A Mother's Gift

by Charlotte Hubbard

  “We’re never alone when we live in our Lord, Leah,” Mama replied softly. “Jah, the evenings and the long visiting Sundays without church drag on at times—but I didn’t come here to whine. I intend to enjoy every moment I’m here with you and Jude and your kids!”

  Leah knew better than to pry into Mama’s life; sooner or later, all would be revealed. Instead, she opened a suitcase and began hanging clothes in the closet. She couldn’t help noticing dresses sewn in fresh new pastels for summer, a sign that her mother was moving beyond her period of mourning Dat. “What a pretty shade of green, like tree leaves bathed in sunshine,” she remarked as she held up one of the dresses. “And look at this deep pink one. Mama, are you trying to catch someone’s eye? That would be a gut thing, you know—as I’m sure Bishop Vernon’s told you.”

  Her mother waved her off and began arranging her underthings in the dresser drawers. “Don’t be silly, Leah. Jah, Calvin Eicher and Ivan Beachy have been sniffing around, but why would I consider either of them?” she asked in a teasing voice. “They make a point of arriving at mealtime—unannounced—and when they’re not spreading on the compliments too thick, they’re asking if I’d do some mending. Or they invite me to their homes as though it’ll be a really hot date to spend time cutting their hair or cleaning up their cluttered kitchens. No, thank you!”

  Leah laughed out loud. “With their families grown and scattered around, they want your company, Mama.”

  “They want my farm, Leah. And they both need a mother more than a wife.” Mama widened her eyes purposefully. “And compared to your dat, they have all the personality of dusty cardboard boxes. End of discussion.”

  The set of Mama’s jaw confirmed that she had absolutely no interest in the two widowers she’d mentioned, so Leah let the subject rest. Her mamm planned to stay for a nice long while so there would be plenty of time for the mother-daughter conversation she craved . . . and time to share the secret that was beginning to swell beneath her apron as well.

  “Our big news of late—besides Alice’s and Adeline’s joining the church, of course—is that the sheriff brought me a big settlement check from those two English fellows who shot most of my cattle,” Leah said as she shook out the last dress in the suitcase. “And I mean a big check.”

  “Only right that those young men pay you for the animals they slaughtered,” Mama insisted. “From what Abner and Bishop Vernon told me, they didn’t leave you with many cows—not to mention the way they were corrupting the twins. Adeline and Alice will remain forever marked by tattoos their future husbands might not like much.”

  Leah wondered what else Abner and his uncle might have shared with her mother, but she didn’t want to blurt out the news of her pregnancy. It was a happy topic best shared on the porch swing with refreshing glasses of iced tea rather than on the spur of the moment in a guest room that seemed stuffy from lack of use. She opened the two windows, allowing the breeze to circulate the fresh scent of honeysuckle and sunshine. “The girls will have a lot to admit to the fellows they marry someday,” she agreed. “But I suspect they’ll be attracted to the sort of Amish men who’ve had a few adventures of their—”

  The loud backfiring of an engine made Leah stoop to stare out the window. Her heartbeat accelerated to a crazy rate when she saw an old red car rolling slowly up the lane toward the house. “Oh! Oh, could it be?” she whispered as she dashed for the door. “Mama, I think that’s Natalie—little Betsy’s mother!”

  Leah raced downstairs so fast she didn’t feel her feet hitting the steps. Stevie looked up from the kitchen table, where he was writing his alphabet and numbers to show his Mammi Lenore, but hope was making Leah’s throat so tight she couldn’t speak to him. As the screen door banged behind her, she was vaguely aware that the twins were in the garden hoeing weeds, but she only had eyes for the car door that was swinging open with a loud creak.

  The sound of a high-pitched cry inside the car made Leah’s heart shrivel. “Natalie?” she called out to the girl emerging from the vehicle. “What brings you here? It—it’s gut to see you,” she added.

  When the dark-haired young woman gazed at her, desperation tightening her young face, Leah stopped several feet away from her. Natalie’s complexion was splotchy and she’d put on enough weight that her T-shirt and jean shorts appeared a couple sizes snugger than Leah remembered. For a moment she just stood beside the car, plucking nervously at the hem of her shorts. Then she burst into tears.

