The Six Swans

The marriage ceremony took place days later. In their week of marriage, Annabelle's only focus was on making the shirts out of star-flower. Gerard only found this more endearing about her and would often watch as she worked, giving her long monologues of his life. She never talked, she never actually said "I do" but she did nod when asked if she would take Gerard as her husband. Gerard was his happiest at that moment. His friends, or band members as Annabelle had come to find out, were supportive of the marriage—happy at their friend's sudden happiness. In fact, everyone seemed supportive, except Gerard's mother. She openly complained about the marriage, claiming Annabelle was no good for her son and pointing out that still no one knew her name or where she came from. Gerard ignored his mother, her opinion of his rushed marriage failed to matter to him.

Gerard attempted to become intimate with Annabelle though he told himself he would wait till she said at least one word; his desire had gotten the better of him. She allowed him to do as he pleased, never saying a word but acting as an active participant. Annabelle admitted to herself that she enjoyed it and only wished she could give her husband the satisfaction of hearing her pleasure.

A week later, Gerard ran through the mansion yelling to anyone that would listen that he would be a father. Congratulations were given by all of his friends, the staff of the home, and even the grocery store cashier. His mother was not excited but a plan had formed in her mind to rid of the young wife.

The day of the birth of their first son, Annabelle had not yelled as the baby pushed through the birth canal. Gerard squeezed her hand whispering words of encouragement in her ear. Three hours of labor later, the baby had been born, cleaned, and handed back to Annabelle and Gerard.

Annabelle smiled down at the child in her arms, watching him sleep. Gerard talked excitedly to the doctor and nurses, naming the baby and gloating about how adorable he was.

"We need you to sign some papers for the release of your child," the doctor said to him.

"Alright," he turned to his wife. "I'll be right back," Gerard told Annabelle and followed the doctor out of the door.

Annabelle continued to gaze at the baby in her arms. She wished her brothers could be there, wished her father could see her now, wished her family could have celebrated her eighteenth birthday.

Gerard's mother walked into the room drawing Annabelle's attention. She walked up to Annabelle, plucked the baby from her arms, and left. Annabelle stared in shock. Unable to yell, she did not know what to do. Gerard returned to the room.

"Where's our son?" he asked her, noticing the absence of their child.

Annabelle said nothing, looking up at Gerard with the same confused expression as he. Gerard ran from the room to find a doctor or a nurse.

To the first nurse he found, he asked, "Did someone take my son from his room?"

"Not that I know of, sir," the nurse answered.

Gerard ran back to the room, panicking. Annabelle offered no words of comfort. Gerard's mother walked into the room again, the baby no longer in her arms, tear stains down her cheek.

"She killed the baby," Gerard's mother accused, pointing to Annabelle.

"I doubt that highly. She is too sweet and good to do that. If she weren't mute, she could defend herself," Gerard said to his mother.

The matter was dropped and marked as a kidnapping. Annabelle continued to work diligently on the shirts through everything.

Gerard told himself again he would wait till Annabelle willingly spoke to become intimate with her. A year later, his desire became too much and again he had his way with Annabelle. Annabelle became pregnant and on the day of the baby's birth, Gerard's mother took the baby away. She claimed she had seen Annabelle kill the baby. Gerard refused to believe her. Annabelle was too innocent to kill another living thing in Gerard's eyes. All she did everyday was make shirts out of flowers. Gerard could not figure out how his mother could accuse his wife of killing their children. The loss of the second child was dubbed a kidnapping. The police, however, were becoming suspicious.

For a year, Gerard fought off temptation of having his wife again for sexual pleasure. Temptation became to strong though and Annabelle held their third child in her womb. Gerard's mother took the child on the day of its birth and accused Annabelle of killing it, as usual. The police came with her this time though.

"Sir, we're arresting your wife with the murder of her three children," one of the police men said to Gerard.

"You can't do that. She didn't murder anyone," Gerard defended.

"This woman says she saw her kill the babies," the police officer stated, motioning to Gerard's mother.

"You can't take my wife away from me."

"I'm sorry but unless she defends herself, we'll have to take her jail where she'll stay till her court date."

They all turned to Annabelle who stared ahead of her blankly.

"Please say something," Gerard pleaded to his wife.

Annabelle remained quiet. If she had valued her own life over her brothers, she would have spoken up. As it was, she cared not about her life. Sure she had a great husband but she could not speak to him, could not laugh at the stories of his childhood. Life was bleak for her. It could only get better when her brothers were safe.

The police handcuffed her and brought her to the jail against the protest of her husband. She was allowed to have her sewing needle and shirts to work on in the cell. Her court date was assigned three days from her arrest date and on the same day as the last day of the six years.