Finally finding her own happiness

Valerie stepped into the dressing room holding her great-grandchildren by the hand. She looked down at the little boy who was walking beside her.

The boy didn't resemble her granddaughter or the rest of the family. But she could not miss seeing the face of his father or grandfather in the boy. She sighed, yet he was the first boy in her family to be born after two generations, her great-grandson. Although she was angry with his father. She had already taken the child into her heart.

"Lily!" Called the toddler at the sight of his mother and ran hastily to the girl in white. Smiling, she spread her arms and pulled the child onto her lap. Both seemed so incredibly happy. But Valerie could not get rid of the thought that her baby girl was still a child and already a mother. She was twenty and in most countries it was common to have one or two children at that age. But the girl was her granddaughter. She had raised the child, and knew better than anyone else that she was hopelessly naive and pure. Which is why Valerie resented the groom. In the beginning she might have forgiven him for kidnapping her granddaughter and marrying her without the consent of the families. But with a child it was a very different matter. It upset her. Although she had seen the birth certificate and the wedding certificate, there were really no problems with the dates. But in the back of her head there was always this quiet voice wondering if her granddaughter had run away with the Duke because she was expecting his child. It was not unusual for such events to be the scene of gossip.

Valerie stopped for a moment which was hardly noticeable and looked at her granddaughter from the door frame. All she wanted to see, was the happy smile on her granddaughter's lips. She hoped her daughter could see Lillian. The girl looked more and more like her mother each day that passed. As if Therese had left a piece of herself here so her old mother wouldn't cry so much. All Valerie wanted was for her granddaughter to find the happiness that her daughter missed. Lily had to gather as much happiness as she could in place of her mother. As a bride and mother of many children.

As Valerie caught her granddaughter's gaze, a smile came to her lips. She went to the bride. Though her sweet granddaughter's life was far from being perfect, it was enough for Valerie that her beloved little Lily had finally found her own happiness.

Carefully she took a copper coin out of her clutch. The coin lay cold in her palm, a lion's head was imprinted in the middle of it. Once this crest represented a powerful family of noblemen, but the coin has been passed down for many generations from woman to woman. Who it originally belonged to was long forgotten. Now it presented the happiness that mothers would pass on to their daughters at their wedding day. Valerie now handed over this pawn for the second time, because the mother of this child could no longer do so.

Bending down to her granddaughter's feet, the grandmother grabbed the foot that was hidden under layers of white cloth.

Shocked, Lily looked at her grandmother. "Grand-mère... What are you doing?"

Valerie laughed and held up the coin. "Put a coin in your shoe."

"For what?"

"If you have a coin in your shoe, you never have to worry about money."

"Oh, then I'd better put more in my shoe."

Valerie smiled. " More does not help more. One coin is quite enough. I doubt you will ever have to worry about money."

"You never know..."

Slowly Valerie got up. Gently she placed her fingers under Lily's chin and lifted it slightly. Lily fell silent and looked at her grandmother's glassy eyes. Her gaze flickered.

Her eyelids closed slightly, as if she were relieved. "The coin has been passed from mother to daughter on their wedding day for generations. Take good care of it until your daughter's wedding day. Your mother couldn't give it to you, but from the moment I was allowed to hold you in my hands for the first time, you have been like a daughter to me. As your grandmother, I can only give you two gifts in life. One is roots, a place where you can always come back, where you can always find the love of your grandfather and me.

"The other is wings with which you will learn to fly high and far." Her voice sounded sore. Lily closed her eyes and let herself drift for a moment in the intimacy of her voice.But suddenly a deep sob escaped her. While she still felt the strong beating of her heart in her chest, like the flutter of a butterfly trapped under her breast.