The Visitor - New York 1871-1873

by Barbara Svetlick

  “You are all truly amazing but her courage is something I have never seen before.”

  James looked at her. “She has been through a lot in her short life.”

  “Do you love her?”

  James looked at Catherine. “I met Mirisa when she was sixteen years old…” He turned toward Mirisa who slept peacefully. “I will always love her.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to make sure the baby hasn’t been hurt. She should be moving but the stress may have quieted her down.”

  “Are you a doctor?”

  James laughed and moved his hands. “No. I have delivered all of her children so I am well versed in babies before they are born.”

  “I don’t know if I could live out here.”

  James stopped and turned back to Catherine. “It’s not for everyone.”

  “I think it’s too isolated with nothing to do other then avoid getting hurt or killed. I am so attracted to you, so very attracted but I just don’t think I want to live in the wild.” Catherine stood and headed back downstairs leaving James with Mirisa. Meeks stood in the doorway listening to the conversation and thinking about the report and the fact that James said from the beginning that something didn’t fit with her story.

  “How is she doing?”

  “She exhausted but no serious injuries. The baby is moving but not a lot yet. I think we need to let her sleep for a while.” James stood up as Maggie came into the room and crawled up on the bed. Meeks started to say something but she curled up around her mother with her raggedy rabbit and closed her eyes.

  James made a light lunch with Charisse’s help and they fed the children at the table since the rain had become worse. Jonathan told James he wasn’t hungry and he climbed the stairs crawling up on the bed. Mirisa opened her eyes and smiled when she saw his handsome little face. He smiled and kissed her before he touched her stomach.

  “Jonathan, will you please take your sister downstairs for lunch and tell James I need to see him.”

  Jonathan nodded and took Maggie’s hand heading down the stairs. Maggie climbed up to the table as James put a plate in front of her with a glass of milk. Jonathan pulled on his shirt as James turned to him.

  “Are you hungry now?”

  Jonathan shook his head. “Mommy needs you.”

  Meeks was watching as panic briefly crossed James’ face as he pulled in his breath. “Well, I think you should try to eat something and I’ll take care of your mother.” Meeks met James eyes before he headed up the stairs. Mirisa was on her side with her eyes closed.

  “Darling?”

  “Alexander, I can’t stop it.”

  “Mirisa it is too early. You need to just breathe and try to calm the baby.”

  She smiled at her husband and reached up touching him. “You are so beautiful when you are afraid. Pull the covers down because I can’t wait for James.” Without thinking Meeks pulled back the covers which were wet from her water breaking. He started to get up and she pulled him back down. “There’s not time.”

  The contraction hit her as Meeks watched the baby emerge. He put his hand under her head and cradled her pulling upward allowing her to come out without effort as James walked through the door.

  “Turn her over so she’s on her stomach.” James got a washcloth and as Meeks held the tiny little baby he cleaned off her face and mouth as she let out a little cry and began to squirm. “Mirisa you have a beautiful daughter.” James went to his room and brought back the blue box. He tied off the cord and put the hot knife between them searing the ends as Meeks brought her up cupping her in his hands thinking she was smaller than anything he had ever seen in his life.

  Jasmine came into the room carrying a small basin of warm water and they both looked at her. She took the baby away from Meeks and soothingly washed her and wrapped her in a swaddling cloth before handing her to Mirisa. Jasmine told them both to leave so she could take care of Mirisa. They hesitated but finally Meeks bent over and kissed his wife heading downstairs.

  “We have another girl.” James walked over to the bar and poured a shot before he passed the bottle. Charisse looked at James then her brother.

  “You leave me speechless.”

  Charisse went up the stairs and the men toasted the latest baby.

  Garnett set his glass down. “Can she have them this early?”

  “I don’t think it’s wise but I think the stress was more than she could handle. We will just have to pray that she has her father’s determination to fight and her mother’s stubbornness.”

  Mirisa ran her hand over her head kissing her. She was so absolutely perfect that the tears silently ran down her cheeks as she undid the blanket. She put her up against her heart and she immediately stopped moving and fell asleep. James asked her how she was feeling.

  “I feel fine.”

  “I think I like your pouting a lot better than when you decide to shake up a quiet day with adventure.” He picked up the baby and examined her cord before wrapping her back up. “I’m concerned with her size but she is getting good color and her breathing seems to be less shallow.”

  “How is Jonathan?”

  “He’s quiet and refuses to eat which is unusual for him but he’s a very strong child. I think Dominic will take far longer to recover. I don’t think anything has ever affected him like this did. Are you hungry?”

  “I’m famished but I want to come downstairs.”

  “What did you name her?”

  “Sara.”

  “Pretty name. I think you and Meeks make beautiful daughters but I want to be around the first time some young man attempts to cross his line.” Mirisa laughed.

  Mirisa dressed in a loose frock and braided her hair. She walked over to the cradle and knelt down rocking it slowly as she watched Sara put her fist in her mouth. She was so delicate with strawberry blonde hair that curled on the ends. Mirisa reached in and picked her up as she whimpered at being disturbed until she was up against her mother where she nursed without encouragement.

