A Week Later (Jack Lexington)

The knock on the door could barely be heard over the noise inside the house. A woman in her late 50ies was vacuuming and a man bringing in fire wood when he heard the subtle knock.
assuming it was his son coming back from a walk he frowned a little. "Forgot your keys again." He grumbled but still walked to the door and opened it just to come face to face with a young woman with bright red hair.
"Good morning." He offered a smile wondering what she wanted.

The noise in the house only caused Briar and Josh to cry so usually when any clesning or other noises were going on I pack up the kids and go for a walk. Even though is pretty foggy and cool today I wrapped them in thick woolen blankets and was out the door before anybody could tell me it was too cold. My own woven brown jacket is keeping me warm but with all the pushing I wouldn't even need one. After about an hour I make my way back home because I'm pretty sure one of the kids will wake up and start crying for milk.

My steps are getting faster and faster and I fall into my old hobble as I always do when I'm not paying attention to the way I'm walking. Quickly I pass house after house with the twin stroller in front of me when I spot somebody in front of our house. I see the red hair and know immediately who it is even though I almost forgot about her in the busy week I had.
"Hey, Faith!" I shout from afar and start jogging. Of course Josh wakes up from my scream and starts complaining, so before I can greet the girl I have to pick him up and then smile at her broadly. "Nice to see you!"

I'm actually really glad that she hasn't forgotten about me or is too busy to visit so i can't stop smiling at her. When she rubs Joshs hand and he smiles at her I can't help but feel pride. Not that I've done anything great to achieve a baby like him. I guess it's just fatherly pride when people like your children and Faith clearly does. She pulls out two older but still good teddy bears, which puts a smile on my face. For some reason there are no such toys around our house any more. "That's really nice of you, Faith. I'm not sure whether we never played with teddies or why the only toys are wooden guns and farm animals. Thank you very much."

I watch her hold out the bear to Josh who eyes him in awe. "I think he likes him."

My dad is still up on top of the stairs watching with curious eyes who this girl might be. Of course he's weary because of Noreen but he is descrete enough to turn around after a moment and walk back inside.

"Would you hold Josh?" I ask Faith before I simply hand him to her and mention that she should hold his head. Then I reach into the stroller and carefully lift our sleeping Briar. "That's my girl, Briar."
Before the girl wakes up I walk up the few stairs and tell Faith. "C'mon in. We haven't had lunch yet and I'm starving...come to think about it. I haven't even had breakfast. That happens a lot lately." The babies take up a little too much time and effort.

Faith had to be wealthy if she could afford giving away lunches and toys. She also looked better dressed than me. No wonder if her fathers owned a large farm.
When we enter our old cabin with it's squeaky floor boards I ask. "How are your knees? Any better?"

I have no problem putting my kids in other people hands, even strangers because I only have two arms and not four so that happens quite a bit. With Faith I don't have a doubt in my mind that she will be extra careful and gentle with my boy. He's taklen with her, too, as his eyes are fixed on her hair and he's trying to reach for it. That doesn't surprise me because it is very unusual and pretty.
With Briar in my right arm and the teddies in the other I follow Faith and hear my mother still vacuuming my room under the roof. At least the noise is not so prominent down here.
My dad has retreated to his bedroom where he's probably reading a book, which he does a lot when he gets tired.

I sit down at the old oak table with its cuts and cracks in the unfinished surface and place the teddies on it.
"Sandwiches are awesome and turkey? Unbelievable...I'm actually not sure that I've ever had it. Is it wild turkey?" Meat is pretty rare in our diet because we can't afford it so my mouth starts watering immediately, yet I get up and grab two plates and glasses. A water jug is already on the table.
"I'm used to doing everything one handed now." I exp;lain my juggling my daughter.

Then she talks about Josh being strong like his dad. What a compliment. I feel anything but strong right now but it still sounds very nice and makes me look at her in awe. "Thank you. That's....very nice of you." I catch myself looking at her with my son in her arms a little longer than I should. What a picture. It's sweet but hurts at the same time. If only Nonnie was sitting there with our baby.

Taking a deep breath I walk over to the couch to place Briar, who is still asleep behind a wall of cushions so she can't roll off.
Then I come back and wait for the sandwich.
"So you're experimenting on your cuts, that sounds like a great idea. Maybe you should just leave them alone. Don't you need to be able to walk when you work on the farm?"

"But how else will I know which mixtures work?" That's a good question.
"I don't know...try them on your cows? I'm just worried about you." I admit.
The sandwich she placed on my plate and the fruit look absolutely mouthwatering. It's so high that some meat is falling out the side and there some delicious sauce on it.
I can't help but grab it and take a huge bite out of it, then savour the taste in my mouth. It's like a taste explosion because there are spices in it that I'm not familiar with so I grunt loudly.
"Wow, that's the best sandwich I've ever had." I say with my mouth still half full. Another huge bite follows while my eyes are on her nibbling on a strawberry. I smile with my cheeks full. "Thank you."
Then she mentions her dad not managing the farm so well anymore and I add. "Bet you being out of order doesn't help either." I swallow the big bite after chewing it thoroughly and then stop. "Is this an offer?"
My jaw drops a little. "You bring me food and offer me a job?" I want to say "I love you." Just for these gestures but these words are reserved for my children now.
A huge grin spread from my left ear to my right. "I'd love to work for you."
As usual there is always a but so my smile gets smaller again. "But I'm not sure whether my parents can take care of these two the whole day...and I'm not fit yet. Getting better but I'm still out of breath pretty fast and can't lift anything heavy." I smile as I remember telling her I can't lift her, which implies that she's heavy.
Too bad. I would have loved to get out of the house and am sure I could bring in more money than my mother with her cleaning and sewing.
"Maybe I can help a little here and there until you're better. And you could hold Josh as long as he's happy with you."

