“Shouldn’t he be crying or something’ Mamma?” I asked nervously.
She turned the baby around so I could get a better look at his face. His eyes were wide open, and he appeared to be looking at his surroundings with the most gentle of dispositions I’d ever seen in a baby.
“He’s so beautiful!”
I was so happy that I was crying and laughing at the same time. I turned to my husband, whose face was also filled with joyful tears, and spoke gently to him.
“With your permission, I’d like to name him Eli,” I said.
Elijah gasped.
“You want to name him after my horse?” he asked.
“No, silly! I wanna name him after his papa. You told me yourself that Eli was short for Elijah,” I said, smiling. “Didn’t you tell me a long time ago that you had a great grandfather named Eli? We can’t name him Elijah—that would be too confusing to have more than one Elijah in the house, don’t you think?”
“I suppose you could be right about that. Eli it is,” he said cheerfully.
My mother tied up the cord, and she let Elijah cut between the two ties. Then Nadine took our new baby boy to clean him up a little. In the excitement, I had forgotten that she was still in the room.
“This sure is a handsome boy you got here,” Nadine said over her shoulder. “I only hope my labor goes as quickly as this one did.”
My father and Doctor Beiler showed up then, and Abraham and Naomi Zook arrived in time to see their new grandchild. My parents, and the Zook’s, seemed to be very proud of their new grandson, but I still felt nervous having my in-laws seemingly inspecting my child. I wanted privacy with my husband so we could admire our baby together, and it seemed that Elijah picked up on my agitated state. One nod toward Doctor Beiler, and the aging gentleman ushered everyone out of the room. I was grateful to have my family all to myself, and my husband was pleased with me. I felt the luckiest that a woman could ever be.
“I’m his mamma—his mam,” I said proudly.
“And I’m his papa,” Elijah said with a smile. “God has really blessed us.”
Elijah bowed his head, and I knew that meant he wanted to pray. I bowed my head too, while cuddling my new baby at my breast.
****
Three long days after Eli’s birth, I was ready to get out of bed and walk with my new baby. I wanted to show him off to my best friend, who was so tired from her own pregnancy that she was unable to come to see me. Lucy, who was still staying with me, walked the short distance to Hannah’s home with me. She didn’t answer, however, when I knocked at the door, so we let ourselves in.
“Hello,” I called loudly. “Hannah, are you here?”
“In here,” a weak voice called out to me.
We discovered her laying on the sofa in the front room, and she seemed awfully ill.
“Are you sick?” Lucy asked Hannah.
“I’m in labor, but I couldn’t get up to ring the dinner bell to get David’s attention in the field,” she managed after a long contraction.
“Lucy, go ring the bell, and tell David to come in just as soon as he comes up to the house,” I ordered my sister.
I set my sleeping baby down on the floor after spreading out his blanket so I could assist my friend in getting to her feet. I knew she should be in her bed where it would be more comfortable. Getting her there was a difficult task due to the severity and closeness of her contractions. I knew this baby was not going to wait much longer to make its appearance, but I struggled with her in my still-weakened state. When I was finally able to get her comfortable in her bed, I went downstairs to get Eli so he wouldn’t be out of my sight any longer.
Once inside Hannah’s room, I could hear the familiar grunting sounds that I had made when I was pushing my baby into the world. I panicked at the thought of being the only one in attendance at this baby’s birth, but I knew I had to appear calm for Hannah’s sake.
“Jane, I’m afraid,” she cried out.
I was afraid too.
“It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t worry, I know just what to do,” I assured her.
I said a quick prayer in my head to help get rid of my own fear.
Lord, give me strength to know what to do, and take away my fear. Protect Hannah and her baby from harm. And forgive me for lying to Hannah about knowing what to do. You know I don’t know, Lord, so bless me with wisdom so I’ll know what to do.
Suddenly, Lucy entered the room and motioned for me to come out in the hall to speak to her.
“What is the problem?” I asked impatiently.
“I rang the bell seven times, and Mr. Yoder didn’t come.”
“Then run up and get Mamma to call Dr. Beiler. But ring that bell one more time on your way out,” I ordered her.
“The doctor ain’t gonna get here in time anyhow, so why should I run all that way?”
“Don’t argue with me, girl,” I warned her. “Do what I say. Hannah will need tending to after the birth, and I can’t do it. Now go!”
She didn’t argue any further, but ran down the steps and out of the house. Just as I re-entered Hannah’s bedroom, I heard the clang of the bell, and felt confident that it would bring David that time.
I need you, Lord. Please don’t leave me alone with Hannah.
“How’re you doing?” I asked in a tone I thought reflected perfect composure.
“I think I can feel the baby coming,” she said, wincing. “Will you look and see for me, Jane?”
