Emma shook her head. “I just decided to stay recently.”
“I think it might be a gut idea to get him checked out. If it’s an ear infection he’ll need to get some medicine.” She straightened John’s shirt and stood. “I can take you to Dr. Smith’s clinic. I have my buggy parked out back.”
“But your class—”
“Emma! John’s more important than a class.”
“Danki.” She took John back and they walked out into the shop. “Hannah, I’m sorry, but Rebecca thinks John may have an ear infection. She’s going to drive us to the doctor.”
“That’s gut,” Hannah said. “You let me know how it goes and if you need anything.”
John blinked as a raindrop landed on his head when they walked out to the buggy. “This is the second time you’ve helped me with John,” Emma told her.
“I’m so happy to do it. I worried a bit when you left to have John in Ohio.” Rebecca climbed into the buggy. “Then I reminded myself of what Mamm used to say.”
Emma looked at her curiously.
“She said worry is arrogant. God knows what He’s doing.” With that she called, “Giddyap,” and the buggy began moving.
* * *
Eli paused to glance up at the sky. Storm clouds were gathering. It wouldn’t be much longer before it began raining.
He began walking down the rows of corn, checking the occasional plant. He had just made it to the porch when the sky seemed to open up. The rain poured, drumming on the porch roof. He took off his hat and went inside. After he washed up he fixed himself a ham sandwich and a glass of cold tea.
His cell phone rang. “Gideon. What’s up?”
“I thought you might like to know Emma’s taking John to the doctor.”
Eli sat down heavily. “What’s the matter with him? Is it serious?”
“Hannah said she didn’t know. Just thought I’d call you in case you wanted to go see for yourself. Rebecca was at the shop and she’s taking them to the clinic.” He paused. “And Eli? If you go, pay for the visit.”
Eli stiffened. “I don’t need to be reminded to do what’s right. Thank you for telling me. I’ll head over right away.” He broke the connection, grabbed his hat, and rushed out the door. He was soaked by the time he hitched up the buggy, but he barely felt it as he climbed inside and began the trip to the clinic.
And as he drove there he thought about how he hadn’t offered Emma any money for expenses since she’d come back to town. He just hadn’t thought about it.
Well, he could fix that.
When he pulled up at the clinic, he saw Rebecca walking out. He jumped out of his buggy and rushed up to her. “How’s John?”
She stared at him for a moment and he realized that Emma must not have told him who John’s dat was.
“John’s mine.”
Rebecca nodded with comprehension. “I think it’s an ear infection,” she said. “Emma’s in the waiting room.”
“Danki for bringing them.”
“You’re wilkuum. I’d stay but I got a call from one of my mudders. She’s in labor. I told Emma I’d arrange for someone to come get her when she’s ready.”
“I’ll take them back to the motel.”
She nodded. “Gut.” She said her goodbyes and rushed off.
He went inside and saw Emma holding John as she struggled to fill out some paperwork on a clipboard. She looked up, surprised, when he sat beside her.
“Gideon called me and told me you were here.”
“Hannah must have called him. You didn’t have to come.”
That hurt. “Of course I had to come. Emma, he’s my sohn and I love you both.”
She glanced around to see if anyone was listening. That stabbed at him again. She seemed reassured when she realized the waiting room was empty but for them.
They needed their relationship to be made legal so she wouldn’t feel she had to hide it. But this was no time to press the issue.
John looked miserable. Tears stained his cheeks and he kept tugging at one ear.
“Hey, little guy, you’re not feeling gut?”
But instead of calming down John screwed up his face and cried harder. Frustrated, Eli took off his hat intending to put it on the seat beside him. The action caught John’s attention and he stopped midcry. Acting on an impulse, Eli settled the hat on John’s head. It slipped down of course and covered his eyes. He pushed it up and Eli cried, “Peekaboo!”
John chortled. Eli took advantage of his laughter to reach for him and settle him on his lap. They played with the hat while Emma quickly completed the paperwork and took it over to the receptionist.
When she returned and sat back down, she lifted her eyebrows as if asking if he wanted her to take John back.
He shook his head. “Please, let me hold him. I want him to learn to love me.”
Emma nodded. “I think it’s going to cost you a hat.”
Eli glanced down at John who was smushing the straw hat to pieces. He laughed when John chomped on the brim and made a face. “It’s worth it.”
When the receptionist called Emma over to ask her a question about the paperwork, Eli looked at John. “I’ll buy you your own straw hat when you’re old enough. And a pony. Would you like a pony? Sssh, here comes your mudder. Don’t tell her about the pony.”
“What’s going on?” Emma asked when she sat down.
“Just guy talk.”
The door near them opened and a nurse stepped out. “Mrs. Graber? We can see John now.”
Emma stood and reached for John. Eli kept him firmly in his arms and got up, walking toward the nurse so Emma had no choice but to follow.
He’d made his point about being included, but when the doctor came in and began asking questions as she examined John, Eli had to defer to Emma. He didn’t know his sohn’s medical history. He’d missed his birth. His first cry. His first smile.
