#these are my shelves i put up myself I'm an independent woman

[cereamicwastelands]

[sunnynii]

Smitten

a/n: recently I ordered a comfort letter from a favorite character of mine, but it wasn't as promising as I had hoped. So I decided to try this for myself, with none other than the man of romance himself :)

tags: fluff, some suggestiveness, a bit of comedic touch, kaeya x gn!reader

image credit

context: Enjoy this letter from kaeya, to you, as you're out on the road adventuring while he's in his office in the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.

My dearest love,

I know it's been quite some time since I've last sent you a note like this, and I can already feel the ringing in my ear from your voice bouncing around as you scold me, but fret not because I adore the sound of your voice (even as it's complaining and whining). Heh, you know this is all in good fun, because all are privy to how perceptive you are, and how quickly you're able to tell when I'm hiding the content I feel in those moments. It's one of your habits I can never seem to escape, try as I might, you just seem to always see right through any charade I put up.

I do miss the feel of having you nearby, flitting about the room and touching the little knickknacks i keep on my shelves and desk as I work, picking up stray pages off the ground and making side comments about the mess that's always in here. Which, might I add, may or may not be cleaned up as of this moment. What can I say? You've rubbed off on me~

It's not the way you would organize things though, and I can't exactly place my finger on it, but something's off about the way I've done it, as if it's missing your touch. Although I too, miss your touch, and you can interpret that as you wish.

Yes yes, I know it is I who usually initiates the all the teasing and touches, but let's ignore that for now shall we?

But alas, my darling love, none of these words can fully relate how much admiration I have for you. Sleeping without you by my side these past couple of days has been just absolutely horrid, and that's without what you'd call "my usual dramatics". It's difficult not having you there, feeling your warmth as you ask for those extra few minutes. Little do you know, I was planning on asking the same. I truly never can get enough of how perfect you feel against me, how beautiful you look. The morning sunshine always seems to bless you in the earliest moments, as if you were the sun god themself. I've often reached my arms out to pull you close to me, only to find nothing but empty space, and it's because of this that I can't help but count down the days until I can sweep you up into my arms once more.

Although my longing for you is as evident as the sky is blue, I do take pride in knowing my beloved spouse is out there exploring to their heart's content, doing what they love most with that determination that none can shake. You are such a powerful being, my dear. It's quite attractive~, while it is also very admirable. The way you handle yourself, and the way you fight fills me with a sense of reassurance that you will indeed come back home to me. Your independence will always be something that I adore and encourage, as this was apart of the person I fell in love with (as begrudgingly as we did, considering how often we used to be at each other's throats. You were such a feisty woman and were so intent on hiding how in love with me you were. It's quite amusing to reminisce on , don't you think?).

Ever the strong vixen that you are, please do remember to take care of yourself my sweet. Try not to forget that in order to be at your best, as you so often boast about being, you need to stay healthy. Drink to your hearts content and eat all of the foods you find along the way, and maybe even tell me about them in the next letter you write me? I would very much enjoy hearing about the different palettes you've encountered, and the different beasts you've tamed.

That being said, I wish not to keep you from your fun any longer, so I shall continue to dream of you in the meantime, until I can once again show you just how smitten with you I am, and always have been (Even as you threatened to throw me to the pack in Wolvendom for stealing your belongings countless times). Expect nothing but the most chivalrous of displays when I hear of your return, I'll be one of the first to greet you and of course, the only one to capture your lips with my own. I love you, to the ends of the many realms and back, and I would gladly shout it from the tops of the towers here in Mondstadt if needed. I adore you, and every part of that delectable enrapturing body of yours. You may be the fire to my ice, but you warm even the farthest depths of my soul in the most pleasurable of ways. Never forget how closely I hold you in my heart, my beloved partner. I bid you a good evening, night, or morning and hope when you read this, you think of me as well.

Yours truly (and forever),

Kaeya Alberich <3

[calumxkisses]

Yellow | c.h.

pairing: calum hood x reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

summary: prince!calum au - you're his yellow and he's yours.

a/n: hi! 'm not really good with au imagines but i hope you'll like it. let me know what you think of this imagine. love you!

this imagine its inspired by the song: yellow

✰ ✰ ✰

“Yellow.” A sudden voice makes you jump. You close the book you’re reading as you place a hand on your chest, feeling your heart beating quickly.

