The Good Life
Chapter 7
In the morning, when Deborah woke up, she saw Buck looking at her and said: "Good morning love, you are beautiful."
She replied: "No, don't look at me as soon as I woke up, I'm a monster." "But stop, you are a splendor."
Then he added: "Last night was beautiful."
"Do you want a repeat?" She asked.
"If you want, I can't ask for anything better."
They made love again like the night before. Deborah then told him: "If we continue like this, we will not reach old age, we will have coronary arteries sooner."
They both laughed. Buck said to her: "I'll go downstairs to prepare breakfast, so in the meantime, you get ready, and then while I leave you make me a list of things to buy at Thompkins, okay?"
"Ok, my love." She kissed him.
After breakfast, they went out in the wagon to go to town. On the way, Deborah hung on Buck's arm and leaned against him, and every now and then they kissed. They were really happy.
When they arrived in town, they waited for Deborah's friends, then Buck said goodbye and took his leave. They made an appointment for noon to go home.
Deborah went shopping with her friends all morning and took the opportunity to also buy shirts and pants for her husband. The three girls bought everything, indulging in every shop in the city.
Meanwhile, Buck, after buying the supplies, went to greet Teaspoon and then stayed with him until the appointment.
He arrived a little earlier, but the girls hadn't arrived yet. He stopped to lean on the wagon but was soon approached by a young girl who asked him where the store was. Buck kindly pointed it out to him, but the young woman asked him: "Would you be kind enough to accompany me?"
"I can't, I'm sorry, I'm waiting for my wife."
"Too bad, a handsome man like you could have kept me company."
Buck smiled and greeted her with his hat. Meanwhile, the girls were returning and Deborah saw the scene from afar. She walked over to Buck and asked who that woman was. He told her what had happened and she told him: "This is the price I have to pay for having such a sexy husband." She kissed him.
They greeted the other three women and decided to meet in the city in the evening to eat something out after rehearsals at the saloon. Buck and Deborah went home and spent the afternoon in peace, reading a little, cuddling, and chatting with the others. They cooled down a bit, and then returned to town for rehearsals. It had become a pleasant routine now.
Later they met Anna, Laura, and Marina and spent a pleasant evening with them at the usual restaurant where the two newlyweds sometimes went. They made an appointment for tea the next day and returned home. When they returned, they began to read for a while, but then they were seized again by passion and ended up making love.
The next morning, Buck left early to replace Cody on a run as he had a bad toothache. They kissed and greeted each other.
Deborah did the housework in the morning and then went to see Lou. The two girls chatted for a while and Lou invited Deborah to lunch, which she accepted with pleasure. Kid had offered to help Lou prepare lunch and Deborah was pleased to note that their married life had settled down and that Lou was much more peaceful since she worked at the shop and Kid was helping her around the house.
Kid turned out to be an acceptable cook and the girls made fun of him. All in all, the lunch was pleasant. Lou and Deborah chatted for a while, until the three
women arrived for tea. Laura, who just arrived, showed Deborah and Lou a flyer sponsoring a dance to be held on Saturday night at the saloon, right where Buck and Deborah were performing. Everyone was enthusiastic about it, and that would then be an opportunity to say goodbye to the three Italians who would leave the next morning.
Lou left her friends alone and the afternoon was again full of chatter. When Buck returned, Deborah informed him of the next day's dance and he worried a little because it would be the first time he had performed on a special occasion. Deborah reassured him and said that after all, they had already done so at Lou and Kid's wedding. This was not enough to reassure him. Deborah then prepared him a nice relaxing bath in which they ended up together.
They then went to rehearsals and made arrangements for the following evening. They would sing three pieces and then enjoy the dance too.
Back home, they had dinner, went to the veranda for a while to read, and cuddled each other, and then ended up back in bed making love.
The next morning, Deborah prepared her clothes for the evening and obviously she chose the white shirt for Buck, she loved him so much dressed like that. She would be wearing the dress she wore at Lou's wedding. Then she began to make curls in her hair. She wanted to be beautiful.
All the boys were also informed that they were happy to have three maidens to dance with.
The afternoon passed quietly, until Jimmy, returning from his run, gave Deborah a letter from Italy.
