Dear Readers: This is the 10th of my vignettes. They go in sequential order, but each one has a different unique theme. I hope you have fun reading all of them.
"Jack and Elizabeth Vignette One"
"Vignette Two – The Cold Winter" (Jack and Elizabeth cope with the rough winter)
"Vignette Three – The Test: Don't Fail Me Now" – (It's fun and romantic)
"Vignette Four – Gypsy Woes" (The most light-hearted in my mind)
"Vignette Five - Blind Faith" (Drama, Suspense, New Friends, and powerful love.)
"Vignette Six - Wedding Dust" (The romance of getting married and the hours afterwards)
"Vignette Seven - The Rules of being a Wife." (Jack and Elizabeth's first weeks as husband and wife)
"Vignette Eight –Changes" (A mystery of who injured Elizabeth.)
"Vignette Nine- The Lingering Scent of Lavender (Another mystery!)
(Another writer has written a story and called it a vignette. It is not written by me and I have nothing to do with it. All my vignettes are by jellybean49. My other story is Reversal of Fortune written under the name woolenslipper)
We last saw Jack and Elizabeth in Vignette 9 (The Lingering Scent of Lavender), where they were living in Bear Creek in the old mercantile. Elizabeth was 5 months pregnant, and the town had built a new schoolhouse.
Fast forward four months.
Like the marriage proposal and the wedding vignettes, this vignette is just one chapter.
I hope you enjoy it!
VIGNETTE 10 - SNOWFALL
It would have been better if it were raining.
A hard torrent of water making a tapping sound as it hit the windows and roof. Mixed with occasional rolls of thunder and harsh cracks of lightning.
At least maybe that would have drowned out the sound of the woman's screams.
The heavy snowflakes falling outside did nothing to muffle her cries of agony as the woman lay on the hard kitchen table.
The petite woman, usually so happy and full of energy and excitement, now lay on the towels, wet with her sweat and body fluids. She struggled against the ropes that dug into her wrists as the man with the sharp blade approached her.
"Put this in her mouth", the man instructed as he handed a clean dishtowel to Elizabeth, whose nerves were already on edge.
"In her mouth?" Elizabeth asked in confusion, but the man had already turned away and was occupied with taking another item out of his black bag.
"She can bite on it for the pain. I don't want her screaming when I'm operating", he explained when he turned back and noticed Elizabeth was still standing there with the cloth in her hand.
"I'm so sorry", Elizabeth apologized feebly as she looked down at the perspiring woman, who was her best friend in Bear Creek. Not only was Lucy her closest friend, but she was the first friend that Elizabeth had made when she moved to this town from Hope Valley six months ago.
Lucy's eyes were glazed over and Elizabeth wasn't even sure that the pregnant woman had the strength to scream much more. Elizabeth glanced at the clock on the wall and silently did the math. 32 hours. Lucy had been in labor for 32 hours.
Elizabeth rolled up the dishtowel and gently placed it loosely into Lucy's mouth. The woman would easily be able to spit it out, but Elizabeth was not about to gag her best friend.
Elizabeth had spent months reading medical books and articles about childbirth. She could have skipped reading them all. It didn't take an educated person to know how dire the situation was at this moment.
Lucy's baby wasn't in the correct head-down position. Its back should have been against Lucy's belly, facing the woman's own back. That would have made it much easier. The little baby could have flexed his or her head and neck, tucking its tiny chin against its chest as it pushed out into the world.
But no matter how much Lucy had pleaded and cajoled, her baby had refused to cooperate.
Elizabeth silently touched her own belly and was grateful that at her last check-up, the doctor had told her that her and Jack's baby had already moved into the correct position.
Lucy wasn't so lucky. She was the opposite of lucky. Her baby wasn't even breech.
Breech would have been easier than this. Even if the doctor couldn't have successfully turned the baby, Lucy could have maybe delivered it breech. Women had done it before.
But Lucy's baby wasn't head down or breech.
It was transverse.
Lucy and Michael's baby was lying sideways in the womb.
The worst position possible to deliver naturally.
