The scent of the garden was divine!

Jema stood admirably on the lawn and took in the scent of the flowers around. The different colors merged forming a vibrant recursive pattern.

She wondered why she never thought of coming down here instead of being cooked up in the Mansion and its rules. She peeked down at baby Sam in his carriage, and a surge of warmth enveloped her, the little one seemed to love the scent of the place too for he had a chirpy smile on his angelic face.

It's been days of soothing baby Sam, from his routine night cries and suckling on her breast milk to afternoon tantrums whenever nurse Lilian or Madame Evana attempted to carry him.

He wouldn't let any of them touch him, Jema had ended up being the one to bathe, feed, and clean up after him. It left her exhausted every night. Madame Evana had made a fuss when she discovered Jema was already breastfeeding him.

"You didn't have to put him up to that yet! It's too soon!" She had lamented blaming Jema for baby Sam's dislike towards them.

She had little to say to the old woman, the baby needed the warmth of a mother and she was there to provide one for him, it was her job!

Carefully, she laid the mat on the ground. Jema chose a nice spot where the grass was greener, right under a shade. She placed the basket of fruit in the middle of the mat, next was the baby's kit filled with his necessities. She made her way to the nearby flowers and plucked a handful, they deserved to be admired up close and scented better.

When she made to return to the shade, her eyes caught something. A young lady in an apron, with a rake. She was staring blatantly at Jema and putting her off at the same time.

"Hey," Jema waved, snapping the lady out of her afternoon shock. The lady cleared her throat and pretended like she didn't just stare like a ghost.

"You work here?" Jema questioned, surprised that she could find other people less than Martha and the Madame around the premises.

"Me?" The girl asked, checking her surroundings, it made Jema laugh. "Yeah, you,"

"Oh," she threw down her rake and started towards where Jema stood. "I'm Fiona, I manage the orchard and some parts of this garden."

"You live here?" Jean's eyes dropped in surprise.

"Of course, I do, at the annex. Quite far from the mansion though."

"You stay with the Madame?" Jema prodded. There was a lot she didn't know and it came as a surprise to her.
"Not really, she has a whole floor all to herself, I and the rest get to share rooms on the down floor."

"There are others?" Jema couldn't help but ask. Before Fiona could respond a shrill cry from behind snapped her back to reality, Baby Sam!

She rushed back to the boy who seemed to calm down when he saw her. He wasn't feeling anything, just missed her presence for a second. Jema scoffed at his impatience but scooped him out of his seat and into her arms.

"Oh he's such a sweet little boy, how many months old is he?" Fiona gushed from behind. She had joined Jema in the field.

"Four months,"

"Are you guys guests to the master? I've never seen anyone here before." Fiona shrugged, her inquisitive eyes roaming the both of them.

Jema gave a tough smile, unsure of how to describe the situation without divulging much. "Hmm, yeah something like that."

"But I heard the master hates children, how can he cope with you and your baby?" The young girl insisted it was getting on Jema's nerves, her persistence.

She didn't come out here for a Q&A, her hopes of having a quite serene moment with just her and baby Sam were being delayed by this young lady who didn't know when to take a cue.

"Are you done with your work? I guess you're so busy you can go ahead," Jema tried to persuade her to leave but she didn't budge.

"Oh no, I was already done when we met, can I hold him?" She spread out her filthy hands, attempting to carry him.

Jema moved away in a bid to create some space between them. "I don't think that's a good idea, he doesn't sit well with strangers and besides..." her eyes fell on the girl's dirty fingers.

"Oh I'm sorry, I shouldn't spread germs on the poor thing. It's just that I love babies so much and have wished to have mine but..." she trailed off.

"Are you married?" Jema didn't know when the words left her.

"Shh," Fiona hissed. "Yeah, I am but we've been keeping it from the rest. It's against the rules here to marry your coworker," she said with a finger to her lips. "My husband and I have been keeping it private for a year now."

"Oh that's sad, but how do you plan on raising a family when the time comes?"

She shrugged and said, "We'll have to come clean someday and hope Madame Evana would be lenient. It hasn't been easy for me though."

Jema felt sad for the girl, she could relate fairly to how the younger woman felt. Struggling to have a child of your own was another level of misery. And losing one was unexplainable.

After their failed picnic, Jema settled baby Sam into his bed and had the Madame keep an eye on him while she returned to her room to freshen up.

She dabbed at her wet hair with a white towel in front of the mirror. She looked nothing like the woman Jacob loved, she'd chosen to dye her brunette black because she couldn't stand her former self anymore. Her eye color was still the same shade, hardly anything she could do about it, a sad truth that she could not alter.

All her life, Jema knew pain and misery, she tasted life's horror in every form it came. Starting with the death of her parents when she was in high school to losing the only source of hope she had at a time when life meant nothing to her.
Jacob had found her empty, devoid of feelings and life. He had shown her what being alive was like, bringing back the sparks, the butterflies, the bitter-sweet memories that engulfed her whole being, feelings she'd never felt before.

She was head over heels for him, she ran home that night to tell him the good news, that they were soon expecting but he never came home.
She had drowned in her misery, day after day, night after night as he never showed up.

Her phone rang and Jema rushed to answer it. Her granny's name popped up as the caller and excitement filled her heart.

"Gran-gran how are you?" She smiled and sat on her bed.

"We've missed you Jem, your grandpa, and I, we just tend the small farm and hope to see you soon."

Her voice cracked, hearing how difficult it had been for her grandparents since she left broke her heart.
Jema owed her granny her life, they loved and cared for her throughout her sad moments. She didn't want to leave them behind but she had to or else her demons would've gotten to her.

They were there for her when her parents died, Jacob was too but when he left, her grandparents helped her pick up the pieces.

"I miss you both Ma, don't stress so much about the farm. Does Henry help?" Jema asked.

An ugly sound left her gran-gran's mouth. "That obnoxious man? Oh, he does try," they both shared a brief laugh. Her gran-gran never really liked their neighbor, Henry, she said he was a roadside jerk.

"Ben dropped off Jacob's things yesterday. Said he's been trying to reach you dear but you ain't returning any of his messages. We're your next of kin so that's about it." Gran-gran said with a bit of sadness.

Jema sat in silence, what was there to keep of him? She didn't want a reminder of the past or the pain. "Thank you Gran-gran, keep it safe for me. Is that all?" She asked needing to return to the nursery, it was almost time for the baby's bedtime.

The silence from her grandmother was enough for Jema to know that there was more. "What's that ma?"

"Jema?..."

"Yeah, Ma? What happened? Are you okay?"

"He's back Jema, they've found him," her voice wavered into fists of tears.

"Who's back Ma?" Jema queried, her heart pounding uncontrollably in her chest.

"Jacob,"
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😤😤