Renewing Hope (In Your World #2) (42 page)

Nathan was up in an instant, his hand on me but his body halfway out of bed, as if he was preparing to sprint for help. I let out a few relieved breaths as the pain passed, closing my eyes and letting my head rest against the pillow once more.

"Was that?" Nathan whispered hoarsely.

"It felt like one," I breathed, threading my fingers in his around my belly.

"I should get Fannie," he said and moved to stand.

"It is early still," I said and watched while he pulled his trousers on.

"But this could be it," he said, the excitement and fear clear in his voice.

"It would be nice to have her here," I conceded, my own trepidation building off of his.

A quick kiss on my forehead and he was out the door, setting off at a run down the stairs and up the hill. I lay there in our bed for several minutes, my hands around my stomach as my little person nudged me once or twice and then settled down once more. I found my shift and put it on, not knowing how Fannie would react should she find me naked in our bed.

It was not long before I heard the door open and their hurried footsteps on the stairs.

I saw Fannie first, her smile broad as she stepped in, wrapped in a coat over her sleep shift. She came up to the bed and sat beside me, looking me over.

"How far apart are the contractions?" she asked. I frowned and thought about it.

"There's only been the one," I said, blushing when I saw her eyes narrow at me.

"I will forgive you this once, Nathan, because you are new and I said to let me know should anything happen," she said, never looking away from me. "But it is normal for mothers-to-be to have occasional contractions days before labor."

Nathan and I both looked at Fannie sheepishly and apologized for waking her only a little after midnight. She tutted and leaned over to kiss me sweetly before standing and drawing her coat around her once more.

"In the future, when the contractions are no more than six minutes apart, then come and get me," she said and smiled up at Nathan as she passed him.

"Yes, Fannie," he murmured and followed her back down the stairs, only to return a few minutes later.

He looked thoroughly abashed.

"Sorry," I whispered and pulled him down into bed, his clothes still on.

"I just did not want to be too late," he replied and let out a long breath. "Fannie is so like my mother it scares me sometimes."

"What does that mean?"

He chuckled and rubbed at his face.

"She would have told me the same thing. That I worry too much," he groaned.

"I am sure we are not the only nervous couple Fannie has had wake her up in the middle of the night," I said, touching his chin with my hand.

"Still does not make me feel good about having her come all this way for nothing," he whispered.

I patted him on the hand around my hip and nestled into him further.

"She understands, Nathan," I whispered. "We are ready for this."

I felt him smile against my throat and he relaxed beside me.

"We will be better prepared."

"Exactly," I replied simply.

Nathan fell asleep quickly, and I lay beside him contemplating the next time. It would not be long, I knew. Every day that we drew closer to our own occasion seemed to garner exciting news from everyone else.

Fannie came to breakfast at our house with news that the hospital had decided it would be best to induce labor with Emma, a month early. Her blood pressure had risen in the last few days and they worried that she would have more issues the closer she came to her due date. In the race to see who would have their child first, it seemed Emma would beat me to it.

It was both exciting and frustrating.

I waddled around, uncomfortable in my skin and always hot now. I never seemed to stop sweating, and the baby was bumping my bladder on a regular basis. All I wished was for that big day to finally come, regardless of the fears of the unknown. I had only suffered a couple of small contractions in the morning, and with each one, a wave of nervous excitement coursed through me in anticipation for the next one. It wouldn’t come and I would be forced to continue to waddle and sweat and wish my bladder was higher in my body.

I was working in the garden as the midday sun beat down on me when I felt the dampness run down my legs. Groaning at the never-ending sweat, I moved down the line of green beans and felt the warm flow increase. I paused, looking down at the dry earth as it dampened under my skirt. I looked up, scanning the horizon for Nathan. He had said he would stay close, but I couldn't see him.

That nervous bit of excitement turned into panic at not seeing him.

"Nathan!"

I heard it echo off the barn, a frantic cry that I realized was my own.