And Elizabeth, nine months pregnant with her own baby, was watching the frightening scene unfold.
Twenty minutes ago, Doctor Hudson had decided that a cesarean was absolutely necessary and he, Jack, and Lucy's husband, Michael, had carefully carried Lucy to the kitchen table. It would have been too dangerous to carry her down the street through the blizzard simply to put her on the doctor's surgical table when a kitchen table provided the same rigidness.
They had placed a towel under her body so she wouldn't slip in her sweat, amniotic fluid, and blood which refused to stop seeping from her.
When Jack had brought forward the thin pieces of rope and began strapping down Lucy's arms, Elizabeth had been horrified.
Elizabeth had cringed when Jack explained that it was necessary so that Lucy's movements wouldn't cause the knife in the doctor's hands to slip and nick a vital organ. Or artery. Or the baby itself.
Michael had tried to avoid looking at his wife's face as he placed a rope across her thighs and then pulled it around the table, tying it in a tight knot.
"Where's Michael?", the doctor now asked as he dried his freshly washed hands on a towel.
"He ran back to the train depot. He's still hoping the train will somehow be able to make it through the snow", Elizabeth responded anxiously.
When the door opened, the whoosh of cold air brought floating white specks into the house with the men, who hurriedly struggled to close the door behind them.
"Get over here, men. Both of you." The doctor's voice was firm and somber.
Jack and Michael, both covered in wet snow flakes, quickly took off their gloves. Elizabeth's face fell when she looked to their otherwise empty hands.
The train hadn't made it. The heavy snow, piling up on the railroad tracks, had stopped the locomotive more than fifty miles away.
The doctor's latest shipment of ether, so urgently needed right now, was on the train.
Doctor Hudson had used up his last bottle of anesthesia earlier that week when performing an appendectomy on one of Elizabeth's students. At the time, no one had been concerned about the shortage. There was no reason to suspect that it would be needed again so soon, or that a blizzard would isolate the town.
Now there was none left for Lucy.
Elizabeth didn't want to think about what that meant. But she had to.
Lucy, nine months pregnant with a baby in the transverse position and 32 hours of unsuccessful labor was going to be cut open.
And she would feel it all.
"Elizabeth, you'll hand me my tools. Michael, you just be ready to take the baby so I can sew her up"
"What about me, Doc?" Jack asked.
"I'll need you by her head. Get in position. Keep your fingers on her neck."
"Her neck?" Elizabeth murmured in confusion as she looked at Jack.
Jack gave Elizabeth a slight shake of his head indicating that she shouldn't ask any more questions.
Oh, my God. He's supposed to keep his fingers on her pulse to make sure she's still alive.
When the doctor made the incision, Elizabeth realized she had been wrong earlier when she had loosely put the cloth in Lucy's mouth.
Lucy still had the strength to scream.
Elizabeth turned her head from the horrific scene even as she continued to hold out the doctor's tools for him.
Please let them live was her first thought.
Please don't let this happen to me was her second thought.
"I'm exhausted." Elizabeth said as pulled back the covers and crawled into bed two hours later. "I'm glad Doreen stopped by to help. We're lucky to have such good neighbors. I told Michael I'd stop by tomorrow to help."
"Yeah. I'll go with you."
"We'll spread the word in town too. Any women that can get to her place will want to help. We can count on the families that live in town, but there's no way anyone else can get here to help through all the snow. It will be days."
"At least a week. And I don't want you going over any more after tomorrow's visit. I know she's your best friend but you don't need the stress or trudging through the snow", Jack said.
"When is it ever going to stop?" he added worriedly as he pulled the blanket across the two of them and thought about the snow still coming down.
"There was so much blood", Elizabeth declared as she ignored Jack's question and spoke aloud her own thoughts. "There was red everywhere."
It wasn't the red that bothered Jack as much as the lack of color. He had seen plenty of blood before from bullet wounds and cuts.
It was the white that bothered Jack. And not the white of the snow. Although that was bad enough. So much snow. Keeping the train with the ether from getting to Bear Creek. Keeping Lucy from getting to a hospital.
