24. Dulcie
DULCIE
Dulcie stood by Maggie’s oven on Christmas morning, smiling to herself and enjoying the sounds of happy chatter floating down the hall from the living room as she waited for the baked French toast to be ready.
The kitchen smelled heavenly, and it felt so good to have a familiar task today. Her new life was already so filled with happiness it was almost unrecognizable sometimes. But Dulcie didn’t want to forget who she was, or where she came from.
Back in the city, she had used Mom’s old casserole dish to make baked French toast for Delphine every Christmas.
No matter how bad things got, she always managed to stash a few eggs in the vegetable drawer, and she saved all the heels of the bread in a frozen broccoli bag in the freezer starting a month ahead of time.
She was determined to keep that tradition going, even if it looked a little different now.
Today, she had two casserole dishes in the oven, and she had just finished cooking up two big pans of bacon. The eggs were fresh from the farm, the bread was homemade, and there was also fresh butter and real maple syrup to have with it.
Things get better, she thought to herself.
When you’d been hungry, food moved to the forefront of your thoughts. But it wasn’t really the meals, or even the beautiful farm, or the safe home, or the warm clothing that had Dulcie feeling so happy every day.
She was happy because of West and Elizabeth and Delphine. They were all together now, and even if things ever got tough again, they would endure it together as a family.
She picked up her mug of coffee from the counter and took a sip.
“You’re going to be running on that stuff soon,” Delphine said, stepping into the kitchen with a big smile on her face. “I can’t believe you’re going to college.”
“Just for a certificate,” Dulcie reminded her. “If I get in.”
“Don’t do that,” Delphine told her. “It’s a really big deal. And you’re going to be an amazing preschool teacher. You were born for this.”
She’d only begun to seriously think about it this morning. West’s suggestion last night that she might want to go back to school had really resonated with her.
She’d woken up before dawn and sat up in bed to look for local programs on her phone. A nearby community college offered a two-year certificate program for Early Childhood Education, and the courses looked amazing .
The cost was going to pack a punch, but her savings would be enough to get her through the first semester if she and Delphine were really going to keep living with West and Elizabeth. And if she worked on the farm while she studied, she figured she might actually be able to pull it off.
Every time she thought about it, the idea of spending her days caring for children Elizabeth’s age got her so excited. It would be amazing to work in a preschool classroom every day.
Delphine had woken up to find Dulcie huddled under her quilt still studiously scrolling on her phone. She had crawled right in with her, and they spent the early morning whispering excitedly about it.
“Hopefully West is really okay with this,” Dulcie worried aloud as she checked on the French toast again.
She hadn’t talked with him about it yet, because she didn’t want to distract anyone from the wonderful Christmas mood floating around.
“Are you kidding me?” Delphine asked. “West’s going to be more excited than you are. Just wait and see.”
“What am I going to be excited about?” West asked, his deep voice sending a happy little shiver through Dulcie’s heart, as it always did.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Delphine said. “Don’t let her burn my favorite meal, Superman.”
“I won’t,” he chuckled. “But I’m making no promises on how much bacon will be left when you get back.”
Delphine laughed as he swiped a slice, winking at her.
“Bye, sis,” she said before slipping into the hallway.
Dulcie watched West eat his stolen bacon, humming around it with pleasure as he stalked up to her like he was going to steal a kiss.
He was right—it wasn’t just Elizabeth who was more relaxed these days. The young doctor seemed to have unleashed his own sense of fun. She couldn’t imagine the handsome hero with the furrowed brow on that first night they met as the man with her now, stealing bacon and kisses.
“Delicious,” he murmured, pulling her close.
“Thank you,” she said, already lost in his dark eyes.
He bent to kiss her, and she felt like she could float away with happiness.
“So,” he said, pulling back before Dulcie’s heart could pound out of her chest. “Don’t think you can just distract me with food and kisses. What were you two talking about?”
In spite of all her faith in him, Dulcie felt a sudden pang of worry. Would he think she only wanted to go to school so she didn’t have to get a real job right away? Would he think it was ridiculous for a person like her to go to school to work with children?
But she took a deep breath and the feelings passed. She knew they were really just her father’s voice, somehow still in her head. It might take a long time to fully silence that voice, but she was already getting better at not letting herself get lost in it.
“Last night, you mentioned something about me going back to school,” she said.
He nodded, his eyes sparking with interest.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and there’s a program that looks really good,” she told him. “It’s in Early Childhood Education, so I could teach in a preschool one day.”
“You would be so good at that,” West said, nodding.
“Do you really think so?” she asked, her heart soaring at his encouragement.
“Definitely,” he said. “You’ve already got experience in the field. You’ve been amazing helping Elizabeth come out of her shell, and you practically raised your sister, and look how she turned out.”
Dulcie smiled up at him. As far as she was concerned, there were no better compliments in the world.
“I just hope this program is local,” he said, looking a little worried. “If it isn’t, I’ll miss you, but we’ll make it work.”
“It’s local,” she told him.
His smile of relief made her feel like she was filled with warm light, all the way down to her toes.
“ Yum ,” Elizabeth yelled, running into the room with a princess doll clutched in each little fist. “Is it time for breakfast?”
It turned out that Dulcie wasn’t the only one who had surprised Elizabeth with a princess doll. Her grandpa had bought one too. Now she had two princesses to go with her Daddy Knight and Elizabeth Dragon. She had even named them Princess Dulcie and Princess Delphine.