I walked carefully toward the barn, hoping to find him there. I was not alone. I knew he would not leave me alone. But for a fleeting instant, I worried that he had.

"Nathan!"

"Kate?" I heard, his voice in the barn before he stepped out, carrying a bucket and looking for me.

When he saw my face the bucket dropped and he was running toward me.

"Now?" he breathed, his hands reaching for me like I was suddenly breakable.

I nodded just as the first real contraction hit.

"Whoa," I gasped and clutched at him as the tightening in my lower stomach increased.

"Inside, I need to get you inside," Nathan said and all but carried me toward the house.

My feet felt like they glided over the hardwood floors as he helped me upstairs and to the bedroom. He looked around and pulled the sheets back as I slipped into the bed, the contraction gone and my body simply damp now.

"I need to change, Nathan. Go get Fannie while I change," I instructed, strangely calm.

He froze in front of me, looking from me to the door.

"I do not want to leave you," he started, but I shook my head.

"She said every six minutes, Nathan. We are still beyond that, but my water broke," I explained, still so calm. "You have time to go get her."

"Are you sure?" he asked, edging toward the door.

I nodded and moved to strip.

I heard the door close downstairs and knew he was probably halfway up the hill already.

I was down to my shift when the next contraction came, forcing me to lean heavily into the bed before it let up once more. I let out a relieved breath and tried to ignore the fact that the contractions were faster than six minutes apart.

I softly counted as I continued to change, stepping into the bathroom to start the water in the bath. We'd need water, and towels. Another contraction, this one at four minutes as I pulled the towels down out of the linen closet. I clutched at the towels and tried to breathe through the clenching.

How long had Nathan been gone now?

Three contractions in almost fifteen minutes.

And then another.

This baby wanted out.

"Kate?"

"Nathan!"

I heard the footsteps and then saw Fannie and Nathan, picking me up from the hallway amidst the towels that had fallen.

"Katherine, what are you doing?" Fannie asked as she settled me into the bed. She propped me up with pillows against the headboard but I shook my head.

"Three minutes," I panted, feeling the tightening starting once more. "Three minutes apart."

She looked at me in surprise before turning to Nathan.

"You said she had just had only one," she said.

He nodded and looked at me with worry.

"And her water," he added.

I groaned and clutched at the blanket beside me as the next wave hit.

"Nathan, go and wash well. This will be quick and I need you to be ready," Fannie said, her voice taking on the same authority I recognized from the night Hannah gave birth.

He paused for only a moment before he hurried into the bathroom to clean up. He was back by my side again with a cool towel to put over my now sweating brow. I looked up to find him worrying his lip. I nodded and reached for his hand.

"It's okay, Nathan," I panted, trying to smile, only to grimace with pain as another contraction squeezed at me.

"Nathan, help me to move her to the front of the bed," Fannie instructed, Nathan holding me in place as Fannie shifted the pillows.

"Why is it happening so fast?" I hissed, breathing heavily and shutting my eyes tight when I felt the pain shooting down the backs of my legs.

Fannie let out a grunt and shoved the pillows hard against me to hold me semi-upright.

"Would you rather have it last for days? It seems this baby wants into this world sooner than later," she said and grabbed a number of towels to place on the floor before me.

"It took so long for Hannah," I said and whimpered at the weight that seemed to be bearing down on my lower body.

"It is different for every woman, Katherine," Fannie said and looked up at me with proud eyes. "Soon, Katherine. It will be soon."

The idea that this would be over quickly was squashed with the pain that shot through me once more. I cried out and grabbed at Nathan, who held my hand and whispered urgently into my ear. I didn't hear all that he said, only catching the important words like love, and his everything.

Anything else was lost in my heavy breathing and the rushing of blood in my ears.

We seemed to go like that forever, soft words followed by my cry and an unbearable pressure down low. Then a moment to relax, Fannie checking on my progress, and Nathan wiping away the sweat before we did it again.

