Chapter One:947Please respect copyright.PENANAwJN7zGj3KA
Mother947Please respect copyright.PENANAVxzoX3GzSN
---------947Please respect copyright.PENANAMRy34qH0XE
947Please respect copyright.PENANAArmPqT7e3H
947Please respect copyright.PENANAU5wnefk6oM
947Please respect copyright.PENANANvWH3lLxo7
Her father was pacing, causing the floorboards in the upstairs hallway to creak with his every step, alerting Clara to the fact that he was far more worried than he had let on when she had asked earlier. However, she couldn't blame him. She had done the same thing in front of her younger sisters. Sometimes it was easier to simply say that everything was fine, even if it wasn't.947Please respect copyright.PENANAMXEK4UVPU4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAAR8tAV4UhT
947Please respect copyright.PENANAv958rbx3ZU
Clara listened to the sounds of her father's creaking footsteps as well as the soft murmur of her younger sisters' quiet breathing in their respective beds. Yet, even with all those sounds to distract her, she could still hear the moans of pain coming from her parents' room. Her mother had gone into labor just after lunch and was still in the throes of childbirth nine hours later.947Please respect copyright.PENANAIEOv4O3OOl
947Please respect copyright.PENANAMiBUu4HcL7
947Please respect copyright.PENANAmWd9dUCI9D
Between Clara and her Father, Clara wasn't sure which of them was more tightly wound. The separate births of Harriet and Amelia, Clara's little sisters, hadn't taken as long as nine hours, and Clara was more than a little worried that there might be complications. Even if the midwife and the doctor had assured her that everything was fine.947Please respect copyright.PENANAWQ3lmf0sfu
947Please respect copyright.PENANAxDfti95Oq4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAqwNTiLFNgU
Although she was worried out of her mind over her mother's health and she hated how her mother had to feel the obvious pain of giving birth, Clara was still looking forward to being an older sister for the third time.947Please respect copyright.PENANAQPz4zpr4i0
947Please respect copyright.PENANA8zAOmjXXKn
947Please respect copyright.PENANAb0Rb6W5dKh
Clara's ears twitched as she registered the sounds coming from her parents' room getting louder, but instead of the blood curdling scream she had been dreading a foreign cry pierced the air, and a happy smile flashed onto her face as she recognized it as the sound of a newborn baby's first cry.947Please respect copyright.PENANAHYNqIF6MZo
947Please respect copyright.PENANA5BpgkogYK4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAJOp5eAlcTs
Clara felt more than heard the stirring of her younger sisters in their beds nearby, and she stilled, not wanting to wake them. After all, the only reason why she was in her sisters' room was for them not to be scared and to distract them from the noises across the hall. She wouldn't be doing the job of an older sister right if she let them wake up now before she was sure everything was alright.947Please respect copyright.PENANAW2utO8NOU0
947Please respect copyright.PENANAmdDbCI8ZyK
947Please respect copyright.PENANAc8Op7nhq4K
She waited for a few minutes before getting out of bed as quick as she could, not wanting to wake up her siblings. Listening for the sounds of Amelia and Harriet's breathing patterns evening out, she did her best to put on her dressing gown and pull on her slippers without making a single noise. Once she was situated and her sisters had resumed their restful sleep, she made her way over to the door leading to the hallway.947Please respect copyright.PENANA0ltBxsTA0f
947Please respect copyright.PENANAD6xbQhgGJF
947Please respect copyright.PENANACTBxZnZyaS
In the soft candle light that the maids had lit despite the late hour, Clara could see that the hall was empty, her father having already gone inside to see his wife. The bedroom door squeaked and for a moment she paused, glancing back at the faces of her two sleeping sisters.947Please respect copyright.PENANAZaPWsbgnWA
947Please respect copyright.PENANAHiNj7Kj1gc
947Please respect copyright.PENANAv05AmDm0qV
Harriet was snuggled against a teddy bear, her four-year-old arms draped over the stuffed animal, while Amelia was sucking quietly on two of her fingers. Clara gave a sigh of relief. They hadn't woken.947Please respect copyright.PENANA3ZmsB74jsV
947Please respect copyright.PENANAQFrtnT4sIi
947Please respect copyright.PENANA4akqbcCDtU
