Never having had a child of his own, Bear seemed nearly as anxious as he was.
“He said it could be a few hours or take a very long time,” Sam answered.
“Did he say anything else?” William asked.
“He said her contractions may be strong and close, or mild and far apart. Even if they are close, they might slow down. Then, later, they start up again, and are worse,” he answered.
“’Tis clear as mud,” Bear complained.
Sam spun around toward his brothers. “I hate waiting out here. I should be in there!”
“No, there are four women in there to help her and the good doctor,” Stephen said firmly. “Your worried presence would just make her tense. Believe me, she’s better off with you out here.”
He gripped the edges of the mantel tightly in his hands to keep himself from leaving. Rory had asked him to wait here and he needed to do what the doctor said, for Catherine’s sake.
Sam’s heart pounded when he heard Rory walk into the room.
“Things are going well. Mrs. Wrigley is checking to see how much Catherine has dilated,” Rory reported.
Sam let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, Rory. Please keep us updated. This waiting is taxing.” In truth, he’d never been this scared even during the worst battle he’d ever fought with Red Coats or Indians. But he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone, even himself. He needed to stay strong for Catherine.
But his resolve to remain a pillar of strength waned when he heard his wife cry out again.
“Sam,” Rory said, “Catherine will be fine. She’s young, strong, and built for having babies. And the babe is still in the correct position.”
“Could he turn again?” Sam asked.
“No, he’s too busy getting set to meet all of you,” Rory said with a big smile as he left.
The thought of meeting his son cheered Sam. He couldn’t help but grin. Then he heard Catherine let out an anguished cry and his mood plummeted. His long legs sprang toward their bedroom, but Bear and William held him back. “Let me go!” he roared.
“Sam,” Bear said, “Ye do na need to be in there.”
“He’s right,” Stephen confirmed. “You don’t want to see any of it.”
“But she needs me!” Sam protested.
“Nay, she only needs the women and the doctor now,” Bear said.
Sam forced himself to calm and took a step back as his brothers released him.
“Sam, why don’t you show us your new stallion?” Stephen suggested.
“Go look at him yourself,” he growled.
“I was just curious to see if your horse looked like he could hold up to my stallion in the Twelfth Day Horse Race,” Stephen said.
Stephen was obviously trying to distract Sam. His curiosity was sparked. “You’re entering the race?” he asked, surprised.
“Indeed, and I’m going to win,” Stephen said. It was no idle boast. Stephen knew horses and if he thought he could win, he probably could.
“Nay, ‘tis Artis’ horse that will win,” Bear declared.
“You’re entering the race too? Sam asked, surprised again.
“Nay, Artis is,” Bear said. “When Jane told her about the race, she set her mind to enter it.”
“Artis!” Sam and Stephen both exclaimed.
“Aye, she can out ride all of us,” Bear said, pride lighting up his eyes.
“You can’t be serious,” Stephen said. “A woman can’t enter the race.”
“I dare ye to tell her that,” Bear said, lifting his bushy red brows significantly.
Stephen looked to William for support.
“I know better,” William said. “The lady lived with us for a while, before she married Bear. She can ride better than me, and if you tell her she can’t do something, she’ll likely do it just to prove you wrong.”
“Ye got it right, brother,” Bear said.
“But Bear, racing is dangerous, particularly with so many horses in the race. There could be dozens of entries coming from all over Kentucky and Virginia,” Sam said.
“Ye’ve na seen Artis ride,” Bear said.
Sam shook his head. “If you won’t do it, I guess I will have to try to persuade her not to race.”
“I wish you luck,” William said, with a smile in his eyes. “I don’t think she’s likely to change her mind. Kelly told me that Artis has her heart set on winning.”
“Frankly, so do I,” Stephen said. “I need the money to buy more cattle. Colonel Logan wants me to supply beef for both Fort Logan and Fort Harrod.”
“That’s marvelous news. You know you can always borrow…” Sam started to say.