  Dominic came in and squatted down next to the rocking chair and looked at the tiny little creature wondering how anything could be so small and so perfect.

  “The best decision I made in life was asking you to give me children. Thank you for risking everything for Jonathan and thank you for being such a beautiful mother.”

  She put her hand on his cheek and bit her lower lip trying not to cry but she couldn’t respond to him. He watched her emotions and for the first time understood how much passion was in her heart. Dominic kissed her cheek as she turned her attention back to her daughter.

  Charisse brought up a tray and put it on the table telling Mirisa that she was not to go downstairs until she had gotten some rest. Charisse looked at Sara and smiled. “Oh my, she has such beautiful coloring. I am so happy that I decided to come out for the summer. It has been so wonderful to really get to know my brother and share a small part of your family. Thank you so much.”

  Mirisa smiled because nothing touched a woman more than holding a newborn baby. Once Sara had fallen back asleep, Mirisa climbed back in bed and picked up the cup of tea when Meeks came back in.

  “Mirisa, you really have to stop scaring me like you do. I am getting too old to handle the stress.”

  Meeks pulled up the pillows behind her and handed her the bowl of fish soup. Mirisa buttered a piece of bread as Jonathan climbed up on the bed next to her. She handed him the bread watching as he dunked it in her soup before he ate it. She reached over and kissed her son as tears ran down her cheeks and it was more than even James could handle so he told her he would be back up when she was finished.

  Dominic was sitting on the porch with the bottle between his legs. “I guess I forgot to tell everyone that she would be a full time assignment.”

  “Yep, I think you left that part out.”

  When Meeks woke up Mirisa was sitting in the rocking chair nursing the baby and Maggie was curled up in bed with him. “When did we get
a visitor?”

  “She came in a little before sunrise. I think she’s probably feeling needy since she is no longer the baby.” Meeks pulled Maggie closer and she wrapped herself around his neck.

  “She is definitely your child.” Meeks slowly untangled himself and put the blanket over Maggie. He shaved before he took the baby from her so that she could take a bath while he sat and rocked her slowly. “Mirisa, she’s so little.”

  Mirisa came out in a long dress and sat down to dry her hair. “She is tiny but she’s breathing very well and started eating well this morning.” Mirisa took the baby and changed her and rewrapped her in a blanket before handing her back to her husband.

  “Alexander, I need to talk to you.” He sat down on the bed and waited. “I have been thinking about Garnett’s request. I know he says it glibly but I think he’s sincere.”

  “It’s a strange request.”

  “It is.”

  “Can I think about it?”

  Mirisa took in her breath. “Maybe I am just reacting to giving birth and almost losing both Jonathan and Sara. It was only by the grace of God that I lost neither of them. Even though I try so hard to be strong, I have a great fear of losing one of you or one of my children because I know I am not strong enough to handle that. I love you with all my heart and if you want a hundred children I will give them to you but I must warn you that I much prefer to have daughters.”

  Meeks took her in his arms and understood her fear and the weird way she was trying to bind them to her forever because even though she didn’t understand it, having children would secure the fact that all four of them would always be in her life.

  Meeks took Sara downstairs and James fixed him a cup of coffee

  “She’s identical to Mirisa.”

  Garnett put his finger in her palm as she stretched her little fingers. “How are you going to deal with so many women in your house?”

  “By adding a few more.”

  Meeks spent a week closely watching the interaction between Mirisa, James and Garnett. He watched their interaction with all of the children and thought a lot about Garnett’s request that Mirisa have his child. He finally took her out for a long ride and talked about his feelings.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For taking time to think about all of us and more so about our marriage and our love. Thank you for loving me so much.”

  “I really understand what you are doing even if you don’t. I have to trust you in what you want to do and I don’t care how many children you have as long as it is your choice. I also don’t care if all of my children are daughters for I find them to be so wonderful. I cherish you, I love living with you but mostly I love raising a family with you. I want to settle down and enjoy every day.”

  Mirisa didn’t know who kept stealing the days but her life just seemed to be filled with nothing but children and babies. The days grew shorter and Sara slowly put on weight. She was a lot quieter than Maggie but just as inquisitive.

  The summer just seemed to melt away as Charisse spent more time out with Garnett and Dominic and Catherine seemed to withdraw more than she normally did but James went back to running the house and taking the boys fishing. Charisse finally started packing the children for the trip home. The boys told her they wanted to stay in Colorado and she told them that they would come back but their father missed them. The change in Charisse was noticeable.

  James spent as little time as he could with Catherine where the conversations just kept turning to whether or not he would live in New York and whether or not he wanted children. He finally explained to her that he wanted to spend half the year in Colorado, would need to be in Washington for part of the time and sometimes in New York and he never thought about children. She told him that after a childhood accident she was unable to have children.

