Above Rubies (Rockland Ranch) (17 page)

             
                                          ****             

             
The first night of their childbirth class arrived and both of them were complete wrecks.  He kept having to remind himself he was there to make her less nervous and he still didn’t think he could pull it off.  He knew she really could read him like a book when just before they walked in the door, she turned to him and smiled her heart stopping smile, and said, “Calm down, you’re gonna be fine.”  He grabbed her hand and held on for dear life as they walked in.

             
In some ways it wasn’t so bad and in some, it was worse than they’d thought.  Once they got past the fact that some of the couples were enjoying the most graphic stuff and one of the couples was naming their baby girl Bruce, they did all right.

             
When the instructor asked what they were naming their baby and Rossen answered Rocky Star, Kit laughed and he finally decided they were going to be okay.  There was actually more good information than he had expected and they learned a lot.  When there was something that made them uncomfortable, they either ignored it, or blushed, and they got through that first night.

             
After class, the instructor recommended they all tour the labor and delivery wing sometime before their next week’s class. Rossen and Kit decided to go up right then while they were already in town.  It was actually very cool.  The rooms were almost like hotel rooms and going past the nursery window Rossen could hardly pull himself away.  Looking at these tiny babies and trying to equate them with the kicks he felt this last week was incredibly intriguing.  Each little finger and toe fascinated him.  Even the baby that was screaming its little lungs out as its diaper was being changed was its own miniature miracle. 

             
Kit finally dragged him away, saying, “C’mon, I wasn’t able to force much down at dinner because of nerves and now I need to go home and eat something.” 

Still looking back at the babies, he said,
“I’m starving too.  Let’s stop at a café on the way home.”

             
As they sat across the table from each other while they waited for their food, he asked, “Well, what did you think?”

             
She colored slightly. “I ran the full gamut from cool, to gross, to oh brother, to this weird feeling that any minute they are going to say, ‘Just kidding!  That’s not really how you get these things out.  That’s not actually possible, but we had ya going for a minute there didn’t we?’”

Rossen
laughed so hard at her that he choked on his water and she looked embarrassed.  When he could finally breathe, she asked, “And you?”  She was looking at him like she truly wanted to hear his answer.

             
“Honestly, I have more respect for women than ever before.  I’m grateful you're willing to go through all this to get these little people here for us.  I’m afraid if it were up to men, the species would die out.”  He gave a sheepish smile and continued, “Seriously, it’s just like that ultrasound.  I was worried and nervous at first, but now I’m so glad I came.  There’s a lot more that goes on with your body than is obvious, and it’s probably good for us clueless wonders to know and understand, so we can at least sympathize, if not help out.” 

As he continued, she stirred her water with her straw.  “Mostly, I just wish I could make it all easier for you.  I would if I could.”
  He reached across to squeeze her hand as it lay on the table. 

             
She said, “You’re here.  And I know you didn’t want to be.  That helps more than you’ll ever know.  Thanks.”

             
“You’re welcome.”  He fingered her ruby ring before letting go.

             
                                          ****

             
He heard her up that night walking, and he wondered if he should get up and be with her again.  He decided against it.  Sometimes he got so mixed up about what their roles were in this relationship.  He heard her open the door to the deck and told himself he should go back to sleep.  He got up and looked out to see her sitting in a chair out there.  At least she wasn’t walking alone.  Maybe he shouldn’t have taken her outside the other night.

Chapter 10

             
April came in with a vengeance and an early heat wave made the river rise fast.  The National Weather Service kept a close flood watch as the Rockland herds dropped their last calves.

             
Kit had never seen such a marked change in the seasons.  The deep cold and snows of winter melted into a hesitant spring and frost appeared at night long after the snow was gone.  And then, almost overnight, the world turned a deep, rich emerald from horizon to horizon.  Only the thickest pines broke the brilliant spring green.

The days warmed up and Ro
b tilled Naomi’s garden.  She and Kit planted peas and lettuce and beets.  There were so many things here that Kit had never experienced.  She’d always loved flowers, but this was her first experience with growing anything and she found she loved it.  There was something about dirt that was so basic and wholesome.  She knew she'd found a new hobby for life.

             
The guys loaded the snowplows, snow cat and snow machines into the back of an equipment shed and Kit helped Naomi pack what seemed like truckloads of snow gear into storage. 

             
Kit had been experimenting more and more with the lifelike sculptures of the horses and calves, and even Slade and Rossen roping.  She was pleased with the way some of them were turning out and decided to ask Mr. Perkins about learning to cast bronze. 

             
She did a figurine of Slade and Isabel walking near the pond.  It took her several days to finish the raw clay and she decided she liked this kind of work even better than her free form stuff.  The realism was more challenging and the satisfaction as she was done was intense. 

             
She started a series of foals in several poses bucking and playing.  They were larger and more lifelike than anything she'd ever done and she threw herself into it with such a passion that she found her back aching at times from working too many hours at a stretch. 

             
She started swimming at Slade and Isabel’s pool more often, as it seemed to soothe the aches and pains and muscle spasms that became more bothersome the larger she got.  Several times since her and Rossen’s initial night walk, she'd gotten up to go outside, rather than try to pace off her heartburn inside and chance waking someone. 

