Disclaimer: the only one I own is Sarah-Nellie
Lucy sighed as she watched her sister writhe in agony. Her labor had lasted hours and it was clearly getting the best of her. "Come on Sarah-Nellie," Lucy gently coxed her sister, "this baby is coming soon. I can feel it" Sarah-Nellie gasped for breath.
She could feel that the labor was slowly ebbing the life out of her. "Lucy," she gasped, "I'm not going to make it" "Don't talk like that," Lucy urged her sister, "first labors can take awhile and-" "Sweet sister," Sarah-Nellie said, "We both know I'm headed for the next world" Lucy sobbed.
"Cry not," she said, "you will not be alone while I'm in eternity. You have Benjamin and I want you and him to bring up my baby." "DON'T TALK LIKE THAT," Lucy chided her sister, "you're going to get though this" Sarah-Nellie stopped as a look of pain crossed her face. The pain was just too great.
Sarah-Nellie lived just long enough to push the baby out. Once the baby came out and Sarah-Nellie got to see her she whispered her name, "Johanna" and breathed her last. Lucy sobbed, then when she'd calmed down enough took the baby and all her stuff and hired a carriage to bring them back. "Hush now," she soothed the baby who she had a maternal love for instantly.
How am I going to explain this to Ben, she thought to herself. Ben greeted her when she got home. "Lucy," he asked, "darling what in the name of Siamese twins happened." Lucy handed the baby to her husband. "Sarah-Nellie died having her.
"She asked for us to raise the child. I would have done so anyway. No way would I leave Johanna to the orphanage. She needs parents and ones who will love her" Ben could see the pleading in Lucy's eyes and he wasn't about to abandon this innocent child in the care of orphanage.
The moment she had been placed in his arms she had become his baby. "Lucy," he said as he settled Johanna in on arm and wiped the tears from Lucy's eyes, "that is horrible what happened to your sister" He paused. "I know nothing can bring back your sister but… in a way it was a blessing. She's with her husband now and we have a beautiful child right now."
"So we can keep her?" "Of course," Benjamin said, "I wouldn't give her up if my life depended on it" Johanna would grow up to be a happy baby. She knew Benjamin and Lucy as mom and dad. What happens later, well we all know the story.