Slipping out of their bedroom completely, Clara padded as silent as a mouse to her parents' door, the sound of hushed voices drifting to her ears through the ajar door. Standing in front of it, Clara could just see into the room, taking in the form of her father huddled close to the bed.947Please respect copyright.PENANAg0CZuUGk14
947Please respect copyright.PENANABP5S0Ah26X
947Please respect copyright.PENANAHyPZj74ftG
Her foot then gave a hesitant step onto a squeaky floorboard and through the crack in the door she could see her mother's head raise to look at the door that hid Clara from direct line of sight.947Please respect copyright.PENANADv4eNDHf34
947Please respect copyright.PENANAjWwgPCkd73
947Please respect copyright.PENANAZj8t4IgmZI
"Clara, we know you're there, darling," her mother called, voice a margin above a whisper. "Come in sweetheart, come meet your little brother." Clara opened the door, mindful to the maids, midwife, and her baby brother who seemed to already be asleep in her mother's arms.947Please respect copyright.PENANAeX6ooXrmPq
947Please respect copyright.PENANATiJTvXyJry
947Please respect copyright.PENANARWywX9AoFG
"What is his name, Mother?" She asked as she looked down at the sleeping baby once she was close enough.947Please respect copyright.PENANAbrYnHbNmMq
947Please respect copyright.PENANAVJNhXgAtnH
947Please respect copyright.PENANA45Oc7UUQlT
"His name is James," Clara's father answered. "After your grandfather."947Please respect copyright.PENANAu0Mx25Ad5W
947Please respect copyright.PENANAEQAcMDdOCK
947Please respect copyright.PENANAS1ymk4bupw
"Actually, James Samuel, after your grandfather and your father," her mother said, and Clara brought her eyes up in time to see her father give a bemused sigh.947Please respect copyright.PENANATMICISohGz
947Please respect copyright.PENANAeFBmwDZH2A
947Please respect copyright.PENANAqcWXPqqOMa
"If only because your mother insists."947Please respect copyright.PENANAko1oPq2AXH
947Please respect copyright.PENANAScVzqAv17z
947Please respect copyright.PENANAyzJJFxqIpt
"I do," her mother said, her voice firm. "This is our only son; he deserves to have a good, strong name." She looked down at her son, her eyes soft and lips smiling. "Plus, if he was a girl his name was going to be after his father's anyway."947Please respect copyright.PENANA8aTTA7hbC1
947Please respect copyright.PENANA0IVBPiJx1v
947Please respect copyright.PENANAt38o7MbZsi
"A girl named Samuel, well I suppose there is a first time for everything," Clara's father joked, and her mother reached forward to give him a light whack on the arm, though still careful not to jostle the baby.947Please respect copyright.PENANAOHtEJMOIKa
947Please respect copyright.PENANAAgH0giX652
947Please respect copyright.PENANAr7hrLhcdii
"I meant he would have been named Samantha," her mother said, her sweat-matted hair shining in the candlelight as she shot a look at her still chuckling husband.947Please respect copyright.PENANAYRryD1F1dJ
947Please respect copyright.PENANAInlNc4EXYA
947Please respect copyright.PENANA6jm611Ypgi
"I would have been fine with either," he answered, leaning forward to press a light kiss to his wife's temple, his gray eyes that matched his eldest daughter's looking at his wife and newborn child with nothing short of adoration.947Please respect copyright.PENANAoBZtr3mlcT
947Please respect copyright.PENANAjT5UexXTcS
947Please respect copyright.PENANANCYOyxPU01
Clara had to smile at her parents' teasing of each other. They were always like that, but a blind man could see that the teasing was from love, not spite. She hoped to find a love like her parents', but she knew that in a time where arranged marriages took dominance over any other sort, that even a small amount of love was lucky.947Please respect copyright.PENANASYcBJI5E67
947Please respect copyright.PENANAlK6ms1cptN
947Please respect copyright.PENANA3C5LOo4xhS
Clara pushed the thought of the loveless marriage she would no doubt be committed to out of her head, instead favoring thoughts of James Samuel, her sleeping little brother. Tipping her head downwards she peered at her newest sibling, her heart warming to the point of bursting when James gave a small murmur.947Please respect copyright.PENANAjvLSB8Uflk
947Please respect copyright.PENANAK8X8231TBJ
947Please respect copyright.PENANA7Fi7QhBNfy
"May I hold him?" Clara asked, and her mother though smiling, shook her head.947Please respect copyright.PENANAkqJjA8vT7q
947Please respect copyright.PENANApOYrMMwZFF
