The Baldwins: Chapter 3 – Confessions & Trouble

Chapters:	
Chapter 1 – Olivia’s Quandary	Chapter 2 – Frustrations
Chapter 3 – Confessions & Trouble	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 27, 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.

The morning started out crazily. Olivia had to go to an emergency meeting with the City Council and that left Jasper and John in charge of all the children and house duties.

At least the maid was to arrive soon, but that didn’t take care of dressing, bathing and feeding everyone.

Both Bram and Winter were already awake and their needs had to be met. With two small ones, it would take both men to take care of them.

Bram seemed a bit fussier than normal, so Jasper went to him first. The toddler didn’t appear to be ill or have a fever, so perhaps he just needed a diaper change and something to eat. He tried to comfort the small child as he changed his diaper, but Bram  continued to fuss and to call for “Mama.”

John had the task of caring for Winter. She was not being fussy, so he was able to quickly change her and give her a bottle. 

He couldn’t help but notice that Jasper was still having a difficult time with Bram.

Jasper was relieved when John offered to take Bram. Jasper held Winter close to him as he headed downstairs to make sure Blessing had gotten dressed and was eating breakfast.

John tickled Bram and tossed him into the air, one of Bram’s favorite games. Bram  giggled and the fussing stopped.

“Now, why did you give your daddy such a hard time?” John cooed at the child as he dressed him. “No more fussing today!” 

John smiled as Bram giggled again. The toddler’s laughter was almost enough to make him forget yesterday’s heartbreak. 

Almost.

Blessing stayed in her room, pretending not to hear her father as he called for her to come downstairs to breakfast. She wasn’t trying to be naughty but she couldn’t help how she felt. 

She had told her mother that she wanted her to marry Jasper because she wanted to be the flower girl. And that was certainly true. But she just simply wanted them to get married as well. She wasn’t sure why that was such a big deal her. She only knew that it was. 

How could she explain to them how important this was to her? Should she even try? Maybe they wouldn’t be happy with her if she brought it up. It seemed to be a touchy subject.

“Blessing! I know you can hear me!” Jasper yelled from downstairs. “Come down and eat your breakfast before it gets cold!”

“All right! All right!” she yelled back. She didn’t often raise her voice, but she was trying to think. How could she think when she was being interrupted all the time?

She thought a bit more about what she should do and how she should approach Jasper and Olivia. Perplexed, she knew she would have to be very aware of their moods in order to even think about bringing the subject up. 

She sighed heavily. She hadn’t resolved a thing and the worry was sitting in her stomach like a brick.

She went down to breakfast even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to eat.

Gilbert, on the other hand, gulped down his breakfast in a matter of moments. He put his dishes in the dishwasher without having to be asked and noticed the look of wonderment on Jasper’s face. 

Gilbert was trying to be on his best behavior since John had caught him writing his book in the living room in the middle of the night. Not wanting to give his uncle any reason to tell his mother what he’d been up to, Gilbert had been trying very hard to help around the house, keep his room neat and do his homework. He hadn’t ditched school for days now and he hoped his grades were starting to come up.

So far, Gilbert supposed, John had kept his word because Olivia had not said anything to Gilbert about the other night.

Gilbert had been using the laptop in the living room because someone was always using the one in the study and the one in his bedroom had been on the blink. But when Gilbert’s friend Trigger visited, he was able to get the computer in Gilbert’s room up and running again. When Trigger wanted to know why Gilbert was so anxious to have his computer working again, Gilbert had told him he had missed his gaming. 

Apparently the problem had not been as dire as he had thought because Trigger had it working in no time at all. 

Now, much to his joy, he was able to secretly continue working on his book and no one would even know! He smiled to himself as he typed away.

It had been such a long day, but Olivia really wanted some family time. The babies were napping and Gilbert was shut away in his room. When she saw Blessing moping around the house, she knew immediately what to do.

“Blessing, let’s decorate the house for the holidays, shall we?”

“I don’t feel like it, Mommy,” the child sulked.

“What? You always enjoy putting up the decorations with me. What’s going on?”

She could tell that Blessing was hesitant to talk to her about what was troubling her. This had never seemed to be an issue before; they had always had a good relationship.

Olivia bent in close to her daughter and spoke very softly with a voice full of concern. “Honey, tell me what’s bothering you. If you don’t tell me what it is, I can’t help you.”

“I just want you to get married so much and I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t know if you’d be mad at me.”

Olivia stroked her daughter’s silky hair with the kind of soothing only a mother can provide. “You can always tell me anything and I promise I won’t be mad at you. Understand?”

Blessing nodded and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I’ve just been thinking about it all the time.”

“Can I tell you something?” She waited until Blessing nodded in answer before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about it all the time, too.”

“You have?”

“Yes, I have. And you know what I think?”

“What?” Blessing asked with baited breath.

“I think that it won’t be long before your daddy and I get married. I don’t know when…. we still have some things to talk about. But I don’t want you to worry. I think it will be soon.”

She reached down and pulled Blessing into a warm and comforting embrace.