  Leah approached her slowly, sensing that the young girl’s life had gone sadly awry. “Natalie?” she asked softly. “How can I help you, dear? Shall we get Betsy out of the car and go inside for something cool to drink?”

  With a loud sniffle, the young woman reached into the car and pulled out a basket—the same basket she’d left on the porch on a chilly March morning, except Betsy had grown so much that she barely fit in it. The baby was crying, sounding hungry and frustrated, yet Leah hesitated to rush over and pick her up. Natalie appeared determined to handle her noisy child her way—which meant she started toward the house as though she didn’t even notice that Betsy was upset.

  Leah felt torn. It wasn’t her place to ask Natalie if Betsy could return to them, yet her arms yearned to hold the wee girl and comfort her. Thinking quickly, she held the door for Natalie and then grabbed a container of goat’s milk from the spare refrigerator in the mudroom. “I—I’m not sure we have any baby bottles, because I sent them along with you when—”

  “I can’t keep her.” Natalie set the basket on the kitchen table, oblivious to wide-eyed Stevie.

  At that, Leah set aside the milk and scooped Betsy out of the basket. The baby wrapped her little arms around Leah’s neck, clinging for dear life even as she began to relax. The twins and Mama had come into the kitchen, but Leah focused on the girl in the unbecoming English clothes. “What do you mean, you can’t keep her?” Leah said breathlessly. Her heart throbbed in her chest as she awaited Natalie’s answer.

  “My family kicked me out because I refused to join the Mennonite church,” Natalie replied in a dull voice. Regret and envy shadowed her face as she saw the way Betsy was quieting down as Leah swayed from side to side with her. “I’ve run out of money, so I sold those bottles and baby things to—you’ve got to take Betsy back. Please,” she begged.

  Leah’s pulse ran a wild race with her thoughts. “Of course we will, Natalie,” she whispered quickly.

  Natalie swiped at her tear-streaked face. “I tried really hard to be a good mom but—I just couldn’t seem to—”

  “You sold your baby’s clothes?” Adeline demanded in disbelief.

  “How’d you think you’d feed Betsy if you sold her bottles, too?” Alice chimed in angrily.

  With a sob, Natalie turned and bolted out the door. Leah wanted to laugh and sing and shout for joy now that she was once again cradling Betsy in her arms, but other matters needed tending to. “Stevie, go after her,” she urged him. “Tell her I want to help her—hurry before she drives off!”

  Grinning at Betsy, the boy shot out the door in pursuit of Natalie, with Mama following behind him. Leah allowed herself the luxury of cuddling Betsy, kissing her curls, and for a few minutes the rest of the world ceased to exist. She was aware that the little girl needed a bath and clean clothes, but first she needed nourishment.

  With Betsy balanced against her hip, Leah turned to the girls. “Go find the pot we used for warming her bottles—and anything else that didn’t fit into the boxes I sent with Natalie,” she said. “I suspect Betsy’s so hungry, we don’t even want to think about when her last meal might’ve been.”

  Alice and Adeline shared a disgusted look before heading toward the basement stairs, muttering about Natalie.

  Leah looked out the screen door, relieved that her mother and Stevie had convinced the skittish young woman to return to the house. “Oh, Betsy,” she whispered against the little girl’s cheek. “Betsy, we have to say everything just right, honey, before we get our hopes up.
Have you really come back to us for gut and forever?”

  She opened the door to admit Natalie, who came inside with a red face and a sorrowful expression. “I—I don’t mean to be any trouble,” she mumbled.

  “We just need to be sure we’re on the same page,” Leah said, gesturing toward the table. “Let’s get you and Betsy something to eat, and we’ll talk this through. Have a seat, dear. Mama, if you’ll slice some bread and get the cold cuts and cheese from the fridge, I’ll start warming this goat’s milk.”

  “Goat’s milk,” Natalie echoed with a sad shake of her head. “Where on earth was I supposed to get that? I’ve been feeding Betsy formula, but it’s so expensive and—and it really upsets her system, too.”

  Leah sighed. She’d seen goat’s milk in cartons at the grocery store, but she suspected Natalie had reached the point where she was so desperate and dejected she couldn’t see things that were right in front of her. Thank God she realized she and Betsy needed help and came here to get it.

