Mercy
Chapter 18
Time seemed to fly as far as Rick was concerned now. It seemed like just yesterday that Kate was up in their room with Johanna and the same midwife, giving birth to another baby. He had scanned Kate and knew it was a girl this time. Eventually this might present a problem since they only had two bedrooms, but for now they could make it work.
Rick was downstairs with James who was 2-1/2 years old. James had his hands over his ears to try and block the sound of his mother screaming. Rick had his legs spread and was sitting at the table. He was holding James between them as he stood there.
"Why, Papa?" His mother was screaming and he wanted her to stop. To just stop.
He tried to reassure him. "It will be over soon." Using his eye told him that the midwife could see the head so it would be over soon.
True to his word James took his hands away when his mother stopped screaming. Only now she was crying or maybe wailing if he even knew that word might be a better description. Though in a moment even that stopped.
The restaurant had been closed for the last week as Kate's due date got closer and closer. Juana was out of a job yet again and the restaurant wouldn't open for weeks, if not months. They were going to have to live off of the money they had saved up and the pay Rick got for being the sheriff.
It wasn't that Rick and Kate needed all that much. Rick did all the hunting so they only needed to buy fruits and vegetables when they needed to. It was James who kept out growing all his clothes that was using up all the money. And the new baby would only increase their need to spend money.
Rick heard her before either of them saw her. Johanna walked into the kitchen. "It's a girl and she's perfect." Johanna was a little amazed that her daughter could give birth to such perfect children. "Katie says her name is Lilly."
"A girl!" James had wanted a boy. Someone he could play with. He couldn't play with a stupid girl.
"And what's wrong with a girl, young man?" Johanna asked him.
"No girls," James informed her.
"Give her a chance. She might be the best sister anyone has ever had." Johanna tried but James just shook his head.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
James was upstairs staring at his mama and the tiny little thing she was holding to her chest.
Rick was jumping Johanna home and the midwife was gone as well. It was going to be just the four of them now.
Kate looked up as Rick walked in and smiled from ear to ear at him. He had given her such a beautiful little girl. She loved him more than she had words for.
Rick used his good hand to touch his daughter. "What do you think, James?" Kate asked him.
"No girls." His mama should give it back and get a boy.
Kate sighed. They were both in trouble. Hopefully Lilly would prove her worth to him as she grew up.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Kate had gotten rid of most of the baby weight she had gained with having James. Getting rid of the baby weight from having Lilly had so far proven more of a challenge. Though it didn't help that she could barely get out of the restaurant and their home upstairs.
James and especially Lilly was taking up the time she wasn't using for the restaurant. It wasn't that she wasn't happy because she was incredibly happy. She had a husband that she still loved more than anything but she had two children.
James could sometimes make her want to pull her hair out and scream. Then just a little later he would do something sweet that had her kissing him. Now she just needed to get him to like his little sister, though so far that wasn't happening. It wasn't that he was mean to her since he wasn't. He just mostly ignored her.
Kate was hoping that once she began walking he couldn't just ignore her any longer.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Rick had finished with his patrol of the town and nothing was still happening. That couldn't be said for everywhere else and he had a paper that had arrived with the stage that proved it.
Their eating table in the kitchen was still small but James wasn't using it and neither was Lilly since she was still nursing.
"This arrived with the noon stage." Rick laid the paper on the table and went to see what was left of lunch since he was hungry.
Kate picked it up and saw one word that took up half the front page.
WAR
Kate proceeded to read about what the states in the south had done. Granted what was in the paper was all one sided since it came from Boston so it was all about how the southern states were doing to the country all in the name of slavery of the black colored people.
Kate hadn't really thought about it but their town didn't have any black people in it. Mexican people yes, but not black.
"Is this going to affect us, babe?" Was the war going to come their way? War sounded like a really bad thing.
"It shouldn't unless Mexico takes advantage of this." Rick ladled out a bowl of her soup that was still hot. It was early so anything was possible but he didn't see the war coming their way. They were a small town so who cared?
"Can you still protect us?" Wars meant armies. Armies meant lots and lots of men and lots and lots of weapons.
"I promised to protect you, our family, and this town so long as we lived here and I will keep my promise." He knew this planet didn't have the technology that would present him with a problem. That would change eventually but that day was a long way off.
"This says there was an attack on Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina." It sounded far away from them so Kate felt safe enough. "This is weeks old, babe!" What she was reading was now old news.
It meant the war was past this point now and was somewhere else. It sounded like such a waste to her. People were dying and what could be worth dying for?
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
The papers kept coming and each time it talked about the war and where the war was now. What Kate wanted to do was either stop the papers from coming or for the war to stop since she didn't want to be a part of it or have her family be a part of it.
"Babe, the restaurant is closed tomorrow. The children are still small. Are you capable of jumping us all where you first took me to years ago?" She wanted to get out of town and have some fun.
