Daniel came to Jenny’s side and removed her shoes. “Oh, Daniel,” Jenny said as she gripped his arm. “I feel like I’m being torn apart inside.”
“Just try to relax,” Daniel advised, knowing how ridiculous it was to suggest such a thing. “I’ve sent John for David, and—”
“No,” Jenny interrupted. “Don’t let him be here. I can’t bear for him to suffer again.”
“Jenny, David has a right to be here. He wouldn’t want it any other way, and he’d have my hide if I refused to let him be at your side,” Daniel said as Lillie entered the room with Jenny’s bedclothes.
“I don’t, I. . .” Jenny’s words faded into a cry which she muffled as she bit into the back of her hand. “I thought I’d have more time. The pains are so much worse. I think the baby is coming now!”
Daniel checked her condition and nodded to Lillie. “We don’t have time to change her, Lillie. She’s going to deliver any minute. Did you send John?”
“Yes,” Lillie answered and wiped a cool cloth across Jenny’s forehead. “They should be here any minute.”
“Ask them to wait in the sitting room,” Daniel said and saw gratitude flicker in Jenny’s eyes. Lillie’s face questioned her husband’s words, but she went outside to wait for David and Garrett.
In less than a minute, David and Garrett came on the run with little John held securely in Garrett’s sturdy arms. Lillie met them on the walk. “Daniel wants you to wait in the sitting room,” she said as she pulled David along with her.
“No, I want to see Jenny. I want to be with her,” David protested. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“No,” Lillie said gently. “Daniel seldom allows the father to attend the actual birth. You’ll be within earshot, though. You’ll hear everything from Daniel chewing me out for handing him the wrong instrument, to your baby’s first cry,” she added lightheartedly.
“But, I was there for her before, and I want to be there for her this time,” David argued.
“Maybe it would make it easier for Jenny if we waited in the other room,” Garrett said as he put John down. “In fact, it would probably be very helpful to Lillie and Daniel if we were keeping an eye on the boys for them.”
“Yes, it would,” Lillie added before David could offer further protest.
“You’d best go help Daniel. I’ll keep an eye on David,” Garrett said as he opened the door and ushered David into the sitting room. Lillie nodded and went to retrieve the water from the stove.
“John, you mind your Uncle David and Garrett. I’ll be helping Aunt Jenny and Papa, so you be a good boy and play nicely with James.”
“I will, Mama,” John said as he went to his room in search of his brother.
Lillie came back through the room with a kettle of hot water just as Jenny let out a scream. David would have jumped to his feet, but Garrett held him back.
“I’d best get in there,” Lillie said with no other explanation.
Daniel was working feverishly with Jenny when Lillie came in with the water. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d deserted me,” Daniel said as Lillie poured water into the basin.
“David and Garrett are watching the boys in the sitting room,” Lillie explained and stopped dead in her tracks as Daniel delivered Jenny’s baby. The baby’s hearty cry filled the air.
“It’s a boy,” Lillie said excitedly as she wiped Jenny’s brow. “Oh Jenny, he’s beautiful.”
“You’d better take him,” Daniel said suddenly. “Something’s not quite right.”
His serious tone caused Lillie to drop her cloth immediately. The baby continued to cry and he looked healthy to Lillie, but Jenny was still in pain.
Daniel was intent on his work, and Lillie found it impossible to read his expression. Was Jenny dying? Lillie tried to ignore her fears and wrapped the baby in a blanket. Daniel’s laughter in contrast to Jenny’s cry caused Lillie to nearly drop the infant.
“What in the world are you laughing about?” Lillie asked as she hugged the crying baby close.
“This,” Daniel said as he delivered a second crying baby. “Mrs. Monroe, you have twins.”
Jenny joined Daniel’s laughter. Lillie caught the joy of the moment. “Twins! And this one is a girl! Oh, Jenny, congratulations!”
David came bursting through the doorway with a stunned expression on his face. “Did I hear you right? Did Jenny really have twins?”
Garrett was right behind him with an apologetic look on his face.
“She certainly did!” Lillie exclaimed. “You have a son and a daughter.”
