Dusk Shall Weep by Kelsey Gietl

Author:Kelsey Gietl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purple Mask Publishing

21

December blew in soft and breezy rainstorms most every day. Hard waves crashed against the shore and left foam upon every cliff face. Based on Jamison’s estimates, it was early for him to attend to the birth of Sarah’s baby, nevertheless, he or she was on its way. Pinning a conception date was difficult in the best circumstances, and especially so living out here. She could be farther along than expected.

Likewise, Alice Ann’s rotund belly indicated that his other niece or nephew wouldn’t be far behind. Perhaps only a month or so. Which meant that, upon additional calculations, Alice Ann had been nearly three months along when she and Cade married. Not what he would have expected from his timid brother or from a family raised within their mother’s virtue.

He didn’t know who to reprimand more, his brother or his brother’s wife. At least Geraldine Lark was no longer living to see this mess; however, he suspected if she was, Cade wouldn’t have found himself in such a predicament to begin with. Certainly not with such an inhospitable woman.

Delivering his brothers’ babies was hopefully as awkward a situation as he would find himself in with their wives. He little relished seeing Sarah or Alice Ann in such a delicate condition, and while a midwife would be a better fit, none were available. He was the only one in Larksong with medical knowledge enhanced by extraordinary skill. Having successfully delivered a few other babies on the trail, he trusted this time would be the same. He would simply need to overcome the awkwardness of femininity only a husband should ever see.

He snapped his black medical bag closed and reached for Coraline’s hand. Together, they made their way across the damp earth to Sarah and Tobias’s. Tonight, their town would finally start to grow.

When they entered the cabin, they found Sarah beside the bed, still on her feet but supported by Martha and Marie as she huffed through a birthing pain. Each woman held her by an elbow while Sarah’s hands splayed upon her swollen abdomen. The skin visibly taut under her white nightgown, it left little to the imagination.

Flushed with embarrassment, not lessened any by the fire’s warmth, Jamison moved farther into the room and toward his patient, only to be cut off a few steps in the door. Tobias jumped from his seat by the fire. Sweat pebbled his brow.

“I’m glad you’re here, James. I’ve been so worried.”

Jamison gripped his brother’s elbow. “She’s going to be fine.”

“You’re certain?”

A sharp cry echoed from Sarah’s lips as her pain lessened and Marie and Martha eased her back to sit on the bed. Coraline went for the water dish on the bedside table, dabbing Sarah’s brow and cheeks with gentle movements. The mother-to-be already looked spent and she had barely even begun to labor. Jamison worried that she might not have enough strength if the delivery carried into tomorrow. She had told him once how her mother suffered many miscarriages, eventually resulting in their purchase of Martha as a type of sister substitute.

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