Their Son's Amish Baby

by Samantha Price

  “Did you leave it?”

  “Yes, I left it charging on the table. I switched it off when it beeped and left it there.”

  “Don’t panic. We’ll go back.” They weren’t that far from the café so he turned the buggy back around, and then stopped at the first place he could. It was not that far from the café. “You stay here, I'll go and get it.”

  “Okay,” Bree answered, staring at the café. Considering the place hadn’t been that crowded she hoped her phone wouldn’t have got stolen in that short space of time.

  Moments later, when she looked up she saw Andrew coming towards her and when he saw that she was looking he waved her phone in the air.

  When he climbed in next to her, she reached for the phone and charger and said, “Thank you. I don’t know why I forgot it. I’m not normally a forgetful person.”

  “You’ve had a lot on your mind.”

  “I suppose that’s true. I’m just so glad it was still there.”

  As they got closer to home Andrew asked, “Would you like to come with me when I go to collect Cora?”

  Bree didn’t have to think too hard. If it was between staying home with Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer and going somewhere with her new best friend, the logical choice would be to go with him. “Yes, I’d like that, thank you.”

  “You’d probably like the singings. They’re a lot livelier than the Sunday morning songs and there are so many young people there.”

  “Sounds good I suppose.”

  He laughed.

  “What’s funny?”

  “You don’t sound enthusiastic.”

  “It’s hard to be excited about anything right now. There are so many things I’m uncertain about, like whether your parents will adopt my baby.”

  “You’re convinced that’s the only option?”

  “More than anything. I think that’s why I met Simon – so I could give my baby a good life.”

  “The Lord works in strange ways. My parents prayed for another child many times, I’m certain of that. They wanted many more than three children.”

  “Simon told me that.”

  “If you believe what you said about God bringing Simon to you, then relax. Everything will work out.”

  “I didn’t say it was God.”

  He glanced over at her with a frown. “Isn’t that what you meant?”

  “I don’t know if I believe in God; I think there might be some kind of destiny worked out for everyone, or some universal power of some kind, but I’m not convinced about the whole God thing. Simon and I used to talk about it a lot.”

  He looked at the road ahead. “I didn’t know – sorry I just assumed you meant God brought Simon into your life.”

  “God, the universe, or destiny, it could all be the same thing.”

  “No! God is God.”

  Bree kept silent. She didn’t want to argue about religious beliefs, nor was she there to convince anyone of anything, particularly when she had no clear idea of what she believed regarding God or spirituality.

  When they got home, Andrew stopped the buggy near the front door. “You can get out here, I’ll unhitch the buggy up near the barn. We’ve got about three hours before we need to leave for Cora.”

  “Thank you, Andrew. And thanks for agreeing to help me.”

  He smiled and nodded.

  When she stepped down from the buggy she turned around to face him. “Would your parents be home?”

  “They usually stay out visiting until late and have dinner at their friends’ place.”

  “Okay.” Bree headed to the house, glad that she could relax and be herself. She closed the front door behind her and went into her room. After switching her cell phone on briefly, she checked to see if she had any messages. There were none. She turned it off, and tossed it and the charger into her suitcase and then lay down on the bed. How she wished she could fast-forward a whole year – these next few months were months she wished she could avoid.

  She closed her eyes and pretended she was not pregnant, she didn’t have to live a lie, and that she was someone else who had a better life.

  Chapter 12

  Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

  Deuteronomy 7:9

  * * *

  Bree woke to loud knocking on her door.

  “Bree, do you still want to come with me to collect Cora?”

  “Yes. I’m coming.” Bree sat up and looked around. She grabbed her pullover from the end of her bed and slung it over her shoulders before she headed to the door. Andrew was already halfway down the stairs. She followed him out to the buggy.

  When they were nearly back at the Millers’ house, Bree asked Andrew, “Are you going to stay with me? I’m not good with crowds of people.”

  “Okay, just stick with me.”

  A time warp was what Bree felt she was in. The day had seemed to stretch forever; perhaps it was because there had been such an early start. When Andrew had parked the buggy she climbed down, curious to see what the singings were like. Simon had spoken about them as though he’d enjoyed them.

  “So it’s nearly over?” Bree asked as they stood a distance away from the crowd.

  “Won’t be long. It’ll stop soon. Then there’ll be eating and drinking. We’ve always got lots of food at everything we attend. Then once the night comes to a close, if a boy likes a girl he’ll ask to take her home in his buggy.”

  “Yes, Simon told me a little about the buggy rides and all that. Does Cora like a boy?”

  He smirked. “She wouldn’t tell me if she did.”

  “Do you think she does?”

  He eyed Bree carefully. “Why? Has she told you she likes someone?”

  Bree laughed and looked over at Cora. “No. I’ve only just met her. See how she is looking to her left a fair bit? Do you think she’s looking at the boy with the thick dark hair?”

