Ten

The heart accepts what pain it must,

And bit by little bit,

It owns the truth in puzzle style

Until the pieces fit.

The house was silent except for the chirp of a cricket somewhere in the corner of the studio. The children were asleep and had been for hours. Andrea was painting, unaware of the hour or the cricket. She was focused on the watercolor she had begun at eight that evening. The painting was nearly finished now as Andrea alternately leaned over the half-sheet of paper to stroke once or twice with the brush, then stepped back to look. The composition was an arrangement of sunflowers done from memory, abstract, with a bold grace that had become the hallmark of Andrea's paintings.

In the last two weeks since her first art show, Andrea had been happy with nearly every watercolor she'd done and elated at the way her work was evolving.

She had painted every day during that busy time, though not enough to satisfy her. Besides running the household, Andrea had to find time for the additional paperwork of her new avocation. She also did a fair amount of chauffeuring as the children participated in more outside activities. Robin was now taking Tai Kwon Do lessons, and Brian, piano.

Andrea had been staying up most evenings after the children were in bed when the quiet of the night allowed her to do her best work. She painted many nights until two or three; and had been barely able to pull herself out of bed the next morning to oversee breakfast with the kids.