The girl opened it immediately and found a surprise in it, the following Monday her sister would arrive and stay one day with her boyfriend.
Buck was happy because he was the one who had written to Deborah's family to find out if anyone would come to see her sooner or later.
Federica, Deborah's sister, was a doctor and was doing a specialization course that would take her to New York, so she decided to stop one day to say goodbye to her sister. Her boyfriend, Yarno, would accompany her, so they would both meet Buck.
Deborah was very happy, she missed her family a lot. Buck was pleased with the surprise.
When the time came, everyone got ready for the party and joined Deborah's friends. The boys were speechless when they saw them dressed up in beautiful dresses and lace and danced with them in turn.
Everyone had a lot of fun and very much appreciated the skill of Buck and Deborah's performance, who was happy for Buck that he was more serene because since the people of Sweetwater had learned to know him better thanks to this work, he had no longer had to suffer humiliation.
Even that evening, in fact, no one had to say about them or their couple, on the contrary, they were admired by several people and many girls were envious of Deborah because he was radiant, as Buck saw the looks that men threw at his wife. They were really happy.
When the party was over, they all went home. Buck and Deborah, however, decided not to go to sleep immediately but wanted to splurge, they changed, put on something more comfortable and went out with Buck's horse.
They went to the river and bathed in the moonlight, loving each other intensely as they knew how to do, without restraint and without shame.
They then came out of the water, dried off and then remained tightly embraced for a while. Later they returned home and fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next morning, they woke up early because they had to go and greet Deborah's friends. The greetings were obviously accompanied by tears and promises to meet again as soon as possible.
Deborah promised to return to Italy for a while with Buck as soon as possible.
The detachment from her friends was weakened by the adrenaline due to the arrival of Federica and Yarno the next day.
Buck asked Cody, whose tooth had healed, to return the favor by taking his run so he could meet his sister-in-law. Cody gladly accepted.
Sunday passed quietly, the boys organized a tug-of-war match and the girls found themselves on Lou's porch chatting.
The next morning, they all went to town to welcome the new couple arriving. The two women hugged, greeted everyone and introduced each other, then went to the station.
Deborah took her sister and boyfriend to their home, showed her nest, and then told her what her life was like there.
The two guests told about their life and informed Deborah about the health of her parents, who fortunately were fine. Federica explained that they could only stay a few hours because then they would have to leave for New York and took the opportunity to personally inform her sister that in August of the following year she and Yarno would get married. Deborah and Buck were very happy and promised her they would be there. Unfortunately, the hours passed quickly and the two had to say goodbye to everyone to leave.
Even though they had spent little time together, Deborah was very happy.
The following weeks went by more or less quiet, with some shooting that the boys had to face due to some bandits and horse thieves, but luckily no one was injured.
In September, Deborah resumed work at school. Jesse had made a lot of progress thanks to the proximity of Jimmy who had helped him all summer to study and do his homework.
Lou had resumed her work at the store after the summer break and life was so peaceful and quiet that Deborah hadn't noticed that her period was missing that month.
She didn't want to say anything to Buck and took advantage of a day when he was busy and rushed to the doctor. The doctor confirmed that she was pregnant and the baby would be born in June.
Deborah was excited but did not want to tell her husband yet, she had decided that she would surprise him for Christmas, when the first three months would pass.
But she knew he had to think of something to keep Buck from noticing and thought for the next couple of months of pretending to have his period.
Deborah also had a fixed thought, when Red Bear had saved Buck from death, she had promised him that they would soon visit him but they had not yet done so.
Deborah understood that if she wanted to go to her brother-in-law with her husband, she had to do it right away because soon her condition would no longer allow her to ride.
When Buck returned, she expressed her desire to keep her promise to Red Bear. Buck agreed and they arranged the trip for the following Sunday. Deborah was trying to ride slowly because she didn't want to do anything to endanger her baby's life.
When they arrived, they were greeted by the tribe who now recognized them and were taken to their leader. He was happy to see them and to learn that his stepbrother had recovered perfectly from the accident.
Buck did not fail to thank him again and apologize for not showing up earlier, but Red Bear replied that he knew the situation he was in and therefore it was okay.
