by Bella Grant
The professor’s mouth twitched up at the corners, threatening a smile. Amelia got the sense he was a stickler for the letter of the law, if not the spirit of it, and she had made sure that they were technically free and clear.
“I assume then,” said Catherine, her face sallow and bitter, “this means you will no longer be philandering about with your students? Now that you’ve married one.”
Theodore resisted the impulse to snap at her. “Clearly,” he replied, ignoring her sour expression.
“Well, in that case, it is the position of this committee that we really don’t care what you do in your free time, Dr. Bell. As long as you keep up with your courses and maintain the standard of professionalism we expect from our professors, you are welcome to stay on as faculty here. Your private life is yours.”
Theodore breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed Amelia’s arm. She beamed at him, the stress of the past few months washing off her in waves.
“Thank you,” Theodore answered. “We truly appreciate your understanding.”
He placed his hand on the small of Amelia’s back. “Will you take Lucy out to the hall? I shouldn’t be long.”
“Oh, and Mrs. Bell,” the white-haired professor called after Amelia as she turned to leave.
She paused, looking back at him. “Yes, sir?”
“You have a beautiful daughter. Congratulations to you both on your child and your marriage. We wish you all the best in your journey.”
Amelia felt the tears well up in her eyes as a smile spread wide across her face.
“Thank you,” Theodore said, nodding at him in a gesture of respect.
After Theodore’s review, which went even better than he had anticipated, he joined Amelia in the lobby, where she was bouncing Lucy on her lap. As they walked together out of the tall, red-brick building and across the expansive front lawn of the university, Theodore took Lucy from Amelia’s arms. Leaning down to kiss his wife, he asked, “What would you like to do with the rest of the day, my dear?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered, struggling to fully comprehend the peace that settled over her, all her fears for their future abated. “Perhaps the park?”
“That sounds perfect,” Theodore replied. “What do you think, Miss Lucy?” he asked their daughter, who was chewing on her own fingers. “Would you like to go to the park?” Lucy giggled and continued chewing, her large, round eyes alive and alert and so full of questions that she did not yet have the words to ask.
Theodore placed a hat on Lucy’s head, shielding her delicate skin from the oppressive, late summer heat. He took Amelia’s hand as they walked and kissed the back of it. They walked together, hand in hand, down the sidewalk to the heart of the little town. They walked past the university, where they had faced so much opposition to their relationship. They walked past the coffee shop and all the memories they had created in the previous year.
They kept walking until they reached the large canopy of trees and the green lawn on which they let Lucy crawl. As Amelia sat on the grass and helped Lucy roll onto her stomach, Theodore pulled up a photo on his phone. “Hey, Ames,” he said absently, stroking her hair. “What do you think of this house?”
Amelia took the phone from his hand and felt her heart skip a beat. The tab was open to a realty website and the photo she was looking at was a Victorian farmhouse about thirty minutes away from campus. As she looked at the covered porch, the gingerbread trim, and the land for a vegetable garden and possibly some fruit trees, Amelia sighed happily.
“I’m thinking it’s time we buy a house,” Theodore said thoughtfully. “Now that we know I’ll have a job.” Theodore grinned at her, and Amelia scooped Lucy up into her arms and kissed her child’s head. The life she had imagined was materializing before her, and all she wanted was to live in the here and now, in a life so full of hope and promise.
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