The Widow's Mail Order Husband (Mail Order Brides) (9 page)

“You’re doing great,” were the words Dr. Williams used each visit to describe Mary’s condition.  “Just keep it up, do moderate exercise, nothing overly strenuous, especially nothing that might cause you to fall.”

Mary laughed, “I’m sure if I showed a sign of falling, Tom would throw himself underneath to break the fall.  He is cautious to a fault where the baby and I are concerned.”

“Knowing Tom, it doesn’t surprise me one bit,” the doctor said.

Mary was seventeen weeks into her pregnancy, when she took Tom’s hand, one evening, and held it on her belly.  “Did you feel that?” she asked.  “It’s our baby.  He’s been doing that a lot lately.”

The next day, during an active period of movement, she called Emily.  “Let me hold your hand, sweetheart.”  She guided the little hand to the area where the movement was taking place.  After one of the moves, she asked, “Did you feel that? Wait here’s another one.  Do you feel it?”

Emily nodded her head, not sure what was going on.  Mary moved her hand around.  “There it is again.  That’s your baby sister or brother stretching and kicking.”  Emily’s eyes opened wide.  Mary lay back on the bed and pulled her gown up, revealing her belly.  “Now watch,” she told Emily.  When the baby moved, Mary pointed to the moving ridge on her stomach.  “See, that’s the baby.”

“I saw it,” Emily said.  “I saw the baby move.  Does Papa know it does that?” she asked. 

Mary answered, “He sure does.  Isn’t it wonderful?”

Emily nodded her head.  Can I go play now?” she asked.

“You go ahead,” Mary told her.  Be sure to tell your Papa you saw the baby.”

“I will,” promised Emily.

The sixth and seventh months came and went, Mary’s belly was expanding with each passing week.  By the eighth month, she was great with child.  She complained to Tom, “I feel like a giant lumbering ox.  I’m so clumsy, and with this belly sticking out so far, I’m always bumping into things.

Mary and Tom went in for a visit at the beginning of her ninth month.  Dr. Williams weighed her, but wouldn’t tell Tom the weight.  “That’s between Mary and her doctor,” he told Tom.  To the two of them, he said, “I would say anytime three weeks from now or later, we can expect labor to start.”

“I don’t like ‘or later’, I’m ready to get this show on the road,” Mary said.

The doctor laughed.  “In my long and illustrious medical career, if I’ve learned anything, it is this, the baby will come when it is ready.  You just be ready to come and get me when it starts.  Rosa will be able to take care of you until I get there.  That will largely entail holding your hand during a pain.

“Now, you two scoot and let me get some work done.”

“Sure, Doc.  You just be ready, and remember, I carry a Colt.44.”  He laughed and stuck out one of his massive hands, “Thanks, Jonah.”

“You bet,” Williams replied.

After they left the office, Mary said, “I really like him, and moreover, I trust him.”

“I do too,” Tom said.  “He’s worked hard to get where he is.”

Three weeks later…

Mary awoke and looked at the clock.  It was three in the morning.  Her back was hurting.  She tried turning over in bed as much as her condition would permit.  The pain went away, only to return later.  When it reappeared for the third time, she shook Tom.  “Tom…”  She shook him again.  “Tom, I think it’s started.”

“What’s started?” he asked.

“Our baby is on the way,” she said.  “Get Rosa and go get Doctor Williams.  And, Tom…?”

“Yes?”

“Please hurry,” she said.

He practically leaped into his clothes, and ran down the hall, calling Rosa.  She came out tying her apron.  Rosa didn’t go anywhere without her apron.  “Rosa, go help Mary.  I’m going for the doctor.”  He tore out the door.  He had his horse saddled and was pounding down the road in a blink of an eye.

He rode straight to the doctor’s house.  Dr. Williams’s wife came to the door.  “Tom!  What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Mary’s in labor.  Get Jonah.”

“He’s at the Warner’s, Patsy’s in labor too. They live…”

Tom interrupted.  “I know where they live.  I’ll go there.”  It took fifteen minutes to get there.  He went to the door, and knocked.  Eugene Warner answered the door, looking very frazzled. 

“Eugene, tell Jonah Mary’s in labor,” Tom said.

“I’ll tell him, Tom, but Patsy is having a hard time,” Warner said.  He left the porch and Dr. Miller came out. 

“I can’t leave here right now.  Patsy’s been in labor most of the afternoon and all night.  I’ll get there as soon as I can.  She’ll be all right with Rosa.  It’s her first, so it will probably be a long labor.  Tell Mary I’ll be there as soon as I can leave Patsy.  Stop by my house and ask Helen to go with you.  She’s helped me with a lot of deliveries, and maybe she can help with Mary till I get there.”  A scream shattered the night.  “I’ve got to get back in there.  I’ll leave as soon as I can safely do so.”

