The Baldwins: Chapter 2 – Frustrations

Chapters:
Chapter 1 – Olivia’s Quandary	Chapter 2 – Frustrations
Chapter 3 – Confessions & Trouble (TBA)	Chapter 4 – Setbacks & Blessings (TBA)
Chapter 5 – A Day of Fun (TBA)	Chapter 6 – Changes (TBA)

Author’s Note: This post originally appeared on another blog I had on September 24, 2014. I am in the process of moving this story to my site here. The Baldwins was my first attempt at SimLit and so it’s far from perfect in writing and picture taking. Thank you for understanding. I hope you will enjoy it as a beginning body of work.

John Baldwin was up the entire night. Although he technically lived in the apartment above the garage, he ate his meals with the family. During dinner, he could tell that something was really bothering his sister Olivia. He assumed it had to do with her strained relationship with her daughter Gracie. He hoped there was nothing else the matter. Olivia had been through a lot lately and he hated to think that she was dealing with anything new.

When he retired to his apartment for the night, he noticed a light on in the main house, coming from the living room. The children were all in bed sleeping and Olivia and Jasper had already gone to their room for the night. John thought he had better investigate.

Quietly, he slipped in through the front door. It was probably only a light someone had forgotten to turn off, but he didn’t want to make any noise in case it was an intruder.

Creeping around the corner, he saw his nephew Gilbert on the computer, typing away. John ran his fingers through his hair and sighed with exasperation. Gilbert was a good kid and well-intentioned most of the time, but lately, he’d been doing things much out of character.

Olivia’s boyfriend Jasper had previously caught Gilbert skipping school twice and had read him the riot act for it. And now, here Gilbert was, up in the middle of the night playing computer games.

“Gil, get off the computer now,” John said as loudly as he dared, not wanting to wake the household. 

Gilbert startled and turned on his chair away from the laptop as John came closer. “I’m sorry, Uncle John.”

John made an attempt at his sternest expression as he said, “Well, you should be in bed, not gaming.”

Gilbert’s eyes grew large and indignant. “But I’m not gaming!”

“Then what are you doing and why is it so important that you skip school and stay up all night?”

“I’m writing a book. I didn’t want anyone to know,” Gilbert answered, hanging his head.

John’s expression softened. “Why didn’t you want anyone to know?”

“I thought you wouldn’t take me seriously. I thought everyone would laugh at me and say I’m just a kid.”

“You are a kid, Gil,” John said softly. “But you’re the smartest kid I know. And if you want to write a book, I think you should. But not at this time of night and not during school hours. If you can agree to those terms, I won’t tell your mom.”

“You won’t?” Gilbert smiled with relief. “I’ll try to do better.”

John smiled at his nephew. “I know you will. And I can’t wait to read what you write. I know a publisher who might be willing to read it and give you some tips.”

“Thanks. I’d like that.”

“Okay. Now go to bed!” 

The next day was so overcast, it looked like night time. It was snowing very heavily and school was canceled for the day. Blessing was already dressed for school and had eaten breakfast when she found out the news.

The whole family was home. It was truly a snow day as the adults didn’t even venture out for work. Blessing would have loved to have played with the family cats, Georgie and Missy, but she couldn’t find them. Most likely, they were prowling around in the snow.

As she was searching for the cats, she overheard her parents speaking to one another in the study. She waited patiently for a few moments as she had been taught to do, but then it became too much. 

She pushed on the door lightly in order to step into the room when it occurred to her that they were not having a discussion but an argument. They must not have been aware that the study door had been left ajar. 

Feeling a little upset, Blessing crept away, hoping they hadn’t noticed her. Unable to understand what she should do and only feeling that she needed to keep her mind occupied, she put her coat on and went outdoors.

The snow was deep and crunched under her boots and the crisp air made her cheeks rosy. It was then that she decided the only thing to do was to make a snow angel!  

John paced around the study until he was sure he’d worn the carpeting out. The worry he felt about Olivia was overwhelming. He loved his sister so much; she was all the family he had now that their parents were gone.

Fine, he thought, I’ll just do it.

He dialed the number on his cellphone with trepidation. What if he was doing the wrong thing? What if he only ended up making things worse?

All he could do was try, he decided.

Gracie answered the phone on the third ring. But she didn’t sound happy. At first, it seemed, all she wanted to do was argue and list all of the things that her mother had done to make her unhappy. 

John listened as patiently as he could to all of the teenager’s grievances. When he spoke, he did his best to remain calm. He reminded her of the love Olivia had for her and how much she meant to her mother. Didn’t all parents and teens have their moments?

Gracie still seemed displeased, but at least she wasn’t interrupting or hanging up on him. So John continued.

He reminded her of the love the entire family had for her and how much they all missed her. What about her sisters and brothers? 

Gracie admitted that living with Jebidiah wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He was distant with her and not often home. But, she insisted, she was not ready to move back in with them.

The most John was able to accomplish was to convince his niece to come to the holiday dinner that Olivia traditionally prepared. For now, that was making good progress.

As if Olivia’s night hadn’t been bad enough, the morning had gone even worse. Jasper had been understandably hurt when Olivia had not given him a response to his proposal of marriage. Now, he insisted on an answer.

In order to avoid the conversation, she had gone into the study, but he had promptly followed her.

