West For Love (A Mail Order Romance Novel) (17 page)

Once they were in town, Thomas took
Thomas Jr. from Anna and helped her down. There was no way to hide her belly
now and Anna took pride in it. She wasn’t large but she wasn’t her normal small
figure. And the moment Dr. Hibert saw Anna and Thomas, holding hands, Thomas
holding Thomas Jr., Anna with a hand on her stomach, the doctor came rushing to
greet them. His arms were open, his eyes wide, and he looked like he was
debating on who to hug first.

“Dr. Hibert,” Thomas said.

“Oh, look at this,” Dr. Hibert
said. “Just look at this. “I can’t... you know, I must say, Anna, you play it off
very well...”

“I’m sorry?” Anna asked.

“Don’t think I didn’t sense
something when you were in town and I saw you before. You weren’t showing like
this, if at all. Your eyes...”

“I always tell her that her eyes
speak volumes,” Thomas said.

“Can you imagine how beautiful that
baby is going to be with her eyes?” Dr. Hilbert asked. “Not that our little
Thomas Jr. here isn’t a catch himself.”

Dr. Hibert lowered himself and
allowed Thomas Jr. to grip his finger. The baby smiled and Dr. Hibert laughed.

“Getting more teeth,” Dr. Hibert
said. “Wonderful.”

“No for Josephine,” Thomas said.

Dr. Hilbert looked up. “That won’t
last forever. Now, Anna, come with me, tell me how you’re feeling.”

Anna found herself a minute later,
sitting in a chair, staring at the doctor.

“Shouldn’t I have a midwife?” Anna
asked, looking between Dr. Hibert and Thomas. “I mean no harm to you, Dr.
Hibert.”

“None taken!” the doctor said. “We
have an amazing midwife, Elinore, if you care to meet her. I, uh, would like to
help you, Anna, and Thomas...”

Anna watched the doctor’s mouth dry
up. She looked to Thomas, who swallowed once and nodded. “Go ahead, Dr. Hibert,
it’s perfectly fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please.”

Dr. Hibert touched Anna’s knees. He
was gentle but his eyes were stern.

“You see, Anna, when Rachel went
into labor, it was just wrong from the moment it began. And Elinore did all she
could. An amazing woman. Honestly. I hope you do meet her, and if it would make
you more comfortable, you can call on both of us. But any pain has to come to
me, Anna. I can’t turn back time, but I know that if I wasn’t there during the
birth of Thomas Jr., two lives would have been lost. Do you understand?”

Anna nodded. She touched her
stomach. The thought of losing her baby was something she never wanted to think
or believe in. Of course, the risk of her baby not seeing its first year was
very high, but the way Dr. Hibert looked at her, showed her she would be in
great hands.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,”
Anna said, “I was curious.”

“Nobody is hurt,” Dr. Hibert said.
“I just want to make sure that when the time comes, we have a healthy baby, a
healthy mother, and a healthy family. You both deserve it.”

Dr. Hibert stood and walked to
Thomas, gripping his shoulder.

“Thank you, Dr. Hibert,” Thomas
said.

“Now, Thomas, I’m going to speak
with Anna privately. Exam her briefly. I want to get a plan together for this
baby.”

“Of course.”

Thomas leaned down and kissed Anna.
The kiss was perfect, turning Anna’s cheeks red and her spirits high.

Dr. Hibert asked Anna, enough questions
to make her mind spin. She explained her sickness in the morning. She explained
how tender certain areas of her body felt, how sometimes she felt extremely
tired, and how poor Thomas had to deal with her constant need to cry. And Dr.
Hibert explained that nothing she had described was out of the ordinary. All
normal during pregnancy. He touched her stomach, his hands rubbing the sides
and the top. They made a plan to keep in touch at all times - day or night - if
there was any discomfort, pain, or even a question. Then Dr. Hibert brought
Thomas back into the room and made both he and Anna promise on their faith in
God and the miracle he had given them
that it didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night, if they needed
the doctor, they would come seek him out.

Anna smiled and couldn’t stop
smiling when she left Dr. Hibert’s. Thomas took her hand and as they walked, a
few people stopped to congratulate them on their expected baby. Everyone seemed
happy, maybe even satisfying their own grief for Thomas.