Rick had to think about it. Taking Kate was possible; he had done it several times. Taking Lilly with her was easy as well since Kate could hold her. James was growing up but still kind of small.
"Let's find out." Rick thought a trial jump was called for before he could commit to this plan.
James and Lilly had jumped with him before and while Lilly hadn't put up much of a fuss, James was another matter. His first jump had had him screaming then crying for what felt like hours. The last jump, however, had had him laughing as suddenly being somewhere else instantly and not be hurt doing it had been great fun.
Kate had Lilly in her arms while Rick picked up James, put him on his hip, and made the first jump. Three jumps later and they were almost past Johanna and Elias before turning around and going back.
But the next day as Kate was getting ready Rick realized that he hadn't taken into consideration Kate taking clothes for the kids and diapers for both of them since James was resisting being potty trained. In addition to that were towels to get everyone dry after swimming in the lake.
Kate had most of the burden on her while Rick simply had James on his hip. It still meant Kate only had one hand hold of Rick for each jump.
Still several jumps later and they were on the beach of the lake Kate hadn't seen since long ago. Now she was getting ideas of where Rick could jump them each day the restaurant was closed.
Lilly, it turned out, was a natural swimmer. Though technically she didn't really swim anywhere per se. She knew instinctively to hold her breath and after a few tries was smiling and having lots of fun.
James didn't have any idea how to swim so while Rick watched Lilly, Kate began teaching James how to swim.
What they hadn't brought was any food so they weren't there too long before James began to complain that he was hungry.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
James was in his bed in his room and Lilly was in her crib in the same room so that Kate could make love to her husband.
"Today was fun. Is there somewhere else we could go?" She hadn't gotten around like her husband had.
"The coast is farther but we can reach it. We could try one of the mountain ranges." Rick didn't know much else.
"Mountains might be nice." They could provide a view. Except Lilly would be too young to enjoy the view. Still they could go.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Progress marched on and while both James and Lilly kept growing, the news about the war kept coming. Rick came home one day and informed Kate that he had encountered a small group that had made it close to the town. They were starving, looking for food, and willing to kill anyone that tried to stop them. Rick had killed them then vaporized them until there was nothing left.
It was as close to the war as Kate was ever going to get. As close as her children were ever going to get as well.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Kate had had to hire someone else to work the dining room. Juana had gotten sick then died two days later. The news hit all four of them hard. James was just old enough to understand what death meant. Lilly only understood she was never going to see Juana again.
Rick had apologized; he could do nothing. He himself was possibly never going to die but he could do nothing to prevent anyone else from dying. Juana's passing was as close to Kate as Rick wanted death to come. However, it still haunted him that one day he would lose her. Lose James and lose Lilly.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
The restaurant was closed today and Kate was going to keep it closed the next day. She wanted to spend time with her children and her husband. Their little one day vacations had been really nice but she really wanted something more.
James was five and Lilly was two. Rick had found a game that all of them could play in the General Store so he had bought it. Now all of them were in the dining room area playing it.
Kate was laughing, James was having fun and Lilly was smiling as she watched both of them laughing. She didn't start laughing until her dad started tickling her. Now all four of them were running around the dining room, bumping into chairs and tables, and having fun. The game itself was now forgotten.
All four of them were resting on the floor when someone was at the front door pounding on it. Rick decided that Lilly was being too quiet so he went back to tickling her and getting her laughing. A smiling Kate left her family and went to the front door.
Rick saw her come back looking shocked and tears were flowing down her cheeks.
"Mama is sick." To Kate that only meant one thing. Everyone that got sick in town all died.
Rick hated to do it but he put James and Lilly in their room along with some water and some food and told them not to leave and he would be back as fast as possible.
He proceeded to jump Kate to where Johanna and Elias lived. He didn't even wait to find out if Johanna was even still alive. He left Kate at the front door then jumped for home.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
A broken Kate was given her own horse back and rode him home hours later. Rick was downstairs in the kitchen waiting for Kate. He couldn't leave James and Lilly so he was forced to wait.
He watched a broken Kate walk in from the back door and saw a horse just beyond her. "Mama's dead," Kate barely got out before she began crying again which quickly turned into sobs. Death had finally reached her family and Kate was shattered.
Rick didn't even know if he was capable of crying any longer after all that had happened to him over the years. Yet as he held up his wife he felt tears running down his one good eye he learned that he was capable. Was it because he felt the loss of Johanna or was it because his wife was hurting? Either way it didn't matter, his tears didn't stop and neither did Kate's.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
The next day Kate, himself, and their children along with Elias and all of his workers and some of the people from town were at the cemetery to say goodbye to Johanna. She was being buried next to her first husband.
Kate had a lone flower. She left her husband's arm as James and Lilly stood next to him and dropped her flower on Johanna's grave. "Good bye, Mama." She didn't know what else to do for her. What could anyone do for the dead besides bury them and remember them?