The library is huge, the storm lights barely illuminate the room, making it almost impossible to find your way around and read without the help of candles. The smell of old books is strong, there is a lot of dust on the shelves and feeling small near these high shelves make the perfect atmosphere to be able to take refuge from the outside world, from a world made of rules and confined to the land surrounding the property. Your little refuge, however, is interrupted by the presence of this man and you turn around quickly, trying to hide the smile that forms on your face at the sight of the stranger.

Despite the size of the room, the prince appears to be in full control of everything around him. He is standing in front of the door, several meters separate your figure from his, yet you can see the smile he gives you, his hands hidden behind his back and the fine lines near his eyes that underline his amused expression.

“What?” You ask before placing your hand in front of your mouth and widening your eyes. In your mind, a vivid image of your mother scolds you for your language and reminds you that you are no longer a child and that you must be careful when addressing a prince or any other high-ranking social figure.

“I'm sorry for talking to you like that, sir. I'm afraid I don't understand what your 'yellow' refers to.”

Prince Calum laughs briefly before slowly approaching you.

"We've known each other since we were children, we don't need certain formalities."

“My mother says-” you try to justify yourself, but he cuts you off right away.

“Nobody’s here.” He whispers before standing in front of you, keeping some distance to avoid misunderstanding in case someone enters. If it were up to him, there would be no such distance between you, but rules are rules and he would never want to compromise your image.

You look around to make sure no one is spying on you and, sure you are alone with him, you relax your shoulders and jaw, releasing the sigh you were holding back.

“So, yellow?” You ask, smiling, placing the book on the table to your left while you look at the boy, waiting for an answer.

His curly hair is carefully pulled back and the dark circles under his eyes lead you to imagine him sitting at his desk, with a lighted candle next to him and his gaze on the window in front of him, instead of the pages he is holding with his hand, pages he should study in order to become the man his father wants him to be, but that he will never be.

“It was a difficult choice, I will not lie to you. There are so many colors that remind me of you, the red of the dress you wore at your first dance when you entered society, the purple of the vase you broke when you discovered that you have been promised in marriage to an old man or the blue of water of the stream next to the tree where we always go to sit under it. And there are a thousand other colors that I associate to you.”

You smile proudly to hear that he paid attention to every detail and remember how as a child he couldn't even memorize the poems the teachers taught him and the thousand fights you had when you tried in vain to help him learn each verse.

“When I think of you, however, I think back to when you collected Ranunculus repens and put them in your hair, to embellish your hair and feel like the princesses who came to visit us. You always did it and you always took a few more so, when it rained and we couldn't go out, you had your little escort and you could wear them even inside these walls. You always have and if I'm not wrong-”

Calum slowly reaches out his arm towards you, his hand brushes your neck causing you to shiver all over your body, before moving a strand of hair and grabbing something from behind your ear.

“You still wear them.” He whispers, bringing his hand in front of your eyes and showing the small yellow flower you were wearing until a few seconds before.

“They still make me feel like a princess from one of those fairy worlds I read books about.” You whisper, you look down as a sense of shame takes hold in your body. Your heart seems to feel pain as you think back to how you still feel as a child, how you still dream of those fairy tales you hoped you could live one day.

“You're a princess with or without those flowers on, you know it too, you just hope that others see you as you do, too special for a life you don't want to be part of.” He says bringing his fingers under your chin and lifting your face up. His gaze no longer conveys joy and his tone is harsh, an angry expression has taken place on his face.

“Calum..” You try to stop him from speaking that truth you don't want to hear, but his words have broken through your heart and the pain you seemed to feel, now you are definitely feeling. You take a step back, trying to get away from a situation you can't escape from.

“You don't have to do it, you don't have to stay and spend the rest of your life between false smiles and sleepless nights. Your sister will be queen and my father thinks I'm a failure since I was born. Let's run away, me and you. My cottage already has everything we need and I'm sure they will never come looking for us. We will live that fairy tale we imagined for us and we will have the life we ​​always wanted.”

