by Nathan Adams
“Sister, are you all right?” she asked softly, reaching across the table and touching Esther’s hand.
Esther turned her hand over, gripping Hannah’s delicate, pale fingers. She smiled sadly and looked over at her, squeezing her hand.
“We have to tell him, Hannah.”
For a moment, Hannah seemed confused, but then the words settled in, and she realized what her sister was asking of her. She paled and shook her head back and forth slowly.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
Esther closed her eyes and took a breath, knowing she needed to be stern. She hated seeing her sister so scared and upset, but she knew she needed to do this if things were going to get better. She knew that things would only get worse the longer they waited. After a moment, she opened her eyes and nodded her head.
“You can do this, and you have to,” esther said gently.
Tears began to spill over Hannah’s cheeks, and she stared at her sister. “How long have we been searching for happiness? How much have we gone through? These men … they’re God’s gift to us. What if he walks away from me?”
“If he walks away from you, then it wasn’t God’s intention for him love you.” Esther took her sister’s shaking hand in hers and brought them to her lips, pressing a tender kiss to them. “You have to be strong, Hannah. You have to be strong, and you have to believe that God is going to show him how much you love him. We have to put our fate in His hands. It’s out of our control, and it’s always been out of our control. He’s gotten us this far. We need to let Him guide us to the end.”
Hannah was still shaking, staring at the table as if it held the answers to all of her problems. She dropped her head and whimpered softly.
“I’m not strong enough.”
“Yes, you are! You’ve been through so much Hannah. More than I could ever imagine. People think I’m the strong one, but it’s you. You suffered in silence for so long. Now is your chance to be happy. He might reject you, but even if he does, you aren’t alone,” she said quickly, forcing her sister to look up into her eyes. “You are never alone. I’m here, and I always will be. I need you to know that and believe it,” Esther said pleadingly.
All they’d ever had was each other. Their parents were aristocrats who were far more focused on their money and their estate than their children. Esther and Hannah were raised by an army of nannies and never received much love or affection from anyone but each other. They’d been through thick and thin together, and Esther wanted to make sure that Hannah knew she would never be alone.
“You have to tell him, Hannah.”
Hannah opened her mouth to respond, but before she could even get the words out, Aaron stepped into the kitchen, staring at them with his brows knitted together.
“What is it that you need to tell me, Hannah?”
Chapter Seven
Hannah stared up at Aaron for a long moment. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. She was clearly terrified and on the verge of fainting. Esther’s stomach was turning over just as much as Hannah’s, but she forced herself to be strong. She stood up slowly, walking over to Hannah and wrapping her arms around her sister gently. She leaned down and kissed her forehead, sighing softly.
“It’s OK, Hannah. Tell him.”
Aaron watched Hannah expectantly, frowning and clearly concerned as to what was going on. “Hannah?”
Her lips shook for a moment, but she stood slowly and walked over to him, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Before I tell you, I want you to know that I love you dearly.”
“Of course, darling. I love you, too. Please tell me what has you so upset.”
She hesitated for a moment and looked down at the floor, a few tears falling and splashing against the dark wooden panels.
“I’m pregnant.”
It broke Esther’s heart when the first emotion that came over Aaron’s face was happiness. It took him a moment to understand why Hannah would be so upset about being pregnant. When then the realization hit him, his face fell. Hannah was staring at the floor still, but Esther watched the full range of emotions that graced his features.
At first his lips set in a thin line, and his eyes widened in anger. He clenched his fists at his side, his hands shaking as his teeth grit together. Soon enough the anger faded into sheer sadness and disappointment. He looked almost vulnerable and confused. He ran his hands through his hair, his finger’s tangling in the dark locks for a moment as he attempted to get control of himself.
“Why?” he finally whispered, staring at Hannah. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to comfort herself a little. “I was afraid that you might send me away.”
“Whose baby is it?” he asked desperately, his voice cracking with emotion.
She swallowed thickly and fell into the chair, dropping her head into her hands. “People act like being a mail-order bride is such a bad thing, but it’s nothing compared to what they do to girls in North Carolina,” she whispered, shaking. “My mother and father, they arranged for me to marry this man because he was rich and owned a lot of land holdings in the South. They told me to do it because it would be a profitable arrangement.”
Esther’s heart twisted in pain as her sister recounted what happened back home. Hannah took a few deep breaths before she could continue.
“He was a cruel man. He was ungodly, and he didn’t care about me. The only time he ever paid me any attention was in his bed chambers and then even that stopped. He was much older than me and passed away after only a year of marriage. Our parents also died that year, and all of our money and our estate went to my husband,” she whispered, staring at the floor. “By the time Richard died, he owned everything, and he controlled me. He controlled us,” she whispered, wiping her eyes again.
Esther was watching Aaron’s face, and he seemed to be softening as Hannah explained herself.
