Sorry I was on a bit of a hiatus on this story. I didn´t know how to progress it and I got caught up in other stories. Hope you like this chapter. Please leave a review, they mean everything to me!
From the moment the ink touched the paper, I knew we had truly done it. And as soon as I could, I made the long journey home. Pride swelled within me when my fellow brothers in blue bade each other farewell, drunk and happy. We all had families to see, wives to kiss, children to hug. I only prayed that Eliza was doing alright on her own.
The horse's hooves pound on the dirt as the Schuyler mansion peaks through the trees. It is pitch black, only the stars and the moon were my light sources. I tried to come during the day, but I was held up a bit in exchanging my exhausted horse fro another. Too bad I couldn't fix my own exhaustion.
It takes everything I have not to slump over in a heap. I'm almost there. So close. Elizabeth, mere meters away from me. I flick the reigns once more, pushing the horse. The sooner we're both there, the sooner we can rest. I bite my lip hard to keep my eyes open. Every inch of me aches from this journey. I'm starved, dehydrated, drained.
It dawns on me that if I show up at the Schyler mansion in the middle of the night it will not be appreciated. I'm conflicted. I could stay in the barn for a night. That might work.
Before I can make up my mind, I hear a voice from the doorstep. I glance, Elizabeth's father. I sigh ever so slightly in relief. He helps me get my horse situated and demands that I get some rest after thanking me for my service. I'm too delirious to pay much attention.
I somehow stumble into Eliza's bedroom. I have to grip the bedpost to stand up straight. She's sleeping peacefully. Her stomach is bigger, she's practically glowing. Her hand is resting on where I would be laying and she's keeping to one side. It's etched in her face, she misses me.
I bend down, kiss her forehead, tears brimming in my eyes. "I love you," I murmur.
And I collapse on the floor.
An earsplitting scream jolts me awake some hours later. I can hardly move to see the cause of it. A few moments later, someone barrels into the bedroom, I'm still only half-conscious on the floor.
"Jesus Lizzie, what-" a feminine voice says, probably Peggy's. I hear a gasp and more screaming. Blubbering, more like it.
I force myself to stir. But it isn't enough. It's as if I was paralyzed. "I-I woke up and he was just lying there!" Eliza's voice wails.
"Is he dead?!" Someone, Peggy most likely, kneels beside me. I slowly open my eyes and groan.
"Good heavens, Alexander!" A second person kneels beside me. "When did- how- what?!"
"I'm getting someone to help me lift him into the bed," Peggy says before disappearing. Eliza presses her hand to my cheek."When did you get here!?" she exclaims.
"Last night," I croak.
"My God! You should've woken me!"
"You were too peaceful." I weakly touch her hand that covers my cheek.
"Sweet Jesus, you're alive! Are you hurt?!"
"No," I breathe. She collapses in a hug on top of me and a sob escapes her throat. I would comfort her but I just don't have the energy.
"I love you," she whimpers as she holds me tighter. I inhale her scent. I missed it. I missed it so much.
Peggy returns with a male servant. I feel guilty for causing such a ruckus. I'm lifted from Eliza's arms and set gently on the bed. My wife then shoos Peggy and the man out so she can dress me in more appropriate clothes. Peggy offers to get me something to eat.
Eliza is sobbing as she unbuttons my blood and mud-splattered coat. "Please don't cry," I mumble.
"I can't help it." She slips it off me and starts on the shirt.
"How's the baby been?"
She bites her lip and a tiny sob sounds. "Good company I suppose. Oh Alexander!" She's back to hugging me before she even has my shirt off. She just lays on my bare chest, crying.
"Darling, please stop crying." I slowly run my fingers through her hair. She sniffles, brushes away a few tears, and kisses me gently.
"You have no idea how stressed I've been," she murmurs.
I chuckle. "You'd be surprised."
Days later, I'm still confined to bed. Eliza insists upon and I don't mind. It's difficult to function. She sits next to me quite often. We exchange stories of the past few months' happenings.
Eventually, I build up my strength. She and I can't get enough of each other. We spend every second together. Under the dinner table, I snatch her hand. While she knits in the parlor, I'm just beside her reading a book. When we're sleeping, we don't just lay next to each other. No, we're tangled in each other, embracing each other and never, ever wanting to let go.
I watch her nimble fingers work to craft some white thing I couldn't quite identify. The knitting stops and she smiles. She holds her knitting needles in one hand and rubs her belly with the other. She tilted her head to the side, her braid falling over her shoulder, and gazed at her sleeping baby sister. Lately, she had been quite attached to the infant, for good reason, and had been acting very maternally. The little carved bassinet sat by her bedside, awaiting the arrival of our little infant. Stocked with blankets and a little rattle, everything was perfect. Every night we would pray over it and I would read a passage from her old black Bible while she sat next to me, my arm around her waist. As of this week, her favorite passage was Psalms 23. I would read it softly and then kiss her cheek goodnight. She was ecstatic every time.
"How's he doing, Angel?" I ask as I look up from my book. Eliza chuckles. "What?"
"You look good in glasses." She smiles at me.
I adjust the spectacles on the bridge of my nose. "Thank you, ma'am."
She sighs. "He won't leave me be. Always kicking."
"Ah." I close my book and take off my glasses. "Want something to drink?"
"No, I'm fine." She smiles at me and picks her knitting back up. "I've learned to manage. And it's a good thing. I´m sure he's not going to be our only baby."
I grin at her. I'm thankful this war is over. Now I can start my life with her. "What are you making?" I ask.
"Little socks. Do you think he'll like them?" She holds up a white baby sock.
"My God, they're so tiny!" The gravity of the situation was setting in. This baby would be so small and helpless. I would somehow have to protect and care for it!? I had no idea what to do.
She laces her fingers in mine and snatches my other hand, pressing it to her stomach. "What are we going to do after the baby's born?" she asks me quietly.
"I'm trying to get a place for us."
She nods. "Whatever you want, I'm right behind you." Eliza rests her head on my shoulder.
"I love you, Betsey." "I love you too." The baby moves ever so slightly, causing my wife to chuckle and a smile to play at my lips. "Apparently so does the baby."
