Rosanna's Gift

by Susan Lantz Simpson

  When she closed her eyes, Rosanna saw Frannie’s smirk and heard the girl’s voice. Did Henry ask to take Frannie home after tonight’s singing? It sure sounded like Frannie wanted that to happen. Rosanna squeezed her eyes tighter, hoping that would erase Frannie from her mind. She tried tensing and releasing various muscles from her toes to her forehead, a technique she and Mamm often encouraged during labor to help women relax.

  The muscle relaxation must have finally worked, since Rosanna’s next snippet of consciousness was a soft sucking noise emitting from the cradle. Mollie must have managed to raise her tiny fist to her mouth despite being swaddled in the blanket. Clever little one! Rosanna threw off the covers and bounced out of bed. She hurried to prepare a bottle of formula before the lip-smacking turned into an out-and-out wail of hunger.

  Rosanna changed Mollie’s diaper, swaddled her again in the soft pink blanket, and lifted her from the cradle. Daed, bless him, had insisted on carrying a small rocking chair upstairs to Rosanna’s room. It was certainly colder in her room than near the living room woodstove, but it was ever so much more convenient to feed Mollie here. She pulled a heavy knit afghan around both of them once they were situated in the chair. That combined with their shared body heat should keep them warm enough.

  Mollie slurped as Rosanna gently rocked the chair and softly crooned to her. Such a sweet boppli. She raised Mollie to her shoulder and patted her back to burp her. She continued to rock and pat even though Mollie had drifted back to sleep. She should do the same thing herself. Morning would arrive all too soon.

  Rosanna heard a door open downstairs as she tucked Mollie back into the cradle. Tobias must be home from the singing. She had to know what had happened tonight. She cinched her robe tighter and flew down the stairs to waylay her bruder before he could escape to his room. He’d entered the back door, so she’d catch him in the kitchen.

  “Psst!”

  “Ach, Rosanna! You nearly scared the life out of me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “What are you doing up?”

  “I just finished feeding Mollie and I heard you kumm in.”

  “Okay. I’m in. Gut nacht.” Tobias headed out of the kitchen.

  “Wait a minute!” Rosanna grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.

  “What do you want? I’m tired.”

  “Tell me about the singing.”

  “You’ve been to singings a zillion times.”

  “True, but tell me about this one.”

  “I sang. I ate three cookies. Nee, make that four cookies. And a brownie. A chocolate one with walnuts. I talked. I drove home and put the horse and buggy away. End of story.”

  “Tobias! You do that at every singing.”

  “Right. Tonight was the same as always.”

  “I’m not asking you who you took home—if you took a girl home . . .”

  “Gut, because I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Rosanna playfully punched her bruder’s arm. “Tell me who talked to whom, who left together, who—”

  “You want me to gossip?”

  “I want you to tell me what happened besides the fact that you gorged yourself on sweets.”

  “Is there anyone in particular you want details about?”

  “Uh, just the general stuff.”

  “Right.” Tobias again attempted to leave the room.

  Rosanna quickly latched onto his arm and held it tighter this time. “Was Emma there?”

  “Jah.”

  “Was Henry there?”

  “Aha! Now we’re getting down to business.”

  “Tobias, you’re making this a lot more difficult than it needs to be.”

  “Then why don’t you spit out what you really want to know? Maybe I’ll have an answer, and maybe I won’t.”

  Rosanna rolled her eyes. Bruders could be so impossible. A girl would have told her who was there, what each person wore, who paired off, and who left first. With buwe, you had to drag every tidbit of information out of them inch by inch. How was she going to ask her questions without seeming too desperate? “Did Frannie leave with anyone?”

  “Not that I noticed.”

  Rosanna sighed. Would Tobias have noticed if an elephant had stomped through the barn in the middle of the singing? “D-did Henry leave with anyone?”

  “Let me think.” Tobias tapped his head as if in deep thought.

  Rosanna was about ready to tear her hair out—or Tobias’. “Well?”

  “I’m thinking. If my memory serves me correctly, he left about the same time as Frannie, but they didn’t walk out together.”

  “But they could have met up outside.” Rosanna hadn’t meant to give voice to her thought.

