by Marta Perry
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Several hours later Charlotte’s boy arrived, lusty and red-faced, with a minimum of fuss and bother. Sarah put him in his mammi’s arms gently, touching his head with its soft fuzz of blond hair.
“Ach, he is beautiful, ain’t so?” The mother beamed, brushing her lips lightly on her son’s little fingers.
Her husband bent over them, his smile wide enough to split his face, it seemed. He’d been smiling since the first glimpse of his son, and he’d even wanted to cut the cord once it stopped pulsating.
“Ja, indeed he is.” Sarah couldn’t help the lump in her throat. Indeed, she hoped she never stopped feeling that way at a new life. “Now we’ll get you all cleaned up, and I’ll see to getting you some soup and tea.”
She could stand a little something herself. It had been a while.
She’d hoped, after their talk, that Aunt Emma would participate in the birth, at least spelling her from time to time, but Emma had disappeared upstairs.
Sarah pressed her lips together. She had to help Aunt Emma over this obstacle, but how?
She turned toward the kitchen but spun back when the front door swung open.
Ruth, Dora Schmidt’s oldest girl, hurried in, stamping snow off her shoes. “My mamm says to tell you that our neighbor, Sadie Stolzfus, is in labor, and Mammi heard about Charlotte, too, so she sent me to help you.” The girl’s blue eyes grew anxious. “That is all right? I helped you when my mamm’s baby came.”
“That’s wonderful gut of you both, Ruth.” With Aunt Emma hiding out upstairs, she’d need an extra pair of hands with another mammi coming in soon. “There’s a pot of chicken soup on the stove. Will you fix a tray for Charlotte with soup, tea, maybe some bread and butter? I’ll have to get the other room ready.”
“Ja, sure thing.” Ruth slipped her heavy coat off, her face alight with enthusiasm. “I’ll help any way you need. I’ll do that right away. What did Charlotte have?”
“A fine, strong boy.” Sarah liked the energy and enthusiasm the girl brought in with her. “Maybe you can hold him when you take the tray in.”
“I’d like that.” Ruth disappeared into the kitchen.
Sarah let out a relieved breath. Like most Amish girls of sixteen, Ruth knew her way around a kitchen. If called on, she could probably produce a full dinner for ten or twelve. She could be trusted to handle the light supper a new mommy needed.
Sarah went quickly into the other room to put fresh sheets on the bed. Once things were ready, perhaps she’d get a few minutes to rest before Sadie arrived.
But that wasn’t to be. No sooner had she finished the room and checked on Charlotte and her babe than a buggy was pulling up outside.
She hurried to open the door for the new arrivals. “Wilkom, Sadie. Thomas. I heard from Ruth Schmidt that you were on your way.”
Sadie paused in the hallway to catch her breath for a contraction, and Sarah automatically started timing. Thomas held his wife’s hand, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else.
“There.” Sadie blew out a breath. “Ja, Dora told me she was sending Ruth over to help. Ruth’s a gut girl. She won’t let you down.”
Like Aunt Emma, Sarah thought, and then was ashamed of herself. Emma wasn’t letting her down, but maybe she was letting herself down with this loss of confidence.
“Let’s get you settled.” Sarah led the way to the birthing room, but another contraction hit before Sadie even sat down. Sarah rubbed Sadie’s back, timing her, until it passed.
“Goodness, you didn’t komm any too soon, ain’t so?”
Sadie looked faintly embarrassed. “I wanted to finish up some things at home before I came. You know how it is.”
She did indeed. She’d seen it often enough, especially with those who already had a couple of young ones at home, like Sadie. “Well, this boppli isn’t going to take too long, so we’d best get ready to catch him or her.”
The next hour flew by so quickly that Sarah barely had time to pop into Charlotte’s room and make sure all was well there. Sadie’s baby seemed determined to get into the world as quickly as possible.
Then, as sometimes happened, everything slowed down. Sadie twisted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. “Why isn’t it time to push yet? Is something wrong?” Alarm filled her voice and showed in Thomas’s face.
