“Jody, keep track of Sarah and baby number two. I’ll be right back,” I said, and scooted away to kneel down at the foot of the pile of quilts that Jenny had put together for Leah. She refused to lie on Jody and Sarah’s bed lest she stain it, and insisted that Sarah have use of the chaise since she was having twins, and it would be easier for me to help the babies come out.
“How ya doin’, honey,” I asked as I put my left hand on her belly, waiting for it to harden before checking her.
“I was tired, but all of a sudden, I’m wide awake. At least, it feels like it’s time…” Leah stopped talking, immediately started panting, and then held her breath.
“Don’t hold your breath! That means you’re pushing.” I was multitasking, lecturing as I felt to see if she was at the magic ten centimeters dilation. “Ho Kay…go ahead and push; you’re ready. It’ll probably take a while because this is your first one.”
Leah’s contractions were coming on top of each other. She pushed and she pushed, but got nowhere. She was in tears, and James was getting weepy, too. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he kept saying over and over, trying to comfort her, but unable to find a place to touch her that didn’t result in her shaking her head ‘no’ and shrugging away from him.
“Try squatting,” Sarah called breathlessly from her birthing bed. “And Evie, can you come over here for a quick second. I…” Sarah stopped talking and started panting.
“Oh, brother,” I puffed as I stood up and rushed to the foot of the chaise.
“Or oh, sister,” Jody joked. “I think the other one is ready to come out.”
I got in position on the stool and spread Sarah’s knees apart, letting Jody support her shoulders. “Number Two is in the chute. Great work, Sarah, this one’s face down, too. See, I told you the delivery would be perfect.”
Sarah took a deep breath and pushed hard enough to get another child out to the shoulders. One gentle tug, and baby boy number two was announcing his arrival to everyone in the room.
“Wow!” Jenny exclaimed.
With all of the excitement, none of us had remembered that she was in the house, much less that she was standing quietly behind me, cuddling her uncle, bouncing him gently to keep him quiet. “Another boy; he looks just like this one, only bigger, I think,” she said as she looked back down at the bundle in her arms.
“Uh, a little help over here, if you can,” James called. “I think the baby’s stuck.”
I looked away from the happy grouping of Sarah, Jody, Jenny, and the two small, but perfect, baby boys and saw the terror on both James’s and Leah’s faces.
“I can’t do it, Mom. She won’t come out; she’s too big.”
“No, she’s not; you’re just too small. Here, James, lay her back down for a minute. Jody, hand me that oil, please. I am so sorry. I forgot to use the oil and stretch you out. Will you forgive me?” I asked as I pulled back her privacy cloth and lubed and stretched, trying to work around my dark-haired grandchild’s head that was crowning.
“I’ll forgive you as soon as she gets out. Oomph, here we go again…”
Leah was having a major contraction. She wanted to push, but was doing her best to control the urge. “No, no, no, not yet, no, no, not yet,” she puffed, her own chant to try and control her body. The contraction subsided, and the baby pulled back up just a little, at least enough that I could get a finger inside to tug rather than rub the opening.
“Okay, James, let’s try to get her vertical again before the next contraction. Squat like the squaws do, Leah.”
“Huh?” she asked, but assumed the position just the same. “Oh, yeah, ‘Dances with Wolves,’ right. I don’t need an Academy Award for this performance, just my baby,” Leah said, then tried to laugh, her chuckle interrupted by another contraction. “Oh, shit! Here she comes; catch!”
I flopped down on my side and looked up to half pull out, half catch, the baby. “Cloth, please,” I asked as I cuddled my white vernix-covered granddaughter to my chest.
James reached over, grabbed the swaddling cloth, and wrapped it around her, taking care not to touch the umbilicus. “When do you cut it,” he asked.
“Oh, boy,” Leah breathed softly, forgoing her customary curse word. She stood up halfway and let the placenta drop to the pile of quilts beneath her. “Oops, sorry,” she said about the mess she had just made.
“Here, you can cut it now,” I told James. “Cut it right here and Leah, don’t worry about the mess,” I said and handed her an oversized clout to put between her legs. “Everything’s washable. Man, for being early, she sure is big. You were, too; eight pounds, four ounces. James, how big were you?” I asked, then suddenly realized what I had just said.
