Twice a Bride (25 page)

Morgan ducked into the room. “I’ll go to the house and get the rubber sheet.”

Ida’s heart pounded. Women did this all the time without doctors, but this was her baby sister they were talking about. “You should stay. I’ll go.”

Morgan raised his hand, signalling a stop, and glanced at his wife. “Kat’s done this before.”

“With you.” The coloring in Kat’s face was a shade lighter. “You’ll be back soon?”

He nodded and darted toward the kitchen door.

“Oh dear.” Father came to an abrupt halt in the doorway, his eyebrows arched.

Hattie nearly collided with him from behind. She peeked around the blockage. “Are we having a baby?”

Father paled. “Not me. I’ll be in the parlor. Better yet, telephone me at the boardinghouse as soon as my grandchild arrives.”

Kat walked beside Vivian, their arms intertwined, as she and Carter guided her sister toward the bedroom. No more false starts. The contractions had come on fast and strong. When another one hit, Vivian stopped midstep and doubled over just outside Ida and Tucker’s bedchamber. Kat glanced toward the front door, ready for her husband to return. Thankfully, they lived only a few blocks from the parsonage, and Morgan should be back any minute with the rubber sheet. If not, they may be delivering a baby on the bed without it.

Vivian latched onto the doorframe, her breath ragged and her brow damp.

Carter looked at Kat, concern etched in his brown eyes. “What do we do?”

“We’re doing it—getting her to the bed.”
The sooner, the better
.

Kat breathed a prayer for all of them. She’d helped Morgan deliver Iris’s baby at the hospital two years ago and she gave birth to Hope last year, but those two experiences scarcely prepared her to be a midwife. She’d feel better if Morgan was here. But he wasn’t, and there was no time to be concerned with how she felt. Her sister and Carter needed her to remain calm, at least in appearances.

Viv arched. “My back feels like it’s on fire.”

“It’s not.” Kat rubbed her sister’s lower back. “I thought Hope would never come, but Viv, it seems you may be one of the lucky and deliver your baby fast.”

“But Ida’s bed.” Viv’s breath was ragged. “I can’t—”

“Don’t concern yourself with that, sis.” Ida slipped past them and into the bedroom, carrying the rubber sheet, which meant Morgan had returned.

“Where’s Morgan?” Kat asked.

“He said he’d be in the parlor with the husbands, that Vivian and the baby were in good hands with her sisters.”

“My sisters.” Vivian worked to draw in a deep breath and resume a snail’s pace toward the bedroom. “Nell?”

“Nell went to the kitchen. She’ll be along with water and towels soon.” With each step Kat felt her own baby’s kicks and wondered if she could deliver Vivian’s baby from a sitting position.

They’d crossed the threshold and made it as far as the dressing table when Viv cupped her abdomen with both hands, pulling Kat’s arm with her. “All that practice has made our baby impatient … and I feel like I need the chamber—” She grabbed the dressing table and grunted.

“You’re pushing!” Kat hadn’t meant to shout.

Vivian nodded, her breath shallow and her face tight.

In one swift move, Carter scooped Vivian into his arms and rushed to the bed. Ida had just tucked in the last corner of the sheet, a dressing gown draped over her shoulder. Carter laid Vivian on the bed.

Kat regarded her older sister. “There’s no time to change her clothes.”

“The baby’s coming already?”

Nell rushed in, huffing and puffing. A curl of steam swirled above the pot she carried to the washstand.

“Now that you’re settled … I’ll do my waiting in the parlor.” Carter leaned over and kissed Vivian’s forehead before leaving the room. Vivian groaned again as Carter closed the door behind him.

“We need to get her ready,” Kat said. With Ida and Nell’s help, she raised Vivian’s skirt, pulled off her pantaloons, and laid a cotton sheet over her lower extremities. “I need to see how close we are.”

Vivian nodded, her belly tightening, the strain coloring her face. Nell set a short stack of towels on a bedside table, and Ida brushed Vivian’s hair back from her face.

Kat settled into position at Vivian’s knees and lifted the sheet. A tiny head
slid toward her. “Woo-wee, this little guy is in a hurry!” Kat looked at Ida. “Throw me a towel.” Her heart raced as she caught two dry towels and bent to catch the baby.

Vivian curled toward her, pushing and groaning.

Kat’s eyes watered as a wiggling, slippery new life landed in her arms and screamed. “I have a niece.”

A sweet smile replaced the pained scowl on Vivian’s face. “I have a daughter?”

“You surely do. She’s on the tiny side, and beautiful.”

A sob escaped Vivian as she plopped back onto the pillow.

“Let me clean her up a little.” Kat quickly patted the little one dry, then swaddled her and laid her on Vivian’s chest. “Morgan will come cut the cord.”

“That certainly went quickly.” Nell leaned over the bed beside Ida for a peek at their new niece. “She is beautiful.”

“I’ll go get Carter and Morgan.” Ida left the door open behind her.

Breathing a prayer of thanksgiving, Kat washed her hands at the washstand. She was watching the new mother nuzzle her newborn daughter when Vivian suddenly groaned and pulled her knees up.

Kat returned to the bed and lifted the sheet. “Oh my!”