“It’s just about time,” Dulcie told her. “Does it smell good to you?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Elizabeth said, glancing tentatively up at Dulcie as if to check if it was really okay to call her that .
Dulcie smiled down at Elizabeth, unable to stop a few tears from escaping.
Elizabeth had asked her this morning if her dad marrying Dulcie would make Dulcie her mommy. Dulcie told her honestly that Elizabeth could call her whatever she wanted, and that she loved her the same no matter what she decided.
It made her feel as warm and melty-sweet as the French toast in the oven to hear the little one trying out mommy— the best Christmas present imaginable.
“Sometimes grownups cry when they’re happy,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly.
“That’s exactly right, my love,” Dulcie told her, pulling her close.
Elizabeth hugged her back hard, still clutching the dolls.
“I’ll tell everybody it’s ready,” Elizabeth decided, pulling back at last and darting off to the hallway.
“Wow,” Dulcie said, turning back to West and wiping her eyes dry.
He was gazing down at her with the most incredible expression, possessive and vulnerable all at once. But she was realizing more and more that it was just the nature of her husband-to-be—fierce but loving, serious yet ready to play on the floor with plastic toys to make his little girl happy.
She wished she could find a way to tell him how much he meant to her. But the others were already piling into the kitchen, laughing and talking, and filling the cozy space with their special brand of love and happiness .
As soon as everyone was seated, West poured coffee and juice from the pitchers, and they all passed around the plates of fragrant French toast and crispy bacon. Once everyone had all they wanted, they all enjoyed a silent moment of thanks.
Thank you for this family… my family.
Then the table erupted into noisy happiness again.
“Wow, Dulcie,” Tripp moaned around a big bite of French toast.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Uncle Tripp,” Elizabeth told him crisply.
“That’s very good advice,” Maggie said as the others chuckled.
“This is excellent, Dulcie,” Daniel said, lifting his fork as if in toast. “I hope this is a new family tradition in the making.”
“We need a wedding first,” West said, winking at Dulcie. “The family tradition has to be official.”
“You can’t get married on Christmas,” she reminded him. “The courthouse is closed. Be patient.”
But they weren’t going to be very patient.
She was pretty sure they would be married as soon as things reopened and they could get a license.
Living together put them too much in the way of temptation.
And Dulcie was a little worried that Delphine was going to ask for her own room—which would make Dulcie feel wrong about living in the house if she and West weren’t married yet.
Besides, they were all eager to move on to the next stage of their lives as a family.
“You’re not just doing it at the courthouse,” Allie piped up from the end of the table. “You’ll let me help you with planning right?”
“Don’t even think about trying to stop her,” Charlotte said with a smile. “She’s going to do it anyway, so you might as well enjoy it.”
“Agreed,” Becca said with a fond smile at Allie. “Plus, she really knows what she’s doing.”
“That sounds good to me,” Dulcie said, glancing to West.
“As long as it’s quick,” West said, giving his sister a significant look.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Allie told him. “I’ve already got something in mind. I’ll pull it together in no time.”
West shook his head, but he was smiling fondly at his sister, and Dulcie knew he was happy. All of the Lawrence men doted on their baby sister.
After breakfast was finished and the whole family was clearing up the dishes, talking and teasing each other, West tugged at Dulcie’s hand.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Let’s get some air,” he murmured.
“But everyone’s cleaning up,” she said.
“You cooked,” he said with a smile. “And we just got engaged, so I think we have a pass.”
She looked around. There were honestly so many people in the kitchen that she couldn’t have done much to help if she tried.
“Okay,” she said, trying not to giggle at the idea of sneaking out.
He led her down the hall, past the living room where the big Christmas tree twinkled and wrapping paper covered the floor, and all the way to the big entry. They slipped on their boots and coats, and West opened the front door, letting in a blast of cold, sweet air.
Dulcie stole one last glance back toward the kitchen, but nothing but happy noises traveled down the hallway.
“Come on,” he told her. “You’ll have plenty more chances to help.”
They stood on the small covered front porch, hand-in-hand, and looked out over the farm.
Late morning sunlight sparkled on the snow, and there was nothing to see for miles but the peaceful countryside.
“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed.
“Not as beautiful as you,” West said, squeezing her hand. “The very first time I saw you, I thought you looked like a princess from a fairytale.”
“I was so tired and scared,” Dulcie said, surprised.
“But there was a strength in you,” West said thoughtfully. “Something that told me you were the kind of person who would fight for what you wanted, and for the people you love.”
“Hope,” she said softly. “That’s what I felt when I drove into this town. I had this amazing sense that things were going to get better, even when I drove off the road, and everything I was trying to do came crashing down around me. And now I know why. It was because I was about to meet you.”
West wrapped an arm around her.
“I feel it too,” he murmured into her hair. “Everything is new for us now.”
“We have a chance to build a beautiful life,” Dulcie said. “For ourselves and the girls.”
“It’s already happening,” West said.
He gently slid his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to him.
When he bent to kiss her, she could see it all in her mind—a family wedding, school, West’s patients, town activities, soccer games in the spring, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and cold winter nights in front of the fire leading up to a lifetime of twinkling Christmas trees with family all around them.
This is everything. This is home.
***
Thanks for reading Sweet Home !