  “No, that’s Billy. I know she doesn’t like him.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I can’t really say except to tell you that they wouldn’t be a good match.”

  “What if it’s the boy next to Billy, the one to the left of him? He looks handsome.”

  Andrew took a step back. “Do you think so?”

  Bree nodded. “I do.”

  “What makes you think he’s handsome?”

  “He’s got a pleasant face.”

  Andrew laughed. “That pleasant-faced boy is our cousin. We don’t marry our cousins.”

  “Okay, well it can’t be him, then. She might be like you, not interested in anyone.”

  “I hope not. That would be pretty lonely for her,” Andrew said.

  “So you’re lonely?”

  He scratched his forehead. “I can handle it, but I wouldn’t want my sister be the kind of woman who never marries.”

  Bree folded her arms across her chest. “What kind of woman never marries?”

  “The ones who’ve been passed over.”

  Bree’s face soured. “That sounds terrible.”

  “Probably is, and I don’t want that for my sister. I hope she finds a man soon.”

  “Why? She’s so young.”

  “The longer she waits, the less men she’ll have to choose from.”

  “I can’t see it’s a good idea. Surely people change all the time and the man she likes when she’s eighteen might not be the man she’d choose at twenty-eight.”

  “God works things out. We trust in God for everything.”

  Bree pouted. “I don’t see how that’s trusting in God, but whatever.” Bree shrugged.

  “Do you want to sit down?”

  “I’m fine. I’ll just lean against this tree.” Bree walked a few paces and leaned against a tree and Andrew stood next to her. “Everyone looks like they’re having fun.”

  “Yeah, they are, it’s okay for the young ones.”

  “You’re too old to enjoy
yourself now?”

  “At a singing—yes.”

  “What do you like to do?”

  He smiled. “I like to take my horse out to the dirt tracks and give him a good run.”

  “While you’re in the buggy?”

  He nodded. “I’d like to race him but I don’t think he’d be fast enough.”

  Bree nearly said he had the same liking of speed that Simon had, but since racing cars had caused Simon’s death, she stopped her comment before it slipped out. “You could get a faster horse.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “What else do you like to do?”

  “I like doing what we did today, minus all the tears.” He laughed, and explained, “I like going out and being with friends. Just simple things like that.”

  Bree wondered who his friends were because she really hadn’t seen him with anyone at the meeting besides that girl with the sick brother. “Cora said one of your friends is sick?”

  He nodded. “That’s Phillip. He was working for my father, had a fall and got a broken leg.”

  “That’s awful. Did your father have insurance and that kind of thing?”

  “Yes, he has to have all that.” He laughed. “You sound like a lawyer.”

  Bree gasped. “That would be the last thing I’d want to do with my life, but I suppose living with them has influenced my way of thinking.”

  “I’d imagine being a lawyer would be a good way to help people.”

  “I guess, but I’ve seen the bad side of it. My parents were continually stressed about making partners at the law firm where they worked. When they both got to be partners, they had different kinds of stresses. It’s such a horrible cycle.”

  “It wouldn’t have to be that way, would it?”

  “You trying to talk me into being a lawyer?”

  He laughed. “I’m trying to figure you out. Isn’t that what friends do?”

  “I suppose so in a way.”

  “Would you like something to eat now?”

  Bree looked over to see everyone milling around the two food tables. “I am a little hungry.”

  “Come on then.” Bree walked over with Andrew to look at the food. He took a plate. “I’ll fill it up for you.”

  “That’ll be good, thanks.” She was pleased because she didn’t know what most of the food was and wouldn’t have put much on her plate. Bree looked around for Cora and saw her talking to two boys and a girl. “What about those two boys?” Bree whispered to Andrew as he piled food onto her plate.

  He looked around. “Either of those two would be a possibility.”

  “Which one do you prefer?”

  He laughed. “It’s all the same to me, I’m not the one marrying them.”

  “But you’ll have to see a lot of him at family events and things like that.”

  “If I’d have to choose, I’d say the taller of the two. He’s Verne. His parents joined us when he was a small boy.”

  “Interesting; and what’s the name of the other one?”

  “He’s Daniel, the youngest of eight boys.”

  “And you think he’s spoiled or something because he’s the youngest?”

  Andrew handed her the plate of food. “I haven’t thought about it for long enough. You asked me to choose, so I chose Verne for no reason in particular.”

  Bree looked down at the plate. “Thank you.”

  “Something to drink?”

  “Yes please. Anything, I don’t care what it is.”

  “Follow me.”

  Bree followed close behind hoping no one would talk to her. Things looked fairly safe, as all the young people were huddled together talking in groups. They looked as though they couldn’t have been less interested in why she was a visitor to the community. Maybe it was because she was with Andrew that they left her alone.

  When Andrew had poured them a drink each, he saw she had both hands holding the full plate. “I’ll hold your drink. Let’s sit over here.”

  Andrew was striding towards a bench seat under a tree and Bree hurried to catch up with him.

