Anna's Story

Chapter 4

When Stephen kissed her, she felt week in the knees and felt her heart race. None of her beaus had ever made her feel this way. Stephen pulled back after the second kiss and Anna wanted more. She reached her hands around behind his neck and brought him back down to her. He kissed her again. There was more passion in this kiss than the last and she found herself kissing him back. As he pulled away from her this time, she looking deep in his eyes and decided that this was her Gypsy after all. One day, he would be hers and hers alone.

Stephen asked to see her again the next day, but she had obligations. She quickly asked that he come for dinner. He agreed. She smiled, turned and went through the door, leaving him on the walk and her father scrambling to get to his chair.

"I've invited Stephen to dinner', she said walking over to her father, who sat in his favorite chair. She came up from behind him and hugged him around the neck. "Please behave!", giving him a kiss on the top of his bald head. With the arm he had left from the railroad accident a few years before, he hugged her back. Winking at his wife, he told Anna, "It will be painful mein Tochter, very painful." With that, she swats the top of his head and waltzes up the stairs to bed, prepared to dream of her future.

Spring cleaning completed and the afternoon meal started, Anna, along with her parents walk to mass. Her head fixed forward, her eyes search for Stephen. Then she spots him, with a group of young men from the neighborhood. He looks her way and she quickly moves her gaze to the doorway of the church. she feels herself turning red, the blush seems to grow from her toes. Thinking to herself, "What could he possibly see in a girl like me, blushing at the sight of him."

Stephen glances in Anna's direction and sees her flush. He pretends that he is talking to his friends but is watching Anna's every move. He finds her every move inviting.

"Talk to you later, I have someone I have to talk to", said Stephen and he was walking toward Anna. But he doesn't talk to Anna, he begins speaking to her father, Andrew. He asks permission to court his daughter and Andrew, reluctantly gives it.

Anna and Stephen began their courtship. They spent most of their time together sitting on the porch or in the parlor with Anna's father keeping a watchful eye on the two of them. Mary knew that her daughter wanted to be alone with Stephen and did her best to distract her husband so the two could be alone.

Stephen saw Anna everyday after work. He would stop and she would have a plate ready for him. It became customary that he read the paper to Mary in her native German. He managed to capture the hearts of both of Andrew's women.

Anna's graduation and eighteenth birthday came and went. Now that Anna was eighteen, there was no need for a chaperone. She and Stephen stopped sitting on the porch and began taking long rides in the country with a blanket and a picnic basket. By summer's end, Anna and Stephen were seeing each other everyday of the week. She looked forward to his sweet kisses and was left wanting more.

Anna looked around the room at her family. She thought that maybe Steve would be proud of them, no, she knew he would be. They were all strong and happy. As she was reaching for her tea, Heidi touched her hand and smiled, "You look so happy Oma."

"And who wouldn't be with such a loving family around her."

As she watched the youngest showoff with somersaults, her mind drifted to the day Steve proposed.