Page 14 of The Twelve Days of Love

They sat and Luke threaded his fingers through hers. “Well, you are eating for two,” he quipped, now suspecting his suspicions were correct and that she might actually be carrying twins.

Once the sermon ended and the last song was sung, they returned to their carriages and Fairhaven, where a feast awaited them in the dining room. Luke had all the servants in attendance so that they might receive their Christmas gifts at this time. Some of them knew of the surprise for Caroline and he had given all of them permission to remain to see the children perform.

He nodded to Welch, their butler, who brought the wrapped volume and handed it to him. Then Luke saw that the room had fallen silent.

Turning to Caroline, he said, “I wanted you to open your Christmas gift now.”

“In front of everyone?” she asked, a bit unsure.

“Yes,” he urged.

Caroline tore away the brown paper and her eyes lit up. “Luke! It is Mirth Without Mischief!” she declared with delight. “Oh, I have wanted a copy of this for so long.” Caroline began paging through it, her smile wide.

He nodded his head slightly and the children began lining up in two rows. “I know how much you treasured this book during your time in Boston. Stinch has been on the lookout for it and finally located it recently.”

Her head still down, eyes focused on the book’s pages, she said, “The Twelve Days of Christmas was my favorite but it also has Wadling Frog and Nimble Ned. These illustrations are so rich.”

She glanced up and looked puzzled, seeing most of the seats around the table were empty. Her eyes found the children and Luke nodded again, seeing the smiling faces ready to recite their rhyme. They had decided to allow Thomas to go first since he was the youngest. Luke held his breath, hoping his son would get things off on the right foot.

In a clear, high voice, Thomas said, “The first day of Christmas my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.”

Next to him, Caroline’s fingers found his and squeezed. “Our baby,” she said softly.

Luke smiled as the group then chanted, “The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.”

Verse by verse, they added a new present until they reached the final day. As the adults beamed, the children rhymed:

The twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

Twelve drummers drumming

Eleven pipers piping

Ten lords a leaping

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a milking

Seven swans a swimming

Six geese a laying

Five gold rings!

Four colly birds

Three French hens

Two turtle doves

And a partridge in a pear tree!

By now, Caroline was in tears, pride evident on her face. She pushed herself to her feet and began clapping. The other adults, both gentry and servants, joined in and the children’s faces glowed with happiness.

Cora ran to her mother and hugged her. “Did you like our rhyming, Mama? Papa said you would.”

Caroline wrapped her arms about her daughter. “Oh, I did so much, Cora. All of you were wonderful.”

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