Child of Light

by O'Hare, Annette;

  Dear Margaret,

  Merry Christmas to all the Murphys. I hope you all enjoy the canned goods. June said you probably needed some good Texas food. We’re looking forward to a big Christmas celebration here at home. Your brother and sisters are so sad you won’t be here with them this year. Papa plans to roast a pig he bought from the new family that moved here from Arkansas. I don’t look forward to the day he renders him since Jeremiah thinks that pig is his best friend.

  The big news here is that Elizabeth’s baby arrived. It’s a girl! She’s so precious with her big, chubby cheeks and sweet little leg dimples. I can’t wait for you to see her. They named her Agnes May Littleton. Elizabeth had a hard time at first, but she’s turned out to be a good mama. Of course, June thinks Elizabeth had the baby just for her!

  Margaret smiled as she read all the latest news about family and friends. When she finished, she refolded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. Gazing inside the cradle beside the bed at her own little bundle of love, she thanked God for giving her and Thomas such a precious gift. Mama didn’t even know she had two grandbabies…a girl and a boy.

  Reaching in the bedside table drawer, she quietly removed her stationery set.

  Dear Mama,

  Merry Christmas to all of you! Thank you so much for sending the canned goods. I can’t wait to eat some of those black-eyed peas. Please tell June and Jeremiah we all loved their gifts, including Pappy who plans to hang them up in his kitchen. I hope the two of them weren’t upset there were no gifts from Thomas and me, but things have been busy here. I tried on several occasions to get their presents in the mail to no avail. Instead of mailing them now, I’ve decided to deliver them personally when I get home, which will be soon after the New Year!

  I’m so happy to hear about Elizabeth’s baby. I know you’re excited to have another little one to dote over. And on that note, please inform Elizabeth and Calvin Littleton of our approaching return so they can make other living arrangements before we arrive.

  Oh, Mama, I can’t wait to see you. We have a big surprise to share with you and Pa…

  Someone banged on the cottage door.

  Startled, Margaret abruptly stopped writing. Baby Jonny stirred before returning to his slumber. She went into the living room.

  Thomas and Pappy both stood at the door.

  She looked over Pappy’s shoulder. She recognized the young boy as the oldest child of Michael and Hattie’s next-door neighbor.

  “What’s the matter, son?” Thomas asked.

  The young man panted, and his cheeks shone bright red. “Dr. Murphy sent me. He wants all of you to come quickly.” He paused catching his breath, which froze when he let it out. “He said to tell you the baby is coming, and he needs your help, right away!”

  Pappy turned to Margaret. “I’ll get our coats.”

  “I’ll get some clean linens.” Margaret rushed to the bedroom.

  “I’ll get Jonny.” Thomas turned to the boy standing at the door. “Run ahead of us and tell Mi…um, Dr. Murphy, we’re on our way.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The young man tipped his cap and ran into the cold dusky evening, a cloud of frozen air trailing behind him.

  11

  Margaret couldn’t remember a longer or more exciting Christmas, especially with it being her first one as a mother. And the most thrilling part of all had taken place late in the night after her brother-in-law sent an urgent request, calling all of them to his home. Once the poor man learned Hattie was in labor and the midwife had gone out of town for Christmas, he desperately needed their help.

  While Margaret and Michael assisted Hattie in giving birth to not one, not two, but three tiny babies, Thomas and Pappy took care of baby Jonny and Michael and Hattie’s three, exhausted, little ones.

  Margaret laughed every time her husband and father-in-law shared the hilarious story of their stressful evening with the four murmuring Murphy children. To hear them tell it, they had a harder time than poor Hattie, whose household had grown from five people to a family of eight in a single night.

  ~*~

  The triplets were now barely three weeks old.

  The whole family gathered at Pappy’s cottage to give Margaret and Michael and baby Jonny a proper send off for their trip to Texas.

  “Be careful!” Margaret gasped, and her hand flew to her chest. The last crate loaded in the wagon shifted, its contents clinked together.

  “Stop worrying, lass,” Thomas said, tightening the rope securing the load for the trip.

  “I just don’t want anything to get broken.” She patted her precious Jonny’s back, hoping he would remain asleep while they said their goodbyes.

  “Aye, perhaps if we weren’t taking more home to Texas than what we’d brought, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

  Margaret glared at him. “Not everything in there is my doing, you know.”