His hand grabs yours and his gaze is on you. You know he's not lying, he told you the love he feels towards you in the dungeons of this same castle and you haven't thought twice before confessing your love to him.

But this castle, these people, is all you have always known.

It’s a world that doesn't belong to you but you can't just leave. There are rules, responsibilities, tasks that you cannot escape.

“It's not that easy, Calum.”

“No, it's not, it's not easy and it won't be. We'll probably end up arguing and you'll regret running away with me. But then you'll think back to all these tight corsets you had to wear, all the formalities you had to comply with and the man you would hold if you have stayed and you will understand that country life is so much better than a life spent in sadness and that that terrible man who made you cry actually loves you madly and just wants what he knows it’s better for you.”

He also grabs the other hand and continues.

“And if you really want to go back, I will be ready to be looked at with scandal by everyone and to take you back to the castle, to face your father and see you held by arms that are not mine.”

You know that it will be hard, but you have never wanted to be a queen. It’s a big responsibility for a girl that just wants to live a fairy tale, that wants to be free in her own terms. You never wanted a kingdom, you never wanted to be property of some old man and certainly you never wanted to spend your existence submitted to someone else’s orders.

You just wanted to be happy, to live your life to the fullest, to love a man who respected you, your dreams, your independence and your passion for flowers and books.

And maybe house cleaning, mud and small rooms will never be like having silk sheets, breakfast prepared by someone else and the floor always clean, but they certainly convey a sense of greater happiness and a life spent in misery and in sadness it’s the dream of those who do not want to fight for what they dream of and are satisfied with mediocrity.

And you don't deserve mediocrity and the guy in front of you knows it well, he sees it in the way you feel uncomfortable during the dances, when your father talks to you about matters you can never take care of because you’re a woman and in the look that you give to your mother when she talks about her marriage, that is only political and not based on love.

You turn to your right, a huge gold mirror near the window reflects the library, the place where you grew up and where you have taken refuge millions of times. You look in the mirror, the diamond earrings reflect the gray of the sky and are too heavy for your ears. Your dress is gorgeous, hand-sewn by the best tailors, yet you don't feel as beautiful as when you wear old, unfashionable clothes and run free for the castle hills, without the fear of getting dirty or ruining expensive dresses.

Your eyes, pupils who love to look at the horizon, are sad, aware that by staying they will not be able to see any wonder. You touch your face, slowly run your hands over your cheeks, over your lips and run your finger over the bridge of your nose, remembering when you were just a little girl and were treated like a normal girl, a girl that loved when her father played with her and touched her nose while making funny noises with his mouth.

Then you look outside. The sky is full of dark clouds, the rain falls incessantly and a few lightning illuminate the afternoon sky. You look at that garden you have walked a thousand times, at all the flowers you have collected and at all the plants you have destroyed while playing with Calum.

You close your eyes thinking about all the places you haven't visited, all the trees you haven't leaned on to read and all the rivers you haven't seen flowing. There is a world out there, you think, that has yet to be discovered. And who are you, if not a woman ready for life's adventures?

“You didn't ask me.” You whisper.

“What?” Calum asks, confused.

“You didn't ask me which color reminds me of you.” You repeat as you slowly turn around to look at him.

A huge smile forms on his face.

“What color do you think when you think of me?”

“When I was ten, one night, I decided to explore the dungeons alone. I wanted to prove to myself that I was able to do anything. I almost made it, I almost managed to face the monster we thought lived in the cells, but then it was all too dark and I ended up going back to my room crying.” You slowly approach him.

“The next night, you showed up in my room with a jar full of fireflies, you gave it to me and whispered "You can do it." I ended up walking through the dungeons with this jar in my hand, you were a few meters behind me to make sure nothing happened to me, but I always knew you were there, even if you tried to hide.”

“I was able to face one of my biggest fears that night. Whatever other problem happened, you were always ready to help me if I needed it, you always supported me, with advice or simply by being close to me, a few steps back to let me free. You were essential in making me grow, while remaining away. Like the stars, who guide the sailors from the sky, they let the sailors do what they believe is right, but they are there to help and guide them if they need it.”