“Don’t you wanna wait for the doc to get here?”
“Please, Jane. I would do it for you.”
She was right. The baby’s head began to emerge.
There was no time to think about it. With one small push, I caught her baby girl as she entered the world. We both laughed and cried a little as I laid the baby on her chest and wrapped the blanket around her. The baby began to scream, alerting David who had just entered the room. He quickly ran to his wife’s side.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time.” He smoothed Hannah’s hair and kissed her gently on her cheek. “I was at the opposite end of the field with that ornery horse of mine, and couldn’t get him to budge. Because of the hour, I thought it was time to come up for dinner, and I figured I could just be a little late. I’m so sorry, Hannah.”
“It’s all right. I know that horse has been giving you a tough time. Besides, I think Jane did a wonderful job.”
She was beaming from ear to ear, and I blushed a little at her comments.
“Jane, you should be a midwife,” she joked.
I shook my head vigorously. “No way! I was scared to death. Couldn’t you see that?”
“You were really calm for being so afraid. I knew the good Lord was watching over all three of us,” she said cuddling her baby.
She adjusted the baby a little, and tried to hold her up toward her husband so he could get a better look.
“Meet your daughter, Rachel,” she said to David.
“Hello, Miss Rachel,” he said as he kissed his wife’s cheek.
“Jane, I want to see your baby. In all the excitement, I forgot all about seeing him,” she said apologetically.
I held up Eli so she could see him. The couple commented on his beauty before I bid them goodbye. As I was leaving, Doctor Beiler arrived.
“You're too late,” I joked with him.
“I can see that. Did you do the delivering?”
I nodded proudly. “Yes, Sir.”
“Well then you ought to consider being a midwife. It looks as though you did a mighty fine job here.”
“No thanks. I think I’ll stay away from pregnant women who are about to deliver from now on,” I said, offering a final wave to the new family.
****
With the cool weather of October came the arrival of a baby girl named Autumn to Nadine and Benjamin. It wasn’t a traditional Amish name, but everyone in the family liked it. They had the name Adam picked out if the baby had been a boy, but Nadine sai
d they would save it for their next child, hoping for a boy. Nadine was happy that she had an easy labor, the same as I had with Eli.
****
Eli grew fast. So fast, in fact, that I had trouble keeping up with him. My mother said he was a quick learner. It seemed that everything he did, she claimed that he was early in his accomplishments. He didn’t even crawl for more than a week. He was on the go, and could practically run before he had mastered his walking skills. Talking was another issue where the tot excelled. Elijah was so proud of his son’s intelligence that he loved to show him off at family gatherings. At only fifteen months, Eli would talk on and on about farm-related topics with Elijah and the other adult men; things that even I didn’t understand. In some ways, it seemed that my young son was more intelligent than I was; which made me feel a little intimidated.
As time went by, I spent a lot of time reading to him, and by the time he was a year and a half, he was repeating entire books to me from memory. He felt proud of himself that he was reading the book to me instead of having me read to him all the time. Elijah suggested we get him some new ones since he had become bored with reading the same ones repeatedly.
For his second birthday, Elijah and I picked out several books at the library sale in town. A few were children’s chapter books, and I hoped they would keep his attention longer than the usual short story books that were designed for his age group. The simpler ones only seemed to bore him, and he longed for a more challenging story to be read to him.
Birthdays always meant a family gathering. There were now so many birthdays, that between spouses and grandchildren, it seemed we were getting together almost weekly for someone’s birthday. At Eli’s birthday party, he was so delighted with the baseball and bat from his grandparents that he wanted to skip the food and go straight out and play. Elijah allowed him to have his way, so my mother, Naomi, Rebekah, and Nadine assisted me in moving the party out to the brick patio.
“You look a little pale, dear,” Naomi commented to me.
“I think the heat of July is getting to me. I’ve been a bit tired the last few days.”
“When was your last cycle, honey,” she asked gently.
The question caught me off guard, and I felt uneasy discussing such a personal subject with Elijah’s mam. Still, I answered her.
“Well, let’s see. I think it was some time in May, and now we’re in July…oh no!”
I sat down on one of the painted patio chairs and thought about the accuracy of my answer for a moment. I guess I’d been a little careless in keeping track of it, but to the best of my calculations, I had correctly stated the obvious. A smile came over my face as I remembered Elijah’s reaction to the news of my pregnancy with Eli. He had swept me off my feet in his excitement. Before I could sort out my own feelings about it, Mam, Naomi, Rebekah and Nadine were hugging me excitedly.