“No,” Stephen stopped him. “I appreciate your generosity, but I want to buy these cattle entirely on my own. The race purse will allow me to do that,” Stephen said. “It will also allow me to add on to our home. We’ll need another room soon. Jane isn’t sure yet, but she thinks she may be with child again.”
Sam decided right then and there that he wouldn’t enter the race after all. He wasn’t going to race against Stephen when winning meant so much to his brother.
“Is your stallion ready to race?” Sam asked.
“I think so,” Stephen said. “He shows every sign of being at least as great a horse as his sire.”
“And the first George was some horse,” Sam said. “The best I’ve ever known.”
“As soon as Catherine has the babe, and you’ve had a chance to rest,” Stephen said, “you can help me get the stallion ready. He needs to be raced against other horses. He’s never done that.”
“I’d be happy to,” Sam said, “but if I can’t talk Artis out of entering the race, she might object to my helping you.”
“Nay, she’s an excellent trainer herself,” Bear explained. “Trainin’ horses was one of her duties at the Virginia plantation she worked on for seven years. She raced Glasgow many times around the plantation’s track.”
Perplexed, Sam stared questioningly at Bear.
“’Tis a long story. Sit down and I’ll explain it to you,” Bear said.
They all took seats and Bear explained how Artis’ wound up in Kentucky. He started with her mother’s murder and her village in the Highlands being burned. Homeless and alone, she was forced to indenture herself in the colonies. Sam was amazed to learn that when Bear met Artis, she had just finished serving her seven year indentured servitude where she worked as a trainer in the plantation’s horse barn. She helped break in the yearlings and then started getting on the young horses at the farm’s track. From there she learned to gallop and fell in love with horses and racing them. “But her indenture was just the beginning of her troubles,” Bear continued. “Glasgow was stolen by a man obsessed with pursuing her. Later, when we recovered the horse in Kentucky, William wrote to her former employer who wrote back that Artis should keep the stallion for all she’d done for the plantation.”
Bear seemed to sense Sam’s restlessness and gave them only a few details about her pursuer, saying it was another long story he’d save for another time.
He was restless, and wanted to hear the rest of Artis’ story. For now, though, he was just glad that Bear had been there to help her.
The discussion about the race and listening to Bear tell them about Artis’ life had served as a welcome distraction, but all the while, Sam’s insides continued to churn. By the time Bear finished, his stomach was turning cartwheels and his heart couldn’t seem to beat in a regular pattern. Nervous energy forced him stand and start pacing. Then he stopped suddenly. “Do you think Catherine is all right? Why hasn’t Rory given us an update?” he demanded, wringing his hands and eyeballing his brothers.
“He’s probably busy,” William suggested.
“Busy with what? Catherine has to do all the work!” Sam swore.
He wondered again what was happening.
Until he heard the cry of a new voice in the world.
Chapter 32
Catherine’s eyes blurred with tears
of overwhelming happiness. She swiped her knuckle across her lashes to clear them as Rory held her son up for her to see for the first time. Joy bubbled out of her as he cried, evidence that he was breathing and well. For a moment, the sight of him seemed to give her a glimpse of heaven. The sound of his first cry took her breath away and made her laugh and cry, a wonderful mix of love infused emotions.
A Christmas miracle!
The babe’s cries made her reach out for her son.
“Wait just a moment while I tie off the cord,” Rory told her. He placed the babe on a clean towel near her and he and Mrs. Wrigley took care of the cord.
Then Mrs. Wrigley washed Catherine and removed the soiled sheets, while Jane bathed the babe with a small wet cloth and a bowl of warm water, removing the thick, pasty, whitish coating, which they all said was normal, from his skin.
“Let me examine him, when you’re through Jane,” Rory said. Understandably, he sounded tired. He’d been awake for hours. He washed his hands, put away his supplies, and took a seat by the hearth. Then she he heard him let out a long sigh.