“Nothing is wrong,” Sarah soothed. She double-checked the baby’s heartbeat and took a quick look. “The baby is fine. Just rest for a few minutes and try to relax between the contractions.”
“The other two came so fast when I was at this point. I don’t understand.” Sadie was alarming herself and tensing up, sure to make matters worse, not better.
Sarah took her hands, gripping them firmly so that Sadie looked at her. “Listen now, Sadie. Each boppli is different, ain’t so? I think this one is a little bigger than your last two, so he or she might take a bit more work. But you can do it. I’m going to massage you with oil so hopefully you won’t have any tearing. And Thomas is going to rub your back and talk to you.”
She gave Thomas a commanding stare. His face was pale, but he nodded and moved closer to his wife, beginning to rub her lower back. “Listen to Sarah. She knows what’s what. We’ll have a nice big baby soon.”
Sarah nodded at him encouragingly. She worked the tight muscles, easing the opening, praying there would be no tearing to deal with. She reached for the warm compresses she’d prepared, hoping that would do the trick.
“Maybe a boy.” Sadie panted. “Maybe a boy this time.”
“Or a big girl,” Thomas said. “Either one is gut.”
Another contraction hit, and Sadie breathed her way through it. Suddenly her expression changed. “Sarah, I’m wanting to push. Is the baby coming?”
A quick check showed her the baby’s head was crowning. “On the way. Put your hand here, and you can feel the baby’s head.” She guided Sadie’s fingers to touch the top of the head, loving the awe on the woman’s face.
The door opened behind her. Ruth looked excited. “Sarah, Anna Simon is here. She says she’s in labor.”
Anna was a first-time mother, inclined to be nervous. This might be nothing. Or it might be that all three babies had decided to arrive before the new year. Sarah took a step toward the door, but a groan from Sadie had her spinning around again. She grabbed Ruth’s arm.
“Go upstairs and get my aunt. I don’t care what you have to do, just get her down here to see to Anna. Sadie’s baby is coming now.”
Ruth gave a quick nod and fairly flew out the door. Sarah heard rapid steps going up as she reached Sadie. No time for anything else now. She’d just have to pray that Emma knew where her duty lay.
“Push now, Sadie. Your boppli is on its way.”
A few more minutes, and once more she was holding precious new life in her hands. “A baby boy,” she said over the newborn’s thin wail, putting the babe on his mamm’s chest. “Just what you need with those two little girls at home, ain’t so?”
“A boy?” Joy suffused Sadie’s face. “Ach, Thomas, look at our little son.”
For a moment Sarah thought Thomas was going to celebrate by passing out. She slid a straight chair close to the bed, and he flopped into it, touching his new son.
“A son,” he whispered. “A fine, strong little boy.”
Ruth popped back in, smiling at the sight. “Your aunt is with Anna, and I just checked on Charlotte. Shall I help you make Sadie comfortable?”
“You are a blessing, Ruth. That’s just what I need.”
They worked together companionably. The placenta came on a contraction as soon as Sadie put the baby to breast. Sarah checked it, explaining softly to Ruth what she looked for in the afterbirth. The girl was interested, no doubt about that.
The same expression was on Ruth’s face that must be on hers. Perhaps Sarah was watching another birth . . . the birth of a future midwife.
Once Sadie and her babe had been cleaned up and settled comfortably, Ruth disappe
ared into the kitchen again without being told.
Sarah slipped quietly into the room they used for meeting with patients. Anna lay propped up on the bed, with her young husband sitting on the extreme edge of the rocking chair. Emma sat beside the bed, holding Anna’s hand, talking softly, calmly, with every fiber of her being assuring the young woman that she was safe.
Something that had been tense inside Sarah began to ease. Aunt Emma still had a place here, a useful role to play. Please God that she realized it.
The next three days passed in a blur of endless laundry, cooking, serving meals, helping Anna with breastfeeding, tending to three new members of the Amish community. By the time Anna and her husband left, their little girl wrapped up snugly against the cold, Sarah was ready to collapse.
She went back into the living room, where Aunt Emma had already claimed her familiar rocker. Sarah slid into the opposite chair, feeling the tiredness in her very bones.