The only good thing the snow had done was keep the doctor in town.
Ten days earlier, Doctor Hudson, planning to visit his family back east before the Christmas holidays, had the newly purchased train ticket in his pocket. Walking back to his office with a spring in his step as he thought of his vacation plans, he noticed the loose shingles on his office roof. With a sigh of irritation, he had pulled the ladder from the side shed to his building, filled his coat pocket with nails, and tucked a hammer in his waistband. It's one thing after another living in a small town, he had thought as he ascended the rungs of the ladder.
Comet, the Thornton's small cat, had for some unexplainable reason, almost as if she was following instructions or on a mission, had chosen that exact moment to run around the building and bump into the precarious ladder, sending Doctor Hudson falling to the ground and breaking his leg.
Jack, when he realized that it was his cat which was responsible for Doctor Hudson missing his train and now hobbling in a cast, had apologized profusely. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had been secretly grateful. Even though Doctor Hudson had promised to be back in town before the actual holiday and Elizabeth's due date, she liked the idea of him not leaving in the first place. When the snow started falling and he changed his mind about traveling in bad weather with a broken leg, she had breathed a sigh of relief.
Lucy, upon learning that Doctor Hudson wouldn't be leaving town, had made a statement that had caused Jack, Elizabeth, and Michael to all look at her with wide eyes as they sat around the kitchen table one night enjoying a dinner of warm stew.
"I wonder why Bunny thinks that Doctor Hudson needs to stay in town. Something must be worrying her." Lucy had said as she thought about Doctor Hudson missing his train and then changing his mind about leaving town due to all the snow.
"It was the cat that made Doc fall off his ladder", Elizabeth said. "Not your imaginary ghost who protects pregnant women."
"Does your cat normally run around slamming herself into ladders?"
"Of course not, she's a cat. She's nimble."
"My point exactly", Lucy answered simply.
As Lucy had busied herself ladling more stew into the bowls, Michael, Jack, and Elizabeth had looked at each other and then uneasily looked at Lucy and Elizabeth's pregnant bellies.
Then they had all turned and nervously looked out the window at the falling snow.
By the time Lucy was in labor days later, snow covered the train tracks, isolating Bear Creek from the rest of the world. The roads, invisible under the feet of snow, were impassable.
There was so much so snow and wind that the farmers tied ropes from their homes to their barns so they could still tend to their animals without getting lost in the blizzard.
White was everywhere.
It may have been Lucy's red blood that was on Elizabeth's mind as she crawled into bed after an exhausting and emotionally draining day, but it was the white that bothered Jack. And not the whiteness of the snow.
No, tonight it was the memory of the whiteness of his friend's face that most bothered Jack.
The pale white face of Michael. The color having drained from his face as he had watched the sharp scalpel cut through his wife's belly and he listened to her scream before she mercifully passed out.
Please don't ever make that be me looking at my wife. Don't let that ever be Elizabeth lying there like that, Jacked prayed silently as he turned out the light on the nightstand.
December 23rd
"Why are we doing this? What were we thinking? Who has a baby in the middle of the winter?!" a nervous Elizabeth asked as she looked out the window and watched the snow continue to come down. Piling higher and higher. "It must be three feet by now."
"Three and a half feet when I measured earlier this morning. Even higher in the drifts", Jack replied as he handed a mug of warm coffee to Elizabeth.
"And lots of people have babies in the winter. It will be fine. Lucy's fine. Her baby's fine. Michael's a pathetic mess but he'll be fine once he gets some sleep."
"He did look pretty bad. You'd think he was the one who had the baby", Elizabeth said as she turned from the window.
His wife and his child almost died in front of him, Jack thought. He couldn't get the image out of his mind.
Last night, Doctor Hudson had lifted the baby from Lucy's womb, ensured that he was breathing, and handed the small boy to Michael. Instead of cradling his son, Michael had wrapped a blanket around the infant, hurriedly laid him down into his awaiting cradle, and spent the next 20 minutes silently crying as he held his unconscious wife's hand, oblivious to the sounds of his newborn son.
