#bernicelevine

Een week later, Deborah went to her parents house to ask about mail for her. She was convinced Phillip and Alicia would have sent the letter with a photo of Evan to her parents house. She was greated by her siblings with enthousiasme. Now that her belly had a reasonable size she felt their hands on her belly every time she came by. They were all eager to feel the baby kick but they couldn't feel it yet. The disappointment of her siblings was nothing compared to the disappointment of Aidan. He wanted to feel his son so badly. Eventhough they didn't even know if it was a boy. Only one more week and they would know the gender of their baby.

After all the attention from her siblings Deborah got a change to talk to her mother. Between other subjects she lightly asked about mail for her. Her mothers look didn't promise something good. The only thing she said was 'you have to ask your father'. Deborah didn't really feel like asking her father. He probably wouldn't give the letter to her. But now that her mother gave those instructions so clearly she had no other choice then to ask him. He wasn't home yet so Deborah couldn't ask him. And he wouldn't come home until diner and that was the time Deborah should be at home having diner for Aidan ready. She had to find an other moment to ask him about the letter. The days seemed to go slower then usual while she waited to have her letter in her hands. She wanted to see Evan so badly.

The first time she was at her parents house she heard that Christina was also pregnant. Deborah was happy for her older sister who had been married a couple months longer then she had. But Deborah watched Bernice and hoped for her that she would get pregnant too soon. The presure for her was now even higher then it was before. She prayed now for both Anna and Bernice. For Anna she prayed that she would find a husband and for Bernice that she would get pregnant.

Deborahs siblings were delighted with the news that not one but two baby's were coming. They would become aunt or uncle two times close by. Aidan beamed with proud about becoming a father and loved all the attention he recieved for it. He was already talking about how he loved to have son. That caused a huge discussion between her siblings. Everybody had an opinion what she or Christina should get. Deborah let it all go by. She wasn't really interessed in what she would get. At least that what she said. In reality she wanted a daughter. Not with the same reason Christina wanted one. She didn't care about dressing up a baby with dresses. A girl wouldn't take Evans place as much as a boy would. If she had to have a baby, then she preferred a girl. Sadly it wasn't up to her. She had to take whatever the Lord would give her.

After talking to a lot of people it was time for Deborah and Aidan to witness some play by both their families. She had barely met his family before the wedding and was very eager to find out more about them. He had two sisters, one younger and one older. They were both single altough even his younger sister, Ayla, had reached the age a woman could wed. She was older then Anna who was Deborahs eldest sister. Maybe there would soon be another two weddings at his side of the family. Although they both seemed very buzy with their work. Deborah had heard her father talk about it several times. He was not happy about it.

She found it fasinating to see them both going so completly for something they loved and were obvious very passionate about. Aidan didn't speak a single bad word about his sisters and their jobs but Deborah had never seen any sign that he wanted her to do the same. Luckily he knew that she didn't study for a year while staying with her grandparents. He wouldn't have false expectations about her level of education. When she moved clothes to his house and the baking and cookingstuff she got from her grandparents she also moved the stuff that reminded her of Evan. The ring and the photoalbum. She hid it in her closet so Aidan wouldn't find it. He probably would be mad if he did. But throwing it all away because he wanted her to forget about Evan wasn't something she could ever do. Even if she had to hide it for him.

Bernice and Christina also came by to see Shiloh. They loved seeing their little sister. Deborah felt weird seeing her sisters now that they were married ladies. They told her that being married wasn't as fun as it may sound. They were bored by not having little brothers and sisters to look after anymore. Deborah was surprised by that. She wasn't that bored when she stayed with her grandparents. Cooking, baking, going for walks and visits to her greatgrandparents. Most of the time she still hadn't enough time to do everything she wanted to do. So she didn't worry about one thing, living alone with Aidan in one house. She would be fine having no siblings to look after. Bernice and Christina both hoped that they would get pregnant soon so they would have their own baby to care for. Deborahs siblings asked them that question every time if they came over. If there were already pregnant. Deborah felt bad when they started asking that question but Bernice and Christina laughed about it although the answer was still no.

There was one more thing that brought pain to Deborah. Her brothers and sisters discussing who would have the first cousin. Deborah knew they already had one but they would never know about him.

While Deborah had Peter under her wings, during the day Bernice looked after him. Anna, Bernice and Christina were all three already done with school. Anna helped with teaching while Bernice and Christina watched the little ones who weren't in school yet. Deborah had yet to graduate before she could join her older sisters in their task. She was done with all the teaching her mother had done over the years. Now she was learning for the tests. If she passed the tests she graduated from school. Deborah was looking forward for that.

At the table Deborahs mother and Anna helped the children still in school with their lessons. It was not the ideal situation were Deborah could learn for the tests. So she was aloud to sit in her parents room at the crib of baby Ruth to read and learn.

Deborah enjoyed being in such a quiet place. She didn't mind her baby sister was there some of the time too. First she read about history. That was the hardest according to her. She read everything but it didn't seem to stay in her head. Making a summary wasn't her biggest talent either so she tried putting down facts on little pieces of paper so she could examine herself. Today that didn't help either. She was too buzy in her head. With only one thing, the test she did early this morning. She stole it from her mothers bathroom. That's what she felt most guilty about. Yesterday, while she had to do something for her mother in her parents bathroom she had seen the test. In just a few seconds she took it with her. Deborah sighted. Maybe her mother wouldn't notice one test missing from her cabinet. This morning she did the test while getting dressed. She still could barely believe it. Her parents would be very mad if they knew about it. She knew that now but had known that for about two weeks. Sadly, she couldn't go back in time and undo what she had done. It happend and now she had to deal with the consequences of her behavoir. She got nausious if she thought about telling her parents. How they exactly would react was a question but that her father would be mad was an certainty. Maybe her mother would be disappointed. They both had the right to be. She had done something very bad and deserved punishment. If only Deborah would know what would happen exactly if she would tell her parents. Deborah sighted again. She had to learn and not daydream about something she had no control over. If one thing was certain it were her tests. She had to pass them. Therefor she had to start learning now.

Deborah was standing completly alone in the bathroom. She could hear her sisters grumble on the other side of the door. She tried to be as fast as possible, reading the instructions, then execute the test. While she could here her sisters in the other room she still didn't open the door. She waited until the results of the test came. Before she finaly went back to the bedroom she hid the test in her skirt.

Elisabeth looked mad at her when she went into the room. Bernice said 'are you finaly done?' while sighing. Deborah rushed out of the bedroom, away from her sisters

Daughter #2 is Bernice Faith

Daughters #3 and #4, Christina Grace and Deborah Praise. Yes, their parents are desperate for a son. They are also doing an ABC theme with their childrens names.