  “That’s possible, but I didn’t leave then, so I don’t know. What do you see in Henry Zook, anyway?”

  “He’s a nice bu.”

  “I suppose. But there are lots of nice fellows, probably nicer ones than Henry.”

  “Maybe.” Was Tobias trying to tell her something, or was she reading too much into his comment?

  “Can I have my arm back now so I can go to bed?”

  Rosanna released her grip on Tobias’ upper arm. “Pleasant dreams.”

  “If I even have time to dream now.” Tobias did his clumsy version of tiptoeing out of the room. At the doorway, he called over his shoulder. “I almost forgot. Someone asked about you.”

  “Who?”

  “Paul Hertzler.”

  * * *

  Paul shivered when he emerged from the barn. He glanced up at the stars gleaming in the inky sky. The absence of clouds allowed the temperature to drop quickly. It would definitely feel gut to get inside. He might have to stand by the stove for a minute or two to soak up some heat before heading upstairs to bed.

  The evening had been a bit of a disappointment. Oh, he’d enjoyed the singing all right. And he’d talked and laughed with the other fellows afterward, but his heart wasn’t really in it. When he looked across the barn at the girls and didn’t see Rosanna’s lovely, smiling face, he felt like a balloon that had sprung a leak. His joy seeped out the way the balloon’s air hissed out of a tiny puncture.

  He shouldn’t have built up his hopes. Rosanna had told him she probably wouldn’t attend. She had an infant to care for now. He understood. Really, he did. And he admired her. How many young women would take on such a responsibility? His opinion of her rose a notch—and he had thought it was already as high as it could go.

  Paul slipped inside the dark, silent house. He hurried into the kitchen to stand beside the stove. His hands had grown cold even inside his heavy gloves. He rubbed them together to get the blood moving. A cup of hot chocolate might raise his body temperature and lift his spirits. That is, if he could find a little packet of the instant stuff around. He always tried to squirrel away a few packs, but his younger bruders were notorious scavengers, especially when it came to chocolate.

  At several inches over six feet, Paul could easily reach the top cabinets without climbing onto a stool or chair. His fingers fumbled beneath the huge, heavy platter Mamm used at Thanksgiving or Christmas or whenever they had a large gathering. He was rewarded when two packets of cocoa mix fell to the counter. Gut, his secret hiding place was still safe. He tucked one packet back under the platter and reached for a mug on a lower shelf. The kettle of water Mamm always kept on the stove should be plenty hot enough.

  Paul sipped the cocoa slowly, allowing the liquid to warm him from the inside out as his mind replayed the evening. Most of the youngies had attended the singing. The usual pairs slipped out together at the end. Most likely, several of those couples would be published at an upcoming church service. At twenty-four, he was more than ready to become one of those couples. The problem was “a couple” meant “two.” He had yet to find the other half of his couple.

  He supposed he could have asked to take Emma Kurtz home. She was nice enough, and pleasing to look at with her blonde hair and blue eyes, but he was rather partial to dark hair and chocolate ey
es. Frannie Hostetler had brown hair and eyes, but they were light brown, not dark. He might as well face it. Only one person would do. And she didn’t seem to know he existed. Her attention always seemed drawn to Henry Zook.

  Paul had a sneaking suspicion that Frannie had her sights set on Henry, too. What was so appealing about Henry? He seemed like an average sort of fellow to Paul. Maybe he should be more observant of Henry and take note. Paul wasn’t sure, but he thought Henry had followed Frannie outside tonight. That might be a point in his favor if Henry did that. Maybe if Henry showed an interest in Frannie, Paul would have a sliver of a chance to win Rosanna Mast’s heart.

  * * *

  Paul had asked about her? He was such a thoughtful person. Rosanna refilled the kettle with water, since whichever of her siblings had snuck in for cocoa hadn’t thought to do so. She rinsed the mug left on the counter and set it in the sink before the chocolate residue hardened. Whoever had drunk the cocoa could have easily done that. The culprit must have been Joseph. Tobias hadn’t taken time for a drink, and there would have been two mugs if her schweschders had ventured downstairs in the dark. At least there wasn’t a trail of chocolate on the counter to clean up.

