“I have two sons and one daughter. Why would she come early?”
“Because the more children you have the more often they arrive a little earlier than anticipated. Having twins makes it even more so. Are the twins the same sex?” He continued writing.
“No, the twins are opposite sex.”
Meeks interrupted him. “Are there any restrictions as far as riding or doing things?”
“Riding, as in riding a horse?” He thought for a moment. “As long as it’s easy riding she should be fine but personally I would avoid it if possible.” The doctor handed her several pieces of paper. “You need to eat more vegetables and fruit because you aren’t getting enough for the baby. The cramps will come and go because of your diet. I think after two pregnancies you pretty much know how to take care of yourself. I’m assuming the children are healthy.”
“What about sex?”
“I believe that’s how you got pregnant.”
She smiled. “No, they want to know if I am allowed to have sex while pregnant. I had it without a problem through my first child but not the other children.”
“Some men like to find their relief outside the home when the wife is pregnant but personally I find pregnant women extremely attractive and enjoy it more when my wife is pregnant.” He smiled at her. “You can have sex as long as you want it and as long as you feel good. I would avoid anything strenuous. Mr. Meeks if you had sex with her during the first pregnancies why the concern this time.”
"I'm not the same husband." The doctor looked at her and nodded.
Meeks asked him about alcohol. “A glass of wine is fine occasionally but I don’t recommend anything more than that.”
“Whisky?”
The doctor looked at Mirisa and back at Meeks. “Absolutely not. Nothing stronger then wine and never more than one glass.”
She stood up and thanked him. He told her to come in any time she felt she needed to and to please come back before they left town. Meeks thanked him and James paid for the visit. They dropped the doctor’s scripts off at the druggist and asked it be sent to the house.
Meeks took her into a lady’s shop and James asked for the owner. Mirisa put down the scarf she was admiring and followed her to the back. She had Mirisa take off her dress so she could take measurements. Mirisa looked up at James and asked why they were buying more clothes.
“We’re having clothes made for when you are pregnant so that you are comfortable.”
The woman wrote down things in her notebook and asked her what she preferred to wear as far as fabric. The men answered with a variety of suggestions from the day dresses to night clothes but mostly they wanted casual clothing. They went over different ideas and sketches before leaving. James steered her into a small store that was filled with children’s clothing. She immediately fell in love with several dresses for Maggie and Meeks told her to buy whatever she wanted. As she was looking, James talked to the lady about what the new baby would need.
Mirisa was over in the corner with Meeks looking at shoes but they weren’t sure what size Maggie would wear so they decided to bring her down to try them on. Mirisa moved over to the baby clothes and picked up a little cotton shirt. She had made all of the children’s clothes when they were born or had hand me downs. Meeks kissed her neck and she looked up at him. Meeks told the lady he wanted one of everything. Mirisa laughed at him and told him they didn’t need that much. She picked out what she needed and let him pick out some things he liked. Meeks went extremely feminine and she told him for his sake it better be a girl. As he was paying, he saw a doll sitting on the shelf behind the counter and asked the lady to wrap it.
They stopped in a book store where James found a medical book on the growth of a baby and generalizations on pregnancies. They went into the restaurant and ate out in the garden. It was a beautiful day and they talked about the concerts that were left in the season as well as the new play that was coming in a few weeks. Mirisa told them that she was tired and other than the candy shop didn’t want to shop anymore.
“I forgot to ask if you were allowed to eat chocolate while you are pregnant.”
“James, the chocolate is not for me.”
“Right. I keep forgetting that you are married to Meeks.”
Meeks looked at him. “How the hell could you forget that?”
“I meant I forget that you have a thing for chocolate.”
Meeks paid the waiter and pulled out her chair. “You look tired. We can get the candy later if you want to go right home.”
“No, I want chocolate cherries.” They left the restaurant and went into the candy shop where she let Meeks pick out everything before they headed home. Mirisa thanked them and went upstairs, stripped down to her camisole and crawled into bed. Meeks came up and closed the curtains, kissed her cheek and went back downstairs. She slept all the way through dinner and finally woke up as the children came running into the room looking for her. Mirisa sat on the bed with them for a while before the children kissed her goodnight and went back to the nursery. Meeks came up and tucked them in. He walked back to the room as the maid put the tray of tea and biscuits on the table.
“You need to eat something.” Meeks climbed up next to her and picked up the book she had been reading. He flipped to where she had it marked and started reading the poem. He stopped. “This is an extremely strange woman.” He turned the page as she put her head on his chest and he kept reading.
James walked in and sat down on the end of the bed listening. Meeks finally handed James the book and he read for a moment before he read the next one out loud. “Mirisa, this woman has issues that are probably from lack of sex.” Mirisa laughed and told them both they just didn’t understand women. She picked up her tea and asked what was in it.
