29. Maverick

29

Maverick

I smiled as I watched Rebecca playing with Matthew outside on a blanket.

"Can you believe you are a married man with one child and one on the way?" Shane asked, standing next to me.

"I am one lucky man to have Rebecca as my wife. What about you? I noticed you've been watching Ruth lately. Are you going to ask her out?"

"I'm too old for Ruth. She needs to find herself a young husband. I'm thirty-six, and she's twenty-two. That's way too big of an age difference," Shane said, shaking his head.

"That is not too big of an age gap. You can't help who you fall in love with. She watches you the same way you watch her. I think you should ask her."

"I want to, so maybe I will. I'll think about it for a couple of days. People will think I'm robbing the cradle."

"Screw the people. Nobody's going to think you're robbing the cradle. You're both grown-ups. You can be with each other if that's what you want. Just remember that she's Amish, so she doesn't know anything about having sex. You'll have to take it easy, go slow…"

"If you say one more word, I'm going to knock you out," Shane growled next to me.

"Sorry, I won't say another word. I just wanted to make a point, and I did. You care for her. I can tell. It would be best if you asked her out before Mark comes back. You know when he sees her, and she looks just like Mary. He's going to make a play for her."

"I said I'm thinking about it. I need to build up my courage to ask her in case she says I'm too old for me. I won't feel like a piece of crap."

"She's not going to say that. I told you, I see how she looks at you. If you don't hurry up and ask her, you'll be too old to have babies."

"I have plenty of years to have children. So stop worrying about that. I'll see if she wants to go with me to the fair tomorrow night."

"Hey, maybe we'll all go," I said to see what he would say.

"No, we won't all go. That would be defeating my purpose for asking her out. Don't say another word about it. Damn, you would think I was a teenager the way you are trying to get me a date."

I laughed. "I have to get back to work, brother. I'll talk to you later," I said, walking up to the room I used as my office.

I looked at our property, and the men were laying the foundation of our new home. I let Rebecca design it herself, and she wanted a sprawling one-story home with all the arches and appearance of an old traditional home.

It will have four bedrooms. She said the best time she could remember was when she shared a room with Mary, and now she wanted our children to share a room with their brother or sister.

I still thank God every day for leading Rebecca to me. I don't think I would have ever loved anyone as much as I love her.

I was deciding who went on what mission when Michael called. He said the other families would be meeting with their stolen child next week, and some of them called the police because the parents knew that they were buying a stolen child.

I shook my head. I felt so bad for all of them. I know the Amish families would have treated their children with lots of love. I just hoped their adopted families treated them with equal love.

"Knock, knock," Ruth said, walking into the room.

"Come in," I said, smiling.

"The bishop called me and told me about the other stolen children. He said they were all meeting up to meet their families, and he wondered if I wanted to go. I have already met my family and don't want to go. Do you think I would offend anyone if I didn't show up?"

"I don't think you'll offend anyone. You have your sister, and she has you. I don't believe there would be any reason for you to go. So I agree with you. Stay here with your family."

"Thank you. I'm so happy you are my brother. Sometimes, I need someone to talk things over with."

"You can come to me and talk about whatever you want. I'm also a good listener."

"Thank you, Maverick. It's nice to have a brother."

I smiled, thinking about what Shane would say if I told him that since Ruth thought of me as her brother, she probably thought of him the same way." I chuckled out loud, just thinking about it.

Maverick I think it's time."

"Time for what?" I asked.

"I think it's time to have the baby."

I jumped out of my chair. "Are you saying you're in labor? Let me grab your bag. I'll get Shane to take care of Matthew while we go to the hospital."

"Maverick, I don't want to go to the hospital. I want to have our baby at home."

"Sweetheart, that terrifies me. I remember the last time—you had me scared the whole way through labor. I was so scared you would die."

"Maverick, I want to have the baby here. I don't want to go to the hospital. Call Allison, and she'll help us this time. I'm not going to die, I promise."

"How far apart are your contractions?"

"Ten minutes, so we have plenty of time. I'll get Ruth to help me with everything here, and you can take your laptop into the living room and find Allison."

As she walked out of the room, she suddenly stopped as a contraction hit. She turned back to me, wincing. "Hurry and call Allison—it might be sooner than I thought."

