Chapter Twenty Two: A Ray of Sunshine - Margaret Regina

“Why do we have to name her what you want to? Why can’t she have the first name I want?” Rosamund argued. It was the ongoing argument about what we should name our daughter. I wanted to stick with my family tradition of all Hobble children having a British name. It was something that Mom and Dad had started with us kids and all of the grandkids so far had British names. I didn’t want to have the first grandkid that didn’t have one.

“It’s a tradition, Rosamund.”

“But what about my family’s tradition? That all girls have a name starting with an “R”? Why do we have to do yours but not mine?! Afterall, she’ll have your last name.”

We had been having this argument for months. I was hoping that once we arrived in Appaloosa that she might give in but it had only made her dig her heals in even more. I was about at my wits end. We had been staying at her parents’ house for about a month and a half and I’d had about all I could take. I had only seen my family a handful of times since Rosamund’s family monopolized our time. I suppose I could have gone to my parents’ house alone but I wondered what her parents would think. Would they think I was a bad husband for leaving my very pregnant wife while I went out? The last thing I needed was to have Robert or Regina think bad of me. I knew they already thought less of me. Rosamund and I had tried to hide the fact that we didn’t get along much but every once in a while we would argue when they were home.

I was thankful that they had both gone shopping and weren’t there to hear the reoccurring name argument.

“Really? Not this argument again. . .”

“What?! It’s the truth! She’ll have your last name so why can’t she have the first name I want?”

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes. I actually understood her argument and I might have been more receptive to her suggestion if she wasn’t so aggressive about it. It didn’t help that I didn’t feel like she was giving my argument any merit.

“We have to decide something, Jefferson. She could come any day now.”

“It’s still one week before her due date.”

“Anytime means anytime.” She warned. “So why don’t we stop arguing and just go with the name I like. It would make things so much simpler.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. It felt like the walls were starting to close in on me. I walked over to the foyer table and grabbed my keys. “Where are you going?!”

“To my parents’ house. I haven’t seen them since my birthday and I think they might appreciate it if I visited them a little more often, since I am in town, afterall.”

“What if I go into labor?!”

“I have my cell. Plus, you’re not alone; the butlers here.”

“Jefferson! You can’t just leave me! What if something happens to me, or the baby?!”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Rosamund. It’s not like I’m going to a different town. It’s less than three blocks from here.”

“Jefferson! Don’t go we can talk about this. . .” I closed the front door before she could waddle towards it to stop me. 

I got in my car and drove down the hill to my parents’ street. I felt absolutely horrible that I had seen them so rarely while we had been here. I had almost not seen them on my, Charlie, and Bridge’s birthday since Rosamund had tried to keep us from going. She claimed she didn’t feel well and wanted us to stay at her parents instead of celebrating with my family. When I made it clear that I was going to my parents’ house with or without her, she miraculously felt well enough to go. She acted miserable the whole time we were there and I had been completely embarrassed. Even Mom looked unhappy and that was saying a lot. I pulled up to the gate and entered in the code for it to open.

I pulled into the drive and saw that Bridge’s SUV was there. I pulled in behind her and closed the car door. Before I could make it up the stairs the front door was opening. 

“Uncle Jeff!” Charles came running out of the house and hugged me.

“Hey kiddo!” I said as I hugged him back.

“Where’s Aunt Rosamund?” 

“She didn’t feel good today so she didn’t come with.” He nodded and ran back into the house. I followed him in and was immediately bombarded by family.

“Jeff! What are you doing here?” Mom exclaimed as she came out of the kitchen into the hallway.

“I wanted to spend some time with you all before the baby got here. Plus I felt kind of bad about my birthday.”

She nodded and made an unhappy face. “Well, it was definitely. . .something. I’m glad you were able to get away for a bit and visit us. Kate and I are finishing making lunch. Can you stay and eat?”

“You think I’m going to pass up some of your cooking? I’d have to be insane to do that.” She smiled and hugged me before going back into the kitchen.

I noticed someone walking out of the family room and I turned to see who it was. I was Scarlett walking while studying a music book.  She continued to walk with her head in the book until she walked right into me. “Oh! I’m sorry. . .Jeff?”