“Whatever the doctor prescribed.” Meeks kissed her forehead and told her to eat something. They continued to read as she ate. Mirisa asked James what the book was he bought at the store. He got up and brought it back handing it to her. She went through the drawings of the baby at different stages of the pregnancy. “How do they know what a baby looks like?”
“I guess from medical studies but it makes it a lot more interesting.” He reached over and turned to the page he had marked which showed the baby at three months. Meeks looked at the picture then her stomach but didn’t say anything. James used his finger to show how big the baby was at that moment.
The weather warmed up over the week allowing the children to spend time outside. Mirisa was sitting under the big tree with a book in her lap but her mind was elsewhere. She was starting to feel better and the constant tiredness was going away. She sat with her hand resting on her stomach and her eyes closed as she traveled across time trying to remember her pregnancies and births.
Matthew was so easy and despite loving all of the children he seemed to have a quiet way of always being there. He was the softness of Dominic that she fell in love with and the part of him that refused to ever give up hope of having her love again. The thoughts of not spending her life married to Dominic frequently saddened her because there were by far more wonderful parts of their relationship than not. Mirisa would sometimes find herself watching Dominic and he would turn to meet her eyes and know. She didn’t know if it was the pregnancy that made her so reflective but the crying seemed to come without warning and she knew they were all confused on how to deal with it.
Jonathan came into the world ready to run and had never stopped. Jonathan was the other side of Dominic and even though he was loving it was always on his terms and in his time. He had become far more protective of Maggie in the last few months but also more bossy. Jonathan could make Mirisa laugh at the strangest times and he was beginning to look more and more like Conrad. Mirisa would always wonder about him. Even though Conrad was always there, he was also very stern and demanding of her even when comforting her. Those were the traits that she saw in Jonathan. He would be the closest to his father because he would demand nothing that Dominic couldn’t give to him.
Mirisa didn’t have to think about Maggie because the child was the love of her life. Maggie was so much like her mother with the cunning of her father. If anyone controlled the household, this child did it without even trying. Maggie could manipulate and get whatever she wanted just by touching and she loved to touch. Whether it was the animals or the men, she always put her tiny little hands on their faces when she talked to them. Maggie never did anything bad and even if she had the only one who would even think of scolding her was James. The rest of them were powerless when she would look at them with her big green eyes.
“Are you daydreaming?”
Mirisa looked up at Garnett as he sat down next to her on the blanket. He picked up the book in her lap then put it back down.
“I was thinking about the children.”
“You’re not going to cry are you?” He did not handle the crying well at all. “James says it’s just the pregnancy.”
Mirisa laughed “It’s definitely just the pregnancy but I don’t know why it’s worse with this one than the others. I am feeling better though so hopefully the crying will stop soon.”
They all seemed to take possession of the children before they were born. “Do you think you’ll be able to travel by the end of the month?”
“I think so.”
“I think we’re more over protective of this baby because she means so much to your husband.”
“She’s going to be a beautiful child.”
Garnett reached up and touched the charms around her neck. “We must be getting old because we haven’t given you anything to remember lately.”
“Is that why you give me things so that I’ll remember?”
“I think it was Meeks way of touching you before he knew why he wanted to touch you. It’s almost as if he is writing his life story on your body instead of in his journals. He was the only one of us who I thought would never cross the line or take the chance of rejection from you. I knew what he was going to do that night in Richmond and when I told him that you would never leave Dominic he didn’t seem to agree. Do you know that there is something always written somewhere in the jewelry from him?”
“I knew there was in the ring you gave me when we were at my parents and between the scales of the snake is a love poem. Of course, we both know he’s gotten worse with his recent jewelry.”
He took off his ring and handed it to her. She looked along the edge of the band where there was a date written. She looked at him. “That’s the date of the first piece you composed for me. Is there anything he doesn’t remember?”
“Nope. Meek’s very good with details, very, very good.”
“Garnett, don’t any of you want a normal life with homes and families?”
He put his ring back on and took her hand. “We have that now.”
“This is not normal even though it seems so perfect it definitely isn’t normal at all.”
“Stop worrying about us and what we want. If we need to find something different or something else we will do it.” Garnett closed his eyes. They talked until Meeks walked out and asked them if they intended to spend the entire day under the tree or if they would like to come in for pie and coffee. Mirisa reached up and Meeks took her hands slowly pulling her into his arms.
“Can I ever leave you alone?”
“I doubt it but I think they are just protecting me when you are busy.”
“You think that do you?” He looked at Garnett and smiled. “And what are they protecting you from?”
“Probably bears and mountain lions and stuff.”
“Mirisa darling we are in New York.”
“Oh, well then from your brother in law!”