Jack totally understood why Michael looked a pathetic mess.
As much as he hated himself for thinking it, Jack was glad that if one of the men had to have his wife strapped to a table and have her belly cut open, it was Michael and not him.
"Besides, when we made this baby back in the spring, I don't think it was planned. It's not like we said 'hey, let's make a baby and have it be born in the middle of a blizzard'", Jack added humorously. "I seem to recall that your only concern at the moment was that we didn't do anything outside."
Elizabeth grinned for a second, but then a worried look quickly came over her face again.
"But all this snow", she lamented.
"It's winter and Canada. We've seen lots of snow before", Jack responded, trying to lighten the mood.
"I know. It's just—"
"Let's take our mind off the bad things that can happen and think of the date the baby will arrive", Jack interrupted with a smile.
"I hope you didn't put any money in the town betting pool because I can't guarantee anything. Not even for you", Elizabeth said with her own smile. "Besides, if we don't have this baby today, we have to wait another four days."
"Explain your logic to me again."
"I don't want our baby born on my due date. I want our baby's birthday to be a special day."
Jack raised his eyebrows and smirked. "I think quite a few people consider December 25th to be a special day."
"You know what I mean. I want it to be special just for our baby. I don't want him or her to have to share the day every year and have people forget about his or her birthday because all they think about is Christmas or another holiday. So that also takes out Christmas eve, Boxing Day, New Year's eve, and New Year's day."
"That's leaves December 27, 28, 29, and 30. Four possible days out of the next nine days. You do realize that's less than half?"
"I'm pregnant, not bad at math. Yes, I realize it. But I want our baby born on the 27th, 28th, 29th, or 30th. So that's what's going to happen", Elizabeth said as if that settled the matter.
"Do you feel any contractions yet?" Jack asked as he crawled into bed that night.
"No. Nothing", Elizabeth answered with a smile
"That's good. We want that baby staying right where he or she is for at least a couple more days. "
"Right!"
December 24th Christmas Eve
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"What if something goes wrong?" Elizabeth asked as she poured the raw scrambled eggs into the hot skillet and began stirring them around. "I feel really good. The baby's head is in the right position. I feel healthy. But what if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing's going to go wrong."
"But Lucy –"
"Stop, Elizabeth. Don't go there. Lucy is Lucy and you are you. And everything turned out okay with her anyway. So stop worrying. Now let's eat a nice breakfast and spend a relaxing day together. Just the two of us in front of our Christmas tree, reading books, and you writing your stories, and me sketching."
"That sounds nice", Elizabeth replied with a smile as she slipped the eggs onto the plates which Jack held out to her.
"What do you think our families are doing right now?"
"Julie is probably running around doing last minute shopping and spending a small fortune. There's never been a store that she and Violet didn't like. And Mother and Father are getting ready for the Christmas eve party they always host. There'll be music and eggnog, and a goose for dinner. Lots of decorations and excitement."
"Do you miss it?"
"No. Not really", Elizabeth said with surprise as she sat down at the table. "I thought I would. But I don't. It's nice just the two of us here. Being stuck inside because of the weather. We don't need to be charming hosts or visit anyone or get dressed up. It will be nice to have a relaxing day. Especially after -"
"Elizabeth, stop thinking about Lucy's delivery", Jack admonished her as her voice trailed off.
"Have you felt anything yet?" Jack asked as he crawled into bed at the end of the day.
"Nope. Not yet. Baby is still behaving and happy in my belly", Elizabeth smiled.
"Just stay in there a few more days, Baby", Jack said as he patted her belly gently.
December 25th Christmas Day
"I love my present", Elizabeth said as she snuggled up against Jack on the couch.
"Me too", he replied as he stroked her hair and enjoyed the warmth of her body pressed against his.
"It's too bad that the town couldn't get together for a celebration. It would have been nice to hear Christmas carols. The students had been practicing for over a week. And Mr. MacIntre was going to dress up as Santa Claus at the mercantile."
"I don't think anyone's going anywhere this week. There's no sign of this blizzard letting up."
