Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 1) (33 page)

Chapter Sixty-Three

    
 
T
imothy
Elgerson sat alone in the cottage parlor, his daughter placed uncertainly on his lap. The baby rubbed her tiny fist against a pink cheek and pursed her lips, frowning. He touched her small hand with his finger, feeling larger than he ever had in his life. The baby opened her fist and grasped his forefinger firmly.

      Timothy caught his breath, and the newborn struggled to focus on her father’s face, as he leaned close to her and whispered.

      “Hello, little miss. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Timothy Elgerson, your father.” Timothy could barely contain his wonder as the baby wrinkled her nose and squeaked softly.

      The carriages arrived outside and Mark ran into the house. He froze at the sight of his father bent over the tiny bundle.

      “Is that the baby?” he gasped.

      “Mark, come here and meet your little sister.”

      The boy tiptoed to his father awkwardly as Phillip and the doctor stood in the doorway, quietly watching the boy kneeling beside his father and studying the new baby.

      “She looks just like Rebecca,” he whispered, “But really small. Look, Pa! She even has hair!”

      Timothy chuckled as he rose from the chair and handed the infant to his father. “Grandfather Phillip, meet your new granddaughter.” The baby squirmed in the arms of the family patriarch and cooed softly.

      The doctor tapped on the bedroom door and entered quietly as Isabel finished settling Rebecca against the pillows.

      “Well, my dear. You are looking quite well!”

      Rebecca smiled weakly and pulled the warm blankets close to her. “You never told me I would have to be spun around to have that baby,” she smiled gingerly.

      “Spun around?” The doctor looked at Isabel puzzled.

      “The baby had to be turned. It went quite well actually.” Isabel smiled proudly.

      “I see,” the doctor frowned. “Well, Rebecca, you appear to have come out of it just fine.” He examined her briefly and nodded approvingly to Isabel.

      “What I didn’t tell you is that you have the best midwife in the territory beside you.” He nodded and gathered his bag from the bed.

      “I’m sure I have the best mother-in-law,” Rebecca replied.

      Timothy returned with the baby, and Mark rushed to Rebecca’s side, patting her hand protectively.

      “Rebecca, the baby looks just like you!” he informed her excitedly. “Are you better now?”

      “Yes, Mark, much better.” She rubbed his arm affectionately.

      “I wanted to stay and help you, but I had to make sure Grandpa Phillip didn’t get hurt driving the buggy too fast.”

      Timothy smiled and winked.

      “Thank you, Mark. Your father and Grandmother Isabel did just fine.”

      “That’s good, because I was really worried.”

      Timothy laughed heartily and turned to his mother to grip her hand.

      “Everyone out!” Isabel scolded. “Let’s leave Rebecca to feed that baby. I think you fellows can all go off and celebrate.”

      Isabel took the infant from Phillip’s proud arms and handed her to her mother, closing the door as Mark and the men left the room.

      Sitting beside Rebecca, Isabel helped her put her new daughter to her breast and, once the baby was nursing happily, gathered up the linens and straightened the room.

      “What have you decided to name her?” she asked as she sat down in the chair beside the bed, enjoying the sight of her beautiful daughter-in-law feeding her new baby.

      “Louisa Elizabeth Elgerson.” The young mother whispered as she watched her baby blissfully, feeling quite exhausted. “They were my grandmother’s names.”

      “Very pretty,” Isabel replied quietly as she took the sleeping infant from Rebecca and set her in the waiting bassinet.

      “To Louisa Elizabeth Elgerson!” Phillip toasted as the men touched their brandy snifters, dipping in the butt ends of cigars, even allowing the boy a taste in a snifter of his own.

      The long-legged men lounged on the porch in the late morning sun. Isabel came out onto the porch and noticed Mark with his brandy. She shot the men a glaring look and they raised their glasses to her, grinning broadly.

      “You two are beyond belief!” She smiled and shook her head.

Chapter Sixty-Four

    
 
T
imothy
sat restless and fidgeted in the tiny kitchen, watching Mark from across the room. He was trying desperately to make Louisa laugh despite her loud wails.

      “I think she’s really mad, Pa.” The boy sighed and dropped into a chair.