“I didn’t love him. How could I love him?” she whispered desperately as the tears came faster and heavier. “He was just so cruel. Even in death,” she said with a bitter laugh. “He was seeing a mistress regularly, a woman he thought was much prettier than I. She was a lady of the evening, and when he died, he left everything to her. He left every penny to her, and we had nothing,” she whispered. “When we found out I was with child, we knew we couldn’t stay in Edenton. There was nothing for us there. We didn’t have any skills, and no one was going to marry two women who couldn’t offer anything. All we were to the men in town were two more mouths to feed,” she said, shaking her head. “There was no other choice, so we came West.”
Aaron stepped forward for a moment and stood before Hannah, looking down at her. After a moment, he got down on his knees and cupped her cheeks, looking up at her. Tears were still pouring down Hannah’s cheeks, and she sniffled, wrapping her arms around the man in a desperate attempt to hold him close.
“Please don’t send me away. Please don’t hate me,” she whispered.
A soft tearful laugh escaped him as he wrapped his arms around Hannah in return. “I could never hate you, Hannah. I love you,” he whispered, kissing her temple and cheek. “You are everything to me, you know that?” He pulled away and cupped her face, pressing their foreheads together. “Every single day you impress me. You are so strong and so brave, and you have every right to be none of those things. You’ve seen so much pain and strife, and you somehow still manage to light up my world,” he whispered.
Hannah let out another choked sob, whimpering Aaron’s name as she pressed her lips to his. He took a breath and ran his fingers through her hair.
“I can’t fix the bad things that have already happened, and I can’t make the pain go away, but I promise that you will never have to face the world alone again. I am here for yo,u and I’m always going to be here for you,” he promised, wiping away the tears that were steadily falling down Hannah’s cheeks.
He hel
d her close and rocked her back and forth, swallowing thickly. “I’m not mad, sweetheart. I wish you would have told me sooner, but I’m not mad. I love you, and we’re going to get through this.”
Esther pressed herself against Caleb, tears of joy coming to her eyes. She wiped the away quickly and sniffled as Aaron peppered kisses all over Hannah’s face.
“I prayed for someone I could love, and God sent me you. He brought you here for a reason, and I’m not going to question that,” he said simply. “You were the answer to all of my prayers, and I would never turn that away. I’d never turn you away, Hannah. If God wants me to care for this child and raise it as my own, then I will. There’s a reason for everything.”
Hannah nodded and wiped her eyes again. “There is, isn’t there?”
Aaron smiled and nodded, pulling her into a hug. “Just promise me you’ll never lie to me again.”
“I promise, Aaron. I promise. I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
As he pulled away, he smiled at her. “No more apologies. It’s OK. We’re OK.”
She offered a shaky smile in response and nodded. “I love you, Aaron.”
“And I love you, Hannah.”
Esther watched on, grinning and pressing her hand to her chest in an attempt to still her heart. It was slamming in her chest as happiness bubbled through her and came out in the form of a giggle. She watched her sister and Aaron and for the first time in a long time, she knew everything was going to be all right.
Chapter Eight
After Hannah told Aaron about the baby, life was perfect. The snow began to melt, and things went back to normal quickly. Hannah and Esther continued about their day to day life, and word traveled fast in their little town about Hannah’s pregnancy. No one seemed to be surprised, and everyone assumed it was Aaron’s, which seemed appropriate because Hannah considered it to be Aaron’s child. Her baby would never know any other father aside from Aaron, and that was enough for both of them.
Esther was just happy that everything seemed to be settling and there was no risk of them being sent back to North Carolina. At first everything seemed to be too good to be true, but Esther was quickly realizing that this was happiness. It was something that was foreign to her at first, but she got used to it fairly quickly. Being happy and being in love was much more pleasant than their lonely existence back home.
No, this was their home now. There was no “back home.” Wyoming was everything to them now, and they couldn’t be happier about it. The rolling hills and mountains became the backdrop of the rest of their lives.
Hannah’s baby came in the early summer. It was born on a blustering stormy day. Lightening cracked in the sky as the small woman gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who managed to look like Aaron somehow. She was born with an unruly tuft of black hair and big green eyes just like her mother.
They named her Gabriell,e and judging by the conditions of her birth, she was going to grow up to be a firecracker. She was just one more blessing in their household, and she brightened everyone’s lives up. Having a baby around was like seeing God’s wonder every day.
Only a short while after Gabrielle’s birth, Esther discovered that she was going to have a baby as well. It felt like a dream come true, and every day she got bigger she felt more and more blessed. This was heaven on earth.
The entire family was out on a picnic, enjoying the last of the warm sunshine before fall and winter crept up on them. Being stuck in the house during the winter months was always a little rough, but at least they would have the babies to keep the company.
Aaron was napping under a tree while his daughter lay on his chest, her breathing synced up to his. Aaron took to fatherhood with a gusto few expected. He was such a reserved man that few expected him to be so warm and affectionate with his child. He truly was meant to be Gabrielle’s papa.
