by Lily Graison
She yelled again, long and from deep in her chest and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. He stopped pacing and looked toward the stairs when everything went quiet. His heart thumped against his rib cage and he was headed for the stairs when he heard the first high pitched cry of a baby. He stopped as his heart raced and closed his eyes, sending up silent prayers. Someone patting him on the back brought his eyes back open. Morgan’s smiling face was the first thing he saw. The man saying, “Congratulations, Jesse. You’re a father,” nearly buckled his knees.
He grinned as the front door burst open. Laurel raced inside, winded, her eyes wide. “Am I too late?”
The baby’s wails were all the answer she needed. She laughed, happy tears filling her eyes as she embraced him in a hug so tight, she nearly squeezed the life out of him. The last piece of that dream he’d held on to for so many years fell into place as the baby’s high pitched cries filled the air. He’d gotten the girl of his dreams, the little cabin by the creek, and now the squalling baby made them a proper family.
A door upstairs opened and Abigale appeared at the top of the stairs, a small bundle held in her arms. She smiled and started down the steps. When she reached the bottom, her eyes were watery and the smile on her face was blinding. She handed him the baby and said, “You have a son, Jesse.”
He stared down at the pink wrinkled form swaddled in blankets and had never seen anything so perfect in his life. A tuft of red hair covered the top of his head and he laughed when he saw it. Alex was probably having a fit. Along with her refusal to name the baby Archibald, like he teased her with doing, she’d also demanded her baby not have red hair. She’d have to settle with one out of the two.
Holden and Laurel stepped into his line of sight and they both looked as stupidly happy as he himself felt. They were staring at the baby as if it was the only one they’d ever seen and he knew this kid would be spoiled rotten in no time.
He looked up at Abigail who stood next to Morgan. “How is Alex? Is she all right?”
“She’s doing fine. A bit exhausted but that’s normal.”
He sighed in relief. The baby yawned and stretched and Jesse couldn’t have erased the smile on his face had he been forced to do so. They’d waited so long on this little guy and he couldn’t wait to show him off to anyone willing to look.
A strangled cry filled the air and everyone looked up the stairs. Edna’s booming voice chased behind the first as she yelled, “Abigail, get back up here!”
Jesse’s heart stopped beating for a second, then slammed against his rib cage when Abigail and Laurel shared a look and turned before darting up the stairs. Alex’s pain-filled words of, “something’s wrong,” echoing down to the first floor where he stood felt like ice water coursing through his veins as he heard her start crying. He was three steps up the staircase when strong hands fell against his shoulders.
“Let go of me!”
Holden was in front of him so fast he wasn’t sure how the man had moved so quick. He could see Morgan out of the corner of his eye and the sound of Alex’s tearful cries filled the air. The elation he’d felt moments before felt like a punch to the gut now.
He’d told her not to worry. That everything would be fine but from the sounds coming from that frilly yellow bedroom, his words had been nothing but lies.
He stared up the stairs, his heart in his throat, his son now squirming in his arms. He looked down at him, his vision blurred and he blinked to clear it. Alex’s anguished screams filled the air one last time before he heard nothing but the sound of his blood racing through his ears.
Holden was still blocking his way. He held the baby out, all but thrusting him into his grandfather’s arms and as he hoped, Holden reached out to grab him. The distraction was enough to get around him and his booted feet hitting the stairs leading to the second floor joined the cacophony of noise in the house and he was nearly deaf from it all by the time he reached the bedroom door and swung it open.
He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until Alex looked at him and smiled. He exhaled the breath, his knees so weak he wasn’t sure they’d be able to hold him up much longer.
Alex’s face was red and tear stained, her hair wet and clinging to her skin but it was the squirming pink baby on her chest that held his attention.
“I told you it was a girl.”
Her voice was so soft he barely heard her and the tears he’d been trying his damnedest to hold back slid free moments before he brushed them aside and crossed the room and fell to his knees by the bed.
Alex’s hand stroked the back of the babies head, the same red tufts of hair her brother had slicked down against her tiny skull. Her eyes were open and fastened on him and his heart felt near to bursting with love. He wasn’t sure it could handle it all as he leaned up and kissed Alex. “Did you know it was twins?”
She laughed. “No. Evan didn’t either, apparently. He never mentioned feeling two, even after he told me it was possible since pa is a twin.” She looked down at the baby and smiled. “My sweet Prunella. It suits her, don’t you think?”
Jesse looked at her in horror. “You’re not naming my daughter, Prunella.”
Alex grinned. “And you’re not naming my son Archibald.”
It took him a moment to realize she was teasing him the same way he’d been teasing her over the last seven months. “Then we’ll pick new names.”
“That’s a fine idea.”
The floorboards behind him creaked and he turned his head when he saw someone move in his peripheral. Holden was there, his smiling face peering down at Alex, his arms still cradling his son. Jesse stood and took him, stepped back when Holden leaned down to whisper something to Alex and kiss her forehead, then left the room with Laurel. It was then he realized they were alone. It was just him and Alex and their babies. He laughed. Babies. “I guess I need to build another cradle.”