You bring your lips to his ear and whisper: “At midnight, in our place. Don't be late and take the blue carriage, it makes less noise on the street.” You turn around and walk to your room to pack a small bag with all the essentials.

“Wait, you didn't answer my question!” He says turning towards the direction you went.

“You are my yellow, Calum.” You say, you are far away but you know he’s smiling and you smile too.

[sonofhistory]

Can you do a book review/description of America's First Daughter? I'm trying to decide between that or another book.

I should probably review this book while the text is still fresh in my mind. I could not pull myself away from this book, I read the whole 600 page book in less than twelve hours. 

America’s First Daughter was one of the best journeys I have ever undergone while reading a book. It was incredible, it completely transforms you. The writing was exceedingly talented and I appreciate in words I cannot express how much they kept to historical accuracy and narrative. It was so accurate, the only accuracy I can count was the fact that they said Thomas Jefferson had blue eyes even though his eyes didn’t go blue until later in life; and that he still had ginger hair until his death even though by then his hair had turned sandy. 

The book handles topics of sexism, abuse, racism and slavery very well. I must remind you: the book is narrated by Martha Jefferson Randolph meaning everything comes from the author’s interpretation of her thoughts and emotions. Sally Hemings makes an amazing appearance and the book is incredible. It is now in my top five favorite books. 

Please, I have never read a book that has affected him in such a way, I beg you with all my heart to read this extraordinary and beautiful novel. 

If you do not know what America’s First Daughter is about, here is a very long and detailed summary *SPOILERS BENEATH THE CUT* (but is is kind of just history… so):

The novel is narrated by Martha Jefferson Randolph and begins with her in her father’s bedroom after his death. Martha begins shifting through papers her father left for her while explaining her life long experience living under the roof of a man who wasn’t simply the author of the Declaration of Independence. While in his room, Sally Hemings comes in and sets the stage for what shall be their entire relationship throughout the book; Sally gives her a key to Jefferson’s room and she speaks of how she was Jefferson’s mistriss in public life and Sally could never be how she is. It is not smug, it is genuine. They pass no words before Martha flashes back to her childhood and begins and tell her life with him.

We get pulled back into 1781 to the night Jack Jouett stormed to Monticello in the middle of the night to tell the Jefferson family that the British were coming to capture Thomas Jefferson. “Papa” send Patsy, Polly and her mother off on a carriage where they reside the night. Another person he will become a large figure in the life of Patsy is William Short who accompanies them in their flight from Monticello. At this time, Patsy is about eight years old and her mother, Martha Jefferson, is still weak from the birth and loss of her recent child Lucy Elizabeth. 

After weeks of switching from home to home, while capturing the pure intimacy and devotion of Thomas and Martha Jefferson. Papa (Thomas Jefferson) takes Patsy out for a horse ride and views their plantation workers, stopping one slave from being whipped because he does not want to frighten her. While on their horse, Thomas decides to impress his wife and in doing so, Patsy slips off of the horse, she nearly falls but her father catches her at the cost of his own and he falls to the ground, breaking his right wrist. Patsy remembers this moment for the rest of her life and remembers the times when he doesn’t save her. 

They are able to return to Monticello and Martha gives birth to another child, Lucy Elizabeth again. However, the child ransacked her body of all strength and she soon begins to die. On her death bed, Martha makes her child promise that she’ll protect her father because he is going to need her. During her mother’s death she does not cry, puts on a brave face and accepts what she has put upon her. All the intimacy occurs and Martha soon dies in her husband’s arms after giving a silver servant bell to Sally Hemings. 

Following her death, Monticello becomes just a ghost of what it had once been and Patsy reassures her crying sister Polly in words that told her that father is going through more than they can possibly imagine and they need to be there for him. In the middle of the night, Patsy is awaken by the lack of life in her home and creeps to her father room after hours earlier hearing the sound of glass shattering, screaming, books being thrown to the floor shelves falling over. She gets to get father’s room only to find him disheveled and only a shell of who he once was. She inches closer and finds a pistol sitting on the table beside him, she keeps calling his name but he does not reply and stares off, before he can reply she grabs the pistol into her hands and sits there holding it so her father cannot get to it. 