Esther smiled and glanced back at the sleeping father and daughter, rubbing her own belly. Caleb put his hand over hers and sighed, leaning up to kiss her gently. There were no words to express how excited they were to become parents. It was everything they never knew they wanted. Esther never really considered having children before now because she’d never met a man she wanted to marry. But now that she was madly in love, it was the thing she wanted most.
Hannah smiled at them, cocking her head to the side and watching them closely. “Are you two excited?”
“We can hardly bare it, Hannah,” Esther sighed, looking over at her husband. “I want to meet him so badly.”
“Him? Do you think you are going to have a boy?” she asked with a cocked brow.
“I know I’m going to have a boy,” Esther corrected.
Hannah snorted and smiled. “How can you know you are going to have a boy?” she asked.
“God showed me in a dream.” She hummed, still rubbing her growing belly. She had the tinniest little bump, but she was so proud of it.
“Well, He certainly hasn’t steered us wrong so far, has He?”
Esther shook her head and leaned against her husband. “I’m so thankful that He led us out here. We would never have met Aaron and Caleb without His guidance.”
Hannah smiled and nodded, looking over at her sleeping beloved. “We wouldn’t have,” she agreed. “I’m thankful for him every day,” she said, referring to Aaron.
Esther reached out and took her sister’s hand. “And this is just the beginning, Hannah. We have so many more blessings to come.”
Hannah nodded her head and looked up at the sky, sighing as the sun kissed her pale skin. “I can’t wait to see what else He has in store for us.”
Esther nodded and stole a kiss from Caleb, grinning. “Neither can I.”
THE END
Return to the TOC
Angelica
Clean Western Mail Order Bride Romance
By: Samuel Grace
“Oh, believe me when I say, sweet friend, that there is nothing I would rather do than stay here with you for the holidays, but I have promised Momma and Papa to be home for Christmas.”
Angelica Hurst was saying goodbye to her dear friend Miriam Watkins, who was seeing her off after they had spent the week together at Miriam’s home.
“It was such a pleasure to have you; you have made our week a most pleasant one.” Miriam hugged her friend tightly. “Are you certain you shall be all right traveling home alone?”
“Not to worry, sweet Miriam. The good Lord shall watch over me on my journey.” Angelica smiled, as she reached for a necklace and pulled it out of her buttoned up dress, giving the silver cross that was hanging on it a reverent kiss.
“And He will,” Miriam added. “I just worry. It’s quite a long journey for a woman to undertake by herself.”
“All will be well, rest assured. Papa has arranged everything, and you know him!” She gave a rich, throaty laugh, one that always warmed the hearts of those around her. “I think his original plan was to come and get me himself, but business affairs have interfered and he was forced, most probably against his wishes, to send a carriage, with Johnson as the coachman.”
The two young women hugged one last time before Angelica at last mounted the elaborately decorated carriage and closed the door securely. Peering through the window, she waved a merry goodbye and instructed the coachman to be on his way.
If truth be told, although Angelica had enjoyed her time with the Watkins family, she was eager to return to her own family and to spend the Christmas holidays with them. As luck would have it, she had left early enough, hopefully arriving before the festivities commenced. She should be able to help her mother and sisters in the kitchen as they prepared cookies and other holiday treats that the whole family could enjoy.
Angelica didn’t really find it very appealing to travel on her own, especially on such a long journey. On the other hand, her father wouldn’t hear of her traveling by stage coach, where she would be at the mercy of strangers, and perhaps, even vagabonds. She could hear her father’s voice even now.
The carriage was more than comfortable, and she thought she might even sleep for half of the journey, while using the rest of the time to catch up on some reading. This, without a doubt, seemed the perfect plan. Reaching into her reticule, she pulled out a volume of Christian stories for children that she had purchased especially for her younger sister. She knew Abigail would revel in it, but in the meantime, she herself would be reminded of a few edifying tales that teach proper Christian conduct and keeping to one’s faith, even in the face of numerous impediments and complications.
Having read a few stories, Angelica became drowsy. She closed the book and made herself more comfortable in an effort to have an afternoon nap. As she dozed off, the carriage came to a sudden sharp turn, causing the carriage to jolt. Suddenly wide awake, she looked out the window, and noticed a snow storm was approaching. The startled horses had left the trail, causing the carriage to jostle and bounce after them.
The coachman tried to soothe the animals in vain, the overhead thunder seeming to fuel their fear. A sharp turn to the left, as the fear-stricken animals tried to swerve around a large oak in their path, had the carriage crash into a tree, sending it and the animals tumbling down the side of the hill
Upon regaining consciousness, the first thing Angela noticed when opening her eyes was a bright light above her.
“Have I died and gone to our sweet Lord in Heaven?” she managed to whisper.
“Shh, child, all will be well,” a comforting female voice answered by her side.
“Are you an angel?” Angelica tried to look in the direction of the voice but only managed to see a whiteness that hurt her eyes. She squeezed them closed tightly, hoping that, when next she opened them, she would be able to see who was next to her.
“Well, aren’t you a dear!” The laugh in the female voice made Angelica feel better. “No, I most certainly am not!”