Unknown

Mother Eager Beaver

CHAPTER ONE

Tom smiled at Barbara as his fingers weaved through the softness of her naturally red hair. A twist of fate had brought them together and nothing would tear them apart, not ever. The past thirteen years had brought them more love and pleasure than they realized possible. They were glad they'd been deserted by their first marriage partners.

They didn't even know each other before the desertion hearings, and that is the fate which brought them together. The twist of fate was due to the fact their first marriage partners had run off with each other. Since their case was so closely related and involved the same persons, the judge called them in at the same time. They'd both been deserted and each of them had been left with a child. The hearings were a simple formality. It took a very few minutes for the judge to grant their divorces.

Tom had looked at Barbara during the hearings, trying to figure out what kind of woman she was. He'd never liked a woman who pretended to be something she wasn't, and that's exactly how she appeared to him. That fiery hair hanging down below her shoulders was "false. It just had to be dyed. Her skin was smooth and creamy, very unlike the freckled redheads he knew-hell, she didn't even have a freckle. He found himself wondering if anything else about her was false.

He walked up to her after the hearings were over and smiled as tenderly as he knew how, then asked if she'd like to get a cup of coffee. She didn't smile back but accepted his offer. That was the first of their meetings but it surely wasn't the last.

They started dating, then Tom discovered there was nothing false about her, not even that glorious red hair. She was a real woman in every sense of the word.

It didn't take either of them long to realize they were meant for each other, then the inevitable happened-they were married.

That seemed like such a long time ago as his fingers entwined in the curls of her hair, then he smiled at her again.

"What are you thinking?" she asked sweetly as she looked up at him. "You seem so far away."

"I was thinking about us," he answered. "I was remembering how you and I came to be together in the first place. Are you happy?"

"Oh, darling, I've never been happier," she smiled. "There are many times I thank God for letting Ben and Jo Ann leave us. It opened the door to my happiness."