Gabriel's Bride (22 page)

Despite the tired lines on her face, Annie smiled. “I hope so. A son for Gideon to teach. He would raise him up to be a fine Amish man.”

“But if it is a girl, she would be yours to teach.”

Annie bit her lip. “I’m so new at this. I don’t know how to teach another what it means to be Amish.”

“Nonsense. You’re going to be a great mother. Any little girl would be blessed to learn from you.”

Annie closed her eyes and laid her head back. “I hope so.”

Rachel wanted to run around and get everything ready at once, though she wasn’t entirely sure what needed to be readied.
Air.
The first thing they needed was air circulating in the room, and some cool water to wipe Annie’s face after the pain stopped. She rose, intending to do just that when another contraction hit.

A strangled cry escaped Annie’s lips as she fought through the pain. She grabbed Rachel’s hand, crushing her fingers as she battled. The pains were coming quick. The windows could wait. They needed hot water and towels and . . . string.

She had overheard a few women talking about their birth experiences. Between the two of them, she and Annie, they could do this. With the Lord’s help, of course.

Annie released her fingers and lay back on the pillows propped against the headboard.

“Annie, I’ve got to leave you for a few minutes. The baby’s coming soon. We need hot water.”

She nodded though her eyes were closed. “Gideon. Have Gideon do it.”

Rachel nodded. It would give the man something to do besides pace the hallway and worry.

She opened the bedroom door a crack and found him doing just that, his face a knot of concern, perspiration lining his forehead. He kept glancing past her to catch a glimpse of his wife, but Rachel kept him on task gathering the items they would need. He returned soon with a bucket of hot water, cloths, and string.

They could do this.
She
could do this. They had the Lord with them. And the Bible said through Him all things were possible. Even babies.

No more than an hour had gone past, when Annie cried out louder than ever. “I’ve got to push, Rachel,” she said through panting breaths.

Rachel furrowed her brow. She wasn’t sure if it was time, but who was she to argue? She helped Annie sit up and get into position: head down, knees bent, then got into position herself.

They could do this.

Rachel said another small prayer and when she opened her eyes, there it was. The
boppli’s
head. “He’s coming, Annie. Keep pushing.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, excitement colored her voice. A baby.

Once the babe’s head was free,
she
slipped easily from her mother’s body, wriggling and warm, into Rachel’s arms. Covered with birth blood and an ashy white substance, she was without a doubt the ugliest thing Rachel had ever seen.

And Rachel loved her on sight.

Her.

“It’s a girl,” Rachel whispered in awe, her breath catching on a sob.

“A girl?” Annie flopped back on the pillows, her voice dull. “Use the string to tie off the umbilical cord,” she instructed.

Just then a knock sounded at the door. “Annie? Rachel?” Ruth peeked her head inside. “The baby?”

“Is fine,” Rachel replied, tears wetting her cheeks like happy rain. “It’s a girl.”

“A girl?” Ruth moved to the side as another woman stepped into the room. Even through her tears, Rachel recognized her immediately as Sue Burkholder, the midwife.

“It can’t be a girl,” Annie moaned, her eyes closed in sheer exhaustion. “I don’t know how to raise a girl.”

“Shush, now,” Sue admonished. “Let’s get this wrapped up here.”

Rachel gladly stood back as Sue stepped in, finishing the messiest part of the birth. She lurked in the corner as Ruth cleaned the baby’s mouth, washed her tiny body, then wrapped her in a soft blanket.

With a smile on her face and the baby held close to her chest, Ruth stepped from the room to show her son, proclaiming, “It’s a girl.”

12

R
achel’s heart thumped in her chest as she climbed into Bill Foster’s van. The Mennonite driver had agreed to drive them into Oklahoma City for the auction. It was a two-hour trip one way, but Bill was a kind man and willing to help them. It didn’t hurt none that he had family in Edmond, a brother and three nieces that he didn’t get to see as often as he’d like.

She settled down in the backseat.

“Do you not want to sit in the front?” Gabriel asked. “It’s better for looking at the landscape.”

Rachel shook her head. She had never enjoyed riding in a car. This trip was necessary, and she was looking forward to spending the day with Gabriel, just not the ride.

Gabriel shrugged and scooted into the front seat, shutting the door and pulling the safety belt across himself.

Rachel followed suit as Bill Foster slid into the driver’s seat and started the van.

“It’s going to be a good day for a drive,” Bill Foster said, giving a nod toward the blue Oklahoma sky.

“
Jah
.” Gabriel gave a nod of his own as Rachel settled back in her seat and closed her eyes.

“It’s a
gut
day for an auction,” she heard Gabriel say.

“Or fishing.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that Bill Foster was smiling.

“Is that how you are going to spend your day, Bill Foster?”

“My brother and I are taking his daughters fishing. It should be a good time.”