"I'm just glad we're here together", Elizabeth said as she closed her eyes in contentment.
"Besides, who needs the real Santa Claus when I've got you. You look a little like him in your red robe with your belly so big and jolly", Jack said with a grin.
"If I wasn't so content in your arms right now, I'd swat you."
"Nothing?" Jack asked as he crawled into bed hours later and motioned towards Elizabeth's belly.
"Nothing."
"Two more hours and we'll have made it past your due date. That's good, right? I mean, you don't want the baby to be born today."
"Right," Elizabeth said with a smile as she kissed Jack on the cheek and lay her head down on the thick feather pillow.
December 26th Boxing Day
"What should we do today?"
"Let's see. It's a federal holiday and we're snowed in. And you're over nine months pregnant. Hmm. So many options . Let me think. We can eat, sleep, and read. Or we can sleep, read, and eat. Oh wait, we can also read, sleep, and eat."
Elizabeth leaned back on the couch, thinking of past holidays. "We used to always go out for brunch at a nice restaurant in Hamilton on Boxing Day. Because we gave the servants the day off. And we'd always give them a little box with a gift and money in the morning before they left for their holiday. It was always a nice relaxing day until mother and father wanted a drink or meal or the newspaper and then they'd remember that the servants were all gone for the day and they'd make us girls do it.
Jack laughed. "Your parents couldn't even go one day without servants?"
Elizabeth chuckled. "No. Can you imagine them living here?"
"No. And I'd rather not!", he replied with a grin.
"Nothing?" Jack asked as he crawled into bed that night.
"Nothing."
"Not a single contraction?"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Jack, I know I've never been in labor before, but I think I'd know it if it were happening!" Elizabeth said as she rolled her eyes.
"Sorry. I was just asking."
"I know, but now I'm worried. I'm overdue."
"By only one day", Jack said dismissively as he kissed Elizabeth good night. "And you didn't want our baby born today anyway."
December 27th
"Just how many feet do you think our baby is going to have?" Jack asked as he looked up from the book he was reading.
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth responded with furrowed brow as she sat next to him on the couch casting yarn onto a long knitting needle.
"You've already made at least eight booties."
"Ten", she replied with a sigh. "I've made ten booties, three hats, and three blankets. I'm making another blanket. What else am I supposed to do? It's still snowing."
"You could write another story."
"About what? About how exciting it is to be stuck inside all week in a snowstorm? That would make for an interesting read", she said. Her voice was a mixture of boredom and sarcasm.
"We're going to be busy enough once the baby comes", Jack reminded her.
"It's going to be a boy. Keeping me waiting, just like his daddy."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Just that you kept me waiting to court you. It took you forever to ask. And then you kept me waiting until you proposed."
"Yes, but it only took one kiss to fall in love with you", he said as he reached over and kissed her.
"Anythi—" Jack started to ask as he pulled back the bedcovers that night, but he swallowed his question when he saw Elizabeth glare at him.
"Don't you say one word!" Elizabeth demanded as she crawled into bed after a long day of being cooped up inside.
After two minutes of tense silence, Jack finally had the courage to speak again.
"I was just asking", he said meekly.
"Well, don't! I haven't felt a single contraction. I'm overdue! This baby is being stubborn!"
December 28th
"How are Lucy and Michael doing?"
"Having a spat", Jack answered as he took off his hat and coat and hung them on the hooks by the front door.
"Having a spat? About what?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief.
"Apparently Michael went outside to check on the chickens and when he came back inside Lucy was in the kitchen washing dishes and trying to prepare a meal."
"She had a baby and almost died! She had her belly sliced open and sewn back up!"
"I know. Michael told her to get back in bed and he would take care of everything but she said that being a mother was the best thing in the world and she wasn't going to waste it in bed recuperating from a cesarean", Jack responded.
"She also asked Michael to make her a papoose like the Indians used so she could carry the baby around on her back while she did chores and walked around showing him the town", he added with a chuckle.
"Oh my. What happened?"
"I told Michael to humor her and then reduce her morphine", Jack said with a grin.