  The twins came up from the basement bearing the tall stockpot they’d used for warming bottles, and Leah gave thanks that two glass baby bottles were still in it. While Mama made Natalie’s sandwich, Leah quickly ran water into the pot and set it on the stove burner. The twins washed the bottles and then filled them with goat’s milk.

  While Leah waited for the milk to warm on the stove, she sat down at the table beside Natalie. Betsy was resting against her shoulder, hiccuping now instead of crying, so it was easier to have a normal conversation. “When you say you want us to take Betsy back,” she began hesitantly, “do you mean you want us to have her as our own child again? Or will you be popping in for her whenever the whim strikes you? You tore our family apart—left a gaping hole in our hearts—when you took Betsy away from us last month.”

  Her questions sounded harsh, but Leah wanted to clarify the details—and she wanted Natalie to realize that her actions had serious consequences.

  “It’s not gut for any of us—especially for this wee girl—when you disrupt our lives and her routine,” Mama pointed out firmly. “Jah, she’s your child, but—”

  “But I know now that I can’t raise her,” Natalie interrupted miserably. “As you’re all my witnesses, I want you to have her—to raise her without any more interference from me—because I can’t begin to guess where I’ll go or how I’ll be getting by.”

  Even as Leah’s heart thrummed with joy, she felt sorry for the young woman who slumped awkwardly at the kitchen table. Nodding her approval, Mama set a sandwich in front of Natalie.

  “All right then, you have our word that we’ll raise this child as our own,” Leah said, relishing the words she’d longed to say for weeks. “Jude and I will adopt her—”

  “Jah, it should be legal and clear-cut,” Mama put in firmly.

  “—and we’ll expect you to abide by your side of the agreement,” Leah finished. She shook her head. “I can’t imagine how horrible it must feel to be cast out by your family. I’m sorry you’re going through such a rough time, Natalie.”

  Natalie was devouring her sandwich hungrily, obviously trying to hold herself together emotionally. As Mama prepared another ham and cheese sandwich for their distraught guest, Leah accepted the bottle of goat’s milk Alice handed her. When she’d tested its temperature on her inner wrist, she placed the bottle in front of Betsy. The little girl grabbed it and began sucking down milk as though she couldn’t drink it fast enough.

  When Betsy had drained the bottle, Leah stood up to walk around the kitchen with the child resting against a dish towel on her shoulder. It felt heavenly to hold the baby again, even though Leah could feel some of her tiny ribs and her hip bones. Adeline and Alice came up to coo at Betsy and stroke her cheeks, and Stevie stood on tiptoe beside Leah to gaze up at the baby, too. The moment felt especially blessed because Leah sensed their family was complete again. The aching hole in their hearts had been filled, and the balance of their family restored.

  Natalie hastily finished her second sandwich and stood up, looking at Betsy with mixed emotions as the little girl giggled in recognition of the twins and Stevie. “Well, there’s no point in me hanging around here when you folks are obviously better at—”

  “Wait.” Leah stepped into the pantry and grabbed the wad of bills stashed in her coffee can. “I want you to have this, Natalie. It’s not all that much, but maybe it’ll help you get groceries and a place to stay.”

  The young woman appeared too flustered to count the money—or to meet Leah’s gaze again. “Thank you,” she whispered before hurrying toward the door. “I’m such a mess, I don’t deserve your kindness.”

  Moments later the car’s engine churned, and Natalie backed the noisy vehicle down the lane and onto the county road. Leah closed her eyes and embraced little Betsy, feeling her cup of joy and blessings was ready to overflow. Jude would be ecstatic when he came home from the sale and learned what had happened.

  “So how much did you give her?” Alice demanded.

  Adeline let out a grunt of disapproval. “Knowing Natalie, she’s headed toward the pool hall to impress the guys with her money—”

  “Or to blow it all on beer,” Alice said in a disgusted tone.

  Leah thought carefully about her response as she gazed at her daughters, neatly dressed in their crisp kapps and matching lavender cape dresses. “I suppose there might’ve been three or four hundred dollars in my can from selling eggs and that last batch of chickens,” she replied softly. “I felt it was the least I could do to help that poor girl. Your dat and I would’ve given every dollar we had to save you two from a fate similar to Natalie’s, you know.”