Laughter arose from the crowd of men and boys that had joined in the game of baseball with Eli. With such a mixture of ages, it seemed a small miracle that they could carry on an actual game. When it was Eli’s turn, Elijah picked him up and ran with him around their makeshift field so the two-year-old could score a run. Mitchell and his young son were on the same team with my father, along with my two younger brothers, Cameron and Sammy. Matthew Beiler and David Yoder joined Elijah, his papa, and Eli after leaving their wives with the rest of the women on the patio. Hannah and Deborah were delighted to share in my recent discovery.
“I was wondering when you were going to work on increasing your family. David and I are having another one too,” Hannah confided. “From the sounds of things, we will be due about the same time again. I was planning on telling you when we got together for Rachel’s second birthday in three days, but this turned out perfectly.”
****
At Rachel’s party, it was revealed that both Nadine and Rebekah were also expecting.
“Why didn’t you say anything the other day?” I asked them.
“Sometimes too much news at one time can be overwhelming,” Rebekah offered.
Nadine agreed. I didn’t, but I was excited anyway. It was going to be tough for all of us to be pregnant at the same time. One thing was for certain—it would probably slow us down some when we had our canning bee. Most things were ready to be harvested and canned, and with all of us pregnant and tired all the time, it would add to the burden that our own mothers would have in assisting us. It would be rough on our mothers having to do more than their share of work at the canning bee, but we knew they would be of any help they could during our time of confinement.
Word came to us later that week that Deborah and Matthew were expecting also, as were Elijah’s cousin, Jonathon, who married Miriam Miller. The community around us was growing by leaps and bounds. I was grateful that our children would have plenty of cousins their own ages to play with at all the family dinners.
****
Abigail arrived five weeks early. Although she looked frail at only four pounds, eleven ounces, Doctor Beiler gave Elijah and me the reassurance that all was well with her. He proved to be correct. She was a strong baby, and gained almost two pounds in the first four weeks.
Eli was happy to be a big brother, and loved to help me with the diaper changing duties. The newness soon wore off when he discovered he enjoyed milking the cows with his papa, rather than looking after a baby that didn’t do much other than sleep and eat. Elijah had been letting him help with the chores since Abigail’s birth, in an attempt to give me some quiet time with the new baby.
****
By the time we reached Abigail’s actual due date; she had gained nearly three pounds. Nadine, Rebekah and Hannah had their babies—all boys, within the week. Nadine and Benjamin decided they would name their son, Adam. Since they named their daughter, Autumn, they felt they would stay with names that began with the letter “A”. I didn’t question them, I figured they had their reasons, and it wasn’t that important for me to pry.
Mitchell and Rebekah named their baby Ira, after my Uncle Ira. My father was pleased that his deceased brother’s name would go on in the family. Hannah and David chose the name, Noah. I thought it suited the happy-go-lucky tot because he was so calm he appeared not to have a care in the world.
Abigail was easier to take care of than Eli had been. She slept most of the day and night. Often, I would have to wake her at feeding time, then, she would go back to sleep until it was feeding time again. This came in handy for my spring planting. I had worried over how I would manage with a new baby to tend to, but she slept under the umbrella near my garden for a good portion of the day. Occasionally, I would lie on the quilt next to her and watch her sleep when I was taking a break from my work. The gentle spring breeze and the constant song from nesting birds seemed to keep her in a lulled state.
****
“Eli’s third birthday is coming up,” I said to Elijah over dinner.
“I can’t believe how much he’s grown,” Elijah said. “He is getting mighty gut at milking the cow, jah?”
“He looks like a short version of his papa when he’s hard at work,” I said.
The young boy had turned out to have the same wispy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that Elijah had been blessed with. Abigail, on the other hand, favored me in her facial features, and her eyes were greenish-blue in color. She already had long locks of golden hair. She actually reminded me a lot of Lucy at that age.
“I would like to make the boy a train, with a track and a small city to go around it,” Elijah continued our conversation.
“You only have three weeks. How in the world are you gonna get it finished in time?”
“Most of the big work around the farm is finished for the time being, so I could work it in after chores,” he said with determination in his voice.
“I know you get everything done that you set your mind to. I don’t doubt that you’ll have it done in time,” I retracted.
“Would you like to help me build the city, and paint the train?”
&
nbsp; “I’d love to help you with it!” I said excitedly.
****
For the next eighteen days, Elijah and I worked side by side in the barn preparing our son’s present. It was nice to have so much time with my husband, a rarity that I had not had the pleasure of too much in our nearly four-year marriage. We had our picnics on our anniversary, but we had not spent several days in a row being together for most the day. It was nice having my mother, Nadine and Hannah take turns in caring for our two children so we could take the extra time to finish the project.
Little Wild Flower, Amish Romance/Amish Fiction/Christian Romance Page 17