Hattie pressed a puzzle piece into the lower right corner of the jigsaw. Harlan sat across from her at the parlor table. He’d driven her and Cherise back to the boardinghouse in an attempt to escape the certain drama of the impending birth.

Cherise was content playing on the sofa with a couple of dolls Hattie kept on hand, alternating English with French as she entertained her captive audience.

Harlan grunted, trying to push the same puzzle piece into the same spot for the third time. “I can’t believe my baby girl is having a baby.”

“I know.” Hattie lifted her teacup from the saucer. “Feels like Vivian arrived in Cripple Creek just a few months ago.” She drained her cup of the tepid tea. “But it also feels like time has been flying by. Soon Kat will have another child.”

Hattie couldn’t help but wonder how many grandbabies her baby might have given her by now if the Good Lord had chosen to leave her here on earth.

“Time didn’t stand still then like it is now.” Harlan ran his hand through his silver-tinted auburn hair. “It’s been hours since we left the parsonage.”

Hattie glanced at the mantel clock. “Two hours and twenty-five minutes to be exact.”

“Feels like it all started yesterday.” He looked at the puzzle, then up at her. “They promised to telephone us, didn’t they?”

“Yes, Ida said she’d telephone with the news. I’m sure we’ll hear from her soon.”

At least she hoped so. If not for Harlan’s sake, for hers. They were both as jumpy as crickets and needed something else to occupy their minds. The puzzle was no longer an adequate distraction.

“Have you gone to the school to register Cherise yet?” Hattie asked.

“I took her to meet the principal on Friday.” Harlan looked across the room at Cherise. “It won’t be an easy adjustment, but she needs to be around children. Cherise enjoys Hope and William, but it’s not the same. She needs time with children her own age.”

Had his eyes been that blue when they’d first met just weeks ago? How could she not have liked this man?

Harlan laid the troublesome puzzle piece on the table and met her gaze. “May I ask you something?”

She nodded, her mouth suddenly dry.

“If it’s presumptuous of me, just say so.”

Presumptuous?
Whatever did he intend to ask her? She moistened her lips.

He glanced at the child. “Cherise needs new clothes. Will you go shopping with us?”

She stilled in surprise. “That was your bold question?”

“I don’t wish to take advantage of the fact that you love my daughters or that Cherise and I are renting rooms in your home.”

“Oh, fiddle-faddle. I count you as a friend, and shopping for a little girl? I’d love to.” Harlan had four grown daughters, but he’d asked her to go with him and Cherise. Hattie’s heart did a little dance. It felt so good to be included in this family.

Needing to get a grip on her emotions, she looked away and focused on the red flames flickering in the fireplace. She’d do well to remember that being included in a few of the Sinclair family goings-on didn’t give her a permanent place in Harlan Sinclair’s life, lest she start grasping at any crazy romantic notions. At her age?

“I expected one of my daughters to take Cherise in,” Harlan said, his voice lowered.

“Expected? As in past tense?”

He glanced at Cherise, then returned his attention to Hattie and leaned toward her. “Truth is, I don’t think I can give her up.” She could barely hear his whisper over Cherise’s chatter. “Even to one of my own daughters.”

She shouldn’t be surprised. His care of the little girl made it obvious that he adored her.

“I’m sure it sounds crazy for an old man like me to entertain the thought of raising an eight-year-old girl himself.”

“I don’t think it’s a crazy thought.” Hattie made herself look into those blue eyes. “But I do think the undertaking would be easier if you didn’t try to do so on your own.” Her breath caught. His creased brow told her he was wondering what she meant. So was she.

The telephone jangled, and they both jumped from their chairs, nearly colliding in the doorway. Laughing, Harlan stepped back and let Hattie go first. “It is your house, your telephone.”

She rushed to the kitchen and pulled the cone from its hook. “Hello? Ida?”

“Yes, Miss Hattie.” The operator had a thick Spanish accent. “I’ll connect her.”

“Thank you, Eva.” Hattie handed the telephone cone to Harlan. He was, after all, the grandfather. He should hear the news first.

His eyes widened and his face paled.

“Ida? Is Vivian well?” Hattie asked.

He nodded, and a deep sigh escaped her.

“Two!” he said.

She moved closer to him. “Twins?”

Tears brimming his blue eyes, he nodded again. “Victoria and Veronica.”

“Thank the Lord.” Two more girls. Now poor William was outnumbered three to one. Hopefully, Kat would deliver a boy to even it out some.

Harlan said good-bye to Ida and faced Hattie, his gaze tender. “Mother and daughters are doing well.” He drew in a deep breath. “I have four dear daughters. Four attentive sons-in-law. Four rambunctious grandchildren, with number five on the way. And a dear friend.” He enfolded her hand in his. “I am a blessed man.”

And she, a blessed woman. With weakening knees. As nonchalantly as possible, she rested her other hand on the countertop to steady herself. Perhaps age wasn’t the issue she thought it was when it came to romance.

M
onday morning Trenton paid for his breakfast and stepped out of the Third Street Café under a cloud-rimmed sky. The rain had finally let up sometime after midnight, but another storm was on its way. The thick air cradled dampness and the scent of rain as he walked to the studio.

Jesse usually joined him for breakfast on Monday mornings, but a big job had his friend working dawn to dusk this week.