Their Surprise Amish Marriage

by Jocelyn McClay

  When they arrived thirty minutes later, Ben was out in the yard in time to help Susannah down from the buggy. Her searching look at Ben was seemingly satisfied with his ragged nod. The sight of the midwife’s car made her more so.

  “Don’t go too far,” she instructed him as she crossed the porch. “You’ll be needed as a catcher. Even more important when there are two.”

  Both men’s gazes followed her into the house. At the click of the door behind her, Ben turned to Jethro. “Denki. I can’t thank you enough for bringing her.”

  “Glad t-to help.”

  “Seems I can’t thank you enough, period, Jethro. I don’t know what I’d do without you lately.”

  “It’s what neighbors are for.” The man brushed off the gratitude. “You’d d-do the same for m-me.”

  “Whenever I have the chance. Do you want to come in?”

  Glancing at the door, Jethro shook his head like inside the house was the last place he wanted to be. “Nee. I need t-to get home.”

  Although he wanted to be with Rachel whenever she might need him, Ben understood the sentiment. “Can I get you anything before you go?”

  “Nee. I’m gut.” Before turning his horse down the lane, Jethro cast another look at the house.

  Ben furrowed his brow at the obvious longing in the man’s gaze, until he remembered Jethro had lost a wife and unborn child. The realization was a blow to his midsection. Pivoting from the rig already clattering away, he hurried into the house and quietly crossed to Rachel’s bedroom door to peek inside.

  There was an intense purposefulness in the room. To his relief, the three women appeared calm and confident in their actions. A glance at Rachel’s contorted red face however, escalated his concern.

  Seeing him hover in the doorway, Mrs. Edigers motioned Ben inside. “Go wash up well with plenty of soap.” She swept a gaze over his attire, which Ben knew was soiled from his quick journey and care of Sojourner. “And put on a clean shirt.”

  Ben hastened to do as instructed, his heart beating so rapidly his fingers fumbling over the fastenings in the transition. Up to this point, the boppeli seemed real in an abstract manner as they’d prepared. Rachel had sewn blankets and several sets of clothes for them. He’d made two cradles, mainly while he was laid up from doing other things. Although he’d seen his wife touch her middle with an expression of wonder on her face when she’d felt them move, he hadn’t had the courage to ask to feel them himself, and she hadn’t offered. The babies’ existence had just primarily been the unlikely reason he and Rachel had married.

  Now with their imminent arrival, the realization there’d soon be two little ones in the house, depending on him, shook him to the core.

  Failing twice to get the clean shirt fastened, Ben held his hands before him, dismayed at their trembling. He, who was steady and sure with detail work in furniture making, in fact was steady and sure in most aspects of his life except being a husband, couldn’t fasten a shirt. Whereas Rachel had grown up caring for little ones, how could he handle being a daed to not just one but two? Drawing in a shaky breath when he heard Mrs. Edigers call his name, he tackled the task a third time. He was about to find out, whether he was ready or not.

  A short time later, Ben held his tiny son. Although he squirmed, the little one didn’t make a sound. Mrs. Edigers quickly took the baby from Ben’s dazed hands. The midwife’s back was turned to Ben when he heard what sounded like the bleat of a baby goat. He looked over Mrs. Edigers’s shoulder to see her and Hannah vigorously rubbing the baby with a towel. Ben’s heart clinched as he caught the look the midwife shared with Hannah as they bent over the little one, attending to its immediate needs.

  There was trouble. He was too small. They didn’t think his son was going to make it.

  “I want to see my boppeli.” Rachel struggled to sit up.

  Wrapping the baby in a clean blanket, Mrs. Edigers carried him to the head of the bed. “For a brief moment. We aren’t done yet. You’ve got some more work to do.”

  If he hadn’t loved her already, Ben would’ve fallen hard as he watched Rachel take their child into her arms and look down at his tiny face with a sense of wonder. Ben dodged the others until he was beside her at the head of the bed. Determining the bustling women in the room were busy with other tasks, Ben leaned down and gently kissed Rachel’s hair, visible before the edge of her kapp.

