West For Love (A Mail Order Romance Novel) (18 page)

“Josephine!” Thomas bellowed.

Jo rushed into the room, carrying
Thomas Jr. Jo let out a gasp and then a smiling cry.

Anna looked at Jo.

Smiling?

“Anna, that’s your water breaking,”
Jo said.

“My... water...,” Anna whispered.

“Anna, Thomas, the baby is coming,”
Jo said. “The baby is coming!”

Anna found the strength to smile
and then the overall strength to stand. If the baby was coming they needed to
get to Dr. Hibert right then. No questions. No hesitations.

Both Jo and Thomas helped Anna into
the carriage as the sun made its appearance to usher in the new day. Bright
yellow rays ran along the ground, the melting frost glistening. As they started
to travel, Anna looked around, trying to keep herself calm. She hoped that she
would get a chance to see the house again. Such a morbid thought during labor
but it’s what happened to Rachel. She got into the carriage in labor and never
came home.

For the ride, Jo rubbed Anna’s
back, humming, whistling, hushing her, whispering to her. Telling her how
strong she was. How beautiful she was. How perfect their family was going to be.
Thomas Jr. was an amazing baby during the entire ride. He was wrapped up so
warm and tight, Jo holding him close to her body, he was safe and sound.

Anna looked at Thomas and said, “You
forgot gloves.”

“It’s okay,” Thomas said.

Anna saw the raw redness of his
hands, his knuckles looking like marbles as they shook and gripped the reigns
tight. Anna knew he had to be in pain from the cold air but not an ounce of
care showed on Thomas’s face.

“Thank you for caring for me,” Anna
said.

“Thank you for caring for me,”
Thomas said back. “I love you, my Anna. Please be strong right now.”

“I’m strong,” Anna said and held
her stomach.

“Good,” Thomas said.

When the town came into view, Anna
smiled but the smile was stolen by another terrible pain. They were intense
contractions and Anna held her legs together tight. She feared if she opened
them the baby would be there. That’s how much pressure was between her legs.
The pain didn’t help at all, forcing the pressure down, down, down...

Once the carriage was parked,
Thomas ran from it, going to seek out Dr. Hibert. Anna watched her husband run
like the wind, all for the safety of herself and their baby. She thought about
the first time meeting him. How she had fainted and he caught her. How they
shared that look... that instant feeling of love attacking her.

When Thomas came running back to
the carriage, Anna met eyes with him and knew that if she never saw the house
again, she could at least die with the memory of Thomas running for her. To
help her. To protect her.

All because he loved her.

They were finally inside and warm
minutes later.

Anna held Jo’s hand and wept. Jo
cried too. The only calm person in the room was Dr. Hibert. Thomas waited in
another room, with Thomas Jr.. Dr. Hibert had sent one of his sons to get
Elinore, the midwife, but there would be no time. The baby was coming.

Right
now.

Anna faded in and out of the room,
hearing the commands from the doctor sometimes clear as day and other times as
a harrowing echo, as though they were a mile apart.  At one point, Anna swore
she felt someone touch her left shoulder but nobody stood at her left side.

Dr. Hibert commanded Anna to push.
To push as hard as she could. She felt the baby, she really felt it moving out
of her. She heard Jo let out a loud cry of what sounded like relief.

Jo said one word... “Head!” and
Anna screamed as her body demanded she keep pushing. She felt she had no
strength, no energy, no more life to give to this.

Dr. Hibert cried out to Anna as Jo
cheered her on.

Anna tried to say something along
the lines of Jo and Thomas being together. That was Anna’s wish as everything
started to go black. The feeling in her body ended starting with her toes and
rushed up fast. Everything became numb and too weak to do a thing. As the feeling
overtook everywhere else, Anna heard Dr. Hibert announce one last thing.

“It’s a boy!”

Chapter Seventeen

Anna opened her eyes and the first
thing she noticed was heaven looked pretty dark. Too dark. It wasn’t like
anything she thought it would be. The next thing she noticed was her mouth was
dry. Too dry. And her body... her body felt... worn out. She moved her legs and
a mild pain pulsed everywhere.

Wasn’t heaven supposed to be
comfortable?

“Oh, sweet Anna, look at you...”