On the ride back to the house,
Thomas Jr. fell asleep after whining a little. It had been a while since he was
fed last. Thankfully the nap lasted most of the way home. Once there, Anna saw
Jo standing on the porch, smiling. That’s when Anna realized she, Thomas, and
Thomas Jr. just had their first real family time alone. And it hit her again
that someday - maybe not soon but someday - Jo would have to leave.

Anna hugged Thomas Jr. as she began
to feel the emotions overtake her. She gave a crying Thomas Jr. to Jo to feed
and stood in the doorway to watch. When Jo looked at Anna, there was no need
for words.

Everything was going to keep
changing.

In Anna’s body.

In the house.

And that was something far out of
anyone’s control.

Chapter Sixteen

The pregnancy continued normal,
Anna never had another problem in the morning and she managed to control her
emotions by closing her eyes, touching her stomach, and trying to picture what
the baby would look like.

Would it have Thomas’s dark hair?
Dark eyes?

Would it have Anna’s light hair?
Blue eyes?

Boy? Girl?

It always seemed to calm Anna down.

The only real problem she had was
the size of her stomach. It got in the way of everything! From cooking to
cleaning to even intimate time with Thomas. Both Thomas and Jo told Anna that
the baby was going to be a boy. Anna didn’t care what the sex of the baby was
as long as he or she was healthy.

As the months moved on, the summer
came to an end, autumn came and went, and a cold winter came down. It wasn’t
quite as harsh as some of the unforgiving winters in Massachusetts, and Anna
didn’t mind the cold weather sometimes, helping to ease her aching body, but
there were times when she felt she would never warm up. She had to sleep on her
side or else the baby would kick and become irritated. Of course, Anna
sometimes moved to her back on purpose just to feel the baby kick. Anna would place
her hands on her belly and watch. What an amazing feeling! Those quick thuds
from the inside made her heart jump and race.

A life lived inside her.

A life created by she and Thomas.

A life that would be brother or
sister to Thomas Jr..

Thomas Jr. only had a little while
longer until he would no longer need the milk from Jo’s giving breast. Thomas
kept his word, speaking to Jo, offering to keep her in the house for as long as
she wanted to be there. At first, Jo denied the request but Thomas explained to
her that if something happened...
again
...
he wanted her there. Or if Anna couldn’t breastfeed for some reason. The
excuses were poor and Jo even called Thomas out with a loud laugh, saying,
“Did you see the size of Anna’s
chest? She could feed two babies!”

Anna laughed when she heard this
and after Thomas was done talking to her, Anna went into Jo’s room to speak
with her.

“I hope you stay,” Anna said.

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“But you’re not, Jo.” Anna touched
her large stomach. “Look how far along I am. It’s only weeks now, Jo, weeks.
You’ve been here for everything. And not for Thomas, but for me. You were the
one that wrote the first letter. You were the one who came to the train depot.
Jo, if it wasn’t for you Thomas may be alone right now. And I... I...”

Anna shook her head. She thought
about her life back home. She thought about her big sister, Abigail. Abigail
had written back to Anna, offering her happiness for the pregnancy. But the
letter was short and didn’t have the confidence Anna hoped Abigail would convey
to her in her letters. It had also been months since she heard from Abigail. It
left Anna to wonder if Abigail had gone to see Mary and Henry. Then, just two
weeks ago Mary wrote a letter, wishing Anna a safe and healthy birth. Mary wrote
that she had tried to speak to Abigail, but she wasn’t interested in talking
right then.

It filled Anna with more emotions
and worry than she really needed for that time, but Abigail was her big sister
and she would always worry.

“Anna, I will stay,” Jo said,
breaking up Anna’s thoughts. “I would be angry with myself if I didn’t get to
hold that baby at least once.”

“More than once,” Anna said.
“Promise me that. More than once.”

“Yes. More than once, Anna.”

They hugged and Anna went into the
kitchen to cook dinner.

Thomas did a wonderful job keeping
the house warm and comfortable. They shared hearty meals, good laughs, and lots
of hugs. Anna truly understood why Thomas worked so hard when he could. Without
the long hours they wouldn’t have enough money for food, for heat, for shelter
even. But thanks to Thomas and his strong hands and intelligence, they were
able to enjoy the winter. Never before had Anna experienced this. In s they
prepared for winter with prayer and understanding that some people wouldn’t
make it through.

