CHAINS TO FREEDOM.✔

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Adam came for supper. Hannah served him a piece of the blackberry pie she had made.

"Ah...Hannah you're a good cook. I know now why I keep you." He put his arm around her, kissed her forehead and laughed when she blushed; unintimidated that Jessica was there to see his show of affection for Hannah.

When he was finished eating, he sat on the floor and played with Samuel while Hannah fed Jack.

Jessica embroidered a motive on the baby's dress she had sewn. Samuel laughed and wrestled with his father on the floor. Jessica was astounded by the tenderness Adam showed to his children. She had not expected him to be the patient and caring father that he was.

When Hannah had finished feeding Jack, Adam took him from her and carried him up to his cot. Jessica watched him go quietly up the stairs and when she drew her eyes away, she saw Hannah looking at her.

"It surprises you doesn't it, that he is the father he is?"

"Yes." Jessica nodded with her mouth agape. "It is as though he is two different men."

Hannah grinned at the look on Jessica's face. "I don't very often see his worst side. It becomes less and less as time goes on."

"I am so glad, Hannah." Jessica tweaked up the corners of her lips. "Perhaps with time his aggression to me shall also lessen."

Hannah couldn't reply because Adam came down the stairs and called to Samuel. He held him by the hand and led him up to his bed. When he came back into the room he finished his tea, and then took Hannah's hand. She smiled at Jessica as Adam led her away.

Sitting alone Jessica wondered about Adam. Thus far he had not mistreated her. Fatherhood and Hannah seemed to make him a happy and contented man. Perhaps it really was Millie's influence over him that had caused him to treat her the way he had. She wondered if she could ever forgive him for his past actions. There was a lot to be undone and the horror of being sent away as a convict still lived in her mind.

*****

"Da! Da!" Samuel ran around the side of the house to meet his father as he rode through the gate on his horse.

Jessica was in the garden pegging out the clothes, her stomach had grown larger, and she found it more difficult to bend down. She watched Adam lift Samuel up and onto the horse, and then sit him in front of him. The young boy's face beamed. Jessica couldn't help but smile.

Adam kicked the horse and urged it forward. It pranced on its hooves, nervous of the linen that flapped in the wind. "Where's Hannah?" he asked.

"She's gone up to the dairy for some milk," Jessica said as she lifted a nappy to peg out.

"Tell her I've taken Samuel for a ride." Adam hesitated as if there was something else, he wanted to say.

"Certainly." Jessica shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun as she looked up at him. "I'll tell her when she comes back."

Samuel squealed with delight as Adam reined the horse toward the drive. Jessica could still hear the sound of his laughter in the distance as she lifted the empty basket and walked inside. She placed it on the floor beside the door to hear Jack griping in his cot, so she went to get him. When he saw her, he stopped his grumbling and smiled up at her. She lifted him to discover he was soaking wet. "Oh, Jack you are a stinker." Jessica laughed as his small hand reached out to touch her face. She tweaked his nose with her fingers. "How would you like a wash little one?"

Jack cooed as she carried him into the kitchen and laid him in the basket while she prepared his bath. When it was ready, she undressed him and placed him in the tub. Jack squealed with happiness as he kicked and splashed in the water. Jessica laughed as she washed him clean. "You are such a happy little boy, aren't you?" She didn't hear Adam as he entered through the kitchen door.