It was probably only an hour, maybe two, but it felt like all day. My only measure of time was the sun as it progressed over the floor of our room. It was disappearing from our window when Fannie looked up with excited eyes.

"I can see hair, Katherine. You can push on the next contraction," she said, looking over to Nathan as she moved my feet a little further apart, showing Nathan how to hold my leg so that I had something to push against.

The next contraction came, forcing me to cry out with the need to push. Nathan held me tight to him, his eyes jumping from my face to where Fannie looked in earnest. The pain vibrated through me, making me cry louder as I felt the pressure build in me. I clenched my eyes shut and pushed a little harder.

"Good, Katherine," Fannie chanted. "Again, you are so close."

"I cannot," I moaned, the pressure too much.

I had a moment to breathe, my eyes opening up to search for Nathan's, looking at me with that intense look I remembered so many times before.

When we first met.

When we first kissed.

When he came to get me in California.

When I saw him in the burning barn.

When he said he would be mine forever.

When we first made love.

"Nathan," I breathed, the tears welling up at seeing his soul laid bare in those brilliant green eyes.

"Push, Kate," he whispered and kissed my lips like a promise.

The pain shot through me again, breaking off our kiss with my cry and I pushed, holding onto my husband as he called my name again and again. When I thought the pressure could not get any worse, it peaked and I growled to push past that pain, feeling another sudden burst of pressure as Fannie cried out.

"The head is out! Good, Katherine! Just a little more!"

"Come on, Kate. Just a little more," Nathan echoed in an urgent whisper, looking down as Fannie reached for more towels.

"Push Katherine!"

"Push Kate!"

I felt Nathan's support, heard his voice, and pushed, crying out as I did. A sudden release and Nathan’s quiet whimper forced my eyes to open to see there, in Fannie's arms, everything we had worked for these last several months. Small and surprisingly long, a shock of dark hair mashed down and wet.

And then as Fannie cleared the airways, a soft cry that went straight to my heart.

Our child.

"It is a boy," Fannie said brokenly, sobbing as she held the small baby in her arms.

The room was filled with noises, laughter mixed with tears. Crying that never sounded mournful.

"Little Jason," I whispered and clutched at Nathan's hand while Fannie cleaned our son up a bit.

I felt her slipping him up to settle on my chest, Nathan looking over both of us with adoration once more, his brilliant green irises and a smile that made his eyes crinkle up with joy. Our son wiggled against me and we both looked down to see our son’s eyes flutter and struggle to look up at us.

"Our son," he whispered softly against my ear and kissed me so tenderly I thought perhaps I had dreamt it.

My idea of reality was slipping as I sat there with the tiny little man in my arms, and the man of my dreams at my side. The soft cry of my son called to me and I touched him lightly with my fingers, his skin soft and pink and warm. He wiggled in my arms and I laughed, the feeling of him there in the flesh such a wonder.

"Our son," I repeated, smiling over him.

"And so the Fisher house fills up once more," Fannie whispered, tears in her eyes as she took in her children before her.

And so with little Jason, our family began to grow.

EPILOGUE

"They should have been back by now," Hannah huffed, ignoring the heavy sigh coming from Fannie.

"Will you step away from the door and help to finish this order of pies, Hannah!" Fannie called.

I snorted and shook my head.

Even after living on her own with Mark for over a year, she still had not perfected pie making. We were safer with her by the door.

Emma let out a long frustrated growl and slapped her dishrag on the counter.

"Hannah, do you see Katherine or me worrying? They will get back before the snow falls any heavier!" she cajoled in a strained whisper, only to shake her head when we heard the cry from the other room.

"I will go," Fannie said and wiped her hands. "Hannah, come. We can look after the babes while Emma and Katherine put in the last of the pies."

Hannah made one last effort to look out the kitchen door and then followed her mother to the adjacent room where one of the babies had woken up from his nap. I knew it was a he because it sounded suspiciously like Simon. But soon we heard little Mary chime in and Emma let out another sigh.