  He had to tell her. “I love you” he mouthed, knowing he was safe, that Rachel wouldn’t see his words as she was focused on their tiny son in her arms.

  She looked up, almost catching him. “Do you want to hold him?”

  Ben’s heart thundered in his chest. After confirming the midwife’s approval, he nodded. He couldn’t even speak to the affirmative. Silently, Rachel handed their son to him. He felt like reverse gravity, the miniature bundle was so light. It seemed impossible that a son, his son, who would someday stand shoulder to shoulder with him, was wrapped up inside.

  If Gott willed it.

  He forced himself not to tighten his arms in protection around his precious bundle, afraid he might accidentally crush his oldest child. This tiny person, who surely weighed no more than the dandelion fluff that blew through the pasture. Please don’t blow through my life that fast. I know whatever happens is Gott’s will, but I hope His will is that you grow strong and tall to work beside me. The boppeli’s hands were tucked under his chin, just visible at the top of the blanket. In awe, Ben brushed the newborn skin with the tip of his finger. Tiny fingers with delicate fingernails moved to curl partway around his calloused thumb.

  Mrs. Edigers paused beside him to scrutinize his son. The boppeli blinked owlishly. “We’re getting ready for baby B. Are you going to be okay with him?”

  “Ja,” Ben breathed. “Is it all right if I step outside?”

  The midwife nodded. “That’s fine.” Before she returned her attention to Rachel, she held Ben’s gaze in a meaningful exchange. “Call me if you need anything.”

  Ben tried to nod, but couldn’t. With his son in his arms, he stepped out of the bedroom, leaving the door ajar behind him. He was wandering about the living area, introducing his son to everything he could think of, when minutes later, there was no question that the sound now coming from the bedroom was a boppeli crying. He turned to see Susannah at the bedroom door.

  “You have a dochder, as well,” she informed him, a gentle smile on her face. “She’s gut. Healthy. Already loud, as you can hear. And no apparent jaundice on either.” The last was said with a heartfelt murmur.

  Ben blinked rapidly against the unexpected tears that filled his eyes. “Gott is gut. Denki. How’s Rachel doing?” he asked hoarsely.

  “She’s been wunderbar throughout this.”

  Ben couldn’t agree more.

  “She’s holding the new little maedel. I think she’s about ready for some rest though. Do you want me to take him?” She nodded toward the bundle in his arms.

  Unconsciously, Ben shifted his shoulders in protection of his son. Susannah smiled with understanding before ducking back into the bedroom.

  Glancing down at the tiny figure in his arms, Ben caught his breath when he found his son looking back. He’d heard they couldn’t see much at first, but still, the little one’s intensity made him wonder. “Did you hear that? You have a little schweschder. Although I don’t know how she could be littler than you.” The miniature mouth opened in a yawn as the translucent eyelids drifted shut.

  “That’s right. Get your rest. Sounds like you’re going to need it to keep up. Would you like to meet her?”

  Ben returned to the bedroom. Rachel, propped up on the bed with a bundle duplicate to his in her arms, looked up. She smiled when she saw him. Her face revealed her weariness and remnants of her recent struggles, but to Ben, she’d never looked more lovely. Crossing to her, he carefully hitched a hip on the bed. Perusing his new daughter, he
lowered their son so Rachel could see them side by side. Although still petite, and to his eye, even with only her face showing, beautiful like her mamm, it was obvious the little girl was bigger.

  “You’ve got some catching up to do,” he whispered to his son.

  “Oh,” Rachel sighed. “They’re amazing.”

  Ben would’ve agreed, had he not been too choked up to do so.

  He cleared the lump in his throat. “Have you thought of names?”

  “We never talked about that, did we?”

  “We didn’t know who there’d be to name. We didn’t know if we’d be naming a Fannie and Lavinia, or a Mervin and Iddo.”