“Now that’s being a midwife,” Aunt Emma said, her voice filled with satisfaction. “Three babies arriving in a mite over twenty-four hours . . . I think that’s a record. I’ll have to look it up.”
Sarah smiled, also satisfied. “Do that when we get a minute.”
“Ach, we should have a little time before the next one, ain’t so? That would be Molly, and she’s not due for another two weeks.”
Sarah rocked tiredly. “According to the calendar. But as you told me when I was just starting out, babies don’t look at the calendar.”
Aunt Emma chuckled. “That’s right.” She was silent for a moment, but she looked content. “That girl of Dora’s . . . I think we’ll make a midwife out of her, ain’t so?”
We, she’d said. Sarah smiled, meeting her aunt’s gaze with one full of understanding. They didn’t need to say more . . . it was all there between them: the craft God had called them to, the pleasure of working together, the hope and joy of passing their gift on to another young woman, with each generation building on the last.
“Ja,” she said softly. “We will make a fine midwife of her.”
Aunt Emma stretched, stifling a yawn as she picked up her book to update her records. “You should get some rest, but Molly is coming for her checkup today.”
Sarah nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s all right. I’ll go to bed early tonight for sure.”
“Maybe Aaron will bring her,” Emma said, her voice carefully casual. “We haven’t seen him so much since the work is finished. You’ll be glad to visit with him a bit, ja?”
Sarah gave her a warning look. “You aren’t matchmaking, are you?”
Emma spread her hands wide, as if disclaiming any such intention. “I know you think you don’t want to marry again. That doesn’t mean Aaron can’t be your friend.”
She couldn’t meet her aunt’s eyes. “I don’t think—”
“Sarah Mast.” Aunt Emma sat bolt upright. “Is something going on with you and Aaron already, and you haven’t told me?”
“I . . . We . . .” She stopped, started again. “I think we both feel attracted to each other.” Who was she trying to fool? Herself ? It wasn’t attraction she felt for Aaron Miller. It was love. “But there’s too much standing between us to ever get serious.”
The joy vanished from her aunt’s face, and the lines grew deeper. “You mean that he blames me for his mammi’s death. But I told you how that was.” She was silent for a moment, brooding. “We thought we were right at the time, not telling him. But now . . . maybe now he should know the truth.” She looked at Sarah, her face troubled. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” She’d struggled in prayer with that question ever since Aunt Emma had told her what had happened. How could she tell him something that must make his feelings for his father even worse? And how could she do it out of some selfish need to remove the barrier between them?
She shook her head, rubbing away the lines that had formed between her brows. “I don’t know, and that’s the truth. I’ve been praying about it. I just hope God shows me what is right, because I don’t know.”
Sarah rubbed her mittened hands together and stamped her feet, trying to warm up. She wasn’t quite sure what she was doing at this sled-riding party at Aaron’s when she really wanted to be home catching up on her missed sleep, except that both Molly and Benjamin had urged her to come.
Aaron’s seconding of their invitation had been polite, no more, seeming to reestablish the boundaries between them that had been shattered the day he kissed her.
Still, it was Benjamin’s group of teenagers they were entertaining, and having an extra female adult around was appropriate. Molly certainly ought not to be standing out in the cold, watching the kids sail down the trail in the snow the Miller brothers had made on the hill behind the house.
It was a magical sight, she had to admit. They’d set up torches along the path, and the sleds swooped down, the kids’ shrieks and laughter shattering the cold silence of the night.
Nathan, grinning, ran up to her, clapping his hands together as if for warmth. “Sarah, you need a break. Go in the kitchen with Molly and have some hot chocolate already. We can manage things out here.”
“Maybe I will.” She felt a wave of gratitude toward Nathan, who at least cared how she was doing. After the briefest of greetings Aaron had stationed himself on the hill, as far away from her as possible.
“Give me a shout if you need me.”
He nodded, grinning, and ran off to help the kids who’d just spilled from an overloaded sled.