“Ten pounds,” he answered, his eyes narrowed, asking me without words how I knew how much Leah weighed at birth: I didn’t remember her early years, or so I had told everyone.
“Leah, you never mentioned how much you weighed to me, did you?” I asked. “I mean, I just popped out with that weight. I don’t even know if it’s right or not, or even if you ever told me. At least, I don’t recall talking about birth weights.”
“Yes, you’re right, and no, I never told you. So, do you remember if she looks like I did?” Leah asked cautiously.
I beamed at my granddaughter as James brought her over to her mother to see. I looked over Leah’s shoulder. “Oh, yeah; gotta be. Either that, or I’ve known what she’s going to look like forever. I mean, she sure looks familiar. And don’t worry; she won’t be bald for long. If I recall, you were bald, too.”
9 Too Soon for Babies
Summer, 1782
"W hen can I have a baby?" Jenny asked.
"When, when, when you're as tall as your father," I stuttered. I was busy preparing green beans and she took me completely off guard. I didn’t expect to hear that question from her for years!
"But you have babies and you're not as tall as Daddy,” she argued. “And Grannie has babies and she's not as tall as he is either. Or does she have to be as tall as Grandpa ‘cause he's their dad?" Jenny stopped justifying and started calculating. "No, wait, that can't be or no one would have babies. No woman is as tall as Daddy or Grandpa, or even Brother James. 'Sides, Rachel had babies and she was little. Hannah said they was the same age as each other, too.”
"Were the same age," I corrected.
Jenny didn’t say a word, which was a relief. I was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. However, one look at her face and I could see it was because she was waiting for me to answer her initial question.
"Okay," I answered reluctantly, "you can have a baby after you're married..." I looked at her to make sure she understood that very important requirement. She must have; she was positively radiant at that prospect.
"But, no babies until after you're married and have finished school, okay?"
"Okay. And you told me that school was out in a few days because we had to work more outside in the gardens? So that means I can have babies real soon!"
"No! No, you can't. You're still too young. Besides, I said 'finished school' not just out of school. You'll be 'out' of school in a few days, all right, but you won't be 'finished' with your schooling until you know as much as your father, or at least me. And that includes reading and math, comprende?
"What's math comprende?" she asked.
"Well, if you knew, then you'd be closer to being finished with your schooling." I looked over at her pensive face and added, "And remember, you have to be married, too. Don't forget that. And a good man isn't that easy to find. Just because there are a lot of good ones around here, doesn't mean that all men are worthy. So don't just marry any man so you can have a baby, okay?"
Jenny smirked and nodded her head. I didn't know what that meant and didn't know if I wanted to know. I put down the bowl of snap beans and put my index finger under her chin. "Promise me," I commanded with a serious tone and look that I had never used with her before. I wanted to make sure she knew how important this life less
on was.
"Mommy, I promise you that I will not marry a man just so I can have babies. And, I promise you he is, I mean, will be a good man," she answered sincerely.
I could tell she was telling me the truth. It looked like she accepted that lesson easily enough.
Ж
"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," James said as he walked up to the longhaired youth coming in from the mill road. Wee Ian was back, and it looked like he was traveling solo.
"I think ye have it wrong, cousin," Wee Ian said with a grin. James was his secret brother-in-law, but they referred to each other as cousin. "The cat dinna drag me in, but I did drag a cat in," he said as he lifted up a leather pouch with a kitten paw reaching out. "I brought Jenny a gift. But I think I should ask Wallace first if it's all right. I mean, with all the mice in the barn, I dinna think there’ll be any reason he’ll need to feed this wee critter, but it is his home and his, um, daughter," he said, stumbling on the last word.
"You like her, don't you," James teased when he saw the uneasiness. "You brought her a cat just so you could see her..." James stopped the silliness and said plainly, "Hey, she's a great girl. If I were your age, I'd want her for a girlfriend."
Wee Ian blushed at the revelation. He wasn't going to deny it. He wasn't going to acknowledge its truth, either. Instead, he changed the subject. "Where is everyone?"