“Look how black his hair is. Just like yours,” Jane told her. “He’s such a handsome boy.”
“He is and he’s huge,” Kelly said, helping Catherine discretely remove her sweat soaked shift and don a fresh one. “I can’t believe he came out of you. If I hadn’t seen it, I would not have believed it.”
“It’s no wonder he got stuck in the wrong position,” Rory said. “He must be at least twenty-two inches long.”
Artis still stood by the bed, body stiff, and speechless. Her green eyes widened, she simply stared at the squirming red babe.
“Artis, is that the first birth you’ve witnessed?” Rory asked her.
“Aye! The first birth of a person,” she said. “I’ve seen countless lambs and foals born. But this was far different. The sheep and horses did na cry out. If we had na given Catherine this rag to bite down on, her throat would likely be raw from her cries.”
It had been Artis’ job to hand her the cloth whenever a sharp contraction or pain hit. And Artis was right. Not wanting to scare the children or Sam, she’d managed to stifle most of her moans and screams into the rolled cloth.
“It’s a pain you soon forget,” Mrs. Wrigley told her.
“’Twas also far grander than an animal birth,” Artis said, “a new human soul coming into this world. God bless him!”
“God bless him,” they all echoed.
“And ye were so brave! To have endured such agony without ever complainin’,” Artis told her. “And ye only shed a few wee tears.”
“Thank you, Artis, and everyone else, for your help,” she told them.
She sat up and watched as Jane wrapped a miniature sheet and blanket loosely around the infant and handed the tiny bundle to the doctor.
Still seated, Rory laid her crying babe across his lap, unfolded the blanket, and gave her son a quick examination. The babe’s cries tugged at her heart.
Catherine held her breath until Rory stood and said, “Here you go, mother. He looks well and exceptionally healthy.”
Rory handed her what had to be the most beautiful babe in the entire world.
Her mouth fell open as he ceased crying the instant she hugged him against her. He smelled like fresh air, soap, and lavender and his skin was unbelievably smooth and soft.
She gazed proudly at her son. The moment she’d dreamt of so often over the last months finally happened. She held her precious son in her arms.
A babe that was half Sam and half her. And all theirs.
Her heart was so full, tears threatened again. She couldn’t wait even another minute to show their babe to his father. “Artis, would you go get Sam, please?”
Artis’ face lit, as though she were honored to be the one to fetch Sam. “Are ye sure ye’re ready?”
“I’m sure,” Catherine said. “Tell him to come and meet his son.”
“Aye. May the other men come in too?” Artis asked. “Bear will want to, I know. He’ll likely be hard to stop.”
“Not just yet. Hold them back a few more minutes, until after I’m more presentable,” she said. “I want to wash my face and put my robe on.”
Artis left and Catherine gazed back down at her babe’s sweet face. Never had she set eyes on such an amazing sight. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but she was sure they would be blue since she and Sam both had blue eyes. He had a complete head of hair, Sam’s strong jaw and chin, and her nose. His features were so flawless that any more perfection would have made him too beautiful for a boy. “You’ll be a fine man someday, just like your father,” she told him.
The door flew open and Sam stormed into the room and rushed to her side. “Are you all right?” Then he glanced down and saw the swaddled bundle in her arms. He took a sharp intake of breath and froze.
“I’m fine. Meet your son,” she said, angling the babe so Sam could see his face.
Sam touched the top of the babe’s head with the tip of his finger as if to verify that he was real and then smiled broadly.
“May I hold him?” he asked.
“Of course,” she answered.
Sam reached out and gingerly took their son into his arms. Cradling him tenderly, he stared in awe, his eyes glistening.
If she lived to be a hundred, she would never forget the look of wonderment on her husband’s handsome face. She also saw something she’d never seen before—a new contentment.
But when he shifted his gaze to her, she saw things she readily recognized. Love. Respect. And strength.
“He’s spectacular,” he whispered. “Remarkable.”