Anna saw Jo sitting next to her,
wringing out a cloth and placing it back to Anna’s head.

“Jo? Did you die too?” Anna asked.

Jo laughed. “Sweet Anna, nobody’s
dead.”

“What?”

“Nobody died. You’re fine. And your
baby, your son, is healthy.”

Anna pulled the wet cloth from her
head. She forced herself to sit up. She looked around the room.

“Where? Where is he?”

Her lips shook and tears filled her
eyes.

“With Thomas,” Jo said. “I’ll go
get them.”

The minute it took Jo to come back
with Anna’s family was the longest minute of Anna’s life. But when Thomas
walked into the room, he stood holding Thomas Jr. and a newborn baby, wrapped
in a warm blanket. Anna let out a cry and felt her entire body shake.

She had done it.

She had given birth to a baby.

A
son.

She and Thomas’s son.

“Anna,” Thomas said as he stepped
towards Anna.

Jo took Thomas Jr. from Thomas and
Thomas then fell to one knee, showing Anna their son. Anna touched the baby’s
soft, warm face. He moved his head and his eyes slowly began to open. The
second Anna saw his eyes, she knew they were the eyes of life, the eyes of
love, the eyes of hope.

“Oh, he’s so beautiful. Is he
healthy?”

“Perfectly,” another voice said.

Dr. Hibert walked into the room
with a woman beside him. She looked as aged as Dr. Hibert, a skinny and tall
woman, looking at the picturesque scene of family.

“Why did it happen so early?” Anna
asked.

“That’s your body,” the woman said.

“This is Elinore,” Dr. Hibert said.

“I came just after the baby was
born,” Elinore said. “I took the baby and Dr. Hibert helped you.”

“I’m okay?”

“Anna,” Dr. Hilbert said.
“Everything is perfect. It was just time. That baby wanted out!”

“I know that,” Anna said and
laughed.

“You did it,” Thomas said.

“No, Thomas, we did it. Together.”

“So, do we have a name for this
beautiful boy?” Elinore asked.

Anna looked at Thomas and Thomas
smiled. Both Anna and Thomas looked at Elinore. Together they said the same
name.

“Joseph.”

There was no doubt about it.

The baby deserved to be named after
Jo, the woman who did so much for their family.

“It’s only right and fair,” Anna
said looking at Jo now. “We’ll call him Joe for short and each time we say it,
we’ll think of you and smile. For all you’ve done.”

“That’s too much,” Jo said. “You
should name him after a male in your life, Anna.”

“Jo, the baby has a name now,” Anna
said.

“That’s right,” Thomas said.
“Joseph. Joe for short. It’s perfect.”

“He looks like Joe to me,” Dr. Hibert
said.

“Okay, why don’t I talk to Anna in
private,” Elinore said. “I want to talk about feeding the baby.”

“Jo can stay,” Anna said. “She’s
been a wet nurse to Thomas Jr. since he was born.”

“Of course,” Elinore said.

Thomas handed Anna baby Joe, giving
her the chance to hold the baby outside the womb for the first time. She sat up
and held her son, feeling a complete feeling that she never felt in her life.
Thomas kissed her, confessed his love again and again, then left the room with
Thomas Jr. and Dr. Hibert.

Everything was perfect.

And everything continued to be
perfect, or as perfect as it could be. Once home, Anna now became mother to two
boys. Thomas Jr. moved beyond the stage of crawling, trying to stand and step.
He made Anna nervous all the time and Thomas with a sense of pride in his eyes.
He joked with Anna that by the time the summer crops came in, Thomas Jr. could
help him work in the fields.

Baby Joe seemed to change everyday
but his hair came in dark and stayed dark. His eyes started as a crystal blue
color, reminding Anna of Abigail’s eyes. They darkened a little, settling to
match the color of Anna’s eyes. It took a little while for Anna to get used to
breastfeeding, even offering the baby to Jo more than once. But Jo refused,
helping Anna until baby Joe finally took and continued to take to his mother’s
breast.

Some of the nights were long, but
Anna never complained. She knew Thomas’s first wife, Rachel, would have given
anything to experience a long night of a crying, fussy baby. She thought about
Rachel more than she ever would confess to Thomas, wanting to keep her promise
to Thomas Jr. that he would someday understand what happened to his birth
mother. And that no matter what, Anna loved him with all her heart. She was
Thomas Jr.’s mother for all she felt in her heart and soul.

