Their New Beginnings Chapter: 9

They left Walter in the room with his mother and went down stairs to the kitchen.

“I don’t think I introduced myself. I’m Molly, Walter’s daughter.”
“I’m your Aunt Sally and this is my daughter Jodie.”

“And I’m your Uncle Tim. My two boys are working in the field right now. Brian’s the oldest and then there’s Aiden.”

“So where’s your dad been all this time?” asked Sally as they all found a seat around the table.

“The east coast.” Said Molly. She was used to giving pretty vague answers and lying constantly where she and Walter had come from. It was just habit now.

“Where exactly on the east coast?”

“This village called, Mary’s Point. He works as a welder for Mr. Fergason.”

“Oh, why hadn’t he tried to call us or write a letter?”

“I don’t know, only he could tell you.” Molly was feeling uncomfortable with trying to give lies as sincere answers. She really wanted to tell them the truth because they were her family now.  Sally could see the discomfort on her face.

“I’m sorry child. I shouldn’t be pestering you with all these questions. I just want to know what my baby brother has been doing since he dropped off the face of the earth.” Aunt Sally apologized.

“It’s ok; I would want to know too.”  It was silent in the kitchen for what seemed like an hour; the only sounds that could be heard were the ticking of the wall clock and the quite sobbing of Walter and his mother from upstairs.

“So how old are you Molly?” Jodie asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I’m 17.”

“So am I! When’s your birthday?”

“April 16th.” Molly replied

“August 9th!”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where’s your mother Molly? Did she come with you?” asked Uncle Tim.

“No, she’s not; she died when I was about 4.” Molly said quietly. She was telling the truth this time.

“Oh, I’m so sorry child; I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s alright. She’s been gone so long I can barely remember her face, or her voice. You just forget after a while.” Molly was about to say more when they heard the door creak upstairs and slow footsteps coming down the stairs. They all turned and saw Walter; wiping the tears from his red and puffy eyes.

Walter pointed upstairs with his index finger and put his hands together; tilting his head on them. Everyone knew what he meant.  Aunt Sally told Jodie to go get a chair for him to sit.

“How long were you planning on staying?” Uncle Tim asked Walter. Walter signed to Molly and she answered for him,

“We’re going to stay until mom’s time comes.” Walter signed. Jodie came in from the living room with a wooden chair and Walter sat down.

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Uncle Tim and Aunt Sally “talked” with Walter for hours; catching up on lost time all the while still keeping Rapture a secret. Soon it was almost time to start supper. Aunt Sally asked Molly if she’d help her and Jodie make supper.

“Sure, just tell me what to do.” Molly smiled. Uncle Tim asked Walter to come with him to the field for his boys. He nodded and followed Uncle Tim out to the field.

Out in the fields Uncle Tim’s two boys were just about done with their work for the day. Brian was on one red tractor and Aiden was on another.  They both saw their dad with another man, a little shorter than him coming towards them and shut off their tractors.
“Boys! Come on back to the house! Work’s done for the day! And I have someone for you to meet!” Uncle Tim hollered.  Both Brain and Aiden hopped off their tractors and went to their dad.
“Boys, I’d like you to meet your Uncle Walter. He’s come home.” Brain and Aiden looked at Walter.
“Where have you been all this time Uncle Walter?” asked Aiden. Uncle Walter didn’t respond.
“Uncle Walter can’t talk. He had an accident years ago. But he did tell me he lives on the east coast and works as a welder. Doesn’t surprise me none, he’s always been the little spark bug. Be in the barn’s workshop till midnight working on some project!” he said punching Walter in the arm. Walter gave a little smile as he rubbed his arm. “Boys I want you to head back to the house and wash up for supper.”
“Yes sir.” They both of the said in unison then started towards the house.
“They’re great boys Walter; hard workers.” He said turning to him. Walter gave a nod and a grunt. “Yeah, after Linda and I had the divorce four years ago things have been rough on us, I thought we could make it work for the kids you know; but we just couldn’t. But you know how dad and mom always loved kids. So even before dad had died we had come to stay with them. The boys had always loved helping Grandma and Grandpa around the farm and the house, so it wasn’t hard for them to take up the chores.” Walter nodded. He had known Tim and Linda were sweethearts back in school and thought they were meant for each other. Things just turned out otherwise.
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Back in the house Aunt Sally, Jodie, and Molly were busy preparing supper. Aunt Sally took a large ham out of the oven and began slicing it on a cutting board, Jodie was peeling potatoes and putting them into a boiling pot of water, and Molly was washing and peeling carrots. And already on the table and prepared was some dinner rolls and sweet corn in a dish. They could hear the sound of boots and talking coming up the back porch.
“Hey Jo, what’s for supper tonight?” called Aiden taking off his muddy work boots at the back screen door.
“It’s ham tonight with potatoes and carrots.” She said putting the last of the potatoes into the pot
“What, ham again?” Brian said from the back porch.
“Yep, we have a lot to go through after Uncle Tim traded some corn with Farmer Bagg down the road.” Aiden stepped through the door and noticed Molly leaning against the counter.  She tucked some of her red hair behind her ear and gave a shy smile
“Hello, who’s this?” he said taking a step closer.
“This is Molly, she’s Uncle Walter’s daughter.” Said Jodie.
“Well nice to meet you Molly, I’m Aiden.” He said outstretching his hand.
“Nice to meet you too.” She replied with another smile.
“Brian, Aiden, I want you two wash up and set the table; make sure to add two more places for Molly and your Uncle Walter.” Instructed Aunt Sally.
“Yes Ma’am.” Replied the boys.