“It should at that,” Gabriel replied.

Rachel smiled to herself and drifted off to sleep.

“Rachel?” Someone shook her arm. But she was dreaming a
gut
dream. The fields were so green, stretching out until they touched the flawless blue sky. Beautiful goats roamed across the verdant land munching the tasty grass and giving off the occasional bleat.
Jah
, a
gut
dream in all.

But the shaking persisted. “Rachel?”

She opened her eyes, blinking once as her husband came into focus. She sat up in a hurry, her hands immediately flying to her prayer covering, one straightening the fabric
kapp
while the other smoothed down her hair.

“We’re here.”

The auction. She strained to see around him as anxious as ever to bid on the new goats to fill the fields of her dreams, but all she could see was the parking lot and rows upon rows of cars.

“Oh,” she said, pushing herself out of the minivan as Gabriel stepped back. That’s when she saw the rows of horses tied to hitching posts. She pointed toward them, tugging on Gabriel’s sleeve much like a child. “Do you see?”

“They must be here to do some kind of exhibition.”

“With cowboys?” She couldn’t keep her excitement at bay. Cowboys?
Real
cowboys?

“Maybe.”

He gave a nod to the man at the ticket counter who handed them a pamphlet outlining the agenda for the day. As they walked through the gates, Gabriel scanned the pamphlet, while Rachel nearly spun in a circle to take in all the sights. She had never been to a county fair, but had heard people talking about them, and certainly this event was close. A throng of people milled around walking and talking to one another. Every now and again someone would lead an animal through the crowd, a proud stepping black horse or a white-faced Hereford calf. The smell of fried treats filled the air.

“The bidding on the goats doesn’t start for another two hours,” Gabriel said. “Before that there are a couple of pigs I want to see about.”

“I smell onion rings.” The
wunderbaar
smell trumped any other reply.

Gabriel laughed. “Does that mean you want to see about something to eat first?”

She nodded, with a smile. “I’m sorry. It just smells so
gut
.”

“It does at that. Well, come,
Bissli.
Let’s see about something to eat, and then we can find someplace to sit and watch the animals.”

He held out his arm to her, crooked at the elbow and ready for her to slip hers through.

Rachel hesitated a fraction of a second, then looped her arm in his and smiled up at him. Today with the sweet Oklahoma wind blowing around them and her arm linked with his, it would be so easy to pretend they had a real marriage. And that he loved her in return . . . cherished her even, and would do anything to keep her at his side. That his endearment of “little bit” meant more than a name.

If only for the afternoon.

The thought stilled her smile.

As if sensing the change in her mood, Gabriel peered down at her. “
Was iss letz?
”

Rachel shook her head. “
Nix
.” How could she tell him she wanted more than their original agreement? There were no words. Just like there were none that could take away her love for him, nor his love for his late wife.

“Nothing,” she said again, wishing it were the truth.

Gabriel watched as the auctioneer called out “sold” and pointed to the winning bidder.

He checked the itinerary again, then looked to the big industrial clock hanging on one side of the arena. “The goats are up next.”

Rachel nodded, her gaze never leaving the auction block lest she somehow miss something.

“Do you want to go down closer so we can get a
gut
look at them?”

“Can we?” She flashed those bottomless brown eyes at him, and he felt his stomach tighten painfully. Perhaps he should not have eaten that last chili hot dog. It seemed to have set wrong in his belly.

He nodded and stood, taking time to get the blood back into his legs. Still they wobbled a bit as he took her hand into his own and led her down the steps of the bleachers so they could be at the front when the goats were led in.

They had looked at them in their pens, marking certain ones they wanted to bid on. Rachel seemed taken with one doe in particular. She was a pretty thing with chocolate brown fur that looked as if it had been poured over a pure white goat. Rachel’s entire face had lit up like the Christmas lights in town when she saw her. Gabriel knew she wanted the playful little creature and had determined to do whatever it took to get it for her.

The auctioneer announced that the bidding was about to begin. Handlers and owners brought the goats in on leads, walking them around the arena so everyone could get another look before the bidding started.

He had to admit that they were beautiful creatures. Silky fur and floppy ears, they had eyes filled with softness and intelligence, brown and bottomless like the woman at his side. Funny, but it seemed these days that whatever thought popped into his head somehow hung around until, once again, Rachel filled his mind.

He blinked hard, pushing those thoughts to the back and forcing himself to concentrate on the auction. That was why they had come to Oklahoma City. He needed to remember that.

Rachel leaned in and spoke closely to his ear. She pointed to the brown and white doe. “That’s her.”

“
Jah
.” He nodded, readying his marker for the bid. He didn’t need to look at Rachel to know that her eyes sparkled and that she was chewing her lower lip in her excitement. If he’d known buying her a goat would bring her this much joy, he would have come here long ago.