Blessing seemed satisfied. To lighten the mood, Olivia told her a joke.

“Blessing, what did one eye say to the other eye?”

The corners of the child’s mouth curled into a small smile. “What?”

“Don’t look now, but something between us smells!”

Blessing’s nosed wrinkled as she thought about what her mother had said. Then, she erupted into giggles. “The nose, Mommy!”

Olivia grinned at her daughter. “You are one smart cookie!” 

Olivia and Blessing spent the rest of the day hanging the stockings and draping the garland and bows on the mantel. Then they finished putting the ornaments on the tree. The outdoor lights had already been strung by John and Jasper.

After Blessing went to the kitchen for some cookies, Olivia looked around the living room. She was quite satisfied that the house looked magnificent, but even happier and contented that Blessing had spent this time with her and had seemed cheered.

But Olivia’s good mood was not long lasting. As she headed to her room to get cleaned up, John stopped her in the reading alcove.

“Livvy, I need to talk to you.”

“Sounds serious.”

He paused, unsure how to continue. Finally, he just said it. “I called Gracie.”

Olivia felt her heart plummet. “She hasn’t answered any of my phone calls. And yet she spoke with you?”

He shifted his weight to the other foot, almost wishing he had never brought this up. But she needed to know what was going on. “I don’t know about all of that. All I know is that she said living with Jebidiah hasn’t been everything she thought it would be.”

Olivia’s cheeks flamed red. “So what does that mean? Is she coming home?”

“No,” he said, but when he saw her hurt expression, he quickly added, “But she did say she’ll come to our family Christmas dinner.”

Olivia bit her lower lip as it trembled. “Well, that’s something, anyway. I am happy about that. I really wish she’d come home or even just talk to me.”

When he didn’t respond, she realized that she’d only been focused on herself. There was definitely something bothering him as well.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He looked away from her as the pain in his heart was still fresh and nearly too much to bear. “Elisa broke up with me.”

Olivia’s eyes grew large with disbelief. “What? When?”

“Last night. On the phone.”

“On the phone?” she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing again with anger. “On the phone?”

He merely nodded.

“Did she give you a reason? I thought it was going well.”

John gave her the short version. He just couldn’t talk about the details yet because it hurt too badly. “She wants to focus on her career and because I want a wife and family, our goals don’t really match up.”

“Is there any chance of a reconciliation?”

“I don’t think so. She was pretty clear that what she was saying was final.”

“I wish I knew what to say. It sounds like you’ll really miss her. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

He nodded slightly. “Thanks for not hitting me with all the crap you usually hear after a break up, Sis. I just don’t know how I’m going to get over her.”

 “It will take time, but I believe in you,” she answered as she hugged him.

It was getting late in the evening but Jebidiah lived just across the street and Olivia couldn’t get her conversation with John out of her head. Gracie had talked to her own brother but would not speak with her. 

After much thought, Olivia put on her winter gear and trudged through the snow to the Wilson house. But it wasn’t Gracie or Jebidiah who answered the door. It was a woman she had never met. 

“Yes?” the woman asked. 

“Uh… I’m Olivia Baldwin. I live across the street.”

The woman smiled pleasantly. “I know who you are. Would you like to come inside? It’s cold out there.”

Filled with a mixture of curiosity and dread, Olivia stepped into the foyer. She could hear a baby fussing and was stunned to see the woman immediately tend to a crying child. A child that very much resembled Jebidiah.

It was then that Jebidiah came in from the study. He couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. “Olivia!”

“Hello, Jeb,” she fumed. She wouldn’t have been surprised if steam was visible shooting from her ears. “I came to see Gracie.”

“Come into the study with me,” he said quickly. 

Olivia followed him numbly as she realized he didn’t want this woman to hear their conversation.

“She’s out with her friends. And frankly, she’s not ready to see you.”

“I don’t feel that’s really up to you to say,” she hissed. “Besides, she is coming to my Christmas dinner. You can’t stop that!”

His mouth curled into an ugly smirk. “We’ll see about that.”

“Why are you doing this? And who is that woman? Is that your baby?” she demanded.

“None of that is your business,” he sneered at her. “My life is none of your concern any longer.”

“My daughter is my concern! What about that?”

“You’re losing your temper. Calm down.”

“Calm down?” she yelled. “Calm down? I wish I could stomp you into the ground, Jebidiah Wilson!”

He laughed, but it wasn’t a pretty laugh. “You’re so emotional. That’s one of your biggest weaknesses. You know what other weakness you have that pervades your entire life and makes you oh so vulnerable?”

She stared at him in disbelief, unable to respond.

“Your love for your children. And you know what? You won’t be stomping me, Olivia. I will be squishing you like the bug you are,” he taunted. 

“Why?” she asked, wiping tears from her cheeks, her hands working into fists at her sides. How could this man, who had once professed to love her and had proposed they marry treat her this way?

Scoffing, he took a step toward her that made her take a step backward. An act and result he seemed to relish.

“Because I can. You don’t need to know why.”

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