I laughed. “You wouldn’t have even noticed I was here if you hadn’t run into me.”

She blushed. “Sorry. I was reading. . .”

“. . .About music. What a shock.” I teased her. “Can I at least have a hug?” She smiled and hugged me.

“Do Charlie and Bridge know you’re here?”

“I doubt it since I just got here.”

She smiled “Are you eating lunch with us?”

“I sure am.”

She hugged me again and went back to walking and reading her book. I sometimes felt bad for Scarlett. She was so much younger than Charlie, Bridge and me that in some ways, she seemed more of a niece to Bridge and me than a sister. She was only two years older than Charles. From what I had heard from Bridge, Charlie was almost like another father figure to her, rather than a brother.  She seemed to not really mind, though.

“I must be hearing things! I could have sworn I heard. . .” I looked towards the stairs and Charlie was coming down them with Bridge and Carson behind him.  “Someone pinch me, I’m seeing things! It must be a mirage or something! That can’t possibly be my little brother standing in the hallway!”

I shook my head. “Nope. Not a mirage. I’m actually here.”

“What did you have to do to get here?” He asked as we hugged. 

“Let’s just say that it wasn’t all peaceful when I left.” I admitted. I looked at Bridge and she was bitting her lip. “Still having to bite that lip, I see.” I joked with her.

She nodded and we hugged. “Is it wrong of me to say that I’m happy that you’re here by yourself?”

I attempted a smile. Truth was, I was happy that I was there by myself too.

“It’s good to see you, Jeff! Haven’t had much of a chance to talk to you since you’ve been home. How’s the campus house?” Carson asked after we hugged.

“It’s good. I’m a little stressed though about the nursery. I hadn’t gotten much done before we left. Part of that was our indecisiveness about which room to use.”

“What room did you decide on?” Bridge asked.

“I think it used to be Julia’s room? The one to the right of the second floor bathroom.”

“Yeah, that used to be her room. Mine was to the left.” Bridge admitted.

“Speaking of babies. . .where are all the twins?” I wondered.

The three of them started laughing. “They’re all asleep in the nursery. Bridge and Carson brought their portable sleepers over and we somehow managed to get them all to take a nap. It’s like a miracle!” Charlie explained.

I chuckled. “That does sound like a miracle. Three sets of twins all taking a nap at the same time.”

I heard the front door open behind me. “Surely I’m seeing things! I could have sworn I saw Jeff’s car in the drive!” Dad joked as he entered the house. I turned around and we hugged.

“Hey, Dad! I know, it’s pretty rare to see it in the drive these days.”

“How’s Rosamund doing?”

“Very pregnant, and very moody.”

He nodded. “Well, that happens in the last couple months sometimes.”

“Yeah, we’ll blame it on the pregnancy.” I heard Bridge say under her breath and Carson tried to shush her.

“I’m going to go see if your mom needs help. You staying for lunch?” I nodded. “Good! Gonna be a housefull!” I watched as he walked into the kitchen.

“So, any news on the name front?” Charlie asked as we walked into the living room.

“No.” I said bluntly.

“I guess Charlie and I have been fortunate. Kate or Carson either haven’t cared or their family names work with our family naming traditions.”

“Yeah, well, that isn’t so with the Carter family. Either our family tradition is about to be broken or theirs is.”

“Can’t you come up with a British name that starts with an R?” Carson asked.

“Not one that we can agree upon. I swear she’s going to be ‘Girl Hobble’ for a good while after she’s born.”

We were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. 
“Hello?” I jumped up the second I heard her voice. I walked into the hallway and peaked around the corner.

“Star?”

Chapter One: Like Any Other Day

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I smacked the snooze button with my hand and pulled the covers over my head.  Just a couple more minutes of sleep…

“Jeff! Get your lazy butt out of bed!” Mom called through the door. 

That was one of the annoying things about living on a ranch; my parents were always up at the crack of dawn so my chances of sleeping in were nil.  Not that I really minded living on a ranch or even in our small town of Appaloosa Plains. I had no intention of ever leaving, except for college.

“Come on Mom! Just five more minutes!” I pleaded with her.