  Adeline’s and Alice’s mouths clapped shut as Leah’s words sank in.

  “Jah, I was mighty concerned that things had gotten way out of hand,” Mama said as she cleared Natalie’s plate from the table. “I was so relieved to hear that you finally realized those English boys were more trouble than you might’ve been able to get yourselves out of.”

  After a moment, Adeline sighed. “You know, Natalie said something when she came for Betsy last month,” she mused softly. She gazed steadfastly at Leah. “She told us that after she’d watched Leah come to the pool hall to take Alice and me home, she could see that you loved us enough to look after us—even if we didn’t want to believe that at the time.”

  “Even though we treated you terribly and called you names, you stuck by us,” Alice chimed in with a quavery smile. “You gave us the tough love we needed, Leah. We’re really sorry for the way we acted—”

  “And really glad you didn’t give up on us,” Adeline added with a nod.

  Leah was speechless. Tears of gratitude stung her eyes as she looked from one twin’s face to the other. Betsy seemed to sense it was a special moment, too. She patted Leah’s damp cheeks with her hands and said, “Mah-mah! Mah-mah!”

  Everyone chuckled and cooed at the baby, bursting the balloon of airless tension that had held them all suspended.

  “Betsy knows who loves her,” Mama said as she reached for the baby. “I think she’s every bit as glad to be amongst us again as we are to have her.”

  Leah nodded, blinking back tears as she released Betsy. “Natalie has given us the greatest gift of all,” she murmured. “It took a lot of gumption to come back here and admit she couldn’t raise her child—and to give up the baby whose love she needed so badly when she took her away last month. Natalie’s made the ultimate sacrifice, and we’ll forever owe her our prayers and gratitude.”

  Stevie tugged at Leah’s apron. “Can I sit on the couch with Betsy and give her that other bottle?”

  Smoothing his thick hair, Leah smiled at the boy who was beaming up at her. “That’s a fine idea, and a gut place for her to be when she nods off—maybe before she’s finished the bottle,” she added.

  It made a sweet picture when Stevie settled on the couch with Betsy in his lap, her head resting on a pillow as she drank more slowly from her second bottle. Leah pulled the
curtains against the bright sunshine, and within minutes the baby was breathing deeply, slipping into sleep.

  We can’t thank you enough, God, for the surprise You’ve given us—the precious lamb You’ve returned to our home, for keeps this time, Leah prayed as she gazed at Betsy. Like Natalie, we don’t deserve Your grace and gifts, but we’re forever grateful that You stand by us despite our shortcomings.

  Chapter 27

  On Saturday morning, Jude savored some extra time in bed with Betsy cradled in one arm as he held Leah against him. A warm breeze stirred the curtains, allowing quick glimpses of the pale, predawn light—and casting a glow on the white bassinet that had resumed its place in the corner.

  He sighed languidly. “It feels like the perfect morning,” he whispered as he kissed Leah’s soft forehead. “Betsy is back. You’re not throwing up anymore—and you’re starting to show. I wish we could just stop time so this moment would last forever.”

  Leah chuckled, snuggling closer. “You forgot the part about the scent of Mama’s cinnamon rolls drifting upstairs,” she said, “but otherwise, you got it just right. Our life is perfect, Jude. Just like we dreamed it would be when we married.”

  Jude smiled. “Feels gut to prove our naysayers wrong, ain’t so?” he teased. “If you’ve got a few minutes, I have an idea about how to use that chunk of money you received for your cattle. Seems a shame to get up and waken Betsy.”

  Leah rose onto one elbow, a sleepy smile warming her face as she gazed at the baby he held. “With Mama cooking breakfast, I have nothing but time for you, Mr. Shetler. What’s your idea?”

  Jude considered his words carefully, because the large amount of money he was discussing belonged to Leah. The last thing he wanted was to take control of her earnings, as a lot of Amish husbands tended to do—or to usurp her right to run her business the way she wanted to. Time and again she’d proven that her instincts for investing in livestock were as strong as her intuitive handling of the animals themselves.