Marta followed Royce up to the door of the single-story ranch house. He smiled at her as he opened the door and placed his free hand on the small of her back. “Welcome home, Mrs. Clark.” 

That simple little statement hit her right in the heart and warmed her like a good fire on a cold winter's night. Home, something she’d never had. This man, as much a stranger as he still was to her, with two simple words had given her two things that she’d always wanted and never had: a family and a home. Tears fell from her eyes; she quickly wiped them before he thought she was unhappy. But she hadn’t been fast enough. “Hey now, what’s with the tears? I mean, I know there’s a lot of work to do, but I didn’t think it was anything to cry over.” 

She turned to him and smiled as more tears slipped down her face. “These are happy tears. I can’t tell you what your words mean to me. My whole life I’ve never had a home to call my own. Or a family, and you’ve given me both today. Thank you.” 

She saw him swallow as her words settled in his mind. Then he smiled again. “You might not want to thank me when you see how much work you’re going to have. I’m afraid I haven’t done very well at keeping the house clean or taking care of the children.” 

Marta moved further into the house and saw he was right. There was dirt on the floors. To the left was the parlor, which had dust over almost every surface. You could see the tracks where things had been moved around on the floors and surfaces. She looked to the right to see the dining table was covered with dishes that had been used and then stacked and pushed to the center. She sighed. Those two rooms told her what she would find in the kitchen and throughout the rest of the house. She turned back to see Royce watching her as she took everything in. She put a determined grin on her face. “I see that. I need you to go get me a clean quilt or blanket I can place Raeann on in the kitchen while I get started cleaning so we can have some dinner tonight. I don’t promise a feast, but I’ll find something we can have quick after I get the dishes cleaned.” 

“I could probably go tell the hand’s cook that we need something for us to eat, and he’ll send us something tonight.” 

While that would be the easiest thing to do, she refused to admit defeat this early in her new life. She shook her head. “I think I can handle it, but I need to get started if I’m going to have any chance. So quilt or blanket, please, unless you want to take her and Rose both and keep them busy while I get started.” 

Rose squirmed for her father to put her down and Marta cringed as he did, watching her totter across the dirt laden floor, leaving a trail of cleaner tracks behind her. The little girl had crawled on that floor since her mother’s passing, one more day wouldn’t hurt anything. But not getting some clean dishes and food on the table wouldn’t endear her to her new husband or children. So first things first. She handed the baby to her father and then turned to the table. “You get her something to lie on and bring her to the kitchen, and I’ll get started.” 

Royce nodded. “I’m sorry; I know it’s a mess.” 

She smiled at him. “That’s why you married me, Royce. Because you needed my help. I don’t mind doing what is expected of me. It will be a rough couple of days, but I’ll get it all under control and keep it that way. Now go and let me get to work.” She grabbed two handfuls of dishes and walked through the door on the back side of the dining area into where she assumed the kitchen would be. 

Sure enough, there were more dishes, pots, and pans everywhere. She shook her head and realized the first thing she needed to do was stack everything on the small table in the center of the room so that she could get a fire going in the cook stove and some water heating so she could start washing dishes. 

She quickly cleaned off the stove and started a fire. Thankfully, there was a pump right in the kitchen that would save her from having to haul water from outside somewhere. She filled the water tank on the side of the stove and then filled the bucket as well and put it on top of the stove to heat. She looked through several of the pots on the stove and filled them with water to try and boil loose some of the old dried-on food and make the cleanup easier. 

While the water heated, she took stock of her kitchen. There was an icebox along the inner wall; she opened it to see milk, eggs, bacon, a ham, and a small jar of butter. She decided she’d get the eggs and slice some of the ham for dinner tonight. On the other side of the kitchen, next to the door outside, was another door. She opened it to see a pantry with several tins and containers. She found coffee, tea, flour, and cornmeal. There were bottles of spices, jars of canned vegetables, and other staples. She’d make a list of what she might need tomorrow, but tonight she just grabbed a tin of lard and flour. She didn’t have time to make bread, but she could make some quick biscuits. She opened the door outside to see a root cellar just passed the back of the house. She grabbed a lamp and lit it. Once she had proper light, she headed into the cellar. She grabbed an empty flour sack she found and put several potatoes in it. 

Her family would have eggs, fried potatoes, ham, and biscuits for dinner tonight. That would allow her to make dinner with the least amount of clean dishes. By the time she got back into the kitchen, the water was hot. She filled the sink and quickly washed six plates, silverware for them all, and glasses. Then she tackled a Dutch oven and skillet.  

She put other dishes in the hot soapy water to start soaking and quickly went out and wiped down the dining room table. She returned to the kitchen and cooked for her family. She heated a freshly cleaned and warmed bottle for Raeann and walked into the parlor where Royce had the infant. “Can you feed her this bottle while I finish fixing food for the rest of us? That way she should be sleeping while we are all eating.” 

He took the bottle and smiled at her. “Thank you, Marta. I’m sure this isn’t how you planned to spend your wedding day.” 