“Jefferson Allen Hobble, either you get up or I’ll make you.” I knew she was serious. 

One time my older brother Charlie decided to call her bluff and she came in with a bucket of cold water and dumped it on him.  He and I used to share this room but since he was four years older than me, he had long ago moved out.  He and his wife still lived on the ranch, since he helped dad with the running of our horse ranch, but it wasn’t even close to being the same.

“All right! I’m up! I’ll be downstairs in a minute.” I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. As I showered I thought about how this was like any other day. 

I didn’t really care that it was the first day of my senior year. I never knew why people got so excited about such things. I mean, sure, it was nice to see your friends that you didn’t see much during the summer, but it was school. Besides being on the debate team and student council, I could have cared less about high school. I had my eyes set on a bigger prize and high school was just a stepping block I had to climb to get to my ultimate goal. 

I finished showering, changed and headed downstairs for breakfast.  That was a benefit of living on a ranch, since Mom was up so early, she usually cooked breakfast for everyone. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a plate of pancakes.

As I sat down at the dining room table, Charlie started talking to me.

“Hey dude! Trying to sleep in late on the first day of your senior year? You can’t tell me you’re not excited about that?!”

My siblings always seemed surprised that I was so laid back about things. Yes, I could not be excited. “You know me, not an exciting type of guy.”

“Charlie, leave him alone.” Kate tried to get Charlie off my back.

Kate, Charlie and Bridge, Charlie’s twin and my older sister, had grown up together and been friends all their life.  Sometime during their senior year, Kate and Charlie started dating and soon after high school got married.  I watched as Kate put their son, Charles in his high chair to eat.  It was weird to me to be an uncle and only be a senior in high school; almost as weird as being a brother to a five year old sister. I looked back and forth between my little sister and my nephew.

They were basically going to grow up like bother and sister but they were really aunt and nephew. Crazy.

Just then I heard the front door open. “Hello? Good Morning!”

I had heard that voice almost every day of my life. It was the voice of my best friend Star.  Star lived next door and was Kate’s sister. Just like Charlie, Kate, and Bridge, Star and I were born the same year and had been friends since either of us could remember.  She walked into the dining room and mom told her to help herself to some breakfast. This was the normal morning routine for our house; wake up, get ready, sit down for breakfast, Star comes over, we all eat breakfast together and then we would either hangout, help on the ranch or go over to her mom’s house to help her with household stuff. Star’s mom, Honey, and her dad John had gotten divorced a couple years prior so if Miss Honey needed any work done to her house, our family usually helped.  I was actually surprised that Miss Honey wasn’t with Star since she usually ate breakfast with us.

“Where’s your mom?” I asked her as she sat down to eat.

“Oh she was emotional this morning with it being the beginning of my senior year. Something about how one child was grown and out of the house and her baby now has one foot out the door. You know how she is, over emotional sometimes.”  That was one reason Star and I got a long so well. She didn’t over complicate things with her emotions.

“Oh dear! I should go over there and see if she’s okay.” Mom exclaimed. “Chuck, can you make sure Scarlett gets on the bus okay?”

“Sure, sweetheart.” He stood up and walked over to give her a kiss.

Most of us groaned.  I have to admit though, it was nice to see that after 21 years of marriage, Mom and Dad still loved each other.  I watched as Mom walked towards the front door and then left to go next door.

“Hey, earth to Jeff!” My Dad called to me. “Don’t you think you all should be heading out the door to school?”

“I guess, you about ready Star?”

“Yep. Let’s get’er done.”

We walked into the kitchen and cleaned our plated before leaving.

“Later guys!” I called back to everyone as we left.

Star didn’t have a car so I offered to drive us to school.  I have to admit that I had a pretty sweet ride.

Mom and Dad had surprised me on my sixteenth birthday with it.  As we drove down the streets of Appaloosa I looked over at Star. 

Her hair was blowing in the wind and her cheeks were slightly flushed.  I had always thought Star was pretty but up until a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of dating her; she was like a sister to me.  Then there was the summer that things changed.