After eating and after placing
Thomas Jr. to bed, Anna felt soreness in her right leg. It had been a long day,
an extra cold day too. She had spent a good part of the day thinking of Abigail
and Mary, and had spoken with Jo about staying. It had been draining
emotionally, so Anna went to bed a little earlier than normal. She wanted the
night’s rest and wanted to clear her mind. In the next couple weeks, Thomas
would build a crib for their new son or daughter, and Anna would continue to make
the clothing for the baby. Anna’s mind started to race again with everything
they wanted to get done as her eyes slowly shut.

She slept sound, without a dream,
right up until a pain surged through her leg, waking her with a small cry. She
opened her eyes and wanted to sit up, forgetting the size of her belly. As she
tried to sit up the pain transferred from her leg to her stomach. It was a
horrible pain, a terrible squeezing feeling that moved deeper and deeper. There
was a terrible throb from her insides down to between her legs. Anna balanced
herself with one hand and turned a little, seeking any kind of relief. She placed
her feet on the floor. In her mind, this was nothing a small walk couldn’t fix.
The baby might have been uncomfortable or annoyed with something. Anna wanted
to stand and walk. Rub her belly. Hum a song. Maybe even whisper a story like
she so often did, telling how she met Thomas, loving to repeat the story and
enjoy the romantic feeling it gave her.

The second Anna put pressure on her
feet and stood, she cried out and lost her balance. The wave of pain that shot
through her body made everything appear white. The split second was perhaps the
scariest of her life. She knew she was falling and she could only put her hands
out and pray she wouldn’t fall on her stomach and harm the baby. When her hands
hit the floor, she screamed, keeping her head down, trying to breathe. A second
later, Thomas came to her aid, falling next to her, shaking as he touched her.

“Anna, what is it?” he asked. “Oh,
my Anna...”

“The pain,” Anna whispered. “Oh,
Thomas...”

“No, no...”

Jo came into the room a minute
later. The first flicker of dawn began to show far off on the horizon. It was
going to be a chilly morning and Anna turned her head and looked up at Jo,
trying to read the woman’s face.

“We need to get to Dr. Hibert,”
Thomas said.

“Yes,” Jo said. “I’ll bundle up
Thomas Jr. and we can leave.”

“Anna, can you stand?” Thomas
asked.

“No,” Anna said sharply.

Her fingers clawed at the floor as
the pain continued. It was a surge, a swell, then some mild relief, then all
gone. Over and over. The idea of it being contractions didn’t seem to be
possible. She still had weeks to go. There was so much left to do.

She began to cry hysterically,
losing her breath, gasping for air, trying to reach for Thomas who was busy
gathering clothing and blankets and hats and gloves.

“Anna, I’m right here with you,”
Thomas said. “We’re going to see Dr. Hibert. Everything will be...”

Thomas’s voice cracked too. He
coughed and cleared his throat and tried to speak again, but it came out as a
single grunting sound. Anna looked at her husband and saw the look of terror
embedded in his face.

Then it came to Anna...
was this what happened with
Rachel?

Anna began to rock herself, finding
some comfort and relief in the movement. One thing was for sure though, the
baby did not like this position. She needed to stand, to find a way to relax
the baby before anything bad happened.

“Thomas, I need to stand,” Anna
said.

“Anna, maybe you shouldn’t...”

“No, the baby is upset right now.
Please.”

Thomas dropped everything in his hands
to the floor. He slowly lifted Anna, the ability of his muscles still amazing Anna.
She swore the man could lift a horse if needed. Thomas helped Anna to sit back
on the bed. Anna leaned back and put her hands to the bed. Her head fell back
and she closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths.

“Anna?” Thomas asked.

“Pain,” Anna whispered. “Wait...”

The intense rush came and went,
just like before. The pain subsided this time but didn’t completely go away.
Anna took a few deep breaths and then looked at Thomas. She opened her mouth to
say something when she felt a warm gush between her legs. Her eyes widened and
she whimpered a series of cries.

“Anna...”

“Blood,” she whispered. “Is it
blood? Am I...”

Anna was so close to asking if she
were dying. She caught herself at the last second. That was the last thing
Thomas needed to hear right then. The thought of losing a second wife to the
same cause as the first wife would kill him.