As he watched Emma answer the doctor’s questions, he sensed her nervousness. He suddenly realized he hadn’t been there for her at a time that must have been scary for a young woman.
The doctor used an instrument to peer into John’s ears. John wasn’t happy about it, but the woman had a way of teasing him and diverting his attention that allowed her to look into both of them.
“Definitely ear infection,” the doctor said as she stepped back. “I’m surprised John’s not crying more than he is.”
“He’s usually a happy baby.” Emma dressed John while the doctor tapped at the keyboard of her laptop.
“I’ve sent a prescription for an antibiotic to the pharmacy you listed closest to your home. Bring John back in a week for a recheck, and don’t hesitate to call us if he doesn’t improve in a few days or you have any questions.”
Eli paid the bill on the way out. He could tell Emma was surprised and felt a little annoyed. What, did she think he wouldn’t do so?
“Rebecca said I should call her and she’d see that I got a ride back to the motel,” Emma told him.
Now he really was annoyed. “Did you think I intended to just walk off?” he demanded.
She blinked. “I don’t know what you intended.”
“I’m taking you back to the motel. After we get John’s prescription.”
They rode to town in silence. John fell asleep just a block or two from the doctor’s office. Eli glanced over at Emma and saw her eyes drifting shut.
When a car passed them and the wind shook the buggy, her head bobbed up. She yawned. “John and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
He nodded with understanding as he parked his buggy by the pharmacy and went in with her. He pulled a shopping cart out for her to set John in his carrier inside, then grabbed a cart of his own. “Get whatever you need. Diapers, milk, baby food. Whatever.”
“Did you win the lottery?” she teased.
“It’s about time I paid for the things my sohn needs,” he growled. “I’ll go get his prescription.” He walked away from her quickly, knowing he was letting what G
ideon had said bother him.
He helped carry the bags into her motel room and then stood there awkwardly as she put John in the crib the motel had provided. John settled right down and went back to sleep. When Emma turned to him, Eli saw lavender shadows under her eyes. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her look tired.
“If there isn’t anything else I can do for you I’m going to head home.”
She nodded. “Danki for everything.”
“Don’t want thanks,” he said gruffly. He bent down and kissed her cheek. “Get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He brooded all the way home, and after he unhitched the buggy and put his horse up he walked into the house. Gideon was already there, bending down to check on something in the oven. Normally he was happy to see Gideon making a meal so he didn’t have to cook, but all he could do was remember Gideon’s pointed suggestion that he pay for John’s doctor visit.
“I went to the clinic and paid the bill then paid for John’s prescription and a bunch of stuff he needed,” he said as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of cold tea. “You happy?”
Gideon closed the oven door, straightened, and turned to look at him. “Came home with a chip on your shoulder, did you? Well, I’m happy to knock it off for you.”
Eli set the pitcher down so hard tea slopped over the rim. “Ya, you and whose army?” he snarled as he started across the room.
“Well, I can see my sohns are getting along just like usual,” Leah said as she strolled into the room.
Chapter Fifteen
You didn’t tell me she was here,” Eli told Gideon.
“You didn’t give me the chance.”
Leah folded her arms across her chest. “Nice to see you, Mamm,” she said drily.
“Nice to see you, Mamm,” they repeated in unison.
She frowned. “Very funny. I was talking to you, Eli. Gideon said hello when he came home and found me here.”
“It’s gut to see you,” Eli told her as he crossed the room to kiss his mudder on the cheek. He sniffed the air. “Is that your famous meatloaf I smell?”
“It might be,” she said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table and gesturing for him to sit. “But your charm isn’t going to work right now. Sit.”
Eli eyed her warily as he took a seat. He glanced accusingly at Gideon. “Did you tell her?”
“Don’t go blaming your bruder,” Leah said as she sat opposite him at the table. “One of my friends wrote me. Thought I should know about Emma and your boppli.”
He remembered Emma telling him Sarah had visited the quilt shop. His mudder and Sarah had been friends for years. But he had no idea how she’d figured out John was his sohn.
“Busybody Sarah,” he muttered. “Ow!” he cried when his mudder cuffed him upside his head.
“Don’t you be talking that way!” she scolded. “She’s a gut woman who felt I should know what’s going on. How long were you going to hide him from me?”
“I didn’t know about John until a little while ago.” He saw the doubt in her eyes and turned to Gideon. “Tell her.”
Gideon took a seat at the table “Emma did just come back to town. But…” He trailed off meaningfully.
“She did come to tell me when she first found out she was carrying,” Eli admitted. “But she left town before I could do anything.”
Leah leaned toward him, looking stern. “So now she’s back.” Before he could respond she asked, “And what do you intend to do now?”
“I’m trying to do it.”
“Don’t try. Do.”
He got to his feet, paced the room. “I’ll admit I wasn’t prepared for the news when Emma told me. I didn’t react the way she wanted. That she needed. But since she’s come back she’s not exactly wanting to jump into marriage, either.”
“There’s a kind involved now. He shouldn’t have to wait around while his eldres decide if he should have a name and a place in our community.”