  “All right now, you two,” Michael called from the opposite side of the wagon. “Quit your bickering. Thomas, cinch the rope a bit tighter. Don’t want to hear about anything falling off on your journey.”

  “There, that ought to do it.” Satisfied the load was secure, Thomas joined his brother.

  They walked toward Pappy’s open arms. Thomas needed to say his goodbyes. The sweet old man had moped around the cottage ever since the couple began packing to leave.

  Margaret held Jonny close to her chest and approached Hattie and her brood of little ones. Hattie held her youngest baby, Grant, named in honor of President Ulysses S. Grant.

  Margaret pulled back the bundle of blankets revealing the baby’s tiny face. “Bless his heart.” She stroked his cheek.

  Margaret glanced at the two ladies Hattie and Michael had hired to help out in the home. One held the eldest triplet, Gracie, and the other held the middle baby, Gertrude, already being called Trudy.

  “I see it took two women to replace me.” Margaret teased her sister-in-law.

  Hattie chuckled. “Indeed it did. And they have big shoes to fill as well.”

  Hattie leaned in and kissed Jonny’s head before looking up at Margaret. “I’ll miss having a close friend to talk to.”

  “I’ll miss you too, but I’ve got to get back to a warmer part of the country. Boston is too cold for this southern girl.” Despite their differences, Margaret truly would miss Hattie.

  The two women shared a laugh. “Make sure you write to us, so we’ll know you made it back safe,” Hattie said.

  “I will. I promise.”

  “I’ll write you too, and we can keep up with each other.” Hattie shifted the baby up to her shoulder.

  “That would be nice.” Margaret extended her arm and pulled her sister-in-law in for a hug. She kissed Hattie on the cheek and baby Grant on top of his head. “Goodbye, Hattie.”

  Margaret bade each of the remaining little Murphys farewell. Kisses for baby Gracie and baby Trudy’s cheeks, and then she moved on to hug and kiss little Milly and Mattie. “Goodbye girls. I love you, and I’ll miss you.”

  “Bye-bye,” Milly said, opening and closing her chubby baby fist in a wave.

  Three-year-old Mattie latched onto Margaret’s legs trapping her.

  “Oh!” Margaret grabbed hold of her skirt, nearly losing her balance. She patted Mattie’s back until the little girl released her.

  Last was her favorite helper, Mikey. As soon as Margaret looked at him, the little boy threw his arms around her waist and squeezed tight. Unexpected tears pooled in her eyes as she held onto him.

  “I’ll miss you, Aunt Margaret.”

  “I’ll miss you too, Mikey.” She patted his arm. “Now I want you to promise me you’ll help Mommy when I’m gone.”

  “I will.”

  His hot tears dampened her skirt. She sniffed, having no free hand to wipe her nose. “And maybe when the new babies are older, you all can come to visit us in Texas, and we’ll go play at the beach.”

  Mikey lifted his head. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”


  The boy released her and clapped his hands together. “Yay!”

  She looked at Hattie and chuckled at his instantaneous change of emotion. “Goodbye, Mikey.”

  “Goodbye, Aunt Margaret.”

  Hattie stepped closer and hugged Margaret again. “I’m taking the children inside now. Don’t want anyone catching their death of cold. We will wave goodbye through the window when you leave. Have a safe journey.” She waved her arm in the air. “Come children.”

  “Goodbye, Hattie!” Thomas hollered, waving at her.

  “Goodbye, Thomas. Be careful,” she replied over her shoulder.

  Margaret smiled as the three children and three adults holding three newborn babies filed inside Pappy’s small cottage. When the door closed behind them, she joined the men. Thomas embraced his younger brother and patted his back. She handed Jonny to Pappy, and when Thomas released Michael, she hugged her brother-in-law and bid him farewell. The three of them then listened to Pappy talk to the baby.

  “Oh, me precious grandson.” Pappy sniffed. “I think I might miss you more than yer folks.” Tears began to flow down the dear man’s cheeks. “Promise me you’ll come back to see me in the summertime.” He pressed the baby to his chest and kissed his tiny head. His voice cracked. “I love ye, Jonathan Logan Murphy.” He handed him back to Margaret and wiped his face on his shirtsleeve.

  She kissed her sweet father-in-law’s cheek, and they hugged each other tightly. After all Pappy and she had been through during her time in Boston, she would forever be bonded to the precious old Irishman. “I promise we’ll bring him back—when it’s warmer. Or better yet, you can all come to visit us in Texas.”

