Changing Seasons. Winter II, part 1

Winter II, part 1 “Come on, buster. It’s bed-time.” Mason was doing the “I’m not tired!” routine, which was a total giveaway for “I’m exhausted!” Lachlan hugged his son and stroked his hair.
“It’s all right, little man. It’s all right.” They were actually all sleeping upstairs now! The four children’s cots were tucked into the odd-shaped room on the right of the landing, and Lachlan and Marianna had the one straight ahead. This was better, did feel like progress. He didn’t feel like such a total failure any more. Children into bed, and then he and Marianna both knew they were tired. None of this “I’m not tired” nonsense for them! They were both heading for their bed as soon as possible! “What next?” Lachlan asked Marianna.
“What next for today or what next in the house?”
“Both,” Lachlan said briskly. “What do you think we need to do next to the house and I’ll start thinking about how to do it, and what needs doing today? What would you like?” Marianna looked pleased that he was asking her what she would like.
“I’d like to get this table smartened up,” she said. “But – there is something I think we really need – come with me and I’ll show you.” “It’s this let’s-fall-down-the-stairs gap. I mean, at the moment, they’re staying in their cots and in their bedroom. They’ve got each other to talk to and we’re usually up first anyway. But this isn’t safe now they’re sleeping upstairs.”
“You’re right. We need stair banisters too, I think. I can do quick but not very elegant, or elegant and slow. Which do you want?”
“Quick, I think. You can make me elegant later.”
“Quick it is, then.” Both fireplaces were now fenced off, and even with the shutters open, the room was warm and cosy once the fires were lit.
“Ten more minutes and then it’s bedtime,” Lachlan said to his tribe.
He didn’t feel like such a failure round his children anymore, didn’t feel like he couldn’t work out what to do. Marianna was in the workshop, and he was here with four children and he didn’t feel panicked. Bed for the children, supper for himself and Marianna – and now meals with her didn’t feel like a stand-off, but were pleasant, companionable times. And tomorrow would be another day they’d face together. Lachlan had borrowed his landing railing idea from Marcus and Annette’s farm! Quick, cheap and effective, and the landing was now much safer.
“You know what?” Annette said. “If we walled off this space and put a window in, it’d make a bedroom. By next winter, the children will be out of their cots and into beds. They won’t all fit in that other room, unless we buy bunk beds.” “I need to go to Minnie’s, to drop off that stuff for her daughter’s gallery. Who do you want me to take? Taylor? Harper went last time.”
“Good choice. And I’ll take Mason with me to the library later. Fletcher went last time.” “Pretty!” said Taylor, gazing at the new stuff on the shelves. Christmas! Lachlan did a double-take. Last year it hadn’t featured at all. “You’ve got Christmas things!” He hadn’t meant it to sound accusing, but it almost did. “Just a few little things. I know none of you have got much money, but I figured stocking these wouldn’t break my bank or yours. If there’s something you want me to put aside to give to Marianna, I’ll be right happy to do that for you. And I won’t breathe a word to her about it either. Have a closer look and see if there’s anything you think she’d really like. A tiny gift given with love is worth so much more than a big gift given without love, I always say. I remember when we were not long married and all the girls were still pre-school, and we were so hard up…” “I tried a couple of new things as well,” Lachlan said a bit diffidently, when Minnie had finished talking and given him a chance to show her his latest new ideas.
“I’ve done the repeats she asked for as well – they’re packaged up by the door.”
“I don’t think I’m going to give her the cat sculpture. My Susie, she just loves cats. I’m going to buy that from you for one of her Christmas presents. She’ll just love it. I’ll pass on the owl though – that’s kind of cute.” A present for Marianna. But what would she like? There was so much that they just plain needed: should he go for useful? He needed some advice. And he knew where to find it. Could be an early start tomorrow morning. He’d tell Marianna he was going scrap hunting. This time last year, when he’d sat in this building and talked to the ghost of a bossy school teacher, he’d wondered if he was going mad. Now it felt normal.