  Smiling down at her new children, Rachel shook her head at his flippant choices. “Elijah and Amelia,” she whispered.

  Ben considered the two sleeping newborns. “Is that what you want?”

  When Rachel looked up at him and nodded, he was lost in her dark brown eyes.

  “Then that’s who they’ll be,” he murmured. He straightened from the bed. “Now Eli and I will let you get some rest. We’ll see you in a while.”

  Before he could leave the room, Mrs. Edigers stopped him, relieving him of the baby for what seemed an extended period of time as she reviewed the little one’s condition. Her smile was tight as she handed the weightless bundle back. “He seems to be breathing all right, but he’s so very small. Do you want to call...” She didn’t finish the question but Ben knew what she was saying.

  His heart clenched and his stomach twisted as he strove to find the proper response. Amish districts varied in their association with modern medicine. Theirs was slower to adapt in some areas, believing taking extraordinary medical measures to save a life conflicted with Gott’s will. But after an incident this past winter, when CPR administered by Hannah had saved the bishop during a heart attack and stents had put him on the road to recovery, some previous views were being reconsidered. Ben longed to do whatever was necessary to save his son, but although he’d subtly mentioned the topic around the community, no one had an answer for him on premature babies. When Mrs. Edigers simply nodded in understanding, Ben knew his confliction was evident on his face.

  That’s the way it continued the rest of the night. While Rachel slept, Ben sat holding his son, afraid he might never have another chance. He was shaken by the already fierce love he had for his children. Mrs. Edigers and Hannah came to check on them occasionally. Ben would sigh in relief any time Eli stretched or wiggled in his arms. When time ticked by and there was no movement, Ben would unwrap the baby to gently lay a finger on his chest and ensure by the shallow rise and fall of his tiny chest that his little one was still breathing.

  Ben tipped his head to rest on the back of his chair. Whatever happens, it’s Gott’s will, he reminded himself through the long hours. His mouth grew dry as he held his fragile son. Although he’d confessed privately to Gott and asked His forgiveness about wishing Rachel could be his wife when she had a relationship with his brother, he’d never confessed the sin to one of the district’s ministers. Was it too late? Was this his punishment?

  As fingers of light sifted through the window, he carefully rose from his seat, tucked an additional blanket around Eli against the coolness of the early fall morning and stepped out on the porch. Crossing to the railing, Ben turned so both of them faced the sun lifting in golden color on the eastern horizon. The calls of rousing birds, including the melancholy coo of a mourning dove, was a fitting accompaniment to the otherwise silence of the awakening morning. Lifting the bundle in his arms, Ben gently kissed the fine dark hairs on his son’s miniature head.

  After a few moments of quiet companionship, the squeak of the door announced they had company. Susannah stepped onto the porch. She paused a moment when she saw them before coming to join them at the rail.

  At her questioning look, Ben’s lips tipped in a rueful smile. “I just wanted to share a sunrise with him.” With an understanding nod, Susannah stepped closer to peek into the blanketed bundle with a matching expression.

  “How are Rachel and...Amelia doing?” It seemed so strange she had a name. It seemed so strange she was finally here. That they both were. He cuddled Eli more tightly. For now at least.

  “They’re doing well. They’re both sleeping. It’s been a tiring day, or should I say night, for them.”

  They watched as the shadows, cast by the rising sun and the big barn, shifted over the yard. When Ben cleared his throat, it seemed abnormally loud in the quiet of the morning. “I know whatever happens is Gott’s will. But do you think in this case His will is affected by our...actions? Do you think we’re being punished for something we did?” The last was spoken with a shaky exhale.

  Susannah’s gaze dropped to the child in his arms. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

  Ben dipped his head.