The blast of warm air welcomed her into the kitchen, and her breath caught. Molly stood, hands braced against the sink, in the classic posture of a woman caught in the middle of a contraction.
“Molly?” Sarah slipped off her coat and crossed the kitchen.
“Ach, Sarah. I’m fine.” Molly straightened, smiling. “It’s nothing. Just Braxton Hicks contractions.”
“Are you sure?” Molly’s baby wasn’t due for a good two weeks, but even first babies sometimes came early.
“Ja. Don’t say anything to Aaron. He’s already hovering over me like a broody hen.”
“I won’t.” Sarah patted Molly’s shoulder. “But you sit down for a bit. I’m taking a hot chocolate break. Will you have some, too?”
At Molly’s nod Sarah poured mugs for both of them and sat down across from Molly at the kitchen table. She took a cautious sip and felt the warmth move through her. “Gut.”
Molly nodded. “I keep sampling it while I make it. Soon I’ll need a crane to get out of my chair.”
“It’s not that bad. You look just as you should.” Indeed, Molly had the glow that first-time mothers so often did at this stage—as if her happiness was too great to contain. “I hope you’re not overdoing it, putting on this party for the kids.”
“Ach, it’s nothing. All I had to do was make the hot chocolate. They brought the rest of the stuff.” She waved a hand toward the counter, stacked with all the unhealthy snack foods dear to the hearts of teenagers.
“Benjamin looks happy.” She’d seen him sailing down the hill on a sled with Louise, both bundled up against the cold and laughing.
Molly nodded. “I understand you gave Aaron some gut advice about our little bruder.” She smiled, not quite looking at Sarah.
Not another matchmaker—was it so obvious that she had feelings for Aaron? Sarah tried to keep her tone casual. “Ach, I remember too well what it was like when each of my bruders hit sixteen. Daadi always said he had to keep rebuilding trust each time one of us broke it, until finally it took.”
“It’s what I said to Aaron myself, but I think he needed to hear it from someone other than his sister. Someone he admires, like you.”
That was getting too close for comfort. Sarah rose, taking her mug with her. “I’d best go back to my duties, and this will keep my fingers warm. Denke, Molly. And if those contractions become regular . . .”
“I will get in touch with you.” Molly looked a bit disappointed, ma
ybe because Sarah was so unwilling to talk about Aaron.
But she couldn’t confide in anyone about her feelings for Aaron, and certainly not in his sister. Snuggling into her coat and scarf, she went back outside.
The volume of noise had grown, if anything, and she suspected that some of the sleds tipped over on purpose, not by accident. Nathan spotted her and jogged over.
“Sarah, komm. You must have one ride down the hill, at least.”
She shook her head, smiling at him. He was as enthusiastic as the younger ones were. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Ja, Sarah, please. It’s such fun.” Louise gave a shy smile, holding out her hand.
“Komm, Sarah.” Benjamin took the mug from her and set it on the porch rail. “Just once, anyway.”
Laughing, she let them tug her up the hill. She wasn’t too old to enjoy a sled ride, was she? And it was nice to feel that these young people accepted her.
They reached the top, and someone pushed a sled into position. She climbed on, tightening her scarf, feeling ridiculously young for just a moment. Nathan held the sled steady until she was settled. Then he turned away.
“You go with Sarah, Aaron.”
She glimpsed Aaron shake his head, but then the sled started moving on the trail made icy by all the ones that had gone down already. Aaron muttered something, grabbed for the sled, and hopped on behind her. For an instant they wobbled, off balance, headed for a snow bank. Sarah gulped an icy breath, but Aaron got both legs up, feet on the steering bar, and guided the sled onto the path.
They picked up speed, the trees whizzing past, the air cold on her cheeks. Aaron’s arms, strong and steady, went around her, securing her. The world became suspended, and only they were real, swooping down the hill, close against each other, sailing through the night.
Too soon they reached the bottom, tumbling off. Aaron still cradled her close, his cheek pressed against hers. The love she felt for him seemed to explode in her chest, as if her heart had shattered into pieces.
She scrambled to her feet, trying to smile. She couldn’t let him see, couldn’t let him know.