She smiled back at him. "Honestly, I never had any plans for a wedding day. I was on my way to become a nanny, remember? If you hadn’t asked me to marry you, I’d never have gotten married.” 

“I find that hard to believe. I’m sure some gentleman out in San Francisco would have caught your attention, and you’d have ended up married with a family.” 

She shook her head. “Doubtful; most single men of good character don’t notice the help of their married friends. Those that do notice don’t want marriage. They want a mistress or a fling. I wasn’t willing to be either. I’d honestly determined that being a spinster who took care of other’s children was my lot in life.” 

Royce smiled up at her. “Then I’m glad you happened to come by the mercantile when you did. I got the wife I needed, and you have a home and family. I’d say God must have been looking out for both of us today.” 

Marta thought about that and knew it was true. After all, it was an angel, or at least a woman who claimed to be an angel, who sent her to the mercantile at that exact time.  

She just nodded and agreed with Royce. No sense telling him an angel sent her to him. He might think she was unbalanced. She wasn’t completely sure she hadn't gone insane for a short time after getting that letter. After all, why would God send her an angel? It wasn’t like she was anyone important. Just Marta Campbell, now Clark. Campbell wasn’t even her real name, just one the Mother Superior chose for her. She wasn’t anyone; while her last name had changed, she knew, in reality, she was still the help. Royce was obviously still in love with his children’s mother. He only married her out of desperation. Hers was nothing more than a marriage of convenience. But it still gave her a home and a family, and for that, she would be eternally thankful to him, even if love was never going to be part of her life. She’d come to accept that already anyway. Today didn’t change that one bit. 

She turned and headed back to the kitchen. She’d get dinner ready and feed the family, and then get back to work setting the kitchen to rights. After that, she’d go through the house and start figuring out what to do next. She may not have love, but she would make herself indispensable to him. He may never love her, but he’d realize quickly enough he couldn’t live without her. That would be sufficient for her.   

Marta quickly got the ham cooked along with the eggs, potatoes, and biscuits. As her new family sat at the table together and ate her simple meal like they’d not had food in a month, she couldn’t help but smile. They reminded her so much of the kids at the orphanage. Hunkered down over their food, shoveling it into their mouths like it was going to disappear if they didn’t get it inside their bellies right now. “Slow down or you’ll all give yourselves a bellyache.” 

She could see Royce physically force himself to slow down. “It’s just so good!” 

Marta blushed at the praise. “It’s just eggs, ham, and potatoes; it’s not like it was something hard to fix.” 

RJ grinned up at her, “But it ain’t beans and burned bacon. I'm so tired of beans and bacon. I hope you never fix them for us.” 

Marta smiled at RJ as Randy and even Rachel nodded. “I promise that I won’t make any beans for a while, and I won’t burn the bacon. I will make sure that you have three good meals a day. Starting tomorrow, I’ll see about having something sweet for dessert, too.” 

The boy's eyes went big. “You can make sweets?” 

Marta laughed. “Well, if you think cookies and cakes and pies are sweets, then yes, I can make sweets.” 

“Did you hear that Pa? She’s going to make us sweets.” 

Royce smiled at her. “I did hear that. What do you say to her for being so thoughtful?” 

RJ looked at his pa for a minute confused, and then she saw when it dawned on him what his pa wanted him to say. “Thank You.” 

She smiled at him. “You are welcome, RJ. Now we need to figure something out here. I don’t want you to keep calling me she all the time. What are you all going to call me?” 

They all looked at Royce as if to leave the decision up to him, but before he could open his mouth Rachel spoke up. “Well, I don’t care what we call you, but I ain’t calling you Ma because I already have a ma, and you ain't her.” 

“Rachel!” Royce gave her a disapproving look. 

Marta reached out a hand to Rachel. “No, you’re right Rachel, you shouldn’t call me Ma. You had a ma who loved you very much, and I don’t want to be called by the same name you called her.” Marta looked around and saw that all of them were sad again. “Rachel, will you help me carry everyone's dishes into the kitchen, and then we can wash them so they’ll be ready to use for breakfast.” 

Rachel huffed, but a look from Royce had her slowly getting to her feet and gathering plates. Together they took the dishes into the kitchen. Marta stood between Rachel and the door back to the dining room. “Rachel, I don’t want you to call me Ma, and I don’t want you to forget your ma. I know you think I’m going to take her place, but I’m not. I’m going to help take care of your pa and your family, but I’m not going to take your ma’s place. I’m going to make my own place in your family.” 

The little girl's arms crossed over her chest again. “We don’t need you in our family.” 

Marta knelt down on the girl's level. “We both know that isn’t true, Rachel. I’m sure that your ma taught you lots of things, and I’m sure you think you can take care of your family alone, but we both know that isn’t true, don’t we?” 

“It is too true!” 

Marta shook her head. “Oh, little one, we both know it isn’t. I don’t think your ma would be happy with how the house looks, would she? But you can’t do it all yourself. Your ma didn’t do it all herself. She had you to help her. Now I’m here, and I’ll help you. Together we can take care of our family. I can’t do it all alone, either. I’ll need your help just like your ma did. So I make you a promise. You help me with taking care of our family, and I’ll help you make sure your brothers, and sisters always remember your ma.” 