Other than Jack's morning visit to Lucy and Michael, and to check on the local townspeople who lived close by, he had spent the day indoors with Elizabeth, who hadn't left the home in more than four days.
"We made and froze enough soup to last 'til Spring. We baked enough bread for the week. We've polished all the silver. We've cleaned the entire house. We have to have the baby tomorrow. We've run out of things to do", Jack said as he crawled into bed.
"I suppose I could teach you how to braid hair. Violet, Julie, and I used to braid each other's hair when we were bored."
"I don't think so", Jack said a laugh. "I can't see ever needing to braid my hair."
"But what about your daughter's? This one might be a little girl."
Elizabeth took off her woolen slippers and crawled into bed before she realized that Jack hadn't responded. When she looked at him, he was sitting up in bed, apparently in shock.
"Jack, is everything okay?" she asked in concern.
"We're going to have a daughter. Maybe. Or a son. We're going to have a baby", he said in disbelief.
Now it was Elizabeth's turn to look at Jack in disbelief. "You're just figuring that out now?!"
Jack just sat there with a scared look on his face.
"Why did you think I've been getting fat for nine months? Did you think I ate too many apple pies? The mood swings? The movements in my stomach? Now you're finally realizing we're having a baby?" she asked with a laugh
"I guess it was always just - I don't know. It was always in the future. I mean yeah, we were having a baby. But it was months until he or she arrived. It was always months away so it never seemed totally real. And now the months – Well now the months are done. And then it was days away. And now it's just a day or two or maybe just hours away. By this time tomorrow, we may have our son or daughter in our home with us."
"Great, Jack. Now you've got me freaked out. I'll never be able to sleep now!", Elizabeth said in frustration as she hit her pillow.
December 29th
"I should be back in about four hours. I just have to check on some of the farms and ranchers", Jack said as he buttoned up his uniform and then reached for his overcoat.
"You look very handsome in your uniform", Elizabeth said as she admired him.
"The government likes us to wear it during the holiday season, even if it's just daily rounds. Now, are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"Yes. I told you. I'll be fine. Take your time. Your job doesn't stop just because I'm pregnant."
"I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to get to some of these places. And they may need help shoveling out. Getting snow off their roofs. Thank goodness it finally stopped snowing. It may be more than four hours 'til I get back though."
"It's okay. I'll see you later this afternoon. Be careful."
"Doreen will be over in 30 minutes to keep you company", Jack said hesitantly. "Are you sure you'll be okay? You haven't felt anything?"
"Jack, I haven't felt a thing. Not a single twinge. And Doreen has five children. She has more experience giving birth than the doctor, who's never given birth. So I think I'll be just fine in her hands until you get home", Elizabeth replied with a laugh. "Now hurry up and leave. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll get back."
"Don't have the baby while I'm gone. Love you."
"I'm efficient but not that efficient. You're only going to be gone four or five hours. I love you too. Now scat."
Jack had been gone less than an hour when Elizabeth felt the first contraction.
She shifted her body as she sat on the couch and wondered if what she felt was actually a contraction. It doesn't really hurt. It's just discomfort, she realized.
Why this isn't so bad at all if that's all a contraction feels like!
When Doreen noticed Elizabeth touching her belly and moving to get more comfortable, she glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Write down the time", she instructed Elizabeth.
"Is everything okay?", Jack asked four hours later as he walked in the front door and saw Elizabeth standing by the long counter that ran the length of the front room. Her fingers gripped the edge tightly.
"Everything's fine. We're going to have a baby", she answered and quickly grimaced in pain.
"Today?! Are you sure? Why aren't you in bed?"
Yes, today. Yes, I'm sure. And I'm trying to walk as much as possible to help with the pain. Damn it hurts!"
"Where's Doreen?!"
"Right here. Getting your wife a drink", the middle-aged woman said as she walked in from the kitchen carrying a mug.
"I think you should go get the doctor. I'll stay with Elizabeth", Jack instructed as he hurriedly took off his jacket.