947Please respect copyright.PENANAtjBGeXqGRN
"Not right now, dearest. He is sleeping. I promise that tomorrow when you wake up you can be the first of your sisters to hold him."947Please respect copyright.PENANAn0Av36Hqo4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAMJYrLuu8KC
947Please respect copyright.PENANA9MkByxAiwW
"Which means, of course, my dear Clara, that you must go to sleep first before you can wake up," her father said, a grin on his face.947Please respect copyright.PENANA2wKNa1e2Eq
947Please respect copyright.PENANAUWRosukCJ6
947Please respect copyright.PENANAy76UPdpeBy
"But Father-"947Please respect copyright.PENANAkQGLtTxKNy
947Please respect copyright.PENANAqxuxVQfvXH
947Please respect copyright.PENANApwj6i0veDw
"Ah, ah, ah, no whining. Both your new little brother and your mother need their rest, and I dare say I might need some too. We can't all be night owls like some little girls." Clara scowled at her father as he ruffled her hair with his large hand.947Please respect copyright.PENANAD6VtnLtAwq
947Please respect copyright.PENANARfCtQ13EAm
947Please respect copyright.PENANAtIo5CImtSH
"Father, I am hardly a little girl anymore! I'm thirteen now!"947Please respect copyright.PENANA7qwCU3bSie
947Please respect copyright.PENANAAg9URcpqJn
947Please respect copyright.PENANAL9Xwi8rCHo
"Nonsense! You will be always be a little girl, at least to your mother and I. Now, off to bed with you. You have important things to do in the morning!" Her father said, giving her a gentle push towards the doorway.947Please respect copyright.PENANAb1qL2m1Uxo
947Please respect copyright.PENANAQZAzMtFMEX
947Please respect copyright.PENANAM525y7yc6y
While she would've liked to stay and hold her brother, Clara didn't mind leaving her parents alone with their newest child. She knew her father always hated not being able to be in the room when her mother was giving birth, but he stayed out for propriety's sake.947Please respect copyright.PENANAUGth2n7Eod
947Please respect copyright.PENANAyidjUhgaw4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAqSZfybww3u
Clara made her way back to her sisters' room, glad that the sounds of her brother's birth hadn't woken her sisters.947Please respect copyright.PENANA2i6gqiH0o9
947Please respect copyright.PENANAzv0xBOz0ec
947Please respect copyright.PENANAVvtda4WnLw
She crawled into her makeshift bed next to her youngest sister's crib, let out a happy sigh, and then flopped onto her back to stare at the lavender painted ceiling. There was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep.947Please respect copyright.PENANAI9hsXaEBm2
947Please respect copyright.PENANAjy0ZNEmC7E
947Please respect copyright.PENANAuRiJPkwFQO
Between her own excitement, the soft sounds of her sisters sleeping, and the thoughts that flew through her head like birds heading south for the winter, sleep seemed unattainable. She contemplated counting sheep, but that sounded boring, so instead she let herself daydream about what James would be like when he grew up.947Please respect copyright.PENANAK4i38qyavo
947Please respect copyright.PENANAGyaqT9gON4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAAA95xs1oxS
She was pondering over what he might look like when he was older when a startled shout came from just outside her bedroom door.947Please respect copyright.PENANA6eZ6J81euJ
947Please respect copyright.PENANAwvKOVbzrfF
947Please respect copyright.PENANAhihe2u9Rka
"Quick! Call the doctor! You there, fetch me some linens!" A voice shouted, and Clara recognized it as the midwife's. What was going on? A loud screeching filled the air as the sounds of hurried feet pounding on the stairs leaked into the room. Clara sat up abruptly, not bothering to throw on her robe and slippers. The wooden floor was cold beneath her feet as she ran to the door and threw it open.947Please respect copyright.PENANAmDUptj2Ycu
947Please respect copyright.PENANAMA2tzuPDfq
947Please respect copyright.PENANAV4SwxSYbGU
Outside the room was chaos. Maids were rushing back and forth, the baby was howling, and through it all Clara could see straight across to the center of the commotion. It was her mother. Clara acted without thinking, dashing into her parents' room before anyone could tell her to stop.947Please respect copyright.PENANAwVaP9qa0zZ
947Please respect copyright.PENANAx00sEuMo7E
947Please respect copyright.PENANAL6snQf7k0Y
"Mother! What's wrong? What's happening?" She cried, but instead of comforting words she was greeted by the harsh sound of her mother's shallow breathing and a firm hand on her own upper arm.947Please respect copyright.PENANAUbVWL0s8Ov