“If we love each other, why can’t we talk about this?” he demanded.

They had tried to keep their voices lowered for the sake of the children, but things had gotten a little heated. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Olivia left the room. But Jasper caught up with her in the foyer.

“Livvy, please talk to me,” he pleaded. 

Something in his voice brought her to a stop. What was she doing? Why was she single-handedly destroying the one relationship with a man who had never hurt her? A man who obviously wanted this to work out.

“I’m so sorry, Jasper. I’ve behaved terribly.” She glanced away from him, unable to look into his eyes.

He touched her arm tenderly. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to leave. But I do want to know why you haven’t answered me? I want to marry you.”

“I love you, too. You have to believe that.”

Jasper gently wiped a stray tear from Olivia’s cheek. “I do know that. But I also think I deserve some kind of explanation. Don’t you?”

She nodded hesitantly. “Yes, you deserve that.” She bit into her lip to stop more tears from coming. “I was hurt a long time ago. Very badly.”

Jasper nodded knowingly. “By Jebidiah Wilson.”

“You know about that?”

“Well… you were engaged to him and had Gracie with him. Everyone in Riverview knows the two of you were engaged.”

“Then you know what happened?”

“No. Not really. Only that the marriage never took place. There were rumors, but I was never much of one for those.”

She let out a sigh as she thought about all of the pain Jebidiah had caused her and all of the pain she was now causing Jasper. A revelation hit her as suddenly as if she had been struck by lightening. All this time, she had been scared of being engaged again; of a wedding that would never happen. She had been frightened beyond belief that she and her children would be hurt once again. But that was not the case. It was clear to her now.

“I’ll tell you sometime what he did that was so awful. But right now, I just want to know that you forgive me for taking you for granted and for not giving you the answer that was so rightfully yours.”

“Of course I forgive you.”

And they embraced. 

John was accustomed to helping out with his sister’s children. They were, after all his flesh and blood. Family meant everything to him. While he had an adopted daughter named Lacey and thought the sun rose and set upon her, he wanted a family with a loving wife and more children.

His nephew Bram was especially attached to him. He loved that the small boy wanted to spend time with him. 

John realized he had left some important forms from work in his apartment and had taken Bram with him to fetch them when his phone rang.

It was his girlfriend Elisa Colburn. John was thrilled to hear from her. They had planned to see a movie tomorrow night and he was very much looking forward to seeing her. She always looked like a million bucks!

But Elisa didn’t have good news. In fact, what she said left John feeling empty and devastated. 

“I’m sorry, John. But I just don’t think this is working out between us.”

“What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?”

There was a terrible pause before she answered. His heart was thudding in his chest. 

“John, I’m sorry. I mean, I really enjoy being around you. You have a great job, a terrific personality and you’re just an all around first-rate person, but….” her voice trailed off.

“But what?” he asked, barely above a whisper. He wasn’t at all certain he really wanted to know the answer.

Another long pause penetrated the air. “It’s just that… well, you are so intent on having a large family. To be honest, you’ve already made your way. You’re a celebrity. I guess you could say that while you’re on the A-list, I’m still on the D-list. I want to focus on my acting career and make my own way. Do you know what they’re saying in all the rags?”

“You know I don’t read those,” he choked out.

“They’re saying that I’m riding your coattails! I can’t stand that!”

“I can understand why that upsets you, but if you know it’s not true, why do you care what they’re writing?”

“Because other people who read this crap believe it! I can’t do this anymore, John. I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

John winced as she hung up on him. 

Later in the evening, Blessing noticed her parents smiling and talking in the living room. Working up her nerve, she decided to confront them.

“What’s going on around here?” she demanded, her lower lip puckering into to a pout.

Olivia and Jasper turned toward their daughter with concern.

“I know things have seemed a bit out of sorts today, but it’s all right now,” Jasper soothed.

“Are you sure?” the child asked.

Olivia smiled at her sweet little girl, love filling her heart with pure gladness that this child was in her life. “Of course I’m quite sure.”

As Olivia bent down to embrace her daughter, she whispered in her ear.

“Do you know why we named you ‘Blessing?’ Because that’s what you are to us. Don’t ever forget that.”

Jasper smiled as he looked on.

When Jasper left the room to answer the door, Olivia thought she had better clear some things up. Blessing deserved to know.

“I have something to tell you and I want you to pay close attention.”

Blessing smiled. “What is it?”

“Daddy wants to get married. He thinks it’s time.”

Blessing jumped up and down, unable to contain her joy. “Oh, Mommy, I’m so happy!”

Olivia looked down in shame. “I haven’t said yes yet, honey. I imagine I will, but I just have to think about it a little bit first.”

“But, Mommy, you have to! I’m going to be the flower girl! You just have to say yes!”

“Well,” Olivia began softly, “I’ll definitely take your feelings into consideration, young lady.”

After the children had gone to bed and John had gone to his apartment, Jasper surprised Olivia with a bouquet of red roses. 

“Jasper, they’re gorgeous! Thank you so much!”

“Now listen,” he said as he smiled at her, “I’m not giving these to you in order to entice you to give me an answer right this second. I just wanted to reassure you about how serious I am about us.”

Olivia had never been so filled with love. Instead of the quick embrace that had happened earlier in the day, this time, there was a genuine kiss between them.

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