The Duke and The Duchess (11 page)

Elizabeth came to Lamar Colorado from Boston by way of the train, she had found her family, a life and a new beginning where she least expected. Soon though, there would be a new addition to her small family of Brad and their son Wyatt. She looked fondly out the window often and was grateful for Mrs. Evens answering her classified. In her mind there was nothing better than what had occurred to her when she answered and followed her heart. Yet, one would wonder if this happiness could last longer than the post that delivered the letter to her hands in Boston.

Elizabeth looked out the window while holding Wyatt. He had gotten big in the months that had passed. She waited for Brad to come back in for lunch. She knew she had to go to town and visit Mrs. Evens. There was a letter in the post for her. She was hoping it was from Charley and Sarah of news of them coming for the holiday. She had written them so long ago to come and visit. She knew that Brad and she could not go to Boston with her in her last few months of pregnancy. She longed to show Brad and Wyatt to Charley and his family.

She was sure that Mae, Charley’s mother would approve of how she had grown in so many ways. She had learned how to cook much better and had no issue keeping up with little Wyatt as he would toddle around the house. Even with her stomach becoming larger. She could not believe how big she was getting as she rubbed her belly. Mrs. Evens kept telling Elizabeth she either had a farm hand inside her belly or a set of twins. Elizabeth just wanted a healthy child, she did not care if it was a farm hand or a set of twins.

The door opened and Brad came in, he wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and kissed the back of her neck. She shivered. He still had that effect on her. She placed her hands on his and looked up at him with her emerald green eyes. He kissed her nose and then went to pick up Wyatt who watched on. Wyatt ran from Brad and began to play hide and seek.

“I have to go into town Brad.” Elizabeth said as she placed lunch on the table. “Mrs. Evens has a letter for me.”

“Oh?” Brad nodded as he held Wyatt after capturing him. “A letter? Where do you think it is from?”

“I am hoping Boston.” Elizabeth sat down and smiled at Brad. “I am hoping to hear from Sarah and Charley and that they are coming out.”

“I see.” Brad nodded as he put Wyatt in a high chair. “And if they do come out during the holidays, you know they might not go back?”

“Oh?” Elizabeth traced her nails across Brad’s forearm, “And why is that?”

“Well this town has certainly grown on you.” Brad nodded as he ate the stew she had made. “Now, you know it is going to get bitter cold this winter. So while you are in town, talk to Mrs. Evens about that and what you will need for clothes.”

“I know, you keep saying that it will be cold.” Elizabeth took a bite of her stew and then gave some potatoes to Wyatt to munch on. “I will talk to Mrs. Evens as you suggest. I am sure she will have plenty of ideas. Besides, Wyatt will need clothes as well.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Mrs. Evens always gives Wyatt clothes.” He chuckled finishing his meal. “I will hitch up the wagon for you. You sure you know how to drive the team by now right?”

“Yes Brad.” Elizabeth sighed remembering the first time she drove the team of horses to town. She ended up about 10 miles from home because the horses took over and was nowhere near the town. “I have learned how to handle your beast.”

“They are not beast.” He chuckled as he headed out the door. “They just know how to take charge from one who is learning.”

She heard the door shut and cleaned up the table as Wyatt stuffed his face with potatoes, mashing them with his fingers. He was a year old now and wanted to do everything himself. He grinned and giggled at her. She shook her head and grabbed him to clean him up to get him ready to go to town. She felt a tight pain in her stomach and took a deep breath. Thinking nothing of it, she headed out to the team and put Wyatt in the seat next to her.

Brad had built him his own seat so he would not fall out when Elizabeth drove to town. Brad leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek. He noticed she looked a bit pale and wondered if he should go in with her. The town was only 5 miles away, however it could be a long drive when you were not feeling your best. He also knew he still had the winter wheat to tend to and animals to tend to make sure they were ready for the winter.

Elizabeth looked at him and then looked around. It was late October and they had had a few snow falls already. Brad told her that it was mild so far, that in the dead winter, they would be stuck in the house except to take care of the animals because of the cold and snow that would fall. She figured it could not be any worse than the winters in Boston, yet she kept that information to herself. She had never lived on the plains so she did not know what might come to pass.

“You sure you okay?” Brad asked. “I can take you in after I feed the stock and check the wheat.”