Jefferson doesn’t eat or sleep, refuses to hold Lucy Elizabeth or look at Polly because they are both memories of her and clings to Patsy but never looks or says anything. He begins to take horseback rides a few weeks later with Patsy in front of him and every time they reach the wedding home he shared with Martha he begins to sob violently. Patsy believes her father is getting better, how ever, one day while out on a ride, Jefferson speeds the horse into a gallop and sends her ducking for cover from the branching slapping at her face. She looks up at the wrong time and finds herself concussed, with cuts, bruises and lying on the forest floor. There, William Short finds her, gets snappy at Jefferson before bringing her home while explaining that she was going through grief too and Jefferson was not the only one torn apart by her death. 

Jefferson has his children inoculated for small pox and Patsy remembers that it was her father who stayed by her side throughout the whole thing, tending to her with care. Soon after, Jefferson reveals that he is taking a position as Envoy to France and leaves Polly and Lucy-Elizabeth with their aunt while taking Patsy with him. While traveling from Monticello to Philadelphia, they stay in the home of Colonel Randolph who is Jefferson’s brother-in-law. Colonel Randolph was a cruel, abusive man and especially unkind to his eldest son: Thomas Mann Randolph. Colonel Randolph tries to get Jefferson to marry again and he remembers the death bed promise to his wife saying that he would not marry and leaves the room. 

Patsy becomes acquainted with two of her cousins, the Randolph sisters, Judy and Nancy. While there, she has her first conversation with Thomas Mann Randolph who taunts her with rather sexist statements which she fumes at but does not respond. They leave soon after, arriving in Philadelphia only to find that their passage is not to be and Jefferson leaves Patsy in the city by herself in the care of a rather religious woman who gets her tutors. Patsy writes her father letters but she stops and only replies when he writes back. She begins to grow angry at her father for abandoning her with his woman and is overjoyed but still distressed when he comes to collect her. They go to Virginia an give a brief call to Lucy Elizabeth and Polly before embarking on their journey to Paris at the tail-end of 1783. 

They arrive in Paris with James “Jimmy” Hemings in tow and take lodgings in the city. There, they are acquainted with John and Abigail Adams and though Abigail is a little off putting to Patsy she makes her feel welcome and at home by taking her shopping and helping her pick out dresses. She takes a liking to Abigail but begins to miss her sisters. While in Paris, she catches wind that William Short is coming on a ship to be Jefferson’s secretary and he arrives soon after. Patsy is sent to school at a convent that she begged not to be send to where she is teased by the other girls for her hair color and bony elbows, most of the teasing comes from a girl names Kitty Church who she begins to somewhat despise. 

Short begins to call upon her at the convent where she is gathering her education. A man beings lodging with them but she does not enjoy him and rummages throughout his belongings, finding out that he was a British spy housing with them and sending his bills to her father tab. One day, Patsy is called from the convent to spend some time with her father only to find that her father’s attention is not completely molded upon her. Maria Cosway is a woman that Patsy also begins to despise and she is polite but shows disdain towards the woman. At a dinner, Patsy realizes she not only has feelings for William Short but is in love with him. She doesn’t allow these emotions to control as she knows “Mr. Short” has other women flocking around the handsome young bachelor. 

Patsy and her father receive words that Lucy Elizabeth died in Virginia and she immediately wants her father to bring Polly to Paris with them. The difference between Polly and her older sister is that Polly has independence and rather a kind of nature that promotes going against the rules and shows restraint to unfair treatment. At the convent, Patsy begins to become friends with a girl named Marie who will become a close, close friend. Jefferson’s affair with Maria Cosway finishes and Patsy is angry that she hurt him. Polly arrives in France with Sally Hemings and she is angry her father did not go to her himself but sent for another man to collect her. Patsy knows that Sally is her mother’s sister and begins to get a good relationship with her. She shares an intimate scene with William Short on a winter day with Polly but is heart fallen when she comes upon a scene of her father and Sally Hemings–together. She confides in William Short who knows about what has been going on and Patsy soon feels she is being betrayed by everyone around her even though Short is an abolitionist. In this she grows a protective nature over Sally. 