      “What do you imagine she could possibly have to be that angry about?” Timothy set aside his paperwork and crossed the room to pick up the fretting child.

      “I think she wants to eat again. She looks pretty darned mad to me.”

      Rebecca stepped sleepily from the bedroom and gathered up the now wailing infant, who began to root against her breast violently. She returned to the room without a word and in moment the house returned to a peaceful bliss and Timothy sighed.

      For several days Rebecca felt as if she could not sleep enough. Timothy often paced the floor, softly whispering to the persistent infant, and Mark learned to change diapers while singing
Skip to My Lou
all hours of the day and night. All of their lives revolved almost entirely around tiny Louisa.

      The baby settled into a routine as the days warmed and her demands for constant feeding subsided, to the relief of everyone in the household. Her tiny form began to fill out and one afternoon Timothy was certain she smiled at him.

      “I guess it’s too early to think about the next baby,” Timothy speculated aloud as he cradled his daughter in his powerful arm.

      “Another one?” Rebecca looked up from her knitting and observed him watching Louisa fondly.

      “Another baby!” He smiled at her handsomely.

      “I would think you had been up enough nights singing to the one you have already.” Rebecca shook her head, smiling.

      “This one is much too small to fill the entire third floor of Stavewood. I believe we’ll need several just like her before we can load the place up. Don’t you agree, Loo?” he cooed.

      “She’ll grow in time.” Rebecca sighed, grinning.

      Rebecca had nearly regained her strength and, as the seasons changed, she approached Timothy on the porch.

      “I think it’s time,” she placed her hand lovingly on his shoulder.

      “Time?” he replied absently, his face serious as he stared into the trees.

      “I think your sentence should be over now, sir.” Rebecca moved to the chair beside him.

      “Is that a proposition, madam?” He looked up at her curiously.

      “Yes,” she smiled at him mischievously. “And more.”

      “After all these weeks of waiting, I can’t imagine anything I would enjoy more.” He looked at her lovingly and smiled.

      “It’s time to return to Stavewood.” Her face was serious.

      “Are you sure?” He fought to contain his excitement.

      “We need to go home. I miss the place terribly and I can no longer bear to watch you suffer in this tiny cottage.” She smiled and touched his arm. “Take me home, Timothy. Take me back to Stavewood the way we planned on our wedding day.”

      Timothy stood and pulled her close to him, kissing her fervently.

      He looked down into her emerald eyes and whispered to her. “I would enjoy that almost as much as our wedding night.”

      The man had made regular trips to Stavewood, always returning with piles of gifts for Rebecca and the baby, clothing and yarn and silver rattles. Rebecca could knit for every minute of the rest of her life and never make a dent in the mounds of yarn he had carted back. He made several trips to the dressmaker, once bringing back a girl to take Rebecca’s measurements, and supplied her with an astounding wardrobe with which to dress her returning figure.

      He struggled to keep himself from his beautiful wife, her figure fuller and more inviting. He could barely contain himself until Louisa was settled in the nursery at Stavewood.

      He now spent several days riding back home to bring as much as he could to the big house. The last day he stopped at the home of his parents, so that Mark could kiss them goodbye. The boy rattled on in excitement, as he always did, happy to be returning home again while soothing the big cat captive in the box on his lap.

      “Don’t you worry, son,” Phillip had placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Your Grandmother and I are coming up next week. I’ll bring those good poles and we’ll hit the lake and bring in some of those walleye.”

      After bringing Mark back to Stavewood, Timothy returned to the cottage to find Rebecca finishing a thorough cleaning in anticipation of returning home the following day.

      With no one about the place except her and the infant, Rebecca selected a lightweight green gown that fit her waist. She was nearly as thin as before her pregnancy, and she left a few buttons unfastened at the bodice, in the heat of the afternoon. With her hair piled loosely upon her head, Timothy found her kneeling on the floor trying to retrieve a tiny stocking from under a chair.

      “Let me get that,” he whispered, unable to take his eyes from her generously displayed cleavage. “There is something about you crawling about on the floor that I find quite unnerving, woman.”