  She should return to bed. As it was, she’d only get an hour or two of sleep before Mollie awoke again. But now more confusing thoughts swirled around in her brain. Maybe she should prepare a cup of cocoa. Nee, she’d rather have tea.

  Henry and Frannie. Rosanna wrapped her cold hands around the steaming mug. Did they meet up after leaving the singing separately? Had Henry never made any attempt to ask Rosanna to ride home because he was interested in Frannie? She plunked the mug down so hard that hot tea sloshed over the rim and splashed onto her hands. She blew on her fingers but scarcely registered the pain.

  All this time she’d been waiting for Henry to make a move. She’d talked to him after singings. They’d laughed over a couple of the other buwe’s silly antics. He had even hinted that he was interested in her. At least she thought he had. Rosanna figured Henry was a little shy and that’s why he hesitated to ask to take her home. Maybe he’d only been politely enduring their conversations when he really wanted to be spending time with Frannie. Or maybe the thought of becoming an instant daed scared him off. He certainly didn’t show any interest in Mollie. Oooh! Why did things have to be so complicated?

  Rosanna took a mental survey of the young men she knew. Would any of them want a girl who already had a boppli? Paul always seemed interested, and he often inquired about Mollie, but that was probably just his way. None of the other fellows had made any such gesture. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong and ended up with an infant. She sat back and crossed her arms across her chest. Well, Mollie was here to stay, even if none of the fellows wanted a package deal!

  “Someone asked about you.” Tobias’ words echoed in Rosanna’s head. Was Paul Hertzler simply being polite, as he always was? His interest in Mollie certainly seemed genuine.

  She raised the mug to her lips. Yuck! The tea had grown cold while her mixed-up thoughts danced around in her brain. She threw a glance at the battery-operated wall clock. If she crawled back beneath her covers right now, she might be able to snatch a whole hour of sleep before Mollie stirred.

  Chapter Seven

  “Rosanna! Rosanna!”

  Rosanna leaped from her bed. The room was still dark. She couldn’t have missed the old rooster’s crowing; she never slept that deeply. But she had been pretty sleep-deprived since Mollie arrived. Automatically she reached into the cradle to lay a hand on the boppli’s chest. The gentle rise and fall told her Mollie was fine. She stumbled to the door and stuck her head out into the hallway.

  “Rosanna, get dressed.”

  “What’s wrong, Mamm? What time is it?” Rosanna’s heart thumped wildly. What tragedy had occurred to get her mudder out of bed in the middle of the night? She rubbed her eyes to clear away the sleep.

  “It’s three o’clock.”

  “Three? What’s wrong?”

  “Menno Troyer sent word. Becky is having her twins. I’ll need your help.”

  “I thought she was delivering at the hospital.”

  “I thought that was the plan, too. Apparently the twins have other plans.”

  “Shouldn’t they call the rescue squad and take her to the hospital?”

  “Menno said she wanted to stay home. Hurry!”

  “What about Mollie?”

  “Bundle her up and bring her. We’ll send word for Mary Hertzler to pick her up if we’ll be a long time with Becky.”

  “Okay, Mamm, I’ll hurry.”

  Rosanna raced back to her room, lit a kerosene lamp, and dressed as quickly as her shaky fingers would allow. She knew her mamm had told Becky she should go to the hospital for the birth. Becky’s pregnancy had been progressing normally, but twins could present more challenges. Becky must have been so determined to have a home birth that she put off letting anyone know it was time until it was too late. The rescue squad could always be summoned if necessary, though. Rosanna prayed that wouldn’t happen.

  She threw diapers and clothes into the diaper bag. She’d grab a can of powdered formula from the kitchen. When all was ready, she eased Mollie from the cradle, extinguished the lamp, and juggled bag and boppli while trying to tiptoe downstairs.

  “I’ve already got bottles and formula in a bag,” Sarah announced as Rosanna entered the kitchen.

  Daed, bleary-eyed from being aroused from his sleep earlier than usual, entered the kitchen from the mudroom. “The buggy is ready for you. Is there any kaffi?”

  “Why don’t you go back to bed, Samuel?” Sarah took a moment to pour a mug full of steaming kaffi after she filled a large metal thermos to take to the Troyers’. Even from Rosanna’s position across the room, she could tell the dark brew would be as strong as a mule kick.