“I will be okay.” She looked at the crisp skies and felt the wind against her cheek. “We are bundled and ready to go. Wyatt can sleep at Mrs. Evens for his nap and I can check on winter clothing.”

“Well have Evan bring you back.” Brad nodded. “I trust you will be okay.”

“I will have Evan bring me back.” Elizabeth agreed as she took the reins and moved the horses forward. “He can stay the night so he is here to help you in the morning.”

Brad watched as she led the team down the road and towards Lamar. He figured he would just finish up what he needed to do and ride into town after. He could use a night in town and wanted to take Elizabeth out before she had the baby. They tried to get out once a week while Mrs. Evens would watch Wyatt for them. Sometimes they would just stay at the house and make love.

Elizabeth looked at the beautiful sky while she led the team to town. She felt the pains again and figured she just had eaten too much. She was only about 10 minutes from town when the pains started to come quicker. She looked at Wyatt as she smacked the reigns to the horses. As she saw the Evens home, she felt relief. Mrs. Evens was outside talking to a neighbor when she saw Elizabeth.

“Hello dear.” She called out as Elizabeth stopped in front of the house. “I will get Mr. Evens to house the team and you come in. You look a bit pale.”

“Thank you Mrs. Evens.” Elizabeth placed her hands on her belly. “I have been having some stomach pains.”

Mrs. Evens nodded as she took Wyatt down from the seat and let him hold her hand to walk to the house. Mr. Evens unhitched the team as Mrs. Evens whispered something in his ear. He nodded and began to move quicker.

“When did the pains start dear?” Mrs. Evens asked calmly.

“Oh, right after lunch.” Elizabeth responded as another pain gripped her and she drew in her breath.

“Well let’s get you in the house and comfortable.” Mrs. Evens answered, “I am going to send Evan to go get Brad to come to town tonight.”

“Oh, please Mrs. Evens don’t bother.” Elizabeth smiled softly. “The wheat has to be tended to and the cattle are needing to be fed before they bed down for the night.”

“Evan can help him with that.” Mrs. Evens responded, “Now come on.”

As they were walking to the porch Elizabeth felt another strong pang and bent over, gasping. She gripped onto Mrs. Evens hand and lost her breath.

“I don’t understand.” Elizabeth stated.

“Oh honey, don’t worry.” Mrs. Evens chuckled. “Women have been birthing babies since the beginning of time.”

“Birthing babies.” Elizabeth stated with shock. “I am not due for another month according to Dr. Minter.”

“Well a baby comes in its own time.” Mrs. Evens said softly. “No Doctor can determine the time of birth, just guess.”

Elizabeth nodded as the pangs went through her body. They had made it to the first step and she felt the wetness between her legs. As she looked down she saw the water forming. She felt a panic as Mrs. Evens held her hand and led her into the house.

“Oh Mrs. Evens, I am going to make a mess.” Elizabeth panted. “Can’t we make it to Docs office?”

“I have already sent Mr. Evens after the Doc.” Mrs. Evens responded. “Messes can be cleaned.”

Mrs. Evens waved to the neighbor to help her with Wyatt at she led Elizabeth to the sitting room. It would have to do for the moment. There was no way that Elizabeth would make it upstairs and the little one was ready to make its way into the world. After getting Elizabeth to the chair and settled, Mrs. Evens went and got a cool rag to place on her head.

“Elizabeth, you just hold on and breathe through the pain.” Mrs. Evens remained calm. “I will be right here.”

As she stated that, she heard the door open to the house and looked. Dr. Minter lived a few houses away, so she knew it would not take long for him to be there. He looked over Elizabeth and smiled.

“So the little one is coming early.” He laughed, “Now Elizabeth everything is going to be okay.”

He sat down and did an examination of Elizabeth. She was further in the delivery than he planned. He opened his bag and began to set out his tools.

“Well Mrs. Evens, how about you go boil me some water and get some towels.” He chuckled. “Seems your parlor will be the first place this little one sees. Now where is Wyatt and Brad?”

Elizabeth was aware of the bustling around her and the words seemed to fade into the background as the cramps built up. Soon she heard a cry as Dr. Minter held a baby in his arms.

“Well Miss Elizabeth, Wyatt has a brother.” He exclaimed as he cleaned the child up and looked at her.

