Gunsmoke
Matt turned towards the side where his wife slept, and reached out for her, only to find that she was not there. "Kitten?" He called to her sleepily. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, then saw Kitty on the floor cleaning it. "Kitty, what are you doing?" He asked,
pulling the covers off of his legs.
"My water broke, and I'm trying to clean up the mess." She said looking back at her husband for a moment.
"Oh." He said as he started to lay back down on the bed. "You're what broke!" He said loudly.
"Sssshhhhh, you'll wake the children." She said as she finally climbed to her feet. Matt quickly grabbed his trousers and began to throw them on, but in his haste to do so, he lost his balance and fell on his derriere. Kitty giggled to herself as she walked over to the other side of the bed and began to unbutton her nightgown, so she could put on a fresh one. Matt finally got to his feet when she had unbuttoned the gown. "Matt, would you give me a hand with this, I'm finding it harder to dress myself, through the pain." He buttoned his pants and walked over to his now naked wife. She was beautiful, he thought, and he couldn't help the reactions he was having to her. For instance, he reached out and gently laid his hand over her enlarged belly, caressing the soft skin and somehow, he felt as though he were caressing the child within as well. He could feel the tightening of her belly, and knew that she was having a contraction. Gently, he moved his hand in a circular motion.
"Breathe, that's it, Kitten, concentrate on the sound of my voice. That's it." He said as she held onto his hand and leaned her head back against his chest. She breathed deeply, until the pain eased. Once it had done so, she began to relax against him. Matt took her nightgown and helped her into it. "I'll wake Bethy and have her sit with you while I ride into town and get Doc." Kitty only nodded as she slowly climbed back into bed with Matt's help. He kissed her on the forehead and headed out of their bedroom as he pulleed his shirt from the hook on the back door. Matt quietly walked down the hall to the girls' room. Opening the door, he smiled at the sight before him. Sarah lay in her bed sound asleep. Bethy laying her bed, on her left side with the twins curled against her chest. Three years ago, Kitty gave birth to two healthy little girls: Kathleen Rose, whom they called Kadie and Stephanie Lynne, whom Kadie named Stevie. The twins were the spitting image of their mother. Her red hair, and big blue eyes. They were born one year after the Dillons had settled into their home. And now he was about to become a father again for the, seventh time. He was gonna need a bigger house. Gently he walked over to Bethy and tapped her shoulder. Bethy pulled herself from her dream and looked up to see her Pa standing over her. "The twins don't like their beds?" He asked quietly.
"I don't mind, Pa, I kinda got used to them sleepin with me." She said covering her mouth as she yawned. "Is everything all right, Pa?" She said looking up at him.
"It's your Ma…" Was all he had a chance to get out. Bethy slowly extricated herself from the twins and grabbed her robe as Matt headed back out the door. Matt headed out the front door as Bethy went into her mothers room to lend her a hand.
"Ma?" She called out as she cautiously entered the bedroom. Kitty was laying on the bed on her side.
"Hey, Bethy. Ohhhhh!" She cried out slightly as the contraction hit her again. Gasping for air, she felt the pain slowly easing away. She reached back to gently massage her lower back. Beth noticed her hand moving along her lower back and she gently knelt on the bed and gently began to massage her mother's back. "Oooh God!" She cried out. Beth continued to massage her back. "Ohhhhh, God, Bethy."
"Did I hurt you, Mama?" She said moving her hand away, but Kitty grabbed her hand, pulling her towards her.
"No. No. Listen to me, Bethy, I hate to do this to you, sweetie, but I need to push. I can't wait for your father to get back with Doc." She cried out through gritted teeth. Beth was now 17 years old, she had gone with Doc on many house calls and she had even been present for the birth of several babies. She quickly moved to get Kitty into position and then ran into the kitchen for a bottle of whiskey to us on her hands and the knife. Kitty watched as she set the items on the bedside table and then calmly went over for a couple of clean towels. As Beth pulled the sheets down and her mother's clothing up, she saw the scar on her thigh. It was a knife wound, from a madman who had kidnapped her mother two years ago and brutalized her before shooting her in thee back in the streets of Dodge like an animal. Jude Bonner, was the man's name and she remembered how her mother had been so quiet for some time. As Kitty screamed, Beth came out of her thoughts. She looked down to see the baby crowning and knew what she had to do. Kitty threw her head back as the pain seemed to increase. "Ooooohh, Bethy!"
"Mama, push!" She cried out to her.
Something was different this time. The pain seemed to be ripping through her hole body.
"Bethy, listen to me." She said out of breath. "If something happens to me, promise me you'll take care of the younger ones." She thrashed about as the pain continued. Bethy guided the baby out and quickly took care of the baby. Cleaning it down, cutting the cord and making sure that it was breathing. She then wrapped it in a blanket and placed the child on the bed next to Kitty.
"Nothing's going to happen to you, Ma. Papa won't let it." She said as she stood and prepared to clean her up, when she saw that another baby was crowning. She smiled as she looked at the head making it's way out. "Boy howdy, papa's gonna love this." She said as she helped the baby's shoulder out then the rest of the baby. Smiling, she cut the cord and cleaned the baby.
It was almost two hours later when Matt returned with Doc. He had to go to The Collins place on the other side of town, while Doc tended to Mr. Collins' broken arm. Matt took his horse, and ties him to the post. He then headed for the house, waiting on the porch for Doc. The two men enter the house, to find Matty and Sarah at the table eating breakfast. Beth came out of the bedroom with the dirty sheets and towels bundled up. Matt waited at the door and looked in to see Kitty with an infant in each arm. Stepping back, he allowed Doc to walk in and he waited outside for Doc to finish. He looked over at Beth and saw the look of disappointment on her face.
"You're Ma, did it to me again, didn't she, Bethy?" She knew that he meant she had not only given birth to twins, but also to two more daughters.
"Sorry, Pa." She said feeling sorry for her father. Matt looked at his son who looked back at him.
"Matty, it looks like we are really outnumbered now." He said smiling at his son.
"That's okay, Pa, if they're like Ma, than that's a good thing." He said smiling and returning to each his breakfast.
Doc came out of the room within a few minutes. "Kitty wants to see ya, Matt. You done a fine job there Beth. Maybe you should be a doctor."
"Thank you, Grandpa." She said smiling.
Matt slowly entered the room to find Kitty who was propped up in the bed.
"Come in, Matt." She said looking at her babies then up at her husband. Matt slowly walked over to her and gently sat on the edge of the bed. Kitty handed him the baby closest to him. "Matt Dillon, I'd like you to meet your son, Samuel Mathew Dillon." She said as he stared up at her in awe and held his tiny son in his arms. "And this is Joshua Galen Dillon." She said smiling proudly at him.
'Sons, two more sons.' He said thinking to himself. He should have known Kitty would give him sons when he thought she was gonna give him more daughters.
"I-I can't have anymore babies, Matt, doc said I'm gonna need to go East to have an operation, but that I'll be fine, I just can't give you no more babies." She said quietly.
"We have eight children, Kitty, I think that's plenty." He said smiling sweetly at her. Tenderly he brushed a curl from her face. "I love you, Kitty."
"I love you too." Kitty said.
The end, I promise, no more chapter for this one. I think.
KR
The End