  “I’d just have to get up in an hour, so I might as well stay up.” Samuel took the mug from his fraa and dropped onto a chair. He took a gulp and then set the mug down. He held out his arms to hold Mollie so Rosanna could fasten her cloak and tie her black bonnet over her kapp.

  “Ready?” Sarah asked.

  Rosanna nodded and retrieved Mollie. “Let’s go.”

  She shivered as she settled on the buggy seat beside her mudder. She pulled the blanket tighter around Mollie and held her closer. “I can’t understand why Menno didn’t call the rescue squad, since you told them she should deliver at the hospital.”

  “Menno is a young husband who wants to please his fraa. If Becky said she wanted to give birth at home, Menno probably didn’t even question it. If she said she wanted to give birth on the moon, he’d build a spaceship.”

  Rosanna laughed. Would she ever know such love and devotion? “You don’t think there will be any problems, do you, Mamm?”

  “I don’t expect any. Becky’s checkups have always been fine, but with twins, everything is a little trickier. I didn’t want to have to transfer Becky halfway through the labor if a problem cropped up. That’s why I urged her to go to the hospital.”

  “We’ll pray everything goes well.” Rosanna fell silent. If she wasn’t so cold, she could easily drift off to sleep. She hoped the excitement of the twins’ birth would keep her alert.

  * * *

  Three hours later, the sun had crept up the sky, the frost had vanished from the grass, and the twins had still not put in an appearance. Rosanna had fed Mollie and laid her in the little nest she had made for her in the corner of the room.

  With each contraction Becky asked if the bopplin were almost here. Each time, Sarah replied, “Not yet,” and Becky would flop back on her pillow and sigh.

  “You can get up and walk around if you’d like. Sometimes that helps speed things up a bit,” Sarah advised.

  “I want to save my energy.”

  Sarah looked at Rosanna, rolled her eyes, and mouthed, “This could take a while.”

  Rosanna had to turn her back to the bed to keep Becky from seeing her shake w
ith silent laughter.

  “Maybe we should send Menno to fetch Mary before things get too busy here,” Sarah said. “She can watch Mollie so you won’t have to worry about interrupting your work for a feeding.”

  “Nee!” Becky sat up straight. “Menno has to stay here with me!”

  “He’s just pacing in the hallway right now, Becky.” Sarah stepped over to the bed and patted her patient’s arm. “It will give the poor bu something to do instead of wear a hole in the floor and worry about you.”

  “What if the twins kumm while he’s gone?”

  “I don’t see any indication that birth is imminent. In fact, we probably have time to transfer you to the hospital.” This wasn’t the first attempt to persuade Becky to change her mind. So far all attempts had failed. Rosanna waited for this one to fail as well. Mentally she counted the seconds.

  “Nee!”

  Twelve seconds. Last time, it only took nine. Could she be wavering?

  “Is there a reason you don’t want to go to the hospital other than having your heart set on a home birth?”

  Becky swiped a hand across her eyes. “My mamm died at a hospital.”

  Rosanna knew Becky’s mudder had passed on but didn’t know any details. Menno had gone to Ohio to stay with relatives for a while and had come back married to Becky.

  “I’m sorry, dear.” Sarah gave the girl a brief hug. “You know, hospitals really are gut places. They try to help people, but sometimes they just can’t.”

  Becky bobbed her head and swiped at her eyes again. She grabbed Sarah’s hand. “Please. I want to stay here. You can send Menno for Mary if that will make it easier for me to stay here.”

  “Okay, Becky. Remember to breathe, dear.” Sarah nodded at Rosanna before snatching a tissue from the box on the bedside table to wipe Becky’s tears.

  Rosanna poked her head into the hallway to give poor Menno his instructions. She nearly chuckled at his eagerness to flee the house for a few minutes.

  * * *

  The twins, a boy and a girl, finally arrived shortly after noon. Most likely Menno was the most relieved person in the whole bunch. He had alternately paced, held his fraa’s hand, rubbed his stubbly brown beard that still hadn’t filled in after a year of marriage, and paced some more. His pacing rankled Rosanna’s nerves more than Becky’s wailing had. She was used to women’s sounds and actions during birth, but the bumbling, nervous fellows got to her after a while.