Emma opened her eyes to stare at an unfamiliar ceiling and realized the bed she was lying in wasn't her own. What was going on?
She ran through the things she knew in her head. It was late spring 1948. Jason and Toni had gotten married last month. Mary Ellen was also pregnant. Wait, pregnant? Had Emma given birth?
"Where am I? What happened?" Emma was surprised to hear how weak her voice sounded.
"You're in the hospital." She heard Ben's voice and turned to look into his smiling face. "We have a beautiful new daughter. When I got back to the house with Mary Ellen, mama was panicking and you were lying on the bed barely conscious, blood everywhere. I was so afraid I'd lose you, Em. You were brought to the hospital by ambulance. They had to perform an emergency Cesarean, and you've also had a blood transfusion."
"Can I see her?"
"Of course! I'll tell the nurse you're awake now." He helped her sit up in bed and then went to fetch the nurse. A few minutes later, the smiling young woman entered the room holding a bundle wrapped in a pink blanket, which she placed into Emma's arms.
Emma gazed with wonder into her new daughter's unfocused eyes. "Elsie Dorothea Walton," she whispered. She looked back up at her husband. "It suits her well, don't you think?"
"Yeah. I'm just so glad you're all right. I could have lost you, Em. I couldn't have taken that." His voice shook a little. "I've been thinking about Elsie maybe being our last child."
"That sounds so - permanent! What if, when Els gets to be three or four years old, we decide we want another one?"
"Not all families are meant to include seven children," Ben said gently.
Emma and Elsie were in the hospital for a week. Ben had to return to his job at the sawmill, but every evening he came to spend the evening with them. They came home on a sunny, breezy Sunday afternoon. John and Olivia stood on the front porch with Ginny and Charlie. Jim Bob, Elizabeth, Serena and Jeffrey filed out after them.
Ben opened the car door for his wife, then took Elsie into his arms so Emma could embrace their children
"Mommy!" Ginny cried as she dashed into her arms.
"I haven't seen you both in a whole week!" Emma exclaimed, marveling at how much bigger they looked to her now. "I missed you so much!"
"I drew you a picture, Mommy." Charlie handed her a slightly wrinkled piece of paper with a crayon drawing of what she guessed was supposed to be a baby.