Elizabeth smiled as she held out her hands to take the baby. She could not believe how small he was. Soon she felt another pain. Gasping and crying out, Dr. Minter looked to see what was causing her to have the pain.

“Well Miss Elizabeth, it seems you are going to have two babies today.” Dr. Minter sat back down and instructed Elizabeth as she bore down.

Mrs. Evens moved around the house as Elizabeth recovered from the delivery of the twins. Dr. Minter was surprised how well she had done for her first delivery. Both babies were doing well and looked very healthy. Brad had made it to the house right after she had delivered. He was upset with himself, knowing he should not have let her come alone. It all seemed to work out in the end.

Mrs. Evens gave him a cup of coffee as he held Wyatt in his arms. Waiting for the Doctor to come out and let him know that he could go see Elizabeth and the babies. Twins, no one in Lamar had a set of twins yet. This concerned Brad as to how they were going to manage. They were already struggling with just the three of them, now they had an instant family of five. He was sure it would all work out in the wash as they would say.

“Come on Brad.” Dr. Minter waved him into the parlor. “Come meet your new son and daughter and of course Elizabeth wants to see you too.”

Brad got up and held Wyatt tight. He had lost Mary Anne when she gave birth to Wyatt. He was worried the same would happen with Elizabeth. When he walked in, he saw Elizabeth was sitting in the chair holding the two small bundles. She looked up at him and smiled. He moved over with Wyatt and kissed her on the forehead.

“Well, it seems they wanted to make it into the world.” He finally commented as Wyatt squirmed in his hands.

“Yes, it seems so.” Elizabeth answered. “What are we going to name them?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head, he had not even thought about names.

“I was thinking Rose and Bradly.” She finally said after looking at the two sleeping bundles in her arms. “Rose after my mom and Bradly after you.”

“Well my name is Brad, not Bradly.” He grinned.

“I know.” She chuckled. “Okay, how about Brad Jr? We can call him Jr, you need a namesake Brad.”

“Well Wyatt was my dad’s name, so a Jr. would not be so bad.” Brad grinned as he looked at how beautiful Elizabeth was. It seemed she was glowing.

“Okay, okay.” Dr. Minter bustled in. “Time for my patient to get some sleep. Bradly, Mrs. Evens has a bed made up for you and Wyatt.”

Brad was led upstairs with Wyatt in his arms to put Wyatt down. He was going to come back down and see Elizabeth and the twins as soon as he could. He did not want to sleep away from Elizabeth. He had not slept away from her since the day they were married, he had no intention of doing so now. As he made his way back downstairs to join Elizabeth he was stopped by Mrs. Evens.

“You need to eat supper Brad.” She took him by the arm and led him to the table. “Elizabeth is resting and we need to talk.”

Brad looked in wonder about what needed to be discussed. He saw the meal on the table and Mr. Evens and Evan sitting at the table with the Doctor. He got an uneasy feeling as he sat down and took a sip of his coffee. He waited for someone to speak.

“Brad,” Mrs. Evens started, “Elizabeth is going to need a lot of help with three babies out on the farm and you have your hands full with the harvest and such, so we have been talking.”

“There is a young lady here that is from the orphanage in Denver.” The Doctor began, “Her name is Maria. Now she doesn’t talk much, however she is excellent in the kitchen and cleans well. I have taken her under my wing at the clinic.”

“I see.” Brad took a spoonful of his dinner and listened.

“We will send Evan to live with you for a bit.” Mr. Evens stated. “I am doing okay here at the store on my own and well, Evan offered.”

“So I would have two people in my home?” Brad was taking everything in. “Well our home, yet you are figuring that we have enough room for seven in that small house? It is too late to build an addition.”

“Brad, I will help you fix up the upstairs.” Mrs. Evens stated, “You are going to need it for Wyatt and his brother soon anyway.”

Brad knew that what they were saying was the truth. He was shocked at how much the Evens had helped him since Mary Anne had passed. He was grateful for the help and could have never done it without them. Mrs. Evens said it was how small town folk were and that he was stuck with them. Taking a sigh, he felt he could not deny the help. Elizabeth already had her hands full with Wyatt and him in the house.

“Okay Mrs. Evens.” He finally said after taking a deep breath. “I don’t seem to have a choice.”