One morning after breakfast, Thomas
had set out to work. Anna went into the bedroom and noticed something on the
floor. It was a piece of paper and when Anna touched it, she almost instantly
knew. The paper was old and dirty.

It was the letter from Josephine to
Mary.

The letter that started it all.

The letter that Mary held as a
secret, waiting for Anna.

The letter that quite honestly
changed the lives of so many people.

To imagine a few words could do so much
was almost overwhelming.

Without that letter, there would be
no marriage. No baby Joe. Anna would have never experienced true love, true
passion, carrying a baby, birthing a baby, and having the chance to meet
someone so special as Jo.

As Anna unfolded the letter to read
it again, she felt her hands shaking. She was almost as nervous as the day she
read it for the first time. It seemed so long ago. And Anna, picturing herself
in her mind, seemed so innocent and lost.

But now she felt like a woman. A
strong, capable woman.

Anna looked at the letter and
scanned pieces of it, holding a hand to her mouth as she did so.

My
name is Josephine (you can call me Jo if you make me laugh once) and I’m
writing not for the benefit of myself but for the benefit of a broken hearted,
lonely man who deserves a clearer path in life... Thomas Jr. is a healthy baby,
a beautiful boy with the brightest blue eyes, the happiest of smiles, and is
perhaps a mirror image of his father... the moment I looked into his eyes and
then into the tear filled eyes of the baby’s father, I knew I couldn’t leave them...
I often find Thomas standing on the porch, looking into the distant night,
lost...

Anna folded the letter shut and
took a deep breath.

“Anna, can we talk?”

It was Jo’s voice and Anna knew
what it was about. That’s why she didn’t turn around right away. She didn’t
want to face reality.

Jo walked into the room and touched
Anna’s shoulder.

“I wrote how I saw Thomas with
tears in his eyes,” Jo said, “and how I knew I’d stay to care for Thomas Jr.
and him.”

Anna finally turned around, tears
in her own eyes.

“And now I see the tears in your
eyes, Anna, and I know my job here is done.”

Anna shook her head. “No. Jo...”

“You’re a beautiful woman. A
perfect bride. A caring wife. A nurturing mother. And a kind friend. But you,
Thomas, Thomas Jr., and Joseph... you are a family. And that family can’t
include me.”

“Yes it...”

“Would that be fair? Me to always
be here? In the way? Would I be fair to myself to live that way? Would it be
fair to all the other babies who are born without mothers to feed them?”

Anna closed her eyes and shook her
head. “No. It wouldn’t, Jo.”

“That’s why it’s time. And Anna, I
maybe want to find love now too.”

“Can you tell me more about
yourself? Right now?”

Jo smiled. “Telling anything would
do no good. I’ve seen a lot in my life. I’ve lived a lot too. I, for a long
time, had given up on love. That’s why when Thomas would first look at me, I
hated it. I didn’t want to become a replacement wife because of my gift from
God. I didn’t want to become a wife at all! But watching and you Thomas together,
well, it’s done something to me. You, Anna, have a gift from God.”

“What gift?”

“The gift of hope. You came all the
way to Kansas to a broken man. You fixed him. You allowed yourself to heal. You
allowed yourself to love. You stayed patient with Thomas Jr. and you always
cared for me. You were rewarded with Joseph. Your family. It’s all here.”

“And you’re going to leave?” Anna
asked.

Jo nodded. “But I’ll always write.”

“Write? Won’t you stay in town?
Find work?”

“I can’t be sure of what I’m going to
do. Maybe I’ll write to your friend back in Massachusetts, Mary. See if she can
help me.”

Anna smiled. “You want to become a
bride?”

Jo laughed. “I’m not sure. I just
know my time has come here... I have to leave.”

“We can take you to town,” Anna
said. “Have one last...”

Jo shook her head. “I’m sorry,
Anna, but I’ve made arrangements. My ride is outside waiting.”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

Anna felt tears fall from her eyes.
Jo embraced her and rocked her.

“This is the easiest way,” Jo
whispered. “No need to make every moment our last and draw it out. I’ll always
care for you, sweet Anna. And I swear I will write.”