“Yes, he is, isn’t he,” she agreed, “because his father is too.”
“Hello, my boy,” Sam said. “Merry Christmas.”
The squirming babe reached up toward Sam’s face. His movements were a bit jerky, but he seemed determined.
Catherine watched in amazement as their son, seeming quite alert, tightened his tiny fingers around Sam’s chin.
Sam’s head was lowered, but she saw a delicate tear trail down his rugged face.
The sight of the two together put a smile on her face and an imprint on her heart that she was certain would last a lifetime.
“He opened his eyes,” Sam breathed, “he’s looking right at me.”
“What color are they?” she asked.
“Deep blue, like yours,” he answered.
Sam continued to gaze into his son’s eyes as Rory stepped up next to him. “Are they both well? Any concerns?” he asked the doctor.
“They are both hale and hearty,” Rory said. “Catherine did not tear as badly as some women are prone to. She should be up and about in a couple of days and completely back to normal in a couple of weeks.”
Sam let out a deep breath. “I’m so relieved you are both well,” he told her. “Rory, we have you to thank for that. Without you…,” he swallowed hard, “this could have been a disaster.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” Rory said. “There was a time when no one did. Even myself.”
“You are a fine doctor, Rory,” Catherine said. “I only wish you lived nearby.”
“One never knows what the future holds,” Rory said. “Sometimes our lives change when we least expect it.”
“Indeed,” Catherine agreed. Three years ago, she never would have expected this new life. She not only had a new husband—one that actually loved and appreciated her this time—she had two sons. And a new home. And a wonderful large family of brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews.
“All the hard work is done, Catherine,” Rory said. “Now all you have to do is rest and be sure your son starts to suckle. Just lay his mouth near a nipple. He’ll know what to do. We’ll give you parents some privacy now.”
Carrying away all the soiled rags, linen, and water, Kelly and Jane followed Rory out, but Mrs. Wrigley lingered for a moment smiling at them. “You’re the very picture of a happy family. I’ll go wake Little John and tell him the g
ood news.”
“No, let him sleep,” Catherine said. “I’m so weary now and it’s so late. We’ll see him in the morning after we’ve had a little sleep. In fact, please tell all the others that we will see them all in the morning.”
“All right. Then I’ll make you some more of my mugwort tea,” the cook said. “It will help you sleep and ease your soreness. In the morning you can sit in a few inches of warm water to soothe your tenderness.”
“How do you feel?” Sam asked after she left. “I know that was beyond difficult. You must be incredibly weary.”
“I am, and I’m sore of course. Yet I feel surprisingly relaxed,” she answered. “I think I could sleep for a week though.”
“I feel the same way,” he said. “I’m glad that interminable wait is over.”
“What time is it anyway?” she asked.
“I don’t know exactly. But it’s nearing midnight,” Sam said. “So he was born on Christmas day.”
“Waiting must have been hard for you,” she said, sympathizing.
“It was nothing compared to what you endured. But it was a long night. It started snowing again a couple of hours ago.” He glanced over at the hearth. “Your fire has gone out. You must be getting cold.” With one arm he grabbed her robe off the chair at her dressing table and laid it over her shoulders. “I’ll bring in some logs in a minute and get the fire blazing again.”
“That will be nice, but first, let’s see if he will start nursing,” Catherine said, sitting up a little more. “Hand him to me.” She could see that Sam was reluctant to let go of his new treasure. “You can have him back in a little while. I promise.”
Sam gently laid their son in her arms and propped a couple of pillows behind her back. Then he gave her an unhurried kiss. His lips tasted wonderful—warm, soft, and full of love.
As she kissed him back, she let her own lips convey all the joy she felt in her heart. She was loved, blessed, grateful, relieved, and so very happy.
When he stood and gazed down at her, she could see those same emotions in his eyes. And when he smiled, his broad chest swelling with pride, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Her husband.
Frontier Gift of Love (American Wilderness Series Romance Book 5) Page 24