They had lunch together and then had a beautiful afternoon in which the two brothers told some funny episodes from their childhood and then it was time to go.
Without Buck noticing, Deborah told Red Bear the news of her pregnancy and he immediately gave her a medicine that would help her stay healthy, telling Buck that it was an ointment to help her relax.
Buck did not doubt his brother's word and the two went home.
Buck thanked Deborah for persuading him to go to his brother, and then they made love.
Days went by and Deborah felt great, as if the pregnancy gave her more strength instead of exhausting her. She decided to calculate the time to write the news to her family, so that the letter would arrive just at Christmas time for them too.
Over the next few months, Deborah put her plan into action to make Buck notice nothing and everything went smoothly.
It was Christmas time, and Deborah decided that she would make a pair of wool shoes for the baby so that she could give them to Buck when she broke the news.
Secretly, when he was not there and was away from prying eyes, he worked to complete the shoes.
Rachel actually noticed that something had changed in her and tried to start the conversation, but Deborah had always managed to sidetrack her.
She had also already chosen Buck's Christmas present. In addition to the shoes, she would give him a medallion that would contain the photo of their new family when the baby was born.
Deborah often found herself fantasizing about her future life and now she imagined a boy in her arms, now a girl, she couldn't decide. The important thing was that everything was fine.
She soon recruited Buck to go and buy gifts for the boys and to send something to Italy also to his family and friends.
Buck was happy to accompany her because he loved every moment he spent with her, even if it meant shopping.
Together they decided that on Christmas Eve they would invite all their friends to their house and the next day they communicated it. They all agreed and then Lou and Kid booked themselves for Christmas lunch.
Both new families wanted to celebrate Christmas at their homes.
Preparations were in full swing and Deborah tried to decorate the house in the most welcoming and romantic way she could.
When Christmas Eve came, Buck and Deborah prepared everything with precision and love and before the friends arrived, they decided to exchange gifts in front of the lit fireplace. Buck gave her a bracelet and a pair of beautiful earrings and she was thrilled. When his turn came, he opened the package, and saw those little white shoes, his expression was unforgettable, his eyes were shining.
He told her: "You mean that…"
"Yes, I have known for three months but I wanted to wait for the doctor to confirm that everything is fine. Yesterday, I went to him and he said that everything is going great. At the end of June, our baby will be born and we will put our photo with him in that medallion."
Buck held her tight and kissed her.
"You are making me the happiest man in the world. But how are you? How do you feel? You have to rest."
"I have never been better, I have no nausea and it seems to me that I have gained new strength. If you agree, we will communicate it to everyone tonight. I wrote a letter to my parents that should arrive in Italy in these days."
The two hugged again and began to fantasize about their future family. Buck brought his head to Deborah's belly and began to tell the future baby how beautiful his life would be with them and Deborah was moved.
When it was time for dinner, everyone arrived excited and sat down at the table amidst the chatter.
Buck and Deborah exchanged sweet looks that did not escape Rachel, who noticed the same thing between Kid and Lou.
When it was time to exchange gifts, Deborah motioned for Buck to break the news before starting the distribution.
He took the floor and said: "Before distributing your gifts, I want to share with you the beautiful gift that my sweet wife has given me."
Deborah blushed and looked down. Buck went away for a moment and came back with the shoes of the future son in his hand and said: "All of you are soon-to-be uncles and aunts, and each of you will be involved as a babysitter."
Everyone congratulated them and Rachel immediately went to hug them and said to Deborah: "That's what all those looks and that light in your eyes were like. I'm so happy for you."
Deborah hugged all the boys and when she got to Lou, she told her in her ear that she and Kid had to make an announcement too, Deborah understood immediately and said: "But I think this is not the only surprise."
In fact, Lou got up and said: "You'll have to split up in the role of babysitter because Kid and I are also expecting a baby."
Happiness was at its peak and emotion also reached its peak. Both babies would be born between the end of June and the beginning of July.
The whole group couldn't be happier. They exchanged presents, and when everyone was finally gone, Buck and Deborah sorted everything out and then went upstairs.
Buck continued to massage Deborah's belly and you could see in his eyes all the love she felt. The two continued to fantasize about the baby and then made love passionately.
