An Amish Baby for Christmas by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-08-12T15:53:43+00:00

* * *

Thomas had no reason to go back into the house before he left for the day, but neither did he feel good just driving away. Best to be sure. He climbed the porch steps, knocked the dirt and mud off his shoes and tapped lightly on the door. Thinking both of the women might be in the back of the house, he opened the front door and stuck his head inside.

What he saw then surprised him.

Abigail was lying on her left side on the couch, a pillow behind her head and a knitted blanket covering her. She glanced up from the book she was reading. With a smile, she motioned him into the room, then turned the book so that he could see a picture of various vegetables and fruits.

“My doschder is the size of a coconut, or maybe a honeydew melon.”

“Ya?” He took the book and pretended to study it. His eyes fell to the image beside week thirty-nine, and he almost dropped the book. Her stomach was going to be as big as a watermelon? Literally? He snapped the book shut and set it on the coffee table.

“I see you’ve moved to the living room.”

“Yup. Mammi said that it wasn’t gut to stay in one room all day. She’s dealt with preeclampsia before. She said that lying on the couch was every bit as gut as lying on the bed.”

“Did she now?”

“It definitely helps my mood to be out of my bedroom for a few hours.”

He didn’t point out that she’d only been home a few hours or that she had six weeks to go. Probably best not to bring either up right now. “Everything’s gut?”

“Ya.” Abigail lowered her voice. “I didn’t realize Mammi was going to live here.”

“Ah.”

“Doesn’t she have...family?”

“Not anymore. She had a husband and two sons, but she outlived them both.”

“She must have grandkinner.”

“Oh, sure. The daughters-in-law remarried over twenty years ago. They all live in Goshen now. She sees them several times a year.”

“Why doesn’t she live with them?”

Thomas shrugged. “Stubborn, maybe? I did some work on her place a while ago. She leased out the fields, but she needed help putting in her vegetable garden.”

“I can’t imagine her sleeping on the couch.” Abigail worried her thumbnail before blurting out, “She’s eighty if she’s a day. I think I should give her my room...”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Mammi called out from the kitchen.

Abigail pressed her fingers to her lips, though whether it was because Mammi had overheard her or to stop from laughing, Thomas wasn’t sure.

He leaned forward and said in a very loud whisper, “Her hearing is freakishly good for someone her age.”

“Indeed, it is,” Mammi called out.

Thomas and Abigail shared a smile.

Finally, Thomas said, “Let me think on the bed problem. I might know someone who has an extra bed I could bring over.”

“She’s only here for six weeks, though.”

“Six weeks on a couch can seem like a long time.”

Mammi appeared at the archway that separated the kitchen from the sitting room.

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