The little girl looked at her with surprise on her face. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean every night we will sit with your brothers and sisters, and you can tell them a story about your ma and the things she did. It may take a while, but after your pa is done feeling sad, he will probably help you tell stories about her.” 

The girl wiped at the tears on her face. “You mean it? You won’t try to make us forget Ma?” 

She reached out and pulled the little girl into her arms. “Oh, Rachel, of course not. Without her, I wouldn’t have you as part of my new family or your brothers or sisters. I will always be happy to hear you talk about her. But you have to let me help you take care of our family, okay?” 

The little girl grabbed hold of her and wrapped her arms around her neck. “I miss her so much. Why did God have to take her from me?” 

“Oh, honey, God didn’t take her from you. She was just too sick to get better. But I’m sure she is looking down at you from heaven. She must be so proud of you for trying to take care of your pa and family. Maybe she sent me to help you. Did you think of that?” 

The little girl looked up at her. “You think so?” 

“I don’t know, honey, but I know this. You just happened to be in the street when I happened to walk by. So who knows? Now, let's get these dishes done and then you can show me the rest of the house. Because tomorrow we have to start getting it clean again.” 

The little girl smiled and pulled a smaller apron off of a hook by the door and put it on over her clothes. She handed Marta a larger one hanging beside it. But when Marta tried it on, she couldn’t tie it around her. It seems she was a bit bigger in the hips than the last Mrs. Clark was. “I think I need to go get my own apron, Rachel.” 

Rachel giggled, and Marta took off the apron and hung it back on the peg she’d taken it from. “Let me see if your Pa brought my trunk in yet. I have a couple of aprons in it. Would you like to come with me and help me look?” 

“Okay.” 

They went back into the main parlor where Royce was changing Rose. “We’re almost out of diapers for the little ones.” 

“Rachel and I will wash those first tomorrow, then. Have you brought my trunk in yet?” 

“I did; it’s in our room. Why?” 

“Well, it seems that I need to get an apron from it. The one Rachel gave me to use was a bit… tight.” 

“Let me show you where our room is.” 

“That’s not necessary. Rachel and I need to look at the house anyway. She will show me. That way we women of the house can make a plan to get things under control.” She winked at her husband, hoping he’d understand what she was doing. He looked back and forth between the two of them. “Is that okay with you, Rachel?” 

The little girl nodded. “Of course, Pa; that’s what us womenfolk are supposed to do, isn’t it?” 

Marta swallowed the giggle that threatened to escape at the surprised look on Royce's face. “Yes, I suppose it is. Carry on then.” 

The two of them walked through. Rachel pointed out the different rooms and Marta showed her the things that they’d need to do to get the house back to normal. She pulled an apron out of her trunk and put it on. Afterward, she and the girl went back to the kitchen and washed all the dishes that had soaked, as well as the dinner dishes. Then they went into the parlor with the rest of the family, sat together on the divan, and made a list of the things they would start cleaning tomorrow. Marta pointed out that they’d work down the list and that it was okay if it took them more than one day to do everything. Before long, the children were all yawning and Marta suggested that everyone get ready for bed. She let Rachel help her put the younger kids to bed, and she shared something with each of them about their ma. Then she let Marta tuck her in as well. “Maybe it won’t be so bad to have you as part of our family.” 

Marta’s heart squeezed in her chest. “Thank you, Rachel. That means a lot to me. Good night, sleep sweet.” 

The little girl smiled at her. “My ma used to say that to me.” 

“Well, tonight I’ll say it for both of us. Sleep sweet, Rachel.” 

 

Marta left the room and went back in the parlor where Royce was. He looked at her like she was a wonder. “How in the world did you get Rachel on your side so quickly?” 

“I just assured her that I wasn’t trying to make her or your family forget her mother. I promised if she helped me take care of the family, I would help her make sure everyone remembered her Ma.” 

Royce's face looked pained. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” 

“Royce, they need to remember their mother. Just because she is gone doesn’t mean they need to pretend she didn’t exist. Yes, it will bring some tears sometimes, but it will help them heal. It will help you as well.” 

“I don’t want to think about her right now.” 

“I understand, Royce. You miss her, and you still love her. That’s okay. I’m tired; would it be all right if I go on to bed?” 

“Sure, how long do you need to get ready?” 

She shrugged. “Ten minutes?” 

“All right. I sleep on the right side if that’s okay with you.” 

“That’s fine. I can sleep in here if that would be better for you.” 

He shook his head. “No, if you're going to take care of the baby, then you need to be where she is. We’ll make it work.” 

“Okay, then good night.” Marta went and quickly changed and checked on Raeann who was still asleep. She climbed into bed on the left side and had just gotten settled when Royce came in. She stayed facing away as he quickly got ready for bed and slid in beside her. He turned out the lantern; she laid there listening to him breathe until she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.