On cue Brian wakes up behind us and gives a short cry. "There's my girl." I get up after i take another bite and pick Briar up from the couch. She's still tired and can barely keep her eyes open so her small head rests on my shoulder.
I sit back down at the table to finish my lunch and tell Faith. "Her name is Briar."

So I didn't misunderstand her offering me a job, well her father offering a job. To hear that I smile to myself. "I'd be happy to help and your dad can show me a thing or two if you want to babysit. Once I get back to my usual shape I could be a real help. If you really want to give me a try." Only when the words left my mouth do I realize what I just said and blush. "I mean your dad. If you father wants to test my work." I studder and am thankful for the change of subject. How embarassing.

I notice that she has no problem to take Josj out of his blanket without asking and I like that. She seems very natural with the kids. Quite the opposite of me who had to learn every tiny little thing.

When Briar cries I almost duck because I know that small cute cry will be followed by a lot more louder and persistent ones when she gets hungry. "Just wait a few minutes and I'm sure you'll reconsider that statement."

'I like her name' Faith mentions and takes me right back to that place I don't enjoy at all. The memories of Noreen's reaping. For a moment I just look at my daughter and her tiny nose and cheeks but then state in a low voice. "Her mother named her. I love the name."
The rest of her words are lost as I get lost in thoughts about what Nonnie must have felt like when she gave birth and named our children. I so wish I could have been there with her, held her hand and supported her. My poor girl had to do it all alone and knew she'd probably never seen them grow up. All she could hope for was that the capitol would really deliver them to me.
"What? Sorry...how do I do what? Oh, deal with the kids?" I look back up at Faith. "My parents help a lot. If it was only me we'd be starved by now and covered in spit and poo." I attempt a joke, which she might find really gross.
"I couldn't get through a single day without their help, I think."

"Whose help?" My mothers voice suddenly makes me turn around.
She greets me with a squeeze of my shoulder and takes Briar from my arm. "Hey, little monkey. Are you hungry?"
She brushes a strand of her grey hair out of her wrinkly but friendly face and offers Faith her free hand. "Hi, I'm Ella, Jack's mother, and you must be the girl who fell on the glass."
I'm not sure how my mother knows or why she remembers one sentence I said a week ago but I add. "Yeah, mom. That's Faith. She brought back my towel and some sandwiches. Awesome sandwiches. better than yours." She gives me a slight hit on the head and then walks to the kitchen counter with a smile on her face.

Faith is nice and polite with my mother and pleases her as I can tell by my mothers demeanor, who si warming up some cowmilk in the kitchen and then watering it down to make it easier on the babies stomachs.

When I turn my head I see Josh suck on Briars finger, which looks awefully cute. "No milk coming out of that." I tell my son and nod. "Sure you can feed him. They get cow milk from a bottle." To confirm my statement my mother hands her a bottle after she's tested it on the inside of her wrist and then hands Briar who has started to complain a little louder to me. "There, she wants you." She tells me although we both know she just wants milk.
"Yeah, right." I reply and take the bottle. As soon as she sees the bottle her mouth opens and I don't hesitate to shove the nipple in her mouth, which she latches onto and sucks as hard as a little calf. "Hungry little bugger." I call her lovingly. "She's got a huge appetite. Do you have milk cows on your farm as well?"

My mother is about to leave but I hold her back and tell her. "Wait, mom. I have to ask you something. Faith's dad owns a farm and is looking for a hand. What do you think?"

My mother stops and looks at me and Briar for a moment. "What about the babies?"
"It would only be a few hours and Faith offered to watch them while they are sleeping."
"They still sleep a lot. Hmmm." She thinks out loud.
"Are you well enough to work on a farm?" Her look gets increasingly worried but I nod.
"You're an adult, Jack. You should decide yourself but thanks for considering me."

Then she's gone. It's odd for my mother not to give her two cents worth but maybe she's gotten used to me making decisions, a lot of wrong ones, too.

Having a source of chep milk would be incredible. "They drink a lot of cow milk. So if you have some left I'd be more than thankful."
If I really want to take advantage of Faiths hospitality I should probably explain to her why my children have to live off cow milk rather than mother milk like any other baby. The thought alone makes my stomach tighten though. Yet I feel the need to let her know a little bit of what happened though.
Trying to sound as emotionless as I can I mutter. "They need to live on cow milk because their mother was killed." My eyes is glued to the empty plate in front of her as I don't want to look Faith in the eyes and make clear that I don't want to talk about Noreens death.

Instead I pull back my sleeve to have a look on the simple watch on my wrist.
"It's a quarter past 12." I swallow hard against the lump in my throat as I mirror what Faith did with Josh, who let out two big burps.
Little Briar is just as loud as her brother when it comes to purping and makes me chuckle. "That's my girl. She burps just like her dad." I admit.
Getting up I offer to walk her to the door and then ask. "When do you want me to come over for work and to meet your father?"
I hope that the man will agree to me working for them because it sure is hard to find a job where my children are taken care off and I can gradually do longer hours.