Christmas Cradles by Kelly Long

Author:Kelly Long
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2012-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

She opened the door and was amazed to see a lovely, fresh-faced woman, gowned and kapped, sitting up in a beautiful bed, reading a magazine.

“Mary?”

“Jah, are you Frau Ruth’s niece? She told me about you on my last visit with her. She’s very proud of you.”

Anna came into the room and closed the door. “Jah, I’m Anna. Danki. How are you?” She recalled that Aunt Ruth had said Mary proclaimed herself to be “healthy as a horse.”

The woman in the bed cast her an easy smile. “I’m wonderful. Do you want to check my pulse and blood pressure? Ruth always does.”

Anna nodded, feeling a little dazed. Perhaps she had dragged Asa on a fool’s errand, for no woman in labor had ever looked so serene.

Mary’s pulse and pressure were excellent. “Any contractions or pain?” she asked, feeling like she already knew the answer. Mrs. Stolis must have been mistaken about the labor.

Mary laid her magazine, which Anna noted was an Englisch publication on labor and delivery, on the full mound of her stomach and nodded. “Every five minutes, regular as can be. I should be ready to push soon.”

Anna looked around the bedroom, feeling out of her depth. She noted the elaborately carved cradle that stood ready nearby.

“My husband, Luke, carved that at the shop. After we lost our last baby, he wanted to ‘make all things new’ for this one’s arrival.”

“It’s beautiful,” Anna said as she drew out her stethoscope. She didn’t want to have to listen for the heartbeat; it was possible that there were no visible signs of pain because the baby had already been lost in utero. Yet she had no choice. She avoided Mary’s gentle smile as she moved aside the quilts and bent her head.

She nearly sagged with relief against the bed when she heard the heartbeat, strong and steady, and saw the now visible contractions that tightened Mary’s belly.

“Everything’s fine,” Mary told her before she could say anything, and Anna nodded.

“Forgive me, Mary, please, but how . . . do you know? You should be in some pain at this point, if not a lot.”

Mary smiled again and reached beneath the pile of white pillows at her back and drew out a folded piece of paper. “It’s simple, really. For this pregnancy, I saw that there were four of us involved, right from the beginning. Luke agreed with me.”

“Four?” Anna wondered if it were possible that her patient carried twins and Ruth had missed it.

“Jah, Luke, myself, the baby, and Derr Herr.” She handed Anna the piece of paper.

Anna bent her head to read. “ ‘And he that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” ’ Revelation 21:5.”

Anna lifted her gaze back to Mary’s.

“I chose to embrace this verse with Luke and the baby and to make it the theme verse—the quilt pattern, if you will—of this pregnancy. I know that there is newness even in death, of course, but this time I believe that Derr Herr has a different plan.

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