“No, no you don’t.” Mrs. Evens chuckled as she began to clear the table. “Now, we will move you and Elizabeth upstairs as soon as we can. For now, she will have to stay on the couch until she can walk a bit better.”

Brad nodded as he went upstairs. He did not want to leave Elizabeth alone, however he did not feel he had much of a choice. There was not room for him on the couch and he did need rest. He knew that it was going to be an early morning and Elizabeth did need her rest. He was looking forward to when they were all under the same roof again.

He tossed and turned until the morning light came through the window. By then Wyatt was climbing all over him and trying to wake him up. He picked up Wyatt and carried him downstairs. Mrs. Evens took Wyatt from Brad. Brad knew he had overslept, he was going to have some very upset cattle on his hands. He looked over at Evan.

“I am going to check in on Elizabeth and the twins and then we can head out.” He swallowed some coffee and nodded.

“I will get the horses hitched.” Was all that Evan said.

Brad went into see Elizabeth who was up nursing one of the babies at her breast. He smiled as he sat down beside her. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek. He brushed his thumb against the babe’s cheek and then looked at the other baby. He was not sure which one was which. They were so similar at this time.

“I have Rose in my arms my love.” Elizabeth had learned about Brad very well and could read his thoughts it seemed. She leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Dr. Minter said we could have relations again soon.”

“I wasn’t thinking about relations right now my Beth.” Brad had come up with her pet name not to long after she had joined him on the farm. “I was thinking about getting you all home.”

“Well for a few nights, we may have to stay here.” Elizabeth answered, “If you need to, stay out at the farm, we will be okay here.”

“I would not stay away from you and the children a night.” His blue eyes pierced hers and she smiled and blushed. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Nor could I.” Elizabeth did not want what they had to end. “I must say you have grown on me.”

She winked and giggled as Rose fell asleep at her breast. Brad took Rose from her arms and laid her down then handed her Jr. She moved him to her other breast as he suckled quietly. Brad could not believe his fortune as he looked at them. Mrs. Evens came in with Wyatt toddling behind her. He peeked around Mrs. Evens skirts. Elizabeth was sure he was not sure what to make of all this.

“Come here Wyatt.” Elizabeth cooed to him. “Come meet your brother.”

Wyatt toddled over slowly as he looked at the child in her arm. His alarm showed on his face as the baby stretched and went back to suckling. Brad picked up Wyatt and held him close as he showed Rose to Wyatt.

“This is your sister Rose.” Brad said.

Evan came into the room letting Brad know it was time for them to go. The horses were ready. Mrs. Evens took Wyatt from Brad as he left. Elizabeth smiled as Brad Jr. fell fast asleep. Soon she put him down to spend time with Wyatt and Mrs. Evens and read her letter that she came for in the first place. It was as if Mrs. Evens read her mind as she brought Elizabeth the letter. Quickly she opened it seeing the post mark was from Boston.

Dearest Elizabeth,

     Sarah and I would be delighted to visit you for the holidays. Mother and Father thought it would be good for you to have some friends and family there for your first holiday away from Boston. We will leave the second week of December and should be there right before Christmas Eve with many packages and gifts. We are not sure what to bring, boys or girls clothing, so we will just bring both.

     Can’t wait to see you. Sarah misses you greatly and I must admit I miss the pain that lived next door as well. I have much to tell you once there. A great deal has changed with your family finances and what the lawyer found in your name. Let’s just say, you are not a penniless as he first believed thanks to yours truly.

     I hope to hear from you before we show, if I do not, I know it is because you have a family on your hands and probably have had the baby.

Until then Elizabeth, Sarah and I send our love. As does the rest of the family of course.

Charley

As Elizabeth read, she was not sure what to make of Charley’s words concerning her finances. She figured she would find out soon enough. They would be here in 6 weeks and time would go by quickly with everything that had to be done between now and then. She knew that they could stay upstairs in the house without a problem. A smile came across her lips as she folded the letter back up and put it in the envelope.

“Good news dear?” Mrs. Evens asked as she handed Elizabeth a cup of tea.

“Very good.” Elizabeth nodded, “Charley and Sarah should be here in about six weeks to visit for the holiday.”

“Well that should be very exciting.” Mrs. Evens nodded, “We will just have to make the most of it while they are here then.”

“Indeed.” Elizabeth said as she sipped on the tea Mrs. Evens had given her.