Jenny wiped tears of joy from her eyes. “God is truly amazing,” she whispered as she took her son from Lillie’s arms.
David came to Jenny’s side, while Garrett ushered John and James back into the sitting room. “Is she. . .I mean. . .” David awkwardly searched for words to ask about Jenny’s condition.
Daniel read his brother’s thoughts. “Jenny is fine, David. She’s in good shape, and from the sound of it, so are the babies.”
Jenny handed her son to David and accepted her newly wrapped daughter from Lillie. “Oh, David. They’re beautiful.”
David nodded and wiped a tear from his eye. “So are you, Jenny.”
“Any regrets?” Jenny asked as she pulled back the covers to better see her son.
“No,” David said with a grin. “You?”
“Not one. Like Hannah in the Bible I asked for a child, but God gave me two. I’m truly a blessed woman.”
“What are you going to name them?” Lillie asked.
Jenny looked at David and smiled.
“I think Hannah would be appropriate for our daughter,” David said as he reached over to touch the baby’s fine, brown hair.
Jenny nodded. “I’d like that,” she said, then reached up to touch her son’s cheek. “ ‘She bare a son, and called his name Samuel,’ ” she quoted 1 Samuel 1:20, “ ‘saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.’ ”
“Hannah and Samuel,” Lillie declared. “I think those names are most fitting.”
“And I think it would be most fitting to allow this new family a bit of time alone,” Daniel said, pulling Lillie toward the door. “I’ll be back to check up on you in a little while.”
Jenny and David nodded but said nothing as they continued to study their babies.
“I can’t say I’m not afraid,” David finally spoke. “I mean, seeing them like this is almost more frightening. Now I have the future to worry about.”
“No,” Jenny said as she placed her hand upon her husband’s arm. “The future belongs to the Lord.”
“But everything is different now,” David said and looked deep into Jenny’s brown eyes. “So many things have come to an end: our home, the work with the Indians. So much has changed.”
“But change isn’t necessarily bad,” Jenny chided. “Change brought us Hannah and Samuel. Change gave us a new ministry here in Bandelero.”
“Do you think Garrett was right? Has God led us in a new direction? Are we to abandon our mission with the Indians and minister to this town instead? And what about the children? I can’t bear the thought of losing them to death.”
“Death is a powerful force,” Jenny agreed as she nestled Hannah against her breast, “but then, so is love.”
David thought for a moment, taking in the sight of his wife and children. The joy he felt was like none he’d ever known. “ ‘Set me as a seal upon thine heart,’ ” he quoted, remembering Song of Solomon 8:6. “ ‘As a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death.’ ” David smiled. “You’re right, Jen.”
“I pledge you my love, now and forever,” Jenny said as she lifted her face to David’s. “It doesn’t matter where the journey takes us, it only matters that I make it with you.”
David
cupped Jenny’s face in his free hand and pressed his lips to hers. Wherever God led them, no matter the distance, no matter the cost, they journeyed with God. His love had already proven stronger than death.
About the Author
Tracie Peterson, bestselling, award-winning author of over ninety fiction titles and three non-fiction books, lives and writes in Belgrade, Montana. As a Christian, wife, mother, writer, editor and speaker (in that order), Tracie finds her slate quite full.
Voted favorite author for 1995, 1996, and 1997 by the Heartsong Presents’ readership, and awarded Affaire de Coeur’s Inspirational Romance of the Year 1994, Romantic Times 2007 Career Achievement, American Christian Fiction Writers Lifetime Achievement 2011 and other awards, Tracie enjoys the pleasure of spinning stories for readers and thanks God for the imagination He’s given. She desires that the books would Entertain, Educate, and Encourage—Tracie’s three E’s.
Tracie was the managing editor of Heartsong Presents for Barbour Publishing for over three years and helped with acquisitions prior to that. She co-founded the American Christian Fiction Writer’s organization in 2000 and continues to work with new authors, teaching at a variety of conferences, giving workshops on inspirational romance, historical research, and anything else that offers assistance to fellow writers. She often speaks at women’s retreats and church functions. Her website is www.traciepeterson.com
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