“I’m working on her,” he said as he took his seat. “I’m showing her I want to be John’s dat and her mann. I just came from the doctor’s office and got his medicine and—”
“He’s sick?” Leah stood so quickly her chair fell backward. “What’s wrong with him?”
Eli stood and righted the chair. He laid his hand on his mudder’s shoulder. “It’s nothing major. Doctor thinks he has an ear infection. We got his prescription and some other things he needed and I took her back to the motel.”
“Motel? Why isn’t she staying with her eldres?”
“They wouldn’t have anything to do with her.”
Leah pondered that. “Her dat is stern. No question.”
The oven timer buzzed.
“I’ll get it,” Gideon said. He rose and turned off the timer, then pulled on oven mitts and took the roaster from the oven. After setting it on top of the stove and tossing the mitts on the counter, he got plates from a cupboard and set the table.
“I want to see him,” Leah said suddenly. “When can I see him?”
“I’ll call Emma in the morning and find out.”
“He looks just like Eli,” Gideon said as he retrieved silverware from a drawer and brought it to the table.
“If you’re lucky he won’t be as much of a challenge as you were,” she told Eli with some asperity. “Still are,” she muttered as she rose to walk to the stove.
Feeling chastened, Eli glanced at Gideon. To his credit, his bruder didn’t say anything. Eli knew he’d been a bit of a trial growing up. Gideon had always been the gut sohn who behaved himself. Gideon had never skipped schul, talked back, or tried to fly off the roof of the house. Eli figured he was probably responsible for some of the gray hairs on her head.
Eli watched his mudder transfer the meatloaf and vegetables to a platter. He got up, and nudged her gently aside when she lifted the platter. “Let me carry this. Least I can do when you cooked after a long bus ride.”
“Danki.” She followed him to the table and sat.
After they’d given thanks for the meal, he waited for her to serve herself, then helped himself to a large portion of meatloaf and roasted potatoes and carrots. “I really missed your cooking. Gideon made some of your recipes while you were gone, but it just didn’t taste the same.”
Gideon took the platter Eli handed him and frowned at him. “That’s the thanks I get for cooking.” He turned to his mudder. “He’d have lived on peanut butter sandwiches the whole time you were gone if I hadn’t cooked.”
“Enough,” she said firmly. “Eli, I want to hear about John.”
So he found himself telling her everything he knew as they ate. It wasn’t much and he felt guilty about that. “I’ll call her after supper and see if John’s feeling better. She’s working part-time for Hannah at the quilt shop.”
“Invite her to supper tomorrow.”
“Allrecht.”
“I made dessert,” she told him. “My chocolate chess pie. You can have some after you make your phone call.”
Eli made speedy work of his supper and headed out to the phone shanty. Now he had to hope that Emma would agree to come to supper tomorrow night. He sent up a prayer that she would. He hadn’t brought Emma to the house much before she’d moved away, but she and his mudder had always gotten along.
But as he waited for her to pick up the phone he found himself holding his breath. So much depended on Emma seeing his mudder wanted her to be part of the familye.
* * *
“You’re schur you didn’t make her ask us to supper.”
Eli turned to Emma. “How many times do I have to tell you? She was the one who invited you. I think she’d have insisted I bring you last night but I’d told her that you took John to the doctor.”
She chewed on her thumbnail as she glanced into the back seat, where John was strapped into the car seat. He was sound asleep.
Eli reached over and took her hand. “Stop that. You have no need to be nervous. Mamm’s always liked you.”
>
“She can’t be happy about John.”
“She’s not happy with me for not doing what I should have earlier, but that doesn’t mean she’s upset about John. Or you. So relax.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Emma rubbed at the stain on her skirt. She should have known better than to give John a dose of his medicine after she’d put on her only clean dress. He hadn’t meant to bat it away just as she got it close to his mouth, but now she wore some of it that she hadn’t been able to sponge off. She sighed.
“You look pretty today.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. She’d glanced in the mirror just before she left the motel room. Did the man think she didn’t know what she looked like after a sleepless night with a sick boppli? She had dark circles worthy of a raccoon under her eyes.
“What? I can’t tell you that you look pretty?”
“I’m tired, Eli. John kept me up most of the night.”
“I’m sorry.” He glanced into the back seat, then back at her.
She shrugged. “He isn’t sick often. Maybe he’ll sleep tonight.”
“Should we wake him up so he will?”
“Nee. Let him sleep.”
She felt herself growing drowsy as the buggy rolled along. “I thought your mudder was going to stay at her schweschder’s another month.”
“She was. A certain busybody apparently wrote her about John.”
“Don’t talk like that. It’s not kind. I knew it was just a matter of time before someone said something to somebody. My eldres know I’m in town. I’ve wondered if the bishop is going to come talk to me.”
“I heard he’s down with the flu.”
The farm came into view. Emma found her heart beating fast as she took in the sight of the sprawling white farmhouse and the fields with their carefully tended crops. She had been here with Eli a few times when they dated, and it had always felt like home. Still, she felt herself tensing as she thought about seeing Eli’s mudder and introducing her to the grosssohn she didn’t know she had until recently.
The Amish Baby Finds a Home Page 11