William Short and Patsy grow closer and he asks her father about if they could in the future possibly marry and her father declines this offer sending him on a hiatus around Europe. William, as he told her to call him, never sends a single letter and her sisters and herself grow sick with typhus, so sick her father feared they would never recover from this mortal blow. Polly does not grow better and becomes deaf. At her bedside, Patsy promises to god she’ll become a nun if Polly will survive and Polly wakes up. She confronts her father about taking her vows but her father breaks down in front of her saying her cannot loose her too and he would rather shovel dirt over her grave then have her locked up for the rest of her life. Patsy cries with her father and he pulls both of his daughters out of the school. In result, knowing she is at courting age, Jefferson allows her out into society by herself. 

She begins to have many suitors with her friends as well and one day, William Short arrives at the ballroom and apologizes to her for not writing. Patsy acts polite but begins to shut him out until he confesses his love for her and she does too. They share their first kiss while she is being escorted home. Jefferson does not want her to marry him but accepts that they can get married in the future. Jefferson begins planning his trip back to Virginia and William and her father prey on her mind; she can go to Virginia with her father and risk him never allowing her to come back to marry William or she could abandon living with her father and marry William, traveling around Europe on diplomatic excursions as his wife. She choses to be with her father but begs William to wait for her–he doesn’t. 

They arrive back in Virginia and her father shows an interest with pairing her with Colonel Randolph’s son who is now all grown up but Patsy only remembers him as the fourteen year old boy who teased her as a child. She still has extreme feeling for William Short but dismisses them. Thomas Mann Randolph is taller than her husband and exceedingly handsome. Sally Hemings gives birth to her son right as “Tom” who is in love with Patsy asks her to marry him after only a month of knowing one another. She consents and they marry. Their first child is a daughter named Ann who Tom absolutely adores. Soon after a son is born, named Thomas Jefferson Randolph. She gives birth to another daughter named Ellen but she dies soon after and she gives birth to another daughter whom she names Ellen. 

Tom has a terrible relationship with his abusive father who tormented him as a child and regularly beat him as is implied within the text. While on a visit to Colonel Randolph’s house, Sally Hemings’s son dies and they bury him on the plantation where they couple believes they are going to later reside in. Colonel Randolph marries a new woman only a year after Tom’s mother died. At first, Patsy’s marriage to Tom is relatively happy although it takes a while for her to fall in love with him. Tom’s sisters escape their abusive new step mother and begin to live with Patsy when she moves from her plantation Varina (which he hates) to Monticello to watch over the estate in her father’s absences. After Colonel Randolph’s death, Tom rides there only to find that he had died and hours earlier moved the owner to his estate to his new child also named Thomas Mann Randolph. Tom grows a little angry and while Patsy is attempting to give suggestions, Tom slaps her for the first time sending Sally up at the noise to inspect what had happened. 

Tom is exceedingly guilty for what had occurred. The man her sister Judy married, Richard, also was having a relationship with Judy’s sister Nancy before all of his occurred and a rumor was created saying Nancy and Richard had a child but Richard killed it and chopped it to piece with an axe. Patsy does not believe the charge and gets called up for the trial to testify in defense of Nancy even though she grows convinced that Nancy did do something to provoke an abortion in her. 

More children arrive and Tom begins to grow a little more violent, especially with her eldest son, Thomas Jefferson Randolph. For the littlest mistakes, Tom would threaten to beat Thomas into submission but Patsy always comes to his defense. Her daughters never received a beating from their father, but Thomas always got the fist. Meanwhile, Patsy, who now goes by Martha after he marriage, knows her father his completely oblivious to what is going on around him. Polly marries a cousin, Jack Eppes and Martha realizes while there is nothing harmless about the man, his libido will end up being that kills Polly, who now goes by Maria. Maria gives birth to a child in an exceedingly difficult pregnancy and the child dies soon afterwards. Martha is struggling to keep her household in order while also tending to her husband and children. Tom stands for election and looses which sends him down a worse spiral which is only uplifted when he is elected governor of the state. 