“I guess you do.”
They stared at one another for long minutes before he knelt by the bed again and laid his son down. He’d considered himself lucky when Alex agreed to marry him a second time and more so when she told him he was going to be a father. But seeing both of those babies laying there on her chest made him realize he was blessed beyond measure and every dream he’d ever envisioned had come true. He had his cabin by the creek, the woman he loved carrying his last name and now two tiny versions of them both to fill their home with laughter. He had everything he’d ever wanted and he’d never take a single moment of his life for granted.
4
Alex stared down at the basket sitting between her and Jesse and smiled at the sleeping babies swaddled close together. It didn’t matter how far apart they put them, they always ended up right back together. She figured it may have been because they’d spent nine months in such tight quarters that they still wanted the other close. She hoped it lasted when they were old enough to get on each other’s nerves.
She reached down and covered their heads and glanced up at Jesse. He had a pleased look on his face and she wasn’t sure it would ever go away. Not that she blamed him. She was pretty pleased with life too. Well, she was until the wagon jerked to a stop and she looked over at the house. As happy as she’d been over the past week a sense of dread filled her to the bone in an instant.
She wasn’t expecting visitors waiting on her porch when they got home. Most everyone had seen the babies already. The parade of visitors coming and going inside her uncle Morgan’s house all week as she convalesced seemed non-stop for days. Not that she’d minded. Showing off her babies was something she’d never grow tired of but the woman standing on her porch staring out at her caused the joy Alex felt to shrivel and die in an instant.
Jesse set the foot brake on the wagon and jumped to the ground, rounded the horses and helped her down before reaching in for the basket. Alex grabbed his arm when he held it out for her and they slowly made their way to the house, her gaze locked on Grace every step of the way. The look on her sister-in-law’s face was u
nreadable and the smile she wore was strained. Rafe stood behind her, both his hands resting on his wife’s shoulders and she knew he felt every ounce of anguish his wife was feeling. They followed her and Jesse into the house and shut the door behind them.
Leaving her on the sofa, Jesse gave her a quick kiss and said he’d be back in when he saw to the horses. She watched him leave, Rafe quick on his heels. The babies were still sleeping in their basket and Grace hovered on the edge of her vision. Every person she knew had come to town to meet her babies. Everyone but Grace, and she knew why.
Alex looked up at her. Grace was staring down into the basket Jesse had set on the sofa. She couldn’t imagine what she was feeling at that moment. She’d been married to Rafe for eleven years and their house still held no laughter of children. And here she sat so happy she was near to bursting with not one baby, but two, while Grace’s arms were still empty. Her heart hurt just looking at her.
She shifted and the babies started to squirm. It had been a while since they’d eaten and when one wanted to be fed, the other usually demanded it as well. It was a balancing act but she was learning.
“What names did you decide on?”
Grace’s voice was so soft Alex barely heard her. She reached in and picked up her daughter. “This squirmy little thing is Catherine Margaret. We named her for Rafe and Jesse’s mother, and mine.” She stood and met her gaze. “Would you like to hold her?”
Grace’s eyes grew glassy as she nodded her head. Alex crossed the space between them and placed Catherine in her outstretched arms. Noise from the basket grew before a soft wail broke the silence. She picked the baby up and cradled him close to her chest. “And this demanding little guy is James Avery. He’s named after my grandpa.”
She rocked him gently until he settled and looked back over at Grace. Those tears she’d seen in her eyes were sliding down her cheeks. “I spent nine months worrying about how I was going to take care of a baby and knowing I would probably fail at it a hundred times over and now I have two.” She tried to smile but failed. “I have no idea what I’m doing and I can’t imagine it will ever get easier.” Grace wiped her face and tucked the blanket under Catherine’s chin. “Do you think…” Alex paused, selecting her words carefully. “Would you mind terribly if I came begging for help every once in a while?”
Grace raised her head and stared at her. “You want my help?”
Alex nodded. “Laurel has to wrangle Holt and Landon nearly every second of the day so she can’t spend much time with me here and although Jesse would stay with me if I needed him to, I can’t expect him to do it from here on out. I don’t know the first thing about babies. I know even less about trying to care for two of them at the same time.” James grunted, rooted around on her chest and started crying. Catherine started a moment later. Alex locked eyes with Grace and smiled. “Now would be one of those times where I needed some help.”
Grace’s smile was genuine and although she knew her sister-in-law’s pain would never go away, she hoped helping her out with the babies would at least ease it a bit. She knew it was nothing more than a bandage on Grace’s broken heart but Alex hoped it was enough to take that dull look from her eyes. From what she was seeing in them now, maybe it would be.