             
Without her knowing, Rossen always checked on her to make sure she was safe and never went far.  He just watched from a distance and let her go, her white nightgown and robe easily seen in the dark. 

             
One early morning when she was feeling particularly miserable, she couldn’t seem to walk out the spasms in her back and wished she dared sneak into Slade’s pool house at this time of night.  She walked the entire perimeter of the pond several times, but nothing was helping.  She’d waded the pond a few times lately in the daytime where they'd piped a hot mineral spring into it, and although so far she’d only dipped her feet, she walked that way wondering if the hot spring would bring relief. 

She kicked off her slippers, left her robe on the bank and tentatively put a foot into the water to check the temperature in the wee hour chill.  The mineral water felt like warm silk and she didn’t hesitate to wade all the way in.  She swam to where the water spilled in from the pipe and turned to float under it letting the weight of the miniature falls pound her back where it ached.  It helped almost immediately and she was so grateful for
the relief.  The warm water, the night air and the mystique of the dark were powerful medicine, and she basked in its spell.  Her body felt so much less awkward and big in the relative weightlessness of the water.

             
Finally relaxed, she was still loathe to go, but went because she knew her body needed rest.  She came out of the water wishing she'd brought a towel and hoping she hadn’t ruined her white cotton gown.  She stepped into her slippers and wrung out her hair, and carrying her robe to keep it dry, she fairly floated back up the path to the house.  Her gown was actually somewhat dry as she slipped back onto the darkened deck feeling immeasurably better.

             
                                          ****

             
Rossen heard her get up and let herself out and checked on her several times.  She’d never walked this long before and he was just wondering if he should go out to see if she was okay, when she disappeared. 

He waited a few more minutes
, then threw a hoody on over his sweat pants and went to find her.  When he got to the pond, he realized she was, in fact, in it.  Just for a split second he thought she'd drowned and his gut wrenched.  Then she turned over to lay her head back in the water and he understood she was just floating under the piped spring.  He climbed up the hill a way to let her have her privacy and so he wouldn’t scare her here in the dark.  He watched over her until she climbed out of the warm water and headed back to the house, her white gown clinging to her skin and occasionally blowing in the night wind.

             
He followed her at a distance until he’d made sure she was back safe, then he sat on the deck in the dark letting the same night wind cool his head.  Several minutes later, he let himself in.

             
Her night swims became quite common, but after busting her in her almost transparent gown, he only checked to make sure she made it safely in.

             
                                          ****

             
One day she came in from a walk around the ranch in the daytime and changed her clothes to go work in her studio.  When she walked in the craft room door, Rossen, Slade, Isabel, Naomi and Rob were all five standing inside, staring at the foal sculptures in silence.

             
She instantly wondered if there was a problem.  “What’s going on?  Is something wrong?”

             
Naomi answered, “No honey, there’s nothing wrong.  It’s just none of us had been in here for several days, and we hadn’t seen the change in the style of your work.  When Isabel came up and found these, she wanted all of us to come up and see.”

             
Kit looked from one face to the next, trying to read their expressions.  “Well?”  She wasn’t sure she could take it, if they disliked her latest stuff.

             
Slade and Isabel looked at each other and finally Isabel asked, “Do you do commissions?”

             
Kit was still hesitant.  “Commissions like what?”

             
“Could Slade and I hire you to do a series of these horses, but in larger than life size for our farm in California?  We want to have them bronzed.”

             
Kit was stunned.  “Are you serious?”  She looked back and forth at them.

             
Slade nodded. “Yeah, we’re serious.  They're incredible!”

             
Kit was somewhat hesitant.  “I can try.  I’ve never done anything like that before, but it would be way cool.”

             
Rossen and Naomi grinned at each other at her terminology and Naomi said, “World class talent and she calls it way cool!”

             
Kit went over and tossed a towel over the bust of Slade and Isabel as she turned to them and said, “Don’t see this one.  It’s a surprise gift for you, but it’s not done so pretend you don’t know about it, ‘kay?”

             
“Know about what?”  Slade smiled at her.  “Find out how to do the bronzes.  We’ll bankroll the whole project and pay your commission.  Just let us know what you need.”

             
They all left except Rossen, who stood looking for the longest time in silence.  Finally, he said, “When I first met you, I thought God had dealt you way more than your fair share of trials.  I had no idea then about your gifts.  I’ve never known anyone like you in my whole life, Just Kit.  About every other day, you amaze me.”

             
                                          ****                                                       

             
As April drew to a close, Kit finished all of her high school work and she and Rossen went in to take the last childbirth class.  They’d made it through four weeks, and Kit felt they should have been given a diploma or at least an "I survived" T-shirt.               

             
They’d been reading her pregnancy books and between the books and the class, they’d had some rather interesting talks in the truck on the way to and from.

             
That Friday, Sean was graduating from college and the whole family drove the two and a half hours to Logan to attend the commencement.  The Rocklands had bought a house there that they’d turned into three apartments for their kids and their roommates to live in.  Everyone had moved home except the family, so they all stayed there for the night.