Young Love Read online

  Young Love

  by

  Therese Rea

  HCBN 101-010-0012

  This e-book is published by

  Hiddencave

  Southampton, UK

  www.hiddencave.com

  [email protected]

  Published by Hiddencave UK 2001

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2001 by Therese Rea

  [email protected]

  YOUNG LOVE

  Jane Douglas and I shared a room in the maternity ward. Her son, Sam and my son,

  David, were born on the same day. David came into the world with very little fuss and was a healthy, beautiful baby but Sam was not so lucky. His was a difficult and prolonged birth and he was born brain damaged.

  Jane and her husband, Alan, were devastated, as were we all. Their doctor advised them to leave Sam in hospital, as it was unlikely he would live more than a few weeks. If he did, they would transfer him to a home for mentally deficient children.

  I can still remember Alan saying.

  ‘Hey, this is our son you’re talking about. He belongs at home with us for as long as God spares him.’

  Jane clung to her little son, defying anyone to take him from her.

  It was a brave decision. Sam survived and during the first few years, life was difficult for the family. He was subject to severe epileptic fits and his almost constant screaming was nerve shattering but Sam’s parents never wavered in their resolution and showered him with love.

  I often wondered why Dan and I had been so blessed with our own son who grew and thrived whilst life for them was one long struggle.

  Jane and Alan lived not far from us and, although they were much older, we became good friends and I often looked after Sam. I grew to love him dearly. Sometimes, behind his blank eyes, I could see an intelligent brain trying to get out.

  "You are the only one I would trust with my baby, Caroline,’ Jane told me.

  As they grew older, the two boys got on well. It was a strange friendship – David quiet and thoughtful and Sam noisy and full of frustration. David soon developed an ability to calm Sam down, and Sam imitated David whenever he could.

  Both boys attended the local primary school. Sam needed the help of a "one to one" teacher’s aide but he learned to read and write a little and do simple maths. As there was no secondary school in the district, we sent David to boarding school and we worried about the effect this would have on Sam. Although he had survived so far, the specialists had warned that he would not live to adulthood and we all wanted his remaining years to be happy ones.

  We need not have worried for this proved to be a settled period for Sam. He had always been good with animals and Dan employed him as a farm labourer. He was a conscientious worker and, once he had learned how to do a task, he never forgot. His epilepsy was under control and he seldom had rages any more. When Dan put him in sole charge of the pigs, Sam was overjoyed. No pigs had ever been treated so well and he always referred to them as "my loverly pigs".

  Sam was seventeen when Alice came into our lives. She was mentally retarded, not too badly but needed some supervision. I had been asked to take her for a few weeks until something more permanent could be arranged but the weeks turned into months, then a year and Alice became part of our establishment,

  She was a couple of months older than Sam and was small and slightly built. A very affectionate girl, she loved everyone who was kind to her. Dan and I came to love her too although at times she could be difficult. Unlike Sam, she was not a good worker and I would frequently find her day dreaming instead of doing the simple tasks I had set her, When she knew I was annoyed with her, she would slip out of the room and come back with a gift for me – usually some treasured possession. Alice was a great hoarder. Of course it was expected that I give it back to her but it usually won me over.

  Sam always had lunch with us, and, at the beginning, he resented Alice. I think he was jealous of the attention she demanded for she had a habit of hugging and kissing us without warning. This embarrassed Sam who was often the object of her attention. One day, he pushed her roughly aside, grabbed his lunch and went outside to eat it.

  Alice was hurt. She went to follow him but I held her back. I was afraid Sam might get angry if she kept pestering him.

  After several days, Alice took matters into her own hands and picked up her own lunch and followed him. We watched through the open door. Alice sat opposite Sam and they stared at each other for a while. Then, to our surprise, Sam moved and sat next to her. They ate their lunches in silence.

  Over the next few days, they would chat with each other or sit quietly holding hands. Dan and I found it amusing for we still thought of them as children. They began to spend more and more time together. One day, Dan observed them at the pigsty. Sam was explaining the intricacies of pig rearing but Alice only gazed at him admiringly and understood not a word. We laughed and saw no harm in it.

  The shock came on the eve of Sam’s eighteenth birthday. He asked me if he could take Alice home for dinner the next night.

  ‘Alice and I are going to get married, Mrs B and we want to tell Mum and Dad,’ he said.

