Partners (23 page)

So as Dale walked up the aisle in her plain little brown wool dress, and stood with her hand resting on Rand's arm, she was in a veritable bower of green, and the air was filled with the spicy pine odor touched with rare perfume of deep winter roses. It seemed a heavenly place, and she could not but think that her dear mother, if she could look down from her heavenly home, must be glad for her that day.

The service was simple and beautiful, and it seemed to the two who stood there entering into the sacred relation, that the Lord Himself stood there beside them, making covenant with them as they assented to the vows.

"I never came so near to God before," said Rand solemnly as they came away, with the words of the marriage benediction still ringing in their ears.

They brought the Christmas roses with them for the minister and his sweet-faced wife would not have it otherwise, and so after all, in spite of their hurry, the bride was not without a bouquet.

"This has been a great day to remember!" said Rand. "Our wedding day! Our wonderful wedding day! A birthday bride carrying Christmas roses! We couldn't have done better if we had taken weeks to prepare, could we, sweetheart? And if I was too untaught and dumb to remember to provide a bride's bouquet myself, my bride was not without roses, and there are still days to come, and years to come, I hope, when I may give her my own roses to prove to her how I love her and how glad I am that she is mine. Just you wait till we have a little more time, my Dale, and we'll have all the frills and doodads of a regular wedding!"

"This was a regular wedding, George," she said softly. "I will not have you spoil it by saying it was not."

"Even if we do have to ride away from the church in a yellow taxicab?" grinned Rand.

"Yes, even a yellow taxicab. I love it all!"

Very quietly they entered the hallway of the apartment house and took their way in the elevator up to the apartment.

"Look!" Dale said to the astonished nurse who hadn't expected them back for an hour yet. "We have been to our own wedding, and it was lovely! I have brought back my bouquet for you to see! And we are going to have the wedding breakfast in a few minutes. It will be served up here, and you and the doctor are both invited!"

The nurse stood entranced, divided between her tears and her love of the romantic.

"Oh, you children, you!" she said with great delight. "I just thought it was going to end that way, but I didn't expect it so soon."

"Well, you see, you sort of rushed the performance a little. But, my dear, it isn't the end, it's just our
beginning
!"

"Bless you, children!" the nurse said fervently, and then suddenly her face became anxious. "But what about the blessed wee baby?" she asked earnestly. "Is he to be shunted off on some orphanage?"

"Not on your life!" said Rand solemnly. "He is the little fella who brought us together. He's going to be the light and joy of our home!"

"It really was for his sake," said Dale coyly, "that we got married in such a hurry."

"Oh, yes?" said the nurse with quite an effect of the street lingo in her voice. "Tell that to somebody who hasn't lived with you both for some days. I saw it coming, I tell you, and I hoped it would be. And now what's to come of those three men that wrote letters, and sent roses, and demanded to be hangers on, I should like to know?"

"If they dare come around again I'm going to wallop them all!" said Rand solemnly.

"Good!" said the nurse. "I hope I can be present when it happens. That
old
one! I saw him one day, and I did my best to make him understand the lady was busy!"

"Well,
we'd
better get busy!" said Rand. "The doctor's due about now, and I have to see if that wedding breakfast is ready. I ordered it before we started."

"I'll get the tables ready," said Dale. "Two of those small tables together will do, don't you think?"

"Sure!" said Rand. "And how's the little fella? Is he going to eat with us? He doesn't sleep
all
the time, does he?"

"Ahhh! Ooooo!" came a soft cooing sound from the crib.

"There he is, right on the dot!" said Rand. "Young fella! This is a celebration, and it's all your fault, so you've got to be a good boy and not get sick again."

He stood for an instant looking down at the child, and the baby looked up and smiled. A real smile it was, and Dale stole up with Rand's arm about her to see, and then called the hungry-eyed nurse to see the baby smile.

It was like a little family, the three people gathered about the little child, and the nurse watched everything wistfully, for was she not having to go away and leave the baby just as she was beginning to love him, just as she was loving the whole family!