The next day, they went to Christmas Mass with everyone else and then had lunch with Lou and Kid, also at the height of happiness.
The holidays passed between songs, joys, and cares for future mothers. The two future dads filled them with pampering and attention and life went on serene and happy.
A few weeks later, the belly began to show and then the news became public. Deborah began to make arrangements with Rachel that she would have to replace
her at school for a while, even though she was determined to continue her work and even the saloon performance because it didn't take her that much time. She was sure she could reconcile everything.
Buck did not hinder her in this, he trusted her and knew that if she didn't make it, she would be the first to realize it. She knew that everything would be fine.
Deborah was infinitely grateful to him for this trust and their relationship strengthened with each passing day.
Buck attended subsequent visits, which all went well. Deborah had apologized to him for keeping the news from him the first few months but she had explained to him that they were the most dangerous and she did not want to give him false hope.
He understood and was not angry.
Lou, Rachel, and Deborah were preparing layettes for the children and something also arrived from Italy, where in the meantime, the letter had arrived with the news that had made everyone happy.
Deborah and Buck had promised that if things went well and the baby was safe, they would still go to Italy next August for Federica's wedding, taking the opportunity to introduce the baby to family and friends.
They would have baptized him first in Sweetwater according to the Christian rite and then they would have carried out the Kiowa ceremony and later they would have celebrated a baptism also in Italy.
The months of pregnancy went by peacefully for both Deborah and Lou.
Buck and his wife soon began to fantasize about the names to give to the unborn child, Deborah had no doubts, she wanted a name that recalled her classical studies.
Buck would have preferred something simpler, but he knew full well that his wife would not give in and eventually agreed. If the baby were a boy they would have called him Ulysses and use the middle name Ike to remember his deceased friend.
If the baby were a girl, her name would be Calypso. However, they decided not to reveal their choices to anyone.
The end of June came and Deborah and Buck were preparing for the birth.
One evening, sitting comfortably on the sofa, Deborah said to her husband: "I know this is not customary and that it is a strange request, but we are not really a traditional couple. I wish you were present at the time of the birth. I want to share everything with you and I don't want to deprive you of the emotion of the birth of our first child."
Buck was amazed at the request and almost moved.
He replied: "I would be really happy to witness the birth of the baby, it will be the most beautiful and exciting experience of my life. Thank you for making me so happy."
The two kissed and went to sleep.
On the night of June 23, while they were in bed, Deborah began to feel severe pain and understood that it was time for the child to be born.
Buck rushed to call Rachel who sent Noah to fetch the doctor in town. Rachel prepared the necessary supplies and then asked Buck to come over, but he told her what they had decided and Rachel, although surprised, accepted and asked him to help her.
Buck tried to help Deborah with her breathing and stood beside her holding her hand and uttering sweet words.
The doctor did not have time to arrive because the baby was in a hurry to be born. Rachel picked him up and gave him to the new parents. He was a beautiful, healthy and strong boy.
Deborah and Buck were filled with joy and love for that sweet and helpless little creature.
Rachel washed him and then handed him back to his parents. She left them alone and went to break the news to the others who were anxiously awaiting.
Buck looked at Deborah and sai: "Thank you for giving birth to this wonder, just on June 24th, our anniversary day, I still can't believe it. You are beautiful."
"Don't tell lies! He is our beloved child, Ulysses Ike, and he will be the first of a large and beautiful family."
Then they kissed. In the hustle and bustle they had forgotten that they would be celebrating their first anniversary today. They could not have imagined celebrating it any better.
When the doctor arrived, he just found that Deborah and the baby were fine.
Soon after, all the boys, Teaspoon and Lou came in to congratulate and get to know the newcomer.
The baby was beautiful and very good, he ate and slept and this greatly reassured the new parents who were afraid of having to spend many sleepless nights.
When the others learned that Buck had witnessed the birth, they were surprised but then they thought of the special relationship that the two parents had and it was no longer so strange.
The next few days were very hectic because Deborah and Buck had to learn to live with Ulysses, but he was a really good boy and hardly ever woke up at night, so his parents could rest and recover their strength too.