Kate left the restaurant closed for a week after the funeral. Rick didn't know what else to do for her but comfort her, hold her, and make love to her when she was willing. He even took over trying to keep James and Lilly happy and fed.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
It was the end of January, 1863 and Rick was jumping home with the latest news paper that he had purchased for Kate to read.
He was happy that the restaurant was open again and Kate was cooking again while taking care of James and Lilly at the same time while he was out patrolling the town.
They also had a new girl that was named Maria who had replaced Juana to work the dining room. She was new in town and was happy to have a job. Her parents had moved here and built a bank around the massive safe that her parents had bought in a big city.
She had watched her father help pour concrete for it to sit on then waited for it to dry. She had never seen anything like Rick before and neither had her parents. She made friends easily and had learned that he was the town's sheriff. He was the most trusted person in town.
Her father was still working out how to get the safe out of the wagon without a crane he had used to get it into the wagon with. Then along came this man with a strange arm and a strange eye, all dressed in black. He pushed it out of the wagon and it landed on the concrete, then she watched as he single-handedly lifted it up into place. After that her father had had the bank built around the safe.
Working in the restaurant she had learned more about Rick than even her father or mother knew. She still didn't know just what his arm or eye was, but he was very kind and she had watched him play with his children and listened to them all laugh.
"The paper is in." Rick opened it and put it on the table for Kate to read between cooking late lunch and moved over to Lilly to play with her.
Kate stood over the paper and began reading. "This is from January first." It was thirty days late and old news to everyone else but them. "Abraham Lincoln has signed something called the Emancipation Proclamation. It talks about it frees over 3.5 million slaves in the Confederate States. How is that supposed to work when the war isn't over yet?" It sounded nice to her but it didn't really mean anything.
"If the North wins and it becomes law, it will," Rick argued. He didn't see the need for slaves in the first place. Karla hadn't had slavery in hundreds if not thousands of years. Even some of the other soldiers like him were black.
"If. If." Kate wasn't sure the war was ever going to end. The first papers had talked about the war being over before the end of the year and that was years ago.
"Every war ends, Kate. The question is who actually wins, if anyone wins." The wars he knew about meant whole planets could be ruined and left devastated. It would take thousands if not millions of years for the planet to recover. And there was more than one way to kill a person. Simple weapons were only one way. Ruining an entire race with genetic manipulation was another. To make sure every child was born disfigured and lived short lives in physical pain.
"It has to end. They have to find a way." Life was worth living and not worth killing.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Paper after paper talked mostly about the war. It was almost Christmas and Rick and Kate were talking about cutting down a tree and decorating it. They didn't have room except out in the dining room. They were going to spend money on Christmas presents for James and Lilly. They came first when it came to spending money.
"Paper is in." Rick put it on the table and moved to play with Lilly again. James, it seemed, was attached to Kate while Lilly was attached to him. As a result James was learning how to cook from his mother.
Kate stepped away from her soup pot to read it, leaving James to stir it and keep it from burning the bottom.
"November 25." Everything they learned had happened a month ago. "Battle for Chattanooga, Tennessee." That was one of the things Kate was learning. The war meant she and her children were learning about everything that was their country and where it was located. Kate was even quizzing James what he had learned in school that day.
"They are thinking the North will attack Atlanta, Georgia soon." Soon to them meant it had probably already happened. There were a number of other things. Items that could be purchased in a large city. Their little town didn't have these things and getting them could take a month or more.
|)(| O |)(| O |)(|
Kate watched as her children ripped open the paper to find out what Santa had brought them this year. They were both sure that they had been really good this year and that Santa would bring them something wondrous.
The paper had shown a doll that was available so Kate had spent the money to buy it and have it delivered. All Rick had to do was go to the General Store and pay for it and bring it home. Kate got James his first cutlery set so he could use his own cooking utensils while helping her cook.
Rick had gotten all of them something none of them had ever seen. He had spent weeks making it and hiding it from everyone. "Be right back; I have to get your present." He only had the one but thought maybe it would be enough.
He jumped away and jumped and jumped until he reached it. Then he jumped back until he was back in the dining room of the restaurant. He had even wrapped it. "Be careful with it since it can break easily," Rick warned them.
It was bigger than he had intended. It was just that as he worked on it he kept adding things and it got bigger and bigger until it was bigger than anyone's head.
"Open it." He couldn't wait to explain it.
Kate did the honors while James and Lilly watched her.
It was round and there were brown and even black parts and lots of blue with white on opposite ends. "Babe?" Kate thought she knew what it was. Rick had spent a number of nights explaining just where she lived and what was out there in the stars in the sky at night.
"This is the planet we live on. It's as accurate as I could make it. The tiny little star is where we are located," Rick said. Kate searched the globe for it until she found it and pointed it out to James and Lilly.
"This is home, this is where we live." Kate took it for a fact since she trusted her husband and showed everyone. Rick had given them the planet they lived on. An idea of just how big it really was.