As he went off the porch, Eugene Warner came back to the door.  “Good luck, Tom.  My prayers are with you and your wife.”

“Thanks, Eugene, “ Tom said.  “Good luck to you and Patsy.”  He thundered off into the night, back to the doctor’s house.

When he got there, he found Helen Williams holding a little black bag similar to the one carried by her husband.  She was ready to go.  Since the doctor had the buggy, she had their carriage out, Tom took over and finished hitching it up.  “I had a feeling Jonah was going to send you back here.  Where does he want me to go?” she asked. 

“My place,” Tom answered.  He tied his horse loosely to the back of the carriage, gave Helen a hand up to the seat, flicked the reins and drove off at a brisk pace..

Arriving at the Lazy H, Tom helped Helen down from the carriage seat, then led her into the house and on to the bedroom.  Mary was between pains at the moment, and Tom introduced her to Helen, after telling her the doctor was tied up in an emergency, and while he would be there as soon as possible, no one knew when that would be.

Mary said, “ The pains are ten minutes apart, and my water has broken.”  As she talked, another pain hit causing her to grimace.  Helen and Rosa were holding her hand.  Helen said “Mary, let out a long sigh, then I want you to breathe in and out through your mouth, just like a dog.  It will help with the pain.  You’re going to want to push.  Don’t do it, until I tell you.  Resist the urge. 

That’s it, pant, just like a dog, not too fast now.  There you go.”  The pain faded and Mary began to relax.

Tom said, “Helen, I’m going to take care of your horse.  Is there anything else I can do?”

“No, you’ve done your part.  We’ll take care of her now.  You just go out and wait,
” Helen said.

He went to Mary’s side and kissed her glistening cheek, “I love you honey.  I wish I could bear some of the pain for you.”  He left the room to take care of the horses.

After what seemed like hours, Tom could hear Helen exhorting Mary to push.  “Push harder!  Come on, you can do better than that.  Push!” 

Rosa came out, “Senor Tom, get us a pot of hot water.  It won’t be much longer now.”

Then Helen, “Push hard, Mary, push hard.  It’s crowning.  I have the head.  Push Mary.”

After a long, anguished cry from Mary, Helen said, “I have your baby.  Rosa, help me cut the cord.  Mary, it’s a boy.  You have just given Tom a son!”

There was a commotion in the yard, as Dr. Williams arrived.  He rushed past Tom, went to the kitchen, where he washed up and into the bedroom.  “I’m sorry I’m so late.  It was one of the most difficult deliveries I’ve ever had.”

“You’re late darling. The baby just came out. You can do the rest, and I’ll get him cleaned up,” Helen said. “I’ll go tell Tom.”

After wiping the baby clean, and handing him to Mary, she went to the living room where Tom was pacing back and forth. He looked around anxiously.

“Mary is all right, Tom, and so is your son. She was a trooper. Congratulations.” She hugged him and said, “In a few minutes, you’ll be able to go in.”

She was asleep.  Her baby was by her side wrapped in a blue cotton blanket.  The little rosebud mouth was making sucking motions with its lips.  She opened her eyes to see her husband sitting there watching her and the baby.  “What are you doing?” she asked, smiling at this man whom she had come to love so much.

“I’m just watching you and my son and marveling at the miracle of birth. We created him, you and me.  It boggles my mind to think of everything that had to go just right for it to happen,” Tom said.

“It is pretty amazing isn’t it?  Is Emily awake?  We need to keep her in on this.  We don’t want her to feel replaced,” Mary said.

“I’ll go see,” he said, “but first,..” he leaned over and kissed her.  “Thank you.  You did this without a doctor.  It must have been rough.”

“It hurt,” she said, “but Helen was wonderful.  I can’t see how the doctor could have made it any better.”

“If there had been complications, it might have made a difference,” he said.  “I’ll go check on Emily.”

Tom came back about ten minutes later with Emily in tow.  “Where’s the surprise, Papa?”

“It’s in the bedroom, sweetheart.  Mama has it,” he said.

When she saw Mary was in bed, she asked, “Mama, are you sick?”

“No darling, I’m not sick.  Come around to the side.  I have something to show you.  Tom, would you hold her up, please?”

Tom picked Emily up and held her over the bed.  Mary said, “Emily, you have a little brother!”

“I do?” Emily said.  “Where?”

“Right here,” Mary said.  She pulled back the covers to show her.