"Oh, here, there and everywhere. Wallace and Jody are clearing some more land south of here. We're planning on putting in more crops next year since I’m here to help. So, are you going to stay for a while? You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. There’s plenty of work to spread around."
The young man sighed wistfully. "I'd like to, but I want to see if I can make somethin’ of myself first. I mean, I want to be a man of worth," he said as he stood tall, his skinny chest stuck out in pride.
"There's nothing wrong with being a farmer," James said. "I've had money and 'worth,' back before I got here,” he nodded and gave Wee Ian a wink and a ‘look’ to remind him that he had a life in a different world before he came here, “and believe me, this is better."
"Aye, but ye still have to have money or goods to trade fer the land, the tools, the stock, the seed, and anythin’ else ye happen to be needin' to get started."
James heard Jenny out in the back garden, calling to her little siblings to get out of the carrots. He noticed Wee Ian look dreamily toward the sound. He grinned and said, "Boy, you have it bad, don't you?"
A frown replaced the young man’s smile. "Have what bad?" he asked as he checked his chest, arms, and legs like he was inspecting himself for lice.
James laughed. "I mean you really like her, don’t you? Is she why you want to 'make somethin’ of yerself'?"
The boy inhaled sharply, but didn't reply with words, only nodded dejectedly.
"And stay there!" Jenny scolded as she put Wren in the enhanced playpen that looked like a low profile corral with vertical slats added to keep the toddlers from free ranging into places they weren't supposed to be. She looked over and saw James talking to a stranger. No, not a stranger: it was Wee Ian, the one she had renamed Scout.
"Scout!" she screamed as she ran toward the men. She threw her arms around the smaller man’s waist, picked him up, and hugged him fervently, spinning him around at the same time.
"Um, put me down!" he grunted with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.
Jenny did as she was told, and then put her arms down at her side. She bowed her head slightly then bobbed it back up. She opened her mouth as if to speak then shut it quickly. James noticed that she was breathing in and out so rapidly that it looked like she was panting. She was a good-natured child, but he had never seen her so radiant and bubbling over with joy.
Scout looked over at James with full on embarrassment then back at Jenny with what could only be described as adolescent desire unwillingly held in check. "Go ahead and kiss her," James teased, certain that he wouldn't.
Scout leaned in and gave Jenny a brotherly kiss on the cheek then pulled back, chagrined, but obviously wanting more.
"Whoa," James said, "I was only joking."
Jenny looked at James, gave him a mischievous grin, then took one step closer to her secret husband, and put her hands on his shoulders. She looked Scout in the eye then shook her head. She brought her right index finger to her mouth, tapped her lip then moved the finger away and pointed it at his face, wagging it in admonishment. Wee Ian/Scout glanced over at James as if to ask, 'what should I do?'
"Go ahead and kiss her again," James said, "I won't tell anyone."
Scout looked deep into Jenny’s eyes, slipped his hands around her waist, and held her close. He leaned in and gave her a kiss that would make any high school senior jealous.
"Uh, I think that's enough," James interrupted. "I mean, it's not as if you're married."
Jenny and Scout broke off the kiss and looked at James as one, both of them grinning with the smile of a shared secret.
"Scout?" James asked, suddenly recalling the name she had screamed when she had seen him. "You called him Scout, didn't you? Oh, shit."
Scout took one hand off of Jenny's waist, looked at James with mild disgust, and asked, "Why is everythin' 'oh, shit' with ye?"
James shook his head. He was looking at his ancestors. The mystery of who Scout Kincaid was had been answered. He had traveled back in time last year to assure that Ian Kincaid was saved, or at least that was what he thought. He only knew for sure that he was to insure the life of a Scout Kincaid, the man who would marry Jenny Pomeroy-Hart, his great-grandmother many times over. James shook his head as disbelief whipped into realization. “You married her last year, didn't you?"
Now it was time for the young, innocent couple to blush. "Aye, we did it the Indian way," Scout explained.