Thomas Jefferson is elected president of the United States and Sally has several children with him. Sally recognizes that that all of her children are slaves to their master and she speaks to Martha about her deal with Jefferson which stated that her children would go free at the age of twenty-one. Maria gives birth to another child, grows weaker and then gives birth a final child even after Martha begs her Jack Eppes to stay off of her because she is delicate and the next child is going to kill her. Maria knows she is dying, and turns to Martha saying the exact words she heard her say to her to reassure her after their mother died and their father was rampant with grief. Maria soon dies and Martha doesn’t cry at her grave. She remains stoic until she gets to her home before she cries as she has never cried in her entire life. Jack Eppes takes a slave into concubine, begins flirting with women and never allows his son to see his grandfather, aunt or family. 

They receive a visit from William Short and they become fast friends just how they used to be. After a while, Tom’s drunken habits seem to be getting worse and their children begin to marry. They eldest daughter, Ann, marries a man named Charles Bankhead but he turns out to be rather abusive and takes out his anger on his wife and children, severely beating them. One night, the butler, Burwell will not give the keys to the liquor cabinet to Bankhead and when Martha attempts to stop the argument, Bankhead strangles her nearly causing her to black out before her husband walks in, grabs a fire poker and smashes Bankhead over the head with it nearly causing him to die. After this event, Bankhead packs up his family and flees. 

One day while Martha and Ann are together, Bankhead begins to hit his causing in the ribs causing her to bleed and Martha quickly grabs the horse whip before slashing Bankhead across the cheek. A few weeks later, following an altercation between Bankhead and Thomas Jefferson Randolph (Martha’s eldest son) they fight before Thomas is stabbed in the arm and in the stomach and nearly dies. Thomas Jefferson (Martha’s father) grabs his horse Eagle before speeding off to his grandson where he cries at his side. Before Martha can help her daughter, Bankhead again grabs grabs Ann and her children before running off and not returning for several years. 

In the meantime, Martha learns of the extreme debt her father is in, and begins to see the debt Tom’s father brought upon them as well as their eldest son, Thomas’s debuts he received from his father-in-law. Martha informs her father that they may be forced to sell the Monticello and this completely disheartens them all. Sally’s children begin to hit the age of freedom and she worries about them being off in the world by themselves but Martha reassures her saying this is what she would want if she had children herself. Tom begins to grow more violent and during a visit from William Short, Tom attempts to rape her in her bedroom but she hits him the crotch before running into the hallway calling for all of her children to gather around her. Tom sees this scene of Martha surrounded by a protective ring of all her children and leaves, she is grateful William never saw this. one day, Martha and William both confess their love but Martha begs him with all her life never to come back unless he to risk getting hurt and William doesn’t want to leave her in such a state but she begs and he leaves Monticello. Before he leaves, she breaks down, sobbing for her mother, for her child, for her sister and for how she’d been so deceived by her husband. 

A few months later in 1826, Ann shows up with her children and Monticello badly beaten, bruised, cut from Bankhead and pregnant. She gives birth to a child before dying a short while after due to her injuries. Martha doesn’t want her grandchildren to be with that man and is forced to act courteous to him in order to manipulate him and coax him into giving her the children. She recalls that she never regrets this even in the slightest. After a while, she knows all of her daughters are going to become spinsters but eventually her daughter Ginny marries the man she’s loves–something her mother said she never had the courage to do. Ellen doesn’t want to leave her mother but she marries a man she loves and moves to Boston. 

A few months later, Martha’s father, Thomas Jefferson dies and she does not cry at his grave. Her drunk husband who had been gone appears and taunts her as he did when she was a child about how she has no heart and is heartless. Martha begins to break into pieces and after a while forces herself to reconcile with her husband, calling all her children together as he dies. Shortly after her father’s death, William Short arrives at Monticello and they re-unite, spending the rest of their lives together. She goes to dinner at the presidential mansion while Andrew Jackson is president and he calls her “America’s First Daughter”. 

The book closes with her about to ride a train for the first time to visit her daughter Ellen, with her is William Short.