a caretaker in the house, and if I do too much, I could lose the child, even at this late stage.”

Hazel’s heart broke for her sister. She tilted her head to the side, affection for Leslie filling her chest. “This is awful, Leslie. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. But what can I do for you? Are you asking to come and stay with us?”

Leslie gave her a hopeful look. 

Hazel laughed softly. “Of course, you can stay here! We’ll even assign you one of the maids. I will ask which one would like to volunteer first so that if one is willing, we don’t have to have someone in the job that didn’t want to be there.”

“That sounds perfect. It really does.”

Hazel nodded. “I owe you so much, Leslie. You took such good care of me all my life. I want to be there for you in your time of need, too. You can stay here, and we’ll give you the big room on the bottom floor that used to be the nursery. It’s still got some baby things in there so if you need to stay for a bit after it’s born, there’s a place for everything in there.”

“Oh, that does sound good, too,” Leslie said, beginning to look more positive. 

“Do we need to send for a doctor to give you a check-up?”

Leslie moved swiftly, leaning down to the bag she’d set next to the couch where she was sitting. She unclasped the top and pulled it apart to reveal what was in it. It was full of papers.

“These are all the documents from the doctor in Arlington. These are for the doctor here. So, he will know exactly what I need.”

“Okay, I’m fine with that. I’m sure Alec will be, too. He knows a lot more about you and about my life before than he used to. He can endure almost anything now. Nothing new about me would surprise him.”

“That’s silly,” Leslie said in a playful voice. “It’s only been six years. I’m sorry, dear, but you’re way too complicated for six years. There is more to you than you realize. We all see it. We all know your worth.”

Hazel loved it when she talked to Leslie or received letters from her. She probably had the most supportive and encouraging personality of anyone Hazel had met before. 

“Thank you, sis. Let’s go get something in the kitchen. Are you hungry?”

“I’m always hungry these days.”

“How far along are you?” Hazel asked as they went into the dining room to see everyone sitting around the table talking with Mark, who had taken Hazel’s seat next to her husband. The men stood up when the women came in the room, even Rupert. 

“Please, take my seat, honey.” Mark stood up, offering his seat to Leslie.

“That’s where Mama sits!” Bella said loudly.

The adults laughed, and Rupert told Bella to shush but also had a smile on his face. 

“I think I’m going to give my seat to my sister, honey,” Hazel said, going to her overprotective daughter and wrapping the child in a warm hug. “But thank you for looking out for me. I love you.”

“I love you, Mama!” Bella gave her mother a big grin. 

“I’ll grab these chairs over here.” He took a seat from the corner of the room and put it next to Rupert. “You don’t mind if I sit here, do ya, son?”

“No, not at all.”

“You don’t want to sit next to me, Papa?” Nicole asked, raising her eyebrows, looking at Rupert warily.

Rupert grinned. He leaned forward and said to the girl, “You want to switch with me? I don’t mind, really.”

The look on the child’s face told them all what she wanted. Rupert nodded and stood up, first switching their plates, and then going around the table. He smiled at the child as he went by. “Now my family is on this side of the table, and your family is on that side of the table, everybody together!”

Hazel could not have been prouder of the boy. He was so accommodating and nice. Just like they’d always known he was going to be. 

“I suppose Mark has told you why they are here?” Hazel asked, taking the seat Mark had put on Alec’s other side for her. He nodded. 

“Yes, and I’ve given my permission, as I knew it was something you would say yes to.”

“Thank you, husband.”

When he smiled at her, she felt a tingle run through her body. Even after six years, she still got a thrill just by thinking about the fact that she still felt that way. He was still so attractive to her. He’d never raised a hand to her. He barely raised his voice, although they’d had a few disagreements where Rupert was concerned when he was growing up. 

“You are so very welcome. I would never turn away our family. Not even the worst of the bunch.”

Hazel was confused by that and gave him a look that reflected her feelings. “Who are the worst of the bunch? There is just me and Leslie here and you.”

Alec laughed. “I meant in general. We could have bad feelings toward our family members and not want to spend any time with them.”

“We aren’t that kind of family, are we, Uncle?” Rupert asked confidently.

“No, son,” Alec replied proudly. “We are not.”

“And we’re just going to keep getting better and better, aren’t we?” the ten-year-old continued. 

“Yes.” That time all the adults answered at once. They all shared amused looks. 

Hazel looked around at her family. She was content and happy. It had stopped being important to her to think about the past and dwell on the things that went wrong. It was time to concentrate on the future. That was the only important thing left. And she had news of her own she was dying to share. Now that her sister was there, it would make it an even sweeter moment.

“So, I guess I should tell you all my little secret. I’m glad you’re here, Leslie. Mark. I get to include you in this.”

She could tell they all already were guessing what she had to say, so she just blurted it out.

“I’m going to have another baby.”

Leslie shot to her feet while Alec’s face lit up, and he reached over to hug her. He had to get out of his seat to do it properly, so she was soon flanked by her very pregnant sister on one side and her husband on the other. 

“Congratulations, Hazel! Alec!” Mark said loudly. 

“Wow, another baby!” Rupert remarked, making everyone laugh.

“This is a happy edition. Maybe we’ll get Leslie to come and stay with you at the end of your pregnancy. Then we’ll have all the babies in one house, and we can help each other take care of them.”

Hazel nodded vigorously. 

“I like that idea,” she said. “That sounds like the perfect life to me.”

“I love you, Hazel,” she heard Alec whisper in her ear. It gave her chills, and she closed her eyes briefly.

“I love you, too,” she murmured back, giggling when he placed a firm kiss on her cheek.

 

THE END

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