“He sure is red,” Emily said.

Tom and Mary both laughed.  “Oooh, that hurts,” Mary said.

“Where did he come from,” asked Emily.

“God sent him to us,” Mary said.

“Can we keep him?” Emily asked.

“Yes we can keep him.  Will you help me take care of him?” Mary asked.

“Uh huh,” Emily said.  “I will, Mama.”

“Good,” Mary said.  “I’m really tired and need to take a nap now.”

“Come on Papa, let’s go tell Auntie Rosa about our brother.”  She led her Papa out to the kitchen.

Slowly regaining her strength, Mary watched her son at her breasts.  As he tugged at the nipple, getting the nourishment he needed to grow, Mary had a feeling of completeness she had never felt.  Her love for her husband and stepdaughter knew no bounds, but the feelings for her son were different.  A feeling of warmth and contentment settled on her, reenforcing her confidence she had made the right decision to come west.

She wrote Minerva, telling her of the childbirth, her happiness in her lot and thanking her for showing the path.  She resolved to make a visit as soon as she could travel.  “I want to share my good fortune with everyone and I especially want to share with you.  I want you to meet my family and I want to meet yours,” she said. 

Telling Tom of her wish, he said, “Of course.  As soon as you’re ready, we’ll go over and you can have your reunion.  I owe her my thanks also.”

What do we name him…

“What’s his name?” asked Emily.

“We haven’t named him yet,” Mary said.  “What name do you like?”

“I like Papa,” Emily replied.

“I like Papa too, but we already have a Papa, so we’ll have to pick something else,” Mary said.  “What do you think, Tom?”

“I’ve always been partial to Luke or Matthew,” Tom said.  “I don’t think I like Thomas, because of Doubting Thomas in the Bible.”

“I kind of like naming him after his Papa but if you don’t like Thomas, then we could find something else.  What about Matthew Lucas, and we could call him either Matt or Luke.  Maybe

Matthew Thomas
, and call him Matt?”

“Matthew Thomas Hartness.  I like the sound of it,” Tom said.

“I think it’s good, it honors the Papa and gives us a nice nickname too.  It is a name he can be proud of.  Let’s do it,” Mary said.

* * *

Two months later…

Mary, Tom. Emily and Matt were in Dr. Jonah Williams’s office in Grapevine to have Mary and Matt checked by the doctor.  He found both to be in robust health.  They reported Matt was already sleeping through the night.  He was a happy baby, enjoying the attention showered on him by the whole family, including Rosa.

“He is obviously thriving,” Jonah said.  “Considering he chose a time to make his appearance without the benefit of a medical professional, he’s doing well.”

Jonah’s wife, Helen, who served as his nurse, asked, “What do you mean, without a medical professional?  Rosa and I made a great team.  I’d say Mary had the best of care available at the time.”

“Hear!  Hear!”  said Mary.  “I’m glad you were there.”

Following a return letter from Minerva, the Hartness family hitched up and rode to Bedford for an overnight visit, where Mary was reunited with her old friend from Hagerstown.  Tears were in abundance.  Mary made the introductions of Emily and Tom, and proudly introduced Matt.

Likewise, Minerva introduced her daughter and husband Chase.  “Chase,” Mary said, “Minerva’s letters about her happiness after coming to Texas encouraged me to take the same steps.  Thank you for making my friend so happy.  Without her encouragement, I doubt I would have had the nerve to make this move.”

Chase Barlow was obviously embarrassed to be the center of attention.  “Shucks, who wouldn’t be nice to someone like my Minnie?” he asked. 

Chase and Tom bonded immediately and went off to talk cattle and ranching while Mary and Minerva caught up on all that had happened in their lives since they last met.  The two women talked long into the night and vowed to visit each other as often as possible.

On the ride home the next day, Mary said, “It was really nice to see Minerva again. It’s been three years since we’ve seen each other and we picked up right where we left off. When she left Hagerstown, the Zion Church, Ladies Sewing Circle thought she had taken leave of her senses. 

“When she confided in me, I sensed a desperation in her move.  I don’t know where she found the nerve to take such a step, but I shall be eternally grateful she did.”  She squeezed Tom’s arm and leaned against him.  “We are the two luckiest women in the country.  When I think about all of the inherent risks in what we did, it frightens me.  We definitely had angels on our shoulders.”

Tom chuckled.  “It was desperation that made me put an ad in the paper.  I knew Emily needed a mother’s presence beyond Rosa, and I was so blamed lonely, I wasn’t fit company for anyone.  I had to do something, and there was no one I could turn to.”