“I don’t know what to get her. I mean, me, I’d like useful, but I’m a man. I like practical things. Women are different in so many ways…”
“You’re learning,” Miss-Kirk-to-you said approvingly. “She wants to know if you see her, if you understand her and if you value her. But your budget is small, and there are things she needs, right?”
Lachlan nodded.
“Use a small part of it to buy her something that is solely to bring her joy. That will tell Marianna that you care about her heart, her soul, as well as her physical needs.” Clara very thoughtfully came down from the scaffolding for him, rather than making him climb up to her – or yell up from below.
“So that’s what Minnie’s got, more or less. What should I get for her?”
“The chocolates,” Clara said promptly. “They say ‘you are special’ way better than a candle or a plant in a pot.”
Well, she should know, Lachlan thought. Clara and Marianna got on well together, understood each other. Scary, really, to think that Marianna had a lot in common with Clara! “That whale is fun! Patience’s three will really enjoy playing with it. I’ll wrap it up – Minnie gave me some spare packaging – and I’ll give it to her when she next comes round.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I tell you what else I like. The way you’ve transformed this table.” “We’re going to need some more sandpaper though! What with the table, the new benching.”
“Do you think we should take those stools back to the school? We only really borrowed them for when Leo and Rafe and the girls came to stay. And that was six months ago.” “No. I think we should let me sand them, glue the wobbly leg back into place, tighten all the loose joints and then use them ourselves. Who’s going to need them in the school? Who has the oldest children?”
“Well, us, I guess…”
“So,” Lachlan went on, with a laugh in his voice, “logically, we are the rightful chair-users. And by the end of the summer, we will have four grown-up-child bottoms in need of four grown-up-child chairs. What do I see at this table? Aha! Chairs!”
Marianna laughed back at him, her eyes alive and sparkling like they used to be.
“Together you are strong,” Adelaide Kirk had said to him last year. And together they had made it through another year, made some progress in their life here. She’d been right. Patience had brought a Christmas present over for the children, which hadn’t been a surprise; and he’d made the whale toy for their children. And he wasn’t too surprised by the neat little yellow box with a present for Marianna in it. He knew that Marianna had made Patience a pair of earrings. Girls gave gifts to each other. It was what they did – gifts of time, of listening, of practical help. But there was one for him as well! Lachlan hadn’t actually felt as pleased and surprised as this for years. Not since before the children came… “And a Happy Christmas to you too! Open it carefully, when you do, because there’s something in there for you as well.” Lachlan headed for the workshop! He’d probably better start thinking about making something for Euan. There was still a week to go… “And here’s another small Happy Christmas present for you, darling.”
Lachlan’s real present to Marianna had been the new jeans and jumper that she was now wearing. The chocolates were a total surprise. “Chocolates? Christmas chocolates? Oh, Lachlan!” Marianna looked as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Presumably that was a good sign…maybe? Or did she think it was a waste of money? “I wanted to give you something you didn’t absolutely need? To tell you that you’re special?”
He’d known how to do this when they were falling in love, but that landscape felt so far away, so long ago.
“Because you are. Special, I mean.” The little yellow candle on the table (that was what had been inside the little yellow box for Marianna!) flickered and danced as if it agreed with him. “This has been the best Christmas ever.” Marianna’s arms were around him.
“Really?” Lachlan was genuinely puzzled.
“Yes. Because it’s a new beginning for us both. We’ve got through the worst, Lachlan. There’s still further to go, but we’ve got through the worst.” Marianna was putting the last child to bed whilst Lachlan picked up the toys and put them in the new toybox. Blake and Marcus had made it, Clara had painted it and the toys had come from Old Tench and Minnie. The children had loved them – and the colouring books from Patience and Euan. And next year…Next year would be better yet.

The charming little Christmas gifts were made by Sandy at ATS3

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