For Better Or For Worse
a story by Dana
© Dana 2000
Chapter 10
Arriving back at the station, Rachel jumped off the buckboard and ran to hold the door open for Kid. He cautiously carried Louise in and up the stairs to their bedroom. He heard Emily's moans of pain as Rachel rushed into the opposite room to check on her.
Teaspoon tended to the horses and was walking towards the house when Buck returned, the doctor not far behind him. The three men hastened into the house where they too could hear Emily's cries. The doctor rushed up the stairs to her room and closed the door behind him.
Meanwhile, Kid had closed the curtains to darken the room and lay down next to his beloved Louise. He gently caressed her hand and cried himself to sleep.
Rachel left Emily's room and rushed downstairs to boil some water for the doctor. She found Teaspoon pacing the room and Buck staring blankly out the window. Rachel noticed a crate of items on the kitchen table, with a small brown package on top. She carefully opened the item and discovered a beautiful white lace christening bonnet. Tears fell softly down her cheeks as she realized Louise had purchased the bonnet for her child, a child that would never arrive. She wrapped the bonnet back up and tenderly placed it back in the crate. After finding the largest pot she owned and filling it with water, she turned to address Buck and Teaspoon. She related the information about Lou's condition to the men and then commanded, "There will be no mention of any of this to Louise. She'll have a hard enough time working through this having Emily's baby around. Is that understood?"
Both men nodded silently, their feelings of excitement and anticipation for Emily overwhelmed by their sorrow for Louise and Kid.
After what seemed an eternity, Rachel reappeared in the kitchen of the little house, finding Teaspoon and Buck exactly where she'd left them. She made the proud announcement, "It's a boy!" and was relieved to see each despondent man smile broadly. "Emily wants to you come up and meet him."
The men followed Rachel up the stairs to Emily's room. Each glanced at the door opposite hers, knowing the tragedy that had befallen those behind it. But life went on, and it was time to meet it.
Emily was glowing radiantly as she proudly held her new son. Buck and Teaspoon gathered around the head of her bed to get a better look at the new arrival. "His name is Ike," she declared contentedly.
"And he looks just like him, too, bald and all," Buck joked.
"Do you wanna hold him?" Emily asked Buck.
Feeling honored, Buck took the infant from his mother's arms and cradled Baby Ike against his chest. Tears of joy welled in the young man's eyes as he looked at Emily at gratefully said, "Thank you."
Louise awoke to the sound of a baby's wails. Her head pounded and her side hurt terribly. Where am I? she wondered in the darkness. Is that my baby? Where's my baby?
She then realized it wasn't her baby; Emily's baby must have finally arrived. Her baby, Kid's baby, was dead. She'd never know if it was a boy or a girl; never find out if it had Kid's sparkling blue eyes or her deep brown ones. She had never imagined herself as a mother, but in the short time since Kid's announcement last night, the idea had grown on her. That's why she had wanted it to be a special moment when she told him. Instead, she'd been stubborn and foolish and now she'd accidentally ended her baby's life. Grief swept over her and she began sobbing as she never had before.
Her sobbing woke Kid from his fitful sleep and he reached over to comfort her. He held Louise in his arms and whispered, "It's okay, Lou. It'll be okay," but she was inconsolable. Kid's tears flowed freely as Louise's sobs became more violent. She clung to him and wailed, "NO! NO! NO!"
Rachel quietly opened the door and was bewildered at the sight of the forlorn couple. She sat on the bed and placed her arms around each of them. "Shhh," she whispered, trying to console them. "There'll be others." She held the newlyweds until they had no more tears left to cry, then left the room as quietly as she'd entered.
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