One year later
Nusa! You’re eating more popcorn than you’re stringing,” Ada said as she and the children sat around the kitchen table making Christmas garlands.
Nusa merely smiled and put a garland around Ada’s neck. “A Christmas necklace,” she said. “And you can eat it, too.”
The children laughed, and Ada found their laughter more precious than jewels.
Then she heard Samuel and his grandfather coming down the stairs, talking about the just completed addition to the foundling home. She moved to join them. “I’ll see if I can get a couple more oak dressers sent over from Macy’s,” Mr. Alcott said. “One for the older boys’ room and one for the new baby.”
“That’s very generous of you, Grandfather,” Samuel said. “Generous again. Buying the building next door and helping us expand …” He looked at his wife. “And I know for a fact that both Ada and I are much appreciative of having our own apartment there.”
“I readily admit it’s better than the attic room,” Ada said with a laugh.
“I still wish you would have agreed to turn my home into an orphanage,” Mr. Alcott said. “All those empty bedrooms going to waste.”
Ada kissed him on the cheek. “Your offer was extremely generous, but we need to be down here in Five Points so the children can find us.”
A little three-year-old tugged on Mr. Alcott’s coat. He picked her up. “Yes, well … there is that.”
“And don’t offer up our house so quickly,” Nana said as she came down the stairs. “As your wife, I have plans to use that space for charity fund-raisers and women’s suffrage rallies and—”
“You’ll drive me to drink, dear woman,” Mr. Alcott said.
She reached the foyer and flicked the tip of his nose. “I drive you to think. And you love it.”
“That I do,” he said.
Ada found a place beneath Samuel’s arm and rested a hand on her ample belly. She felt the baby move, low and heavy. With any luck, it could still be a Christmas baby. So many events of their lives linked to Christmas….
Eliza appeared at the top of the stairs and called down to Ada. “Your surprise is ready. You can send the children up now.”
Finally. After months of work, her Christmas present was complete.
Ada went back to the kitchen to gather the children. “Are you ready for your Christmas gifts?”
“Yes!”
“Yay!”
Ada crooked a finger at them. “Follow me.”
They scrambled around her, a thundering herd following her up the stairs. Once on the landing, she set them loose to scatter to the bedrooms.
Exclamations, shouts, and laughter erupted. Ada was joined by the other adults, and they walked from room to room. The children came and went between them, excited about their gifts.
Her brother, John, came out of the boys’ bedroom, laughing at the melee. “Mother will be appalled you cut it up.”
“She knows, and she was appalled. But she came to understand. For what better use of my bridal quilt than to embellish the coverlets of my children. By the way, brother, are you coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow? Mother and Father are coming around one.”
John nodded, and they all watched as the children examined their new coverlets that were each adorned by a portion of her quilt, the quilt that showcased the costumes of Ada’s life, the gowns and dresses that had once seemed so important to her. Many coverlets made from one. Ada loved the symbolism of it. She had been one girl, concerned with only herself. And now, through love, her life had expanded a hundredfold.
Ada had one more surprise and, from behind a door, pulled out a pillow that highlighted a very important part of her quilt. She handed it to Samuel.
“This is for you. I started it last year, but now it’s finally finished.”
He ran his fingers along a patch of rough cloth, its textures intermixed with the finer silks and brocades. “These are from my shirt,” he said. “The one I was wearing on the day of the accident.”
Ada nodded and continued his tour. “And this is from the dress I wore that first day I saw you in Five Points, and this, from the dress I wore when we brought you home, and this green is from the dress I wore when I came back to help the sick children, and—”
“And this red velvet is from the dress you were wearing when I came to your house and proposed.”
“And I said yes.” They kissed across the pillow.
So many days. So many memories. But as they looked at the joyful children bustling around them and their happy grandparents reunited in love, Ada knew that the waiting had been worth it.
For now was the most wonderful time of the year.