      Rebecca sat back on her ankles, her hair tumbling in soft tendrils around her shoulders and framing her delicate face. “Tell me all about it,” she smiled provocatively. She could see the hunger in his eyes and was eager for him to find her beautiful once again. “Do I still spark your interest?”

      “More than ever.” His heart pounded in his chest as he watched her regarding him eagerly.

     “Where might that daughter of ours be?” he looked into the sultry depths of Rebecca’s emerald eyes.

      Rebecca smiled mischievously. “I moved her bassinet into the other room.”

      Timothy accepted her invitation openly and pulled her to him.

      Rebecca fell into his arms impatiently and he kissed her feverishly. She felt the remaining buttons of her bodice fall free as he cupped his hand against her full breast and she caught her breath, the pleasure of his touch filling her with an equal hunger for him.

      “Woman,” he whispered hoarsely, “you have no idea how nearly impossible it has been to keep myself away from this.”

      He pressed his lips between her breasts, now completely fulfilled with her progression into womanhood. Rebecca arched her back with pleasure.

      He continued to unfasten her dress and she pressed herself against him, moaning with desire.

      When she felt his firm hunger against her thigh she could stand no more. She stood up beside him and let her dress fall free to the floor.

      Timothy caught his breath, having been denied the vision of her for so long. Her waist was still slender and firm, her hips now fuller with curves, and her breasts full and firm. Where Rebecca had been beautifully petite and delicate, her body now was that of a woman, possessing provocative fullness and Timothy could contain himself no longer.

      Rebecca walked slowly to the bedroom and the bold view of her curved backside had him struggling to his feet to follow her.

      She lay on the bed, her hair pulled free to tumble around her, open desire in the depths of her eyes.

      He disrobed slowly, his white shirt falling from his broad shoulders, exposing his powerful chest, his trim waist, his firm and taut stomach. As he removed his trousers from his powerful legs, Rebecca gasped at the sight of his openly displayed desire for her and she lifted herself from the bed and pulled him to her hungrily.

      He filled her to perfection, satisfying the craving Rebecca hungered for as she rose to meet him and he drew her to him, whispering her name softly and fulfilling his own hunger for her.

      Rebecca lay beside him, the warm afternoon sun streaming across the bed, Timothy’s muscular body stretched beside her.

      He watched her face as she ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his face and searching his warm brown eyes.

      “Are you happy?” he asked her, his voice smooth and deep.

      “Perfectly,” she whispered in reply.

      “Tomorrow we will go back to Stavewood.” He turned onto his side to face her. “Tomorrow I’ll be bringing my family home.”

      “Tomorrow,” she whispered.

Chapter Sixty-Five

    
 
R
ebecca
called from the cottage. “Are you certain we have everything?” She checked the house one last time as Timothy assured her that the carriage was fully prepared. The driver waited patiently as Phillip and Isabel tucked Louise inside, kissing and fussing over her.

      “I’ve had that route checked and rechecked, Dad,” Timothy assured him. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. There’s been no trouble.”

      Rebecca stopped in the doorway of the cottage and, although it was lovely, imagined that Stavewood was whispering on the afternoon breeze, calling her home.

      She kissed Phillip and Isabel warmly and Timothy lifted her into the carriage eagerly and they began their journey home.

      “Excited?” Timothy gathered the baby into his lap and the young wife snuggled into his shoulder.

      “Very. I’ll miss your parents so much, but I feel as if I belong at Stavewood.” Rebecca sighed.

      “As you always have.” Timothy looked into her glistening eyes.

      “So much has changed since I’ve been there,” she thought aloud. “I’m a wife and a mother now. I feel as if I’m a different person since we’ve been there.”

      “We both are, I suppose. I never really thought about it all that much on my trips back, but for you I guess, many things have changed. I’m glad we’re going home. I need you there, and Louise should be there.” Timothy watched his daughter sleeping in his arm. “Stavewood is missing something since you’ve been gone. Maybe it always was. It’s as if it were always there, waiting for you.”

      “And I was waiting for Stavewood, and you.” Rebecca took his hand and stroked her baby’s sweet face.

      “We’ll be taking the back ridge road. We’ll get there that much faster.” Timothy laid his head back against the seat as Rebecca dozed in the strength of his arm.