He broke out laughing and told her she was stretching with that one. Garnett stood up and shook out the blanket and threw it over the railing of the porch. There was fresh coffee and two pies on the table and she was hungry. James came in from the library and grabbed her as she came through the door. “I haven’t seen you all day and I miss you so terribly much when you spend time with other men instead of me.”
"James, you certainly don't show it if you do."
Garnett sat down and Mirisa sat next to him and cut a piece of cherry pie then asked him what he wanted. “I want blueberry.” She cut everyone pie as James poured the coffee.
“Did you remember that your father was coming to dinner tonight?”
“No. All of you do so much remembering that the only thing I have to remember is who I am married to.” She smiled at Meeks and he got up out of his chair walked around the table and picked her up. He walked back to his chair and sat down with her on his lap. “See, obviously I don’t even have to remember that since you will remind me when I forget.”
“Obviously I have been ignoring you today.”
“Will you make it up to me later?”
“If you keep it up I will make it up to you right here on the table.”
“With cherry pie?” She took a cherry and put it in her mouth. She had cherry juice on her fingers and she put them in his mouth then in her own. “Maybe you much prefer the blueberry today?”
“It is a miracle that Garnett is still being a gentleman, despite being alone with you all day.”
“Perfect gentleman though I did entice him.”
“Well, I know you didn’t do that because he doesn’t have that much control when alone with you anymore. That is the true downside of crossing the line.” She looked over at Garnett.
“But I’m hardly ever alone with Garnett.”
“And there’s a very good reason for that Mirisa.”
Mirisa reached across the table and kissed Garnett. “I love the coldness of your eyes and I love the fact that you are so very, extremely, wonderfully bad.”
Meeks looked up at her as he poured a cup of coffee. He asked Mirisa if she was hungry and she told him that for once she was very hungry. Meeks pulled the sash and asked that they bring out a cup of hot tea with the soup. The children were already eating. Mirisa kissed her daughter as she sat down. She ate two bowls of vegetable soup with the fresh bread and butter.
Meeks turned to Mirisa. “Do you feel up to shopping?”
“When are we leaving?”
“We’ll probably leave before next weekend depending on which direction we decide to travel and what the doctor says.”
“I’m not riding no matter what the doctor says.”
Meeks looked up alarmed. “Are you alright?”
“The baby is fine. I just think it would be too much so I’ll ride with the children.”
“After the doctors, I need to go down and book passage as well as take care of some other business.”
Garnett nodded. “James are you up to riding with me through Mississippi?”
“Yep.” James got up when Mirisa and Maggie came back in the room with their jackets.
“Ride where?” Mirisa put Maggie’s jacket on her and buttoned it up.
“I’m taking you and the twins home by train but the boys and I assume Matthew are riding through Mississippi.” Meeks watched her face as she looked up.
“Well as much as I don’t like trains it will be a lot nicer than being in a wagon for weeks and I so love having you to myself.” She stood and kissed her husband thanking him for always thinking of her and the children. “We’re ready to go.” They headed out to the stable.
After spending time talking to the doctor, Meeks told her he had things to do. James and Mirisa spent the afternoon shopping with Maggie. James took them into a bakery when they were finished and they bought a box of pastries to take home and a cinnamon crisp for Maggie to eat in the carriage. Maggie sat across from them and broke off a piece offering it to James then her mother. They both thanked her and told her to enjoy it. James put his hand over Mirisa’s on the seat and she curled her fingers around his.
Mirisa thought all men should have at least one daughter because it humbled them so much. Mirisa took off her jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. She walked down th
e hall to the library and told Meeks they were home. He asked her if she found everything she wanted. “No, what I want didn’t come with us but we brought back really outrageously good pastry.” Garnett told them he was hungry and he left the room.
“They are making hot chocolate to go with the pastry. I’m going to go up and get the boys.” Mirisa rose to leave and Meeks pulled her back kissing her. He put his hand on her stomach and she put her hand on top of his. “She’s fine today but she likes it a lot when you talk to her at night and she loves the sound of the piano. Have you decided on a name yet?”
“No. How much time do I have?”
“Until she’s born.”
Mirisa didn’t realize how much she missed Colorado until she walked through the door. The children headed for their rooms and she told Meeks that she was going to take a very long nap as she took Maggie’s hand and headed to the nursery. She was glad they had taken the train because it was much faster. They settled in as though they had never left and the two months that they were alone only made their love that much stronger. They both knew that they would spend the rest of their lives in love.
Meeks decided they would sleep in the room attached to the nursery so they could be closer to the children. The weather slowly started to warm up as the baby gradually started to grow. Compared to the twins this baby was extremely small but a lot more active. The twins would often sit next to her and just put their hands on her stomach as she read them books. Life was so peaceful that she thought this would be the happiest baby she would ever hold. They redid Maggie’s room so that when the baby was big enough she could sleep with her.
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