"It's not time to get the doctor just yet. We've got a ways to go", Doreen answered calmly.
"I'm not sure about that. Look how much pain she's in", Jack said as he looked worriedly at Elizabeth and moved to put his arm around her.
"How many babies have you had, Sergeant Thornton? Because I've had five. And she's not in pain yet."
"Of course, she's in pain! Look at her!" Jack motioned towards Elizabeth
"To a man, that might be pain. But to a woman, that's just a little discomfort before the real pain. It's going to get a whole lot worse. You men really are the weaker gender", Doreen said in disgust.
Oh my God, she's got to be joking! It gets worse?! This hurts! an alarmed Elizabeth thought wide eyed.
"I've had some medical training and I think it's time", Jack countered firmly.
"Did your medical training include actually giving birth yourself? Because I say it's not time yet", Doreen countered back.
"In Mountie training, we learned that labor can be very quick", Jack said earnestly.
Doreen gave Jack a stern look. "I repeat. I've given birth to five babies. I think that's five more than any Mountie has given birth to."
Jack turned to look at Elizabeth. "Sweetie, do you think it's time to get the doctor?"
"How the heck should I know?! I've never done this before!", she exclaimed feeling frazzled.
Why don't you massage Elizabeth's back?" Doreen volunteered.
"She doesn't need her back massaged! She hasn't been chopping wood! She's having a baby!" Jack yelled frantically in exasperation.
Two hours later, Jack grabbed his jacket and went outside to stand on the porch for the fourth time. He couldn't handle another minute of pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the front room where Doreen had banished him. Forty eight. That's how many planks of wood he had counted that made up the length of front room floor. Nine was the number of cracks he had counted in the walls. Twenty nine was the number of books in their bookshelf.
Five was the number of times he had heard his wife cry out in pain before he couldn't take it anymore.
"Jack. Come quickly!" Doreen said urgently as she peeked her head out the door into the cold night air and then hurriedly disappeared back inside.
As Jack rushed through the front room, he noticed something that unnerved him.
He didn't hear a baby crying.
"Jack." Doctor Hudson turned to look at him as Jack paused in the bedroom doorway, his heart beating quickly as he saw Elizabeth lying in bed, the fatigue evident on her face.
"Wash your hands. Quickly! Your wife wants your hands to be the first to ever touch this baby. And that's going to happen very soon."
Jack ran to the sink and grabbed for the bar of soap but it slipped out of his hand. Nervously, he grabbed for it again and hurriedly lathered up his palms and fingers. As he rinsed and then dried his hands, he tried to contain his nerves. He was going to be a father.
Two minutes later, Jack was holding his son.
The next morning, Jack, on his way to get more wood for the fire, noticed his red serge jacket lying across the arm of the couch. Yesterday, when he had returned from his rounds and found Elizabeth in labor, he had hurriedly tossed it there. In the ensuing hours, he had never bothered to hang it up.
As he now put on his jacket for his quick trip outside to the woodpile, Jack grinned. The last time he wore this part of his uniform, he had been a husband. Today when he wore it, he was a husband and a father.
After throwing more wood into the stove, a still smiling Jack went to the bedroom to check on Elizabeth and the baby. It had been four minutes since he had last seen his family. Far too long in his estimate.
Elizabeth, gazing down at the baby in her arms, looked up when she heard Jack's footsteps on the wood floor.
"That's your daddy", she said happily as she moved her arms slightly so that the baby, his eyes wide open, could see Jack, in his red serge, standing in the room. "He's a Mountie."
The moment she said the word "Mountie" as she looked up at Jack standing above her, the memory came flooding back to her.
All those years ago.
The first time she ever saw Jack.
She had been holding another child on her hip then. She couldn't scarcely remember the child's name, but she remembered what he had asked as the crowd stood outside the mine her first week in Coal Valley.
"Who is that, Miss Thatcher?"
"That's a Mountie", she had answered as she had looked up at Jack in awe.
Just as she did now.
It had been years since then.
But it had all passed in the blink of an eye.
The End of Vignette Ten
Check out Vignette Eleven!