I ran to her and held her close. "Where's Matthew?"

"He's with Shane."

I shook my head. Leave it to Rebecca to want to have the baby at home. We still used candles, and she didn't want the television on. I enjoyed the simplicity of it, and Shane didn't mind either—he only watched sports on TV anyway.

I quickly called Allison.

"Hi, Allison. Rebecca's in labor, and she's decided to have the baby at home. Can you come and help us please?"

"I'm on my way, but it'll take me about an hour and a half to get there. In the meantime, make sure Rebecca rests. Knowing her, she'll try to take care of everything herself."

"How far apart are the contractions?"

"She said ten minutes."

"I should be there in plenty of time. Okay, I'll drive a bit faster, just in case."

Rebecca and Ruth returned to the room as I cleared my desk and picked up my laptop. "Allison says you need to rest —no scrubbing floors. Get in bed and take it easy," I said, leaning down to kiss her. "Now sit down, and I'll help Ruth with everything."

Ten minutes later, when I returned, I found the bed stripped and Rebecca sitting in a chair, clearly in the middle of another contraction.

"Where are Shane and Matthew?"

"They went to Rebels. I was going to call and see if Sarra is there."

"I'm right here," Sarra said, walking in. She let out a little bubble of laughter when she saw me.

"What?"

"You look like you're ready to bolt."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said, glancing at Rebecca.

The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it. There was a delivery that needed my signature—a package from Rebecca's cousins. I carried it upstairs, knowing she'd love whatever was inside.

"Rebecca, you've got a delivery from your cousins."

"Maverick, open it for me."

I opened the box and found a letter on top. "They say this is just the first of what they're sending. They cleaned these quilts themselves." I pulled out five quilts, and Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.

"Ruth, these two are for you," Rebecca said, passing them over. "When more things arrive, I'll share them with you. These belonged to our great-grandmother, and this one was Mamm's. She would want you to have it."

"They're beautiful, Rebecca. Thank you—I love them."

"How did they manage to save these?"

"They were stored in the attic on top of the bed, inside big chests. Did you put them there?"

"Yes, I'm so happy they were able to save something. Oww."

"Into bed with you," Sarra said, helping Rebecca lie down.

I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to distract her from the pain. "Why don't you tell Ruth and Sarra about how you and Mary used to bathe in the river?"

"It wasn't very Amish, as Dat would say. But he never stopped us from doing it. Sometimes, it was so cold we'd scream when we jumped in, and we'd hear Mamm and Dat chuckling. We started doing it on Mary's thirteenth birthday."

"There was one time," she continued, smiling through the discomfort, "when it was pouring rain, and Mary, who was about ten, ran outside to save the chickens because she thought they'd drown. She was crying so hard because she couldn't find them, and we all felt so bad for laughing that we ended up covered in mud ourselves. Gathering them from under the house. Oww, that one was big."

"Her contractions are five minutes apart now," Sarra said. "Ella will be here soon."

"I can't wait to hold her in my arms," Rebecca said.

I sat behind her, pulling her back against me, my hand resting on her tummy. When we were first married, she wouldn't have let me be this close during labor, especially with others around. It wasn't what an Amish man would do. But she knew I wasn't an Amish man.

As her contractions came closer together, Sarra stayed in control, and I was grateful for that. I wanted someone who knew what they were doing here with me.

Just as the contractions reached one minute apart, Allison walked in, smiling. "Looks like I made it just in time."

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as Allison took over. Twenty minutes later, our little boy was born. Rebecca and I cried—we were overjoyed to have another son. Now, we just had to find the perfect name for him.

I looked at Rebecca, and we both laughed, remembering how we'd joked about calling him "Ella" throughout the pregnancy. "When Ella does get here, she'll have brothers to look after her."

"Yes, she will," Rebecca said, smiling at the baby in her arms.

"He's beautiful. Let's name him Walker, after my brother who died in Iraq," I said, glancing around the room. That's when I noticed Shane and Matthew standing in the doorway.

"I think Walker is a perfect name," Shane said.

I picked up Matthew and carried him over to meet his baby brother.

"Ella," Matthew said, and we all burst into laughter.