Then suddenly Rand hurried down to see if his orders were being carried out, and while he was gone Dale and the nurse created a charming table with the Christmas roses in the center. Rand came back with the doctor, and then the waiters arrived with the dishes and trays, the nurse finished feeding the baby, and the guests sat down to the table and enjoyed the feast.

And after the turkey and mince pie and ice cream had been enjoyed, and the doctor had gone over the baby and pronounced him in fine shape, then suddenly it was time for the nurse to go. Rand sent for a taxi, gathered up her belongings, accompanied her to her boarding place, and left her, promising to return there and see her to her train.

The doctor had stayed with Dale to give her a few last directions about the baby, and before he left Rand arrived back. The doctor looked at the two with a broad genial smile.

"I don't just know how to tell you two what I think of you," he said. "I thought you were rare people before, but after today's response to the trying situation, I put you on top of all the young men and women I know."

"Well, now, that's nice!" said Rand. "I can't just understand how we attained all that excellence, but I appreciate your applause. But, may I inquire just what you suppose
any
body would do in a situation like that? Would you have expected us to lock the nurse in and refuse to let her go?"

The doctor grinned.

"There are plenty of people I know who would have stormed around and deducted some of her pay, or maybe held her to finish out her week at least. I've seen many of that kind in my experience. But then, of course, the very fact that you're taking care of this little foundling child this way, treating it exactly as if it were your own, sets you in a class by yourself."

"Oh, no!" said Rand. "I don't believe there are any
Christian
people who would do that, not many, anyway."

"
Christians!
Oh, well, I don't know so much about them, but I've seen a lot of
so-called
ones that would have excuses galore for getting out of a thing like this. Why, man, this is a life work you've undertaken!"

"I trust so!" said Rand solemnly, with a kind of radiance in his face. "We want it to be that!"

"Oh,
yes
!" said Dale, lifting a glory-look to the doctor.

The doctor stood there looking at them with growing wonder in his eyes, and something almost reverent mingled with his admiration.

It grew almost embarrassing to them, the look he gave them, until Rand in a matter-of-fact tone said, "Doctor, if this little chap continues to improve at the rate he's doing now, how long do you think it will be before we dare move? I'd like to get my family into a more convenient home before Christmas if it's at all possible, but of course we don't want to run any risks."

The doctor came down to practical things at once.

"Oh!
Move?
" he said sharply. "How far do you want to take him? Out of the city?"

"Oh, no," said Rand, "just into a larger, sunnier apartment. There's a place around on the next avenue in the Curtiss Building where I have found an apartment that is much more suited to our needs for the rest of the winter. My wife hasn't seen it yet, but I'm sure she will prefer it. It's much more conveniently arranged, and the service is better."

"H'm!" said the doctor frowning and looking down at the sleeping baby. "Well, I suppose he might be moved that far in two or three days now. We'll see how things go tomorrow or the next day. If he doesn't have any more setbacks he ought to be able to weather it pretty soon. How about a nurse? Are you going to get along without one for a while?"

"Yes," said Dale smiling. "I can perfectly well take care of him now."

"Not altogether!" said Rand firmly. "There will be times when we'll both have to go out at the same time of course, and eventually we'll have to have someone, but I thought we could take our time. We've been waiting to see if you knew of the right nurse. Or should we continue to have a regular nurse now for a few weeks? We want to do the right thing of course."

"Well," said the doctor thoughtfully, "I do know two or three good nurses who might be right for you, but they're out on cases just now. If you could get along for another week, perhaps even only four or five days, I think I could find you just the right one."

"Oh, we can!" said Dale. "I'm sure we can. And by that time we'll likely know just what it is we want, anyway. We haven't really had a chance to get adjusted to things yet, because we've left everything to Nurse Hatfield, especially while the baby was so very sick."

"Well, Hatfield's all right, of course. Sorry she had to leave you this way."

"Yes, we'll miss her," said Dale, "but we couldn't think of wanting her to stay away from her poor mother. We'll be all right."

