Page 71 of Nineteen Eighty
An hour later, Augustus hung his jacket on the coat rack inside Magnolia Grace. A rich, welcoming scent wafted in from the kitchen. Gumbo, he thought, and realized once more how fortunate he was to be married to a woman like Barbara.
He followed the aroma, but she wasn’t in the kitchen. “I’m home!” he called out, and the answer came from an adjoining room, their formal dining area.
Augustus found Barbara and Anasofiya huddled together over a large puzzle. Barbara had climbed half over the table to place a piece on the other side. Ana bit her lip in intense concentration. When she saw Barbara’s success, she cheered, and they gave each other high-fives over the table.
Augustus cocked his head, walking around to see what they were working on. Tower Bridge, but it was still missing part of the Thames and some blue in the beams.
“Ana picked it out,” Barbara said, planting a kiss at the corner of his mouth. Ana ran over and smacked her lips against his cheek before returning to the very serious task at hand.
“You both have made fine work of it,” Augustus praised. “That’s a lot of pieces.”
“We’re going there!” Ana declared. “For our family vacation next year!”
Augustus looked at Barbara, who shrugged, but was smiling.
“You heard her,” she said with a wink and went back to helping Ana assemble their masterpiece.
Augustus’ eyes glossed over. He willed his tears back where they came from before they could make a formal appearance.
He didn’t need them here.
Everything was as it should be, finally.
CHAPTER 20
So This is Christmas
Evangeline had hardly seen Johannes since they stepped through the threshold of The Gardens.
The moment they entered, he was swept up in a wave of curious siblings and a very serious Mama, who insisted on taking his measure early and often. As far as she knew, none of the other significant others among them had been so eagerly anticipated. Was it because she was the last to find love? Was it because she was different?
He fielded questions from all sides, and did it with a beaming smile. Her Johannes. Was there another man, or woman, on earth more perfect for her? Cassie had been, but she’d loved Cassie in a different way, and that love had healed her. Prepared her for not only this man, but this moment.
Nearly everyone hinted that it was time for them to move home. Deschanels should be together. Both Colleen—who knew the value of living away for a while—and Elizabeth defended her, the latter trying to explain to those who didn’t understand the prestige in the work Evangeline was doing. There was even talk that their research team might be on the nomination list for a Nobel Prize. This was hard even for her to grasp, but her family?
She liked this middle ground, where she could be amongst them but also away, and be herself. It was the best of both worlds, as they say, and she appreciated them more when she wasn’t embroiled in their madness. This she’d slowly learned in Massachusetts, and now had come to fully embrace as an expat living abroad. Besides, she loved the simplicity and beauty of Geneva. It appealed to a mind always in chaos.
And, yeah, Evangeline thought maybe she did want children of her own. Even five years ago, her answer was no fucking way, but time and circumstances had brought her further away from the young girl drowning in New Orleans and closer to the woman who could thrive in the right environment. She’d passed from one petri dish to another, and her testing was complete. She was whole. She could share some of this with the next generation, luck willing.
“You have my blessing, for whatever that’s worth,” Irish Colleen said, breaking Evangeline from the spell of so many thoughts.
“Sorry, Mama?”
“Johannes. He’s a fine man.”
“Don’t sound so surprised I was able to stick the landing on this one,” Evangeline teased.
“Oh! I’m not surprised about that, Evangeline. Only that you could get past your own self long enough to be happy.”
Evangeline’s defenses rankled, but her mother went on.
“You have a good soul. Of all my babies, it may be the most pure, but the pure ones are the most susceptible, aren’t they? You’ve always been my wild card. The one afraid to fail and afraid to be vulnerable.”
“Not everyone can bounce back from things so easily.”
“No, darling. And some hurts are meant to be felt. They give us the strength we need for whatever comes next. And the permission to enjoy it.”
“I wouldn’t change it, though, Mama.” Evangeline looked out into the crowd of family. Of her siblings and their spouses. The small feet of many children pattering around the marble floors, running loops around the several Christmas trees and miles of garland. “I wouldn’t be here now if the bad things hadn’t happened.”