A Long Winter........
The winter was hard on Eden and the girls. The lake was frozen and they didn't have the fish to help supplement their food or to make extra money. To top things off, Gilbert's comforting that winter day had an unexpected result and Eden found out she was pregnant again. Her maternity leave was once again extended and since she had never advanced at work the salary was barely enough to pay the bills let alone groceries and things the girls needed. Eden found herself becoming very skilled at fixing things in the house. She also had a very difficult pregnancy this time and needed lots of rest.
Jilly helped out a best she could by cleaning up and playing with Holly. During that long winter Holly grew fast as a weed and before long she was able to join her sister at school and helping out around the house.
Jilly and Holly really bonded that winter and became best friends. They were Eden's pride and joy. Gilbert was busy working and taking care of his mother. He loved Eden and the girls but his life was taking him in another direction.
And if that winter wasn't hard enough in the middle of the night they were robbed by the cat burglar going through the small town. Eden was so wiped out and exhausted that she slept right through it but the girls were so scared.
But they made it through that long lonely winter. Spring came with lots of promise and changes for Eden and the girls. First, Eden had her baby. A sweet little girl named Livie. Jilly had matured and grown up to be a fine young girl. She was now a teenager and ready to find begin her life as a grown up. Eden worried about her cause she was still so young but had had to act as the grown up and keep things together for quite awhile during the last winter.
Eden's fears were justified. Jilly seemed to be seeking something and was trying her wings. She took to staying at the old scouts home and park into the late hours of the night. She also discovered boys in a major way. She loved to flirt and make friends. She felt very grown up when she flirted and turned a boy's head her way.
However just like her mom, she fell for a guy she met right outside her own door at the mailbox. His name was Daniel. He was tall and good looking and very charming. He was also an adult but that didn't bother Jilly she fell for him hard. Eden was not impressed. She knew who he was and nothing she said to Jilly seemed to change her infatuation of him.
Their courtship was fast and fun for Jilly. She fell for Daniel and wouldn't listen to her mother at all. Eden tried but couldn't get to Jilly. Eden tried talking to Daniel too about what a bright and beautiful person Jilly was and that she had so much promise. He didn't care. What Eden knew that Jilly didn't was that Daniel was married to a pretty young woman in town and they had 7 kids. He was seen all over town charming all the girls and ladies. Jilly wouldn't believe it. Time passed and Daniel stopped coming around. Little Livie was turning a year old and Jilly found herself in the family way.....with Daniel no where to be found.
Eden was sad that Jilly was going through such a heartbreaking time. She had to temporarily leave school while she was pregnant. She was devestated that Daniel wouldn't return her calls and she was hurt. Eden felt for her daughter but she didn't regret the baby. She loved Jilly and she would love her new grandbaby with all her heart. She didn't judge Jilly either cause she had found in her own situation that she loved Gilbert in spite of everything. She had come to understand that she couldn't change him and that she either had to accept that he wasn't going to give her the fairytale life she once thought she wanted or that she accept him as he was. She chose to take him as he was cause she was happy. It wasn't ideal but she had three beautiful daughters, a strong little house and her beautiful land....and his love for how ever faulted it may be. He had her heart.
The summer of changes......
Looking back, Eden wasn't sure how they had made it through that winter and spring but they did. Holly was now a teenager and a wild one at that. Much like her sister, Holly loved the boys and worse of all she liked to sneak out at night. She was the constant concern of her mother and sisters. She had a bit of an attitude too about everything from school to her house to Eden. She wanted more and especially more expensive things even though she knew they couldn't afford them.
Livie on the other hand had grown to a happy girl who loved to dance and fish. She was really her mother's daughter and loved the land.
Jilly was due to have the baby soon, Livie was doing great in school and for the moment Holly seemed to be doing better in school and had quit sneaking out so much. What none of the girls thought about was Eden. She was getting older and she was getting tired. She was happy. In spite of their struggles she wouldn't trade her girls for anything. Even though she knew she and Gilbert wouldn't ever marry, she still loved him and in his own way he was devoted to her and the girls. In many ways, once she decided to accept him as he was, they had become closer and he came around more now than ever. Eden had worked really hard in building her little home and with the new grandbaby coming she had been saving as much as possible to expand the house. Her birthday was coming soon and retirement was approaching. She worried if she had done well by her girls. Had she prepared them for a life that one day wouldn't include her.......