  Thomas pulled Pappy in for one last hug. “Love ye, Pap.”

  “I love all three of ye so ver much.” Pappy wiped his face again. “Now git, before I change me mind and make ye stay here.”

  Thomas laughed as he helped Margaret into the wagon. She bundled Jonny in a heavy quilt and shielded his face from the cold before placing him in a padded apple crate on the bench between her and his daddy. Climbing in the driver’s side, Thomas took the reins. After more goodbyes and waves, he slapped the reins against the horse’s rump, and they were gone.

  ~*~

  The sun shined brightly in the morning sky as they drove away from Boston and the family they both loved. Thomas gazed at her and she gave him a broad grin.

  “And just what are you smiling about?”

  Margaret turned to him. “I can’t help it. I’m so happy to be headed south. I’ve missed my family.”

  He looked straight ahead at the road. “Aye, I bet you have.”

  “I’m sorry. How thoughtless of me. You’re probably sad to leave your father and brother and his family. I am too.”

  Thomas flopped the reins on the horse’s back. “Aye, but I know I’m exactly where I need to be…beside the two people I love more than anything in the world.”

  Margaret reached over Jonny’s apple crate bed and touched her husband’s leg. He covered her hand with his. “I love you, Thomas.”

  He squeezed her hand and smiled. “Can you believe it’s already 1871? And to think you found me dying on the beach from me war wounds going on seven years ago.”

  “Yes, it’s funny how God has always had a plan for our lives.” She grinned at him wickedly. “Even though I have to admit that never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d marry a Yankee!”

  Thomas released a hearty laugh. “And just look at us now.” He reached into the apple crate and pulled the blanket away revealing Jonny’s face. His pink rosebud lips were always sucking, even when he had nothing in his mouth. “I didn’t think we’d ever have a baby of our own.”

  Margaret gazed at her little angel. “But God knew all along.”

  “Aye. He knew Jonny would need a proper mam and pap and He chose us for the job.”

  Margaret wanted to pick him up but decided to let him sleep, and instead, stroked his soft cheek. “Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet your Grandma and Grandpa Logan. They will love you so much.”

  Thomas took his gaze off the road for a moment to smile at her. “So, Mrs. Murphy, what is it ye wish for in the year of our Lord eighteen and seventy one?”

  “Hmm.” She tipped her head to the side. “That’s a tough question. I have everything I’ve ever wanted—a husband who loves me more than anyone else, the sweetest baby boy in the whole wide world, and our very own home in Texas. What more could a girl ask for?”

  He smiled. “Aye. I do love you so much, and that’s very sweet of ye to say, but surely there’s something more. Gold? Land?”

  She laughed at her funny husband. “Well, since you brought it up, there is one thing I’ve always wanted.”

  Thomas looked intrigued. “Oh? Then tell me what it is, and I’ll move heaven and earth to get it for ye.”

  “But that’s just it, you already have.” Margaret’s cheeks warmed with anticipation.

  “What?” He turned to look at her. His brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve been waiting for just the perfect time to tell you this.” Taking hold of his hand, Margaret placed it on her belly and smiled at the man she loved. “We’re having a baby, Thomas.”

  “No!” His eyes grew to twice their size. He pulled the reins hard stopping the horse.

  “Yes!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to tell you sooner in case… But it’s been over three months now.”

  Thomas reached over the apple crate between them and hugged his wife. He released her before shouting to the heavens above and to the Lord himself. “Praise be to God!”

  Waah! Baby Jonny wailed, startled from sleep.

  Margaret looked at her husband and laughed. “Now look at what you’ve done!” she shouted through her laughter as she picked up the baby boy.

  “Sorry, lass, but I suppose we’d better get used to crying if we’ll soon have two babies to love on.”

  Margaret bounced Jonny in her arms while she fetched his bottle. “Let’s just hope it’s only one baby and not three.”

  “Aye, that’s fer sure.”

  When the bottle touched Jonny’s mouth, he immediately stopped crying.

  Mama and Daddy chuckled at their baby boy.

  Margaret looked at her husband with love in her eyes. “Oh, how I love you, Thomas Murphy.”

  “And I love you, Margaret Frances Murphy.”

  “Now pick up that lead rope. I’m ready to get back to Texas!”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  And with one quick slap of the reins, they were on their way home.

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