  “I don’t mind your friends occasionally but I don’t understand why you spend so much time with them whether it is out here or in New York. I think if we marry that we should live in New York and I am sure that you can obtain employment through my company.”

  “That’s very generous of you but I am quite happy with what I do.”

  “You don’t seem to do anything except spend time with your friends who are very unfriendly and probably not appropriate once we are married.” She looked out over the river as she rocked. “I think if you move back to New York for the holidays that we could announce our engagement and get married in February or March. I will be out of mourning by that time.” James let her talk and merely listened. This was a very cold woman in more ways than one but she knew how to use sex very well. James had to give Catherine credit for that.

  The trip to the train depot was loud and overfilled with excited children. Mirisa left Sara at home with Jasmine but took the twins because Jonathan loved just the sight of a train engine. They settled Charisse and Catherine into the sleeping car while Dominic handed the porter a large box of food that would keep the children happy for a few days. Charisse cried which made Mirisa cry which made all the girls cry as they said goodbye. Catherine was much more reserved especially toward the men but she thanked Mirisa for her hospitality and said she hoped she would see them when they were in New York for by that time she would be out of mourning. As the conductor announced the departure, Meeks realized that Jonathan had disappeared. Dominic walked down to the engine as the engineer was helping him down from the cab.

  “That boy is going to be a handful when he gets older.”

  “He’s a handful now.” Dominic picked him up as he waved to the engineer and the train started moving away from the depot with celebrated pomp and circumstance.

  Garnett woke up instantly as his door opened and he was surprised to find Mirisa walking toward his bed. He started to light the lantern when she put her hand on his stopping him. She immediately took his mind off of why she was in his room in the middle of the night. She loved how he could respond without much encouragement or even conversation. Mirisa left just as quietly as she came leaving him confused on what she did. She came back a few nights later and after the fourth time she kissed him softly.

  Mirisa never talked about it nor did she give any impression that she was even aware what she did. Garnett thought her relationship with Meeks was becoming stronger and he finally approached Meeks telling him that he was going to move in with Dominic mostly because he thought she needed the stability that Meeks could give her if everyone wasn’t always underfoot. They had a long talk about life and the future but neither mentioned her visits and Garnett had no idea if Meeks even knew.

  They were sitting around the living room right before Meeks and the twin’s birthday when Mirisa finally detached Sara from James and put her in the cradle to sleep before lying down on the couch.

  “Are we staying in Colorado this winter?” She felt like they had just gotten home and the thought of traveling again was more than she wanted to think about.

  Meeks was massaging her feet. “I’m not really in the mood to travel and I don’t know if I want to travel until Sara is stronger. Is anyone going this year?”

  Garnett said he was heading to Washington before October and would be there until the springtime. Dominic and James both said they would head back with Garnett.

  The fall slowly settled down on the lodge as everyone prepared to head east. Mirisa was lying on her back in front of the fire with Sara sitting on her stomach when they came in for the evening. Mirisa felt like her life had become one birthday after the other as the children seemed to just continue to grow.

  After the children were asleep, Mirisa changed into a pink wool dress and stockings before going up to the music room. They had already set up the table and she sat down between her husband and Garnett. She rarely drank because she always wanted to be lucid if the children needed her or when she was nursing. The game was pretty low key with the cards just not falling right for anyone. Mirisa finally got up and reached behind the bar for a new deck of cards and handed them to
Dominic before sitting back down. He shuffled them and had Meeks cut them before dealing.

  James watched her. “Mirisa, I think you were more fun before the children.”

  She looked up from her cards and put them face down. “Have you grown weary of my company?”

  “No, I think I’m saying that I miss your company.”

  She sat back and looked at all of them. “And I miss all of you. I want to thank everyone for all of your help this summer. I think it was wonderful to have company even if I couldn’t take part in the adventures.”

  Garnett looked over at her and went back to shuffling the cards. He looked over at Meeks. “Are you set for the winter?”

  “I’m having firewood delivered at the end of the month and Mirisa and I will stock up the cupboards in case we’re snowed in but it really doesn’t take a lot to keep the children fed.” Meeks looked at his cards. “James, do you want the keys to the brownstone?”

  “No, if I go to New York I’ll use the apartment.”

  Dominic anted before putting down his cards. “Mirisa, I’m going to leave it up to you on what Matthew wants for his birthday.” She nodded but didn’t respond otherwise. “Mirisa?”

  She looked up from her cards at Dominic. “Yes.” Dominic looked at her trying to form his words as she watched. Mirisa looked around the table. “What exactly is it that I do that scares all of you so much?”

  None of them responded so she took in her breath. “Dominic if you want the boys for the holidays, I can send them east on the train with Jasmine. Just let me know where you will be.”

  “We’ll be in Washington.”

  “Alright. Buy the tickets before you leave and unless we are snowed in I will handle it. And I prefer that you get them a sleeping car that has no access to the engine and check with your son to see if he wants to take his horse.” Mirisa anted and sat back.