  “You’ve confessed, ja?” At his nod, she continued, “If you’ve confessed to Gott, He forgives.” She tipped her head in the direction of the rising sun. “See the sunrise, so far to the east you’d never reach it?” Placing a gentle hand on Ben’s arm, she urged him to the side of the porch where they could look behind the house where the sky was just starting to lighten over the rolling Wisconsin countryside. “See the sky to the west? Immense distance. Immeasurable. In the Biewel, Psalms says as far as the east is from the west.” Releasing the grip on his arm, she pointed from one to the other. “That’s how far Gott separates us from our sins.” She shook her head. “You are forgiven. What Gott wills in this has naught to do with you.”

  Ben’s shoulders sagged as if the barn across the yard had been lifted from them.

  “And however you and Rachel came to be man and wife, I know you’ll be wunderbar parents to my kinner. To both of them. His schweschder is sleeping in her cradle. At their size, it’s big enough for two. Shall we put them in together? They’ve been companions for some time. Maybe the contact will do them both gut.”

  “Ja. We’ll be right in.” Ben lingered with Eli a moment longer on the porch, absorbing the awakening morning with a peace that’d been elusive earlier. Reentering the house to join Eli with his sister, Ben affirmed the important bond of siblings. He’d found peace with Gott. Now he needed to make peace with his bruder if he ever saw him again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rachel watched as Ben laid first Eli, then Amelia, into one cradle. They each had their own, but somehow she knew the twins liked to be together at times. They’d seemed to be getting bigger daily in the week since they’d been born, but they’d both fit in a single cradle for a bit yet. Eli still appeared as delicate as gossamer, but when he could stay awake long enough, she could tell that for him, he was eating like a draft horse after a day in the field. There was no sign of jaundice in either child. When she had a chance to sleep, Rachel slept easier than she had in months.

  She was amazed at how adept she and Ben were getting after only a week of handling the boppeli, often with both little ones at a time. She was also amazed at how she could function on what little sleep she was getting since the two arrived. Her gaze followed Ben as he sank down with a tired sigh into his chair. He was something else that amazed her. Although always attentive to her personally, after the way he’d seemed detached when she was with child, he certainly wasn’t disinterested now. Any time they squeaked, he was on his feet to check them or carry them to her to be fed. She didn’t know what other new daeds did, but between him and the hired girl, other than the lack of sleep, Rachel had never felt more pampered.

  They should never have wondered about Miriam. A little older than the normal hired girl for that type of situation, she was a treasure. Having been the oldest girl of a large family, she set right to work on the household tasks and helped with the babes as needed when she arrived a few days after they did. Blond and blue-eyed like her older brieder, she also had the cheerful attitude, along with her siblings’ sense of humor that made her good co
mpany. At first, Rachel worried Miriam would think the sleeping arrangements in their household were strange for a married couple, but the young woman hadn’t said a word nor raised an eyebrow when Ben and Rachel went to their separate bedrooms at night.

  Rachel was the one wondering about the arrangements. Her eyes would follow her husband when he’d say a quiet good-night at the end of the evening, drop a gentle kiss on the babes’ downy heads and disappear into his room.

  He never kissed her good-night.

  Picking up her sewing, Rachel pursed her lips. She was surprised at how much she wanted him to. When would he? Would he, ever? When did the thought of a simple kiss on the forehead from her husband move her more than good-night kisses with his bruder? Kisses that had easily faded from her memory.

  Rachel wrinkled her nose at the short length of thread she had on her needle. A glance at the spool on the end table reminded her she’d emptied it of blue thread before she’d fed the boppeli. Knowing the two others in the room would run the errand for her if she as much as murmured a word, she silently pushed to her feet.

  They both looked up when she stood, Ben from his paper, Miriam from where she was darning socks in another chair across the room.

  “I need to get some more thread.”

  Miriam instantly set her darning aside. “I can get it for you.”

  “Nee, I think I remember where I stored an extra spool of this color. If you keep this up, you two will spoil me. At the end of your time here, I won’t want to let you go because I won’t remember how to take care of my own household.”

  With a smile, Miriam picked up the darning again. “At the end of my time here, I might not want to go, if it means I’ll have to take up housekeeping for Gideon. Of course, he might not have found us a place to live by then and I may head back to Ohio.”