Buck had asked to do only one day runs for some time and not to have to stay out at night and obviously had received a positive response from Teaspoon, so that nothing of Ulysses' growth would be missed.
Not two weeks passed that Lou also gave birth, a beautiful little girl who she wanted to call Emma, in memory of her friend who had preceded Rachel and who had married ex-sheriff, Sam.
Kid, however, did not feel like witnessing the birth as Buck had.
The two children grew visibly and the two women often met to help each other and to raise the two children together.
Rachel in the meantime had replaced Deborah at school, while the saloon activity was suspended only for a month, then Deborah wanted to start over, changing the hours a bit to be able to put Ulysses to bed early, as well as in September she would have resumed work at school.
The following month, they organized the baptism of the two children together and then held refreshments at the hut to allow the two couples to be more peaceful.
The following week, when they knew there would be no danger, Deborah and Buck took Ulysses to the Red Bear camp and held the Kiowa presentation ceremony there.
Buck and Deborah then began organizing their trip to Italy for the last week of August, when they would go to her sister's wedding and also introduce their baby to Deborah's family.
Everything was prepared carefully, to avoid any stress to the child.
When the time came, they left, and when they landed in Italy, they found Deborah's family waiting for them.
Everyone immediately fell in love with Ulysses who was truly a treasure, then they went home to remarry.
Deborah's parents had also arranged for Ulysses' Italian baptism the day after the wedding.
At the wedding, Deborah and Buck sang the same song to the newlyweds they had sung to Lou and Kid, leaving everyone breathless.
The ceremony and the reception were beautiful and in the evening, in their room, Deborah approached Buck and said: "Before leaving I heard the doctor, I'm ready to make love to you again and I can't wait. I have missed you a lot in these two months when we have not been able to pamper ourselves."
He said to her: "Are you sure you're okay and everything is okay? We can wait a little longer if you don't feel like it, don't rush because of me, please."
In response, Deborah undressed him and the two made love as if it were the first time. They hoped to raise their family soon.
The next day, there was the baptism which went well. In the evening, the two new parents began to pack their bags because two days later they would leave.
Deborah's parents, who had accepted Buck by now, promised that they would visit them as soon as possible.
The journey was uneventful and when they arrived in Sweetwater, they found the whole family welcoming them.
They went home, rested and then went to dinner with Lou and Kid with the others. They distributed the gifts they had brought from Italy and then went to rest.
Ulysses had been very good during the trip but he was very tired, as were his parents.
Life resumed as usual, and in September, Deborah began teaching again. She managed to reconcile everything, home, work and child, also because Buck, whenever he could, helped her.
When he was out at night for his run, Rachel slept with her and did the same with Lou, to keep them from being alone with small children.
When Buck came home, he greeted Deborah and then took the baby in his arms and spoiled him. He tried to be with him as soon as he could because he wanted to be a present father.
Deborah looked at him with love because they were very sweet together and often said to him: "You are a wonderful father, I am the luckiest woman in the world."
As soon as Ulysses fell asleep, the two took the opportunity to be together and make love.
Life was wonderful. There were certainly little problems every now and then like Ulysses getting sick, Buck having problems with his runs sometimes because of the bandits or sometimes because of skirmishes with the Indians, but in one way or another everything resolved.
Almost a year passed when Deborah found out she was pregnant again.
This time she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Calypso, followed a few years later by another, Nausicaa.
Buck was resigned now, he knew that if they still had children, they would exhaust all ancient mythology.
Their life was wonderful and they would not change anything about the path they had followed until then.
Deborah continued her activities, and Buck returned from work, playing with the children and helping his wife. And when they could, they never missed an opportunity to be together and make love.
Lou and Kid also had another child, whom they named Jed, after Kid's deceased brother.
The five children grew up in health and harmony and their life was wonderful.
Deborah and Buck's happiness and stability had silenced even the most suspicious people and Buck had finally had no more problems with the citizens of Sweetwater.
Every now and then they went to visit the Red Bear and at least once a year Deborah received a visit from either her parents or her sister and brother-in-law.
When Deborah moved to America she never imagined that she would have such a wonderful life and that she would meet a man as special as her beloved husband.