They were tucked into his bed when he came back inside. Jesse stood by the door for long minutes just watching them, memorizing the way the three of them looked before tiptoeing across the room and climbing onto the bed with them. Catherine and James were both asleep, their cherub faces still making his pulse race when he saw them. He smiled while looking at their hair. He’d hoped they’d take after their mother in looks and end up with blonde curls but that red hair was here to stay. Alex hadn’t mentioned it. The way she combed her fingers through their short tufts of hair, he wasn’t sure she ever would. She’d told him they were perfect and he’d have to agree with her.
Alex opened her eyes and met his gaze. He reached across the bed and ran the back of his fingers across her cheek. Neither of them spoke but they didn’t have to. Their wordless conversation was exactly the same every time they looked at each other. He spent every moment trying to figure out a way to say I love you that would express how much he meant the words but everything seemed so inadequate. He was beginning to believe there wasn’t a way to describe what he felt but he’d spend the rest of his life trying and enjoy every moment of it.
Alex had always wanted an adventure, and he’d always wanted Alex. With two babies, they’d both get their wish.
Epilogue
Grace took a steadying breath and opened the door. Evan smiled as she walked inside. “Doctor Reid. Do you have a moment?”
“Mrs. Samuels,” he said by way of greeting. “How are you today?”
“I’m fine thank you and please, call me Grace. We’ve known each other long enough to stop being so formal.”
“Only if you call me, Evan.”
Grace returned the smile and hoped it reached her eyes. She removed her bonnet, patted down her hair, and inhaled deeply before looking him in the eye. “I hate to keep bothering you but have you found anything yet?”
The look on his face told her he hadn’t.
“I’m sorry, Grace. I’ve searched through every medical journal I own and all those I found in Missoula, but I’ve seen nothing beyond what I’ve already told you.”
She hid her disappointment behind a weak smile.
“I’ll keep looking, though.”
He stared at her for a long moment and it looked as if he wanted to say something but was hesitant to do so. Was he tired of her coming into his office asking for answers he didn’t have? Probably. She would be. “What ever it is, Evan, just say it.”
He motioned to the chair next to his desk. “Come and sit down, Grace.” She wanted to refuse but settled into the seat to hear him out. If he told her to never come back, then so be it. Maybe that’s what it would take to convince her heart it was truly over. “I know it must be tiring for me to keep coming in but helping Alex with those babies—“
“I know, Grace. You don’t have to explain.”
The tears she promised not to shed burned her eyes. She lowered her gaze and blinked them away. She never begrudged a second of time Alex asked her to help out. She loved tending to Catherine and James but leaving them and going home alone wasn’t the same as rocking one to sleep and laying them down knowing they would be there anytime she looked. As much as she loved her niece and nephew, it wasn’t the same as loving one of her own.
Evan took his seat behind the desk. “I spoke with a doctor while I was in Missoula. He’s never run across a treatment for your condition but…”
“But What?” Grace prompted when he stopped talking.
He gave her a reassuring smile and shifted in his seat. “He told me of a medicine man who lives out near Guilford.”
Grace sat up straight in her seat. “A medicine man?” She blinked and clutched her bonnet in her hands. “You mean an Indian? That kind of medicine man?”
Evan nodded. “Yes.”
She opened her mouth several times but never made a sound.
“It’s just a suggestion, Grace. I have no idea what he’d do or how…”
A medicine man. Grace stood and paced away from the desk, stopping at the window. She moved the curtain aside, staring toward the school for long minutes.
“Talk to Rafe,” he said. “See what he thinks. I’m here to answer any questions you have, you know this, but I just don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried everything I can think of, Grace. It may be time to take a leap of faith.”
Faith was all she had left. She nodded, let the curtain fall and turned back to face him. She blinked to ease the sting of tears wanting to form in her eyes again. “I’ll talk to him.” She smiled, the corners of her mouth barely lifting. “I’ll let you know.”
She left quickly and hurried down the sidewalk, ducking between the buildings and hurrying over to the bench nestled underneath the trees behind the mercantile. S
he’d sat there too many times to count while her heart bled out what she thought was the last tear she had but today proved she still had more. She hated feeling like this. Hated the pain that came with the wanting.
Dabbing the wetness from her face she inhaled deeply and stood. She’d been gone too long and Alex would start to wonder where she’d gone. Catherine and James would never be hers but she could love them as if they were. They were family, after all. They were apparently the closest she’d ever get to being a mother.
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The End
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For Now
Authors Note
Dear Readers,
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I hope you enjoyed this fluffy, sweet glimpse into Alex and Jesse’s life. The birth of their babies was something I wanted to see—and I’m sure many of you did as well—but it didn’t fit into the next novel. Aaron Hilam’s book is up next, which will start in Silver Falls and take us back to Willow Creek.
I have a few more of mini-stories I’d like to tell as well, things happening around Willow Creek that aren’t important enough to take up room in someone’s story but still important enough to be told, so look for more of these in the future.
For those of you crying right along with Grace, the next short story will be about her and Rafe.
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All the best,
Lily
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For Lily around the web
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Website: http://lilygraison.com/