947Please respect copyright.PENANA4hwwz2a3Cu
947Please respect copyright.PENANAKUstkcuGjU
"Here, Miss Corden, take the child. Your mother is in no fit state to see you," the doctor said, thrusting the squirming baby into Clara's own trembling arms.947Please respect copyright.PENANAB2hPsKOuZi
947Please respect copyright.PENANA9iMtZgjZ7M
947Please respect copyright.PENANAYzsurWMx3W
"But-"947Please respect copyright.PENANAsTnMFKiwIb
947Please respect copyright.PENANAqYDprKK5Yl
947Please respect copyright.PENANAOBGoEnvSY5
Her protest was lost amongst the sounds of a house in uproar. She got one more look at the sallow face of her mother and the haggard one of her father, before the door was slammed in her face.947Please respect copyright.PENANAXgPMF1Swoa
947Please respect copyright.PENANAaimLpS8xEz
947Please respect copyright.PENANAEExkIJ8TdW
However, that one look made all of the difference, and as she stood there trying to comfort her baby brother, her own tears starting to land on his newborn hair, she knew. She knew what no one was going to tell her. Her mother was dying. Why else would they all be panicking?947Please respect copyright.PENANAMSjK38RJz9
947Please respect copyright.PENANAFgTTn9d8tW
947Please respect copyright.PENANAvS7YHEkkMz
Outside in the hallway, she rocked James back and forth in her arms until he settled and fell asleep, but Clara did not have such luck. Her eyes blurred with tears, and she stifled the sounds of her own sobs, not wanting to wake up her siblings. It was already a miracle that her sisters had not woken up from the ruckus.947Please respect copyright.PENANA9ILFy5teHr
947Please respect copyright.PENANAaSTXGPJPi1
947Please respect copyright.PENANAP9Bbr4qsrO
Clara could hear the sound of voices from inside her parents' room, and she felt her heart constrict when she heard the words "complicated birth" and "internal bleeding" through the thin walls. She didn't know much about the practice of medicine, but she did know that there wasn't anything that could be done. Internal bleeding couldn't be stopped.947Please respect copyright.PENANAsBiEHqp2m6
947Please respect copyright.PENANAVNKgNu51WU
947Please respect copyright.PENANApoWWeMV2Iy
After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor with the gruff voice slipped out of her parents' room, his eyes landing on Clara's frozen form. She was still in the exact place she was shoved into when she was shut out. He walked towards her like how one would approach a wild animal, with caution.947Please respect copyright.PENANAlibui81V2Q
947Please respect copyright.PENANAl4wZVSo0c3
947Please respect copyright.PENANATe6ruFvVSZ
"Miss Corden, your mother wishes to see you," he said, his voice quieter than what was natural for a man like him, "Hand me your brother, I will look after him as you speak to her." He held out his hands for James, but Clara shook her head, her arms tightening in a protective circle around her sleeping brother.947Please respect copyright.PENANACKMGA8H1Zn
947Please respect copyright.PENANAiD6T9bi0BY
947Please respect copyright.PENANApxf2oKy7Tx
"No, I've-I've got him," she answered. She took one last blurry-eyed look at the doctor and then stepped into the room that not three hours ago was witness to the birth of the child in her arms. Clara's eyes immediately fell on the prone form of her mother and the hunched figure of her father in a chair beside her mother's bed.947Please respect copyright.PENANAIna7ra1vc4
947Please respect copyright.PENANAWRRYSr4saP
947Please respect copyright.PENANAXlPas4qCFj
"M-mother?" She whispered, the word catching in her throat. Her mother looked up at her when she spoke, a pained smile on her lips.947Please respect copyright.PENANA71FWq1OOhv
947Please respect copyright.PENANAiWwi91Gz8R
947Please respect copyright.PENANAxCg3twKqGg
"Clara, my darling," she said, holding out a pale and shaking hand towards her daughter. Clara took it without hesitation, even though she was still holding her little brother.947Please respect copyright.PENANAFAMbQUPXeH
947Please respect copyright.PENANAXLW3FXmkwU
947Please respect copyright.PENANA0V4YKdRKTB
"You are dying aren't you?" She asked, squeezing her mother's hand with all of her might.947Please respect copyright.PENANAVMG3xPGPg4
947Please respect copyright.PENANA7bos3fhn2m
947Please respect copyright.PENANAOEncCLWOWE