"But we're still married or marrit or however you want to say it," Jenny blurted out then added, "oops, sorry." She didn’t want to start talking too much again; her husband didn’t like that.
"Well, I won't tell anyone about it, and I don't think you two should either," admonished James. "And, don't go making any babies; for a few years at least, quite a few. I mean, she’s still my little sister-in-law, even if she is your wife. You haven't been 'doing it' have you?" he asked.
Scout straightened out his shoulders and answered, "Nae, we will wait until I can build us a proper home. I willna be plantin' my seed in her until her breasts are big enough to feed babies, and I can put a roof o’er our heads."
Jenny looked down at her slightly budding chest and stuck it out with pride. Scout saw the gesture and shook his head at her: no, not yet. She sighed in resignation then giggled in relief. Good, she wasn't ready to share her gift yet. Mommy said she had to finish school first. She'd make sure she did that. Maybe by then Scout would be able to build them a home.
"Well, you two lovebirds," James said then saw the look of confusion on their faces. He shook his head in the universal sign language of ‘no, never mind; it’s not important.’ He started again. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid, please don’t let anyone else know about your marriage. I don’t think your parents or grandparents would be as understanding as I am. As long as you're, um, keeping your private parts to yourselves, then it's nobody else's business. And DO NOT go sharing those parts, okay, little brother and little sister?"
They both nodded to James, and then looked at each other. Scout's face lit up. He bent his knees slightly, wrapped his arms around Jenny, and spun her like she had spun him. He set her down and they shared another long, but more reserved kiss. They pulled apart and smiled at each other, both of them glowing all the way down to their curled toes.
"And, don't go kissing each other when anyone else is around, all right? And if, or when, you have been kissing," James said as he looked down and saw that they were now holding hands, "I suggest you think of sad things before you see anyone else. Those smiles you're wearing will give you away, for sure."
James opened out his arms, walked u
p to the couple, and wrapped his arms around his many times over great-grandparents. "I sure love you two," he said, a tear dribbling down his cheek. "Now let's get down to the house. I'm sure that Evie would like to see you again, ‘Scout.’"
10 Gimme Shelter
2013 Greensboro, North Carolina
“W eel, what are ye gonna do now, Mac,” Benji said to himself. “Yer job here is done; at least as far as the construction work goes. Ye dinna have anythin’ to keep ye here and, shit, man,” he cursed as he punched the tree in front of him, “buck up and go home!”
He had thoroughly enjoyed working long, hard hours building the combination house and school for Bibb, helping her fulfill her dream four months ahead of schedule. Work therapy is what it was called, he knew that, but when the task was completed, the old emptiness returned. He always had, or made up, an excuse for not going home to Barden Hall and returning to his family. The longest-lived excuse, the threat of the wayward and elusive MacLeod men and their thirst for treasure and revenge against his family, seemed to be gone. At least the last time Billy checked, both Eight and Niner were still in prison.
The trip through The Trees last August would have delayed his return to his parents and sister. No, say it like it is, dammit: it would have put a total kibosh on being reunited with, or even seeing them, again.
He was physically strong and would like to believe he was of at least average intelligence, but he couldn’t figure out how to handle the onerous task facing him—admitting to his parents and sister that it was he, and he alone, who had let them believe that he had been dead for decades. Yes, it really would be easier to continue to let them believe the lie. But, he knew with every blood cell in his body that it wasn’t right. They deserved to know that he was alive, and that he’d only started the deception so the MacLeods wouldn’t target them.
Missing the hook up with Leah and James and the opportunity to travel back in time with them last August hadn’t been so bad. But, finding out that he now had to wait another year, until next August 17th, before he could go back by himself, was a royal boil on his butt cheek. The initial slack time had conveniently been filled in by working and spending time with his new ‘kin.’ The opportunity to help Bibb and Billy felt like it was the right thing to do, but he had worked too hard, been too efficient, and finished the house too soon. He still had over eight months of idle time left before he could go through The Trees to be back with his Grandpa. He sighed deeply and finally admitted to himself: it was time. He’d go back to Scotland and Barden Hall, at least for a visit.
The Great Big Fairy (The Fairies Saga Book 4) Page 8