Three summers ago, the summer before our freshman year, my feelings for her became stronger.  Before that, it wasn’t a huge deal since I’ve always been able to keep my emotions in check. But the night that Scarlett was born brought my feelings for Star to the surface.  That night we weren’t sure if Mom was going to live. There had been some complications during childbirth.  As us kids waited for news in the waiting room, Star had tried to comfort me. 

Ever since that night, my feelings for Star had changed from brotherly love to something else. I knew she didn’t feel the same way though so I kept my feelings buried, like I did about most things. It was odd, the one person who I told how I felt, was the person I couldn’t share my feelings with.

We arrived at the school and started walking up to the building.  And that’s when the comments started.

“Hey look! It’s Jeff and Star; maybe they’ve finally started dating since they arrived together.” I looked over at Star and she cringed.

I called over to the people “Yeah, cause that’s exactly what happened last year when we rode to school together…” That got them to stop pestering us. 

I always tried to downplay it so no one would suspect that underneath, I really did have feelings for her, especially since the idea seemed to not be a pleasant idea to Star.

We walked into the building and headed over to the locker area; our normal hanging spot before school. Peter was already waiting for us. 

I had met Peter in middle school and he and I became friends while being on the debate team together.  We both enjoyed being on student council and I usually ended up being president and him vice president.

“Hey guys! Ready to start our senior year?”  Peter and I got along but we were definitely opposites. He was a much more spirited kind of guy.

“I suppose. Just means there’s one less year between us and graduation.”

“Oh come on, Jeff! Get a little excited!” He said while punching me in the arm.

We stood there talking for a minute when I heard a musical voice behind me,

 “Well, Jefferson Hobble, I’m so glad I ran into you. . . “ I knew who it was before even turning around. It was Rosamund Carter.

 ****Star****

Oh yay. It’s Rosamund! I thought sarcastically to myself.

She was always trying to flirt with Jeff. Half the girls in the school tried to flirt with him, but he never seemed to notice. Rosamund was always particularly annoying about her flirting though. No shame in flaunting herself. Doesn’t she realize how desperate it makes her look?

“Oh hey Rosamund. How was your summer?” I heard Jeff ask.

Why do that Jeff! Now she’s going to stand here and talk to us.  It was just part of what Jeff did; like he was always running for office. Always being nice to everyone.

“Oh you know the usual, laid out by the pool in my bikini while sipping on some iced tea. I tried to call you a couple of times to see if you wanted to come over and swim.” 

Yeah, swim, I’m sure that’s what you had in mind.

“I was real busy this summer working on the ranch between that and helping Star’s mom, Star and I didn’t have much time for anything else.” At the sound of him saying my name Rosamund finally turned to acknowledge me.

“Oh, hi Star! I didn’t see you standing there. Of course where else would you be besides standing next to Jeff.” She always sounded. . .jealous;  like she resented me somehow.  I usually tried to brush it off.

“Hi Rosamund. Nice to see you.” I replied civilly.

“Jefferson, what class do you have first?”

She was always calling him Jefferson too. No one called him that. I always envisioned taking my hand and hitting her between the eyes to beat it into her. “It’s Jeff! Not Jefferson!” I wanted to scream at her. I never did it, but it was fun to imagine.

“I’ve got English.” He replied.

“Well, how about that! So do I! Want to walk together?” Oh puke! If she lays it on any thicker I’m going to have to find a toilet.

“Sure. Guess we should head that way since it’s almost time for class. Later guys.” I watched them turn and walk toward their class. As they were walking I saw Rosamund slip her arm through Jeff’s and laugh at something he said. Something I was sure wasn’t as funny as she was pretending it was but that’s what Rosamund was, a pretender.

I looked over at Peter and he was staring after them. “Hellllloooo Peter! Are you there?”

He snapped out of it. “Yeah, man she’s so pretty.”

“Who, Rosemund?” He nodded.  I scolfed.

“Better get going to class Peter, don’t want to be late on your first day.”

“You’re always so good to us, Star. Always looking out for us. Thanks!”

With that Peter closed his locker and ran to his first class. Yep, always looking out for you guys. Something told me I’d be doing that later with Jeff. Since he seemed so oblivious to Miss Pretender, I needed to warn him about her.