"Yes, my darling," her mother said, her own hand squeezing on Clara's weakly. They were both silent for a moment, the only sounds in the room her father's muffled sobs and her mother's wheezing breaths. Clara dipped her head down, trying to mask her tears, but raised her head when a gentle hand was placed on her cheek.947Please respect copyright.PENANAJvGjFELv4O
947Please respect copyright.PENANAVzihCvb5sT
947Please respect copyright.PENANAjAgGzcMKoH
"Clara, I am so proud of you," her mother breathed, her mother's eyes meeting Clara's gray ones. "You are the best daughter your father and I could've wished for, the best sister your siblings could have been given, and-" Her mother broke off with a coughing fit as her hand left Clara's face to cough into a blood-stained handkerchief.947Please respect copyright.PENANA3SM4eJ1kEM
947Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0xnaKyMsN
947Please respect copyright.PENANAucNkCg4Tyx
"And," her mother continued, her voice sounding strained, "You are already growing into a beautiful, caring, and smart young lady." Her mother paused to take another rattling breath, her eyes drifting closed for but a second before fluttering back open.947Please respect copyright.PENANAJyEvcwXLH3
947Please respect copyright.PENANALW545iKhss
947Please respect copyright.PENANADBUrB75EQx
"We already ask so much of you, your father and I, we know that, but Clara, my darling, once I am gone you will need to help your father in any way you can, more than you already do. It is unfair of me to ask you to help raise your siblings when you have not yet grown up yourself, but-"947Please respect copyright.PENANA0I9pKcnt1D
947Please respect copyright.PENANANCXC3GRzjB
947Please respect copyright.PENANAq4Qndk43Xc
"Mother, don't worry," Clara cut in, grasping onto her mother's hand even tighter. "I will do anything to help, you know that." Her mother gave her a watery smile in return.947Please respect copyright.PENANAoHQdLMzLYB
947Please respect copyright.PENANAhxNwU3C0uc
947Please respect copyright.PENANA2dFxA3itGl
"Yes, I do, my darling girl, I do, but don't forget about you in the process, do not lose yourself along the way. I won't have you throwing your life away for the sake of everyone else."947Please respect copyright.PENANAMC8N2Hrlek
947Please respect copyright.PENANABpveiBw70B
947Please respect copyright.PENANAzNdE77fQ0A
"I won't, Mother, I promise I won't," she said, speaking to her mother in earnest.947Please respect copyright.PENANAtdXrxJUSfX
947Please respect copyright.PENANAzDiWGcG0DK
947Please respect copyright.PENANAiFK5wALSCx
"Then that is all I could wish for." Her mother's hand squeezed her own, and as her mother breathed another wheezing breath, Clara looked into her mother's brown eyes. In them she saw love and pain mixed into a poisonous concoction until both were gone and her mother's hand slackened in her grip.947Please respect copyright.PENANAXsNJ4QwoZM
947Please respect copyright.PENANAfQz1anEZG3
947Please respect copyright.PENANAXEUrIjvhbs
She allowed herself to be pushed out of the way by her grieving father and the gentle-handed maids, her whole body numb and her mind whirling with barely contained emotions. The last look she had of her mother burned into her mind even as she once again tried to calm her little brother.947Please respect copyright.PENANAmq2cEQd1ul
947Please respect copyright.PENANAFzdGIdu0Gp
947Please respect copyright.PENANALQaGgCP6uo
Remembering her mother's vacant brown eyes and her limp hand holding the bloodied handkerchief, Clara made a promise. She made a silent promise to her father, her siblings, and lastly, her mother, that she would do exactly what her mother had asked her to. She would do her best to help in any way she could.947Please respect copyright.PENANAz7QVd4vRJz
947Please respect copyright.PENANA48Il94z7CG
947Please respect copyright.PENANADqgaYU3oIj
However, looking down at her squirming brother while her ears picked up on the sounds of her sisters waking as well as the noises of her grieving father, she knew she had her work cut out for her.947Please respect copyright.PENANAq3tlYZszDn
947Please respect copyright.PENANAvJQxmcCZ9E
947Please respect copyright.PENANAe1Qbbnn0we
---------947Please respect copyright.PENANAyHQr0oelBk
What do you guys think? Will she be able to keep her promise to her mother? Tell me in the comments!947Please respect copyright.PENANAvQL46M2e5b
947Please respect copyright.PENANAUfI2zzFY3m
947Please respect copyright.PENANAjQowSrCxH8
Edited as of: July 27th, 2015
ns18.118.105.93da2