  “I can take the drink now,” she said as she was seated. After she placed the plate of food onto her lap she reached her hand out for the drink.

  He smiled at her when he handed the cup to her.

  “And how old are you when you stop coming to the singings?”

  “Around twenty-five. I’d say twenty-five was getting too old. Were you in love with the father of your baby?”

  Bree nearly choked. She hadn’t expected him to ask such a thing. “I thought I was, but I wasn’t. That’s what scares me. How do I know my own mind?”

  “If you don’t know your mind then there might be a chance that you would decide to keep your baby, and if that’s the case then maybe you should tell my parents the truth now.”

  Bree swallowed hard. “I couldn’t. It was such a wicked thing I did to have them think it was Simon’s child. To turn around and tell them it wasn’t, would be too hurtful for them. I thought you said to leave things as they were for now.”

  “It would cause them some pain, I’ll agree with you there. It might be a case of better some pain now than a lot more later on.”

  “That’s not why I came here, Andrew. I only want to do good. I want the best for my baby and it would be good for your parents too.”

  “I know. I’m just thinking through all the things that might go wrong.”

  “Why don’t you pray to your God that nothing will go wrong and everything will turn out well?” She smirked at him, which caused him to smile widely.

  “I’ll do that. Thank you for that reminder.”

  Bree laughed, and then she placed a morsel of food into her mouth. Cora caught sight of them and waved and Andrew gave a wave back.

  “She looks happy. I never remember being happy like that,” Bree said when she swallowed her mouthful.

  “Never? You’ve never been happy even once in your life?”

  She looked into the night sky. “I was happy around Simon. We used to play video games together and watch movies. And when I was very young my parents used to spend Christmases on Ryan’s family estate. It was on a lake and we did a lot of swimming and playing. Ryan’s got two older sisters and it was good to hang out with them.” Bree stared at Andrew.

  “See? You have had happiness.”

  “I guess I have had some.”

  “Someone once told me happiness is a decision.”

  “I’ve heard that too. The old saying about the glass can be half empty or half full and it depends on whether you look at something as being good or bad.”

  “That’s a good comparison. I think it’s true. Nothing’s all good or all bad. Maybe things are just the way we look at them. You could be upset about your situation or pleased that you’re having a baby, and the decision whether you keep the baby or adopt the baby out is all yours. Nobody is forcing you to do anything. Your parents aren’t saying you must keep the baby or you must do this or that. Surely that’s a good thing.”

  Bree nodded. “I do have my own choice about things. That’s true; I feel better. Keep going. Tell me some more things to feel good about.”

  Andrew raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Okay. Let’s see. You have a new friend – me. You’re staying at a house where you have been welcomed, and you have options regarding your future.”

  Bree opened her mouth to speak, but hadn’t noticed Cora had walked over to them. “I’m ready to go now.”

  “Gut,” Andrew said. “We’ll just wait for Bree to finish.”

  Bree drank the last mouthful of drink and then looked at the food on her plate. “I’ll be quick. You shouldn’t have given me so much, Andrew.”

  “I’ll help out.” He proceeded to help her eat the finger food on her plate. When all was gone, he took the glass and her empty plate from her. “I’ll just take these back and then we can go.”

  When he left, Cora said, “How long have you two been here?”

  “We came at the end
of the singing. It looked like fun.” Bree lied, it didn’t look like fun at all. It looked quite boring. Her idea of fun was eating pizza and watching movies, not sitting around with a group of people singing.

  “It is fun. You should come next time.”

  “Maybe,” Bree said. “If I’m not too tired.”

  Cora sat next to her and looked over at her brother. “He’s talking now. He’ll most likely be a while. He does like to talk.” Cora sat where Andrew had been sitting. “What did you do today?”

  “Your brother was nice enough to take me somewhere so I could charge my cell phone.”

  “You’ve got a cell phone?”

  “Yes. Everyone’s got one. Everyone I know has got one.”

  “I was going to go on rumspringa and the first thing I would’ve done was get my own phone, but now I’m too scared to leave home after what happened to Simon.”

  “I imagine that would’ve turned you off.”

  “Tell me what it’s like away from the community.”

  Bree smiled. “There’s electricity for one thing, and all the women wear makeup and lots of women wear jeans, but you’d know all that.”

  “What’s it like to have electricity?”

  “Flick a switch and it’s there – light, cold or heat, television, radio, and pay TV. It’s not that easy without it. It’s like going back to the way my great grandparents used to live.”

  Andrew waved a hand in the air.

  Cora said, “Looks like he’s ready to go.”

  Chapter 13

  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,

  that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

  Galatians 2:16

  * * *

  When they got home, Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer were still not home; the house was in darkness. Cora struck a match and lit a kerosene lamp that was by the door, and then proceeded to turn on the main overhead gaslight in the living room.

  “Is it unusual for them to be so late?”

  “They’ve been this late before.”