  I was speechless. Although my husband and I were very close to Sam, he was not our responsibility. Alice had no known relatives. She had been left at an orphanage at a very early age and was still the responsibility of the I.H.C.

  I phoned Jane to warn her. She was as shocked as we – more so in fact for at least we had observed the young couple over the last year. I also let Alice’s social worker know and all we could do was wait until they had worked something out. To us, it seemed a long wait and it must have seemed longer for Sam and Alice.

  There was no legal reason why they could not marry but everything was done to try and dissuade them. The social worker wanted to remove Alice from our care but she refused to leave and in this Dan and I supported her. It was distressing to see how unhappy the young people were and we came to the conclusion that they should be allowed to marry. Eventually Jane and Alan agreed.

  The social worker tried to arrange for Alice to be sterilised but she would have none of it even if she didn’t really understand what it meant. Love had made Alice a very determined young woman and, although I thought it might solve future problems, I was secretly proud of her stance.

  A wedding date was set. By now Jane was very disabled with arthritis and Dan and I were happy to offer our home for the reception. There was a disused cottage on the farm and Dan and Sam spent many hours renovating it. Between Sam’s parents, some good neighbours and ourselves, we managed to fully furnish it and it was a home any newly weds would be proud to live in.

  It was a beautiful wedding and I have never been to a more touching one. A smiling Alice walked regally up the aisle to join her future husband who waited at the altar, standing tall and looking proud. David, who was now at university, came home to support Sam as best man and a neighbour’s daughter, Shona, was a great help to Alice as bridesmaid.

  The young lovers settled happily in their cottage and both blossomed with marriage. They were so happy it sometimes made me want to cry. I kept an unobtrusive watch on them but they seemed to manage well. Sam took charge and kept Alice up to scratch with cooking and cleaning. He got better results than I ever did.

  Early the following year, Dan and I took advantage of David’s summer vacation to take a long awaited two- month trip overseas. On arrival home, I went across to the cottage to visit Alice. There was no doubting my welcome. She threw her arms about me in her usual way and when she had calmed down said proudly.

  ‘Look, Mrs B…I’ve put on weight at last.’ She patted her abdomen which was considerably extended.

  I suspected she was pregnant and felt shocked although I knew I should have ex
pected it. I took her to the doctor next day and he confirmed a pregnancy. Alice was rather bewildered by the news but Sam was jubilant. For the rest of her pregnancy he treated Alice like a piece of delicate china and she lapped it up.

  Their baby was born without any complications; She was a lovely healthy little girl and was normal in every way. I was proud when Sam and Alice came to me and Alice asked.

  ‘Mrs B, would it be all right if we called our baby Caroline after you?’

  I hugged them both. ‘I would be honoured,’ I replied.

  Alice treated Caroline like a little doll and needed some help and supervision. Sam adored his daughter and when home, took over her care.

  ‘Now I have two loves to care for as well as my loverly pigs,’ he told me.

  Fortunately Caroline was a contented baby and she thrived. She was six months old when disaster came. Alice came running across to the house to tell us that Sam had not come home to dinner and the baby was crying. Dan found him by the pigsty. He was dead. The doctor said that death would have been instantaneous.

  Alice could not accept Sam’s death and would not leave the cottage.

  ‘I have to be here when Sam comes home,’ she said.

  I looked after Caroline at night and took her back to the cottage each day but, although Alice hugged and kissed her daughter, she did not seem very interested. She spent most of her time sitting on the porch step waiting for Sam.

  One morning when I was taking Caroline home, Alice met me halfway. She was carrying a suitcase and looked terrible.

  ‘Mrs B, I love Caroline but I can’t look after her any more. Would you keep her until Sam comes home? I don’t want to miss him.’ She kissed her daughter, handed her and the suitcase over to me and hurried back to the cottage.

  Two days later, Alice was dead. Her death certificate stated pneumonia but I knew she had died of a broken heart. I could not feel too sad for I had the feeling that the two lovers were together again.

  Jane was now confined to a wheelchair and was not able to look after for her beloved granddaughter. She and Alan asked us if we would care for Caroline and Dan and I were happy to do so and later we adopted her officially.

  Caroline is six now. I cannot imagine life without my darling daughter and my husband and son love her so much she is in danger of being spoilt. She looks like Sam but has Alice’s affectionate ways and is a bright and happy little girl. She likes to look at photos of her natural parents but so far has not asked any difficult questions about them. That is something we will have to face when the time comes.

 

 

  Therese Rea, Young Love

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