by Paula Mowery
Grant finally reached the farm, dropped from his horse at the front door and knocked softly at first. Why rouse the whole house if someone was awake? The door swung open and there stood Mr. Hughes. He pulled on his coat as he motioned Grant into the house.
“We expected you.”
“You were?”
“The missus had a dream and woke me. I’m off to hitch the horse. Warm yourself a moment by the fire. My wife’s almost ready to leave.” The door opened again and the man departed in a gust of cold air.
Mrs. Hughes entered, shoved a mug of hot coffee into his hands, and pushed him toward the fire. She showed all manner of things into a big bag.
“Is anyone with Lily?” she asked.
“Jack.” He let the hot drink warm him up from inside. He’d likely need more of this through the night.
She nodded in response, her movements unceasing.
“You expected me?”
“God told me.”
“God woke you to tell you Lily was in labor?” How long had it been since God spoke to him that way?
“Not quite so specific. He told me a woman needed my help and to be ready.” With this, she stopped, her gaze penetrating his fatigue. “I feared it was Lily. It’s too early.” There was a firm line to her lips. She sighed and resumed shoving things in her bag. “Finish up. Your wife needs you. You go on ahead. We will not be far behind.”
“What am I to do when I get there?”
“Pray, offer comfort, whatever she will accept. If she wants to be held, hold her. If she doesn’t want to be touched, don’t. If you need to be busy, make some coffee. It’s going to be a long night.”
Grant downed the contents of the mug and placed it on the cupboard by the washbasin. Warmth spread through his chest outwards but it never quite reached his fingers and toes. He wiggled his hands before the fire and put his gloves back on. “Thank you, ma’am.” He departed back into the cold autumn night. He gave Molly a pat on the nose, before tossing himself onto her back and journeying home. At least this time the wind was at his back.
* * *
Lily struggled to rise from the bed after Grant departed. She placed more wood on the banked fire and stoked the embers back to a flame to hold back the chill as well as the fear. She fell into the rocker, while Jack sat sentinel at her feet. She rocked, her hands white knuckled on the brown grain arms of the chair her husband made for her after he first learned they were expecting their first child.
In spite of her pains, Lily smiled at the memory of her sturdy husband and his tears of joy when she told him about their child arriving in the New Year. After waiting for what seemed like so long to be with child, the pregnancy had gone as most do, with morning sickness, fatigue, and weird cravings. She giggled remembering her husband’s tolerance for the strange meals she sometimes made and kept prepared for days on end. He never complained. He would smile, kiss her and speak to the child she carried in her womb. She loved the tender side of the man she married.
But now, something was definitely wrong. She fought back tears at the thought that she might be burying their first-born. Lord, why would you give us a child, let us come this far, only to take it away? Shame filed her musings. In recent years, she attended many funerals for infants who didn’t survive the first year of life. She delivered meals to the young wives, much like herself, while at a loss of how to respond to their grief.
When she had asked the midwife, Mrs. Hughes, about it, she had responded, “God is sovereign over it all, Lily. He loves those babies more than any parent ever could. We grieve, we move on, and God provides comfort at times in surprising ways.” Lily prayed for understanding and for acceptance of the reality of a world where babies were ripped from their mother’s arms by death. She gulped again as pain overtook her.
Breathe. Inhale. Hold. Exhale slowly.
Her eyes squeezed shut as if to force out anything else, including morbid thoughts. As one contraction ended, Jack lifted his head and rested it on her knee. She released her grip from the chair and let her hand get lost in the soft comfort of his fur. Somehow, he gave her comfort.
She longed in vain for her mother to be here, but they lived in a farm an hour’s drive away by carriage, on the far side of Hillsboro over nearer to Kendall. Would her mom really provide the comfort she sought? Lily shook her head and sighed. Leaning her head back against the chair, she welcomed the silence broken only by the creak of the rocker on the floor and the crackle of the flames keeping her warm. Her mom would have only brought criticism and division. She was better off right now with the Lord and Jack for company.
Without thinking, she began to hum. Great is thy faithfulness, oh, God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee…the sound broke off as another wave of pain gripped her and held her gasping in its clutches. Lord, what are You up to? Tears came to her eyes and she longed for Grant’s return.
* * *
Grant walked into the house to find his wife dozing by the fire, agony written across her features. He hung his wet clothes by the door, shhh’d the dog and added more wood the fire. She stirred.
“Grant…” her hand reached out to him.
He placed a kiss on the top of her head. He knelt by the rocker and placed his hand on her swollen stomach. “I love you, Lily.” The muscles under his hand tightened beneath his hand and his wife gasped in pain. He frowned as the muscle released. Normally when he would touch her stomach the baby would move, but there was no movement now.
“Shall I carry you back to the bed?” He reached for her as she nodded. He scooped her up awkwardly and she whimpered in his arms as she wrapped an arm around his neck and rested her head against his chest. He placed her on the bed and sat down next to her. She curled as much as she could has she rolled to her side.
“We’ll get through this,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her close to him while another contraction seized her.
Look for Fragile Blessings at all major eBook retailers, or learn more at the Prism Book Group website at: http://www.prismbookgroup.com!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be the Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. Be The Blessing won the Selah Award in 2014 in the novella category. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. This book went to number five on Amazon’s bestseller category, historical Christian romance. Legacy and Love was her first solo romance and was a finalist in the Carolyn Readers Choice Awards in 2015.
Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living. She wrote a section for Join the Insanity by Rhonda Rhea. She has devotionals included in several collaborative books.
As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.
Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team. She was a member of the 2014 and 2015 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference faculty.
Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.
You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com. You can also check out her blog for Christian writers at www.ccwcu.blogspot.com.
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