"Yes, I guess you will," said the doctor, looking at her with unqualified admiration. "You would have made a good nurse yourself, you know."

He went away, and then at last they turned to each other with a look of utter joy on their faces.

The baby was very good that night. He seemed to like the gentle hands that handled him, the pleasant way his food was administered. And when he was full he gave a tentative kick or two, feebly, as if just to test his power, and dropped off to sleep again.

"Do babies always sleep so much?" asked Rand as he saw the eyelids droop slowly down on the cheeks.

"I don't know," said Dale. "There are a great many things I don't know about babies."

"For a person who doesn't know, you've managed to do pretty well, I'll say. You've taken over the nurse's job like a professional. Say, has it struck you that the little fella is filling out a lot? I'd hardly recognize him for the same little mite that I found in Lady Beck's entrance hall, would you?"

"No, I don't believe I would," said Dale happily. "And his hair is definitely curly. My! I like that! He'll be lovely, I'm sure he will."

"Well, if he is, I'm sure I'll get jealous," grinned Rand.

"You dear!" whispered Dale softly, putting her lips against his hair and nestling close.

Rand enfolded her in his arms and drew her down beside him in the big chair.

"Say, isn't this wonderful!" said Rand. "Just ourselves, and no nurse around! To have you all to myself at last! It seems somehow as if it couldn't possibly be true that I am yours and you are mine!"

"And to think that just a few short days ago we didn't know each other at all!" said Dale. "Just picked up a lot of oranges together for a minute or two and then scarcely saw each other again for several weeks."

"Well," said Rand bringing her cheek down to rest on his, "I had you in the back of my mind ever since. That's right, I did! You had golden lights in your eyes, and a special little curl in the whiteness of your neck that stayed with me, and lured me. That's right, you did! I noticed it the first time I saw you. Where is that curl? Ah! There it is. Turn around here and let me touch it. I always wanted to curl it around my finger. How soft it is. It feels just as I thought it would. I shall play with that curl a great deal, beloved. Shall you mind? Because I like you a lot, and I like that little curl."

"Well, and you had red light in your hair and a dear grin on your nice lips," said Dale. "It made me like you at once. I felt safer somehow, and more content, because you belonged in that house, though I didn't suppose I would ever have any closer acquaintance with you than picking up those oranges. But do you know when I really fell hopelessly in love with you, so it was impossible to get you out of my mind?"

"No, when?" he asked with bated breath.

Dale's voice was very low and solemn as she answered, "It was the night that you knelt down and prayed for the baby. The night I saw that reverent look on your face and that holy light in your eyes. Then I knew you could stand the test that my mother had told me about. You might not ever care for me of course, but I knew you belonged to God, and it filled my heart with peace."

"That's what makes you so different from other girls," he said tenderly, awed by her thought of him. "You care about things of that sort, and most other girls don't. I don't think I've ever known a girl before who did, except my mother. And she wasn't a girl of course. Have you always cared?"

"Yes, in the back of my mind I have. I didn't always work at it much," she laughed self-consciously. "You see, after Mother died and things got pretty fierce I began to think God didn't care about me anymore, and I didn't always go to church. I got away from God. I only prayed half-heartedly, and I didn't read my Bible much, at least only very hurriedly, not enough to really take in what I read. It's very easy to do that when you get your heart filled with worry."

"I guess it would be. Probably that's very much what was the matter with me. I joined the Church when I was fourteen, but it never meant much to me. It was only a form, a ceremony, which gave one respectability and a certain amount of prestige with God. That's about all. Mother was sweet. I know she was a true Christian herself, but I think she considered that I was safe because I had at last joined the Church. I remember the day I united with the Church. It meant a lot to her, and I remember being a bit surprised that she felt so, because really it hadn't meant so much to me. Not as much as when I entered high school. But we always went to church of course, while I was at home. It was when I came up here to my job that I stopped going, and I haven't thought much about it since, until God sent that baby and you to startle me into knowing what I was doing. I guess you have to keep in practice in religion as well as in anything else."