Walter and Tim walked into the house shortly after Brian and Aiden had set the table, that they all took their seats at the dinner table. The table was set with a simple white table cloth, and white ceramic dinner plates. And the food smelled delicious; succulent ham, golden sweet corn in a dish, peeled halved steamed potatoes, and sliced carrots. And this simple, yet hardy supper was not complete without a pitcher full of ice cold lemonade. Walter always had fond memories of growing up on the farm with having a nice cold glass of homemade lemonade, usually by his mother. But now his sister has taken over most of her roles in the house.

They bowed their heads in a short dinner grace and then proceeded to pass the plate of ham around, followed by the potatoes and the corn. Walter and Molly were in heaven as they ate their food. Molly was used to Walter’s simple meals of potato and hamburger casseroles, fried baloney sandwiches, hamburgers, and scrambled eggs with toast for supper; but nothing like this. She had to try and eat slowly without making look obvious that she was very hungry.

“Hey, slow down there Molly! There’s plenty of food here. What doesn’t your dad feed you?” Uncle Tim joked.
“Yeah, but we eat very simple meals, like fried baloney sandwiches and hamburgers.” She said in between swallows.
“You do look a bit thin; I can tell you that you definitely won’t be going hungry here.” Aunt Sally laughed.  
“You did always love to eat fried baloney sandwiches, Walter.” Walter just smiled as he cut his ham slice into a smaller piece.

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During their supper, they talked about anything under the sun. They told old stories about Walter’s, Uncle Tim, and Aunt Sally’s childhood, old jokes from their time, and even singing. When their supper was finished, Aunt Sally fixed up a small plate of left over food for her mother and took it upstairs to her room. While she was doing that everyone else was helping out, clearing the table, and washing the dishes.

When that was finished, Uncle Tim had Jodie help Molly take her belongings up to her bedroom; they would be sharing a bed together. And Walter would be staying in Uncle Tim’s room on a small cot.

“It’s going to be nice having another girl around here other than my mom.” Jodie said adjusting her grip on one of her suitcases as she went up the creaking staircase. Molly followed behind her with her school backpack on and carrying her other suitcase.
“Yeah, it must be weird not having another girl around, huh.”
“It hasn’t been too bad. But you know it’s still nice.” She sat down the suitcase at the foot of her bed and Molly put her’s on the other side of the room. The walls of Jodie’s room were covered by this white-ish, wallpaper with purple flowers that looked like it should be in someone’s kitchen. The bed’s blanket was this light pink and white quilt, which Molly assumed that Walter’s mother must have made.

After everything was situated, Molly stayed in Jodie’s bedroom to do some sketching in her notebook, while Jodie went downstairs to the living room to watch some T.V. with the rest of the family. But after a few minutes, decided to come down and join them as well. They all sat around the TV watching a late night comedy show.

When the show was over they said their goodnights and got ready for bed; they would have to get up early for tomorrow’s chores and daily work around the farm. Before Walter went to sleep he checked up on Molly and gave her a hug before going to sleep.
“Goodnight dad.” She whispered in his ear. And with that he left the room. Molly pulled the covers over herself and gave a relaxed sigh.
“You have a really good relationship with your dad Molly.” Jodie said as she turned off the light.
“Yeah, he really does care about me. I think he is really happy about being back home.” Molly turned and saw Jodie’s face dimly illuminated by the moon shining from the curtains of the window, the happy expression on her face had changed one of sadness.
“What’s wrong?” Molly asked.
“It’s nothing. We should probably get to sleep; we have a lot to do in the morning.”  Jodie turned to her other shoulder.
“Ok, goodnight.” Molly soon enough drifted off to sleep, but wondered why Jodie didn’t tell her what was bothering her. She knew she shouldn’t pry, as she too had things to hide, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t concerned.