Chapter Four
The day after Fionn's visit, Josie, Hannah, and Patience finally emerged from the sewing room, but Molly stayed locked away, working on Josie's gown. Since she was occupied and Patience and Hannah were content to sit in the living room and knit for the babies, Adam passed off his chores onto the hands who hadn't gone on the cattle drive, and he and Josie took long rides together around the ranch, often sharing a picnic lunch by the lake like they'd done when Josie was a child. They spent several hot afternoons dozing on the lakeshore, Josie's head resting on Adam's chest.
Before it seemed possible, they had only three days left before the rest of the Cartwrights returned home. Adam realized he hadn't picked up the mail the entire time his father had been gone, and Ben would be none too pleased if it wasn't waiting on his desk when he got home. Since it was a Friday, Adam rode into town with Josie that morning as she headed to Dr. Martin's clinic. He'd intended to go right back home, but a letter on top of the teetering stack piqued his curiosity, and he returned to the clinic where he'd left Josie only a few minutes before. Her face lit up when he breezed through the door.
"Miss me already?" she giggled.
Adam grinned and held up the envelope. "We got a letter from Aunt Rachel."
"The family did?"
"No, just you and me." He handed the letter to Josie. "Addressed to Mister Adam Cartwright and Doctor Josephine Cartwright."
Josie cocked her head, took the envelope, and slipper her finger under the seal. She pulled out the letter and began to read.
"Dearest Adam and Josephine, I hope this missive finds you well. Adam, dear, I could not have been happier to hear your announcement regarding the future of the Stoddard family. Your mother and grandfather both would have been delighted to hear the news. And Josephine, I am so pleased to hear you are finally settling down to take your rightful place as a wife and, I hope before long, a mother. I know the good people of Virginia City will miss your medical practice, but you have made the right choice. I only wish I could attend your nuptials, but Sheriff Coffee informs me that we would not be able to pass over the mountains that time of year."
Josie paused in her reading. "What does she mean, 'the good people of Virginia City will miss your medical practice'?" She looked up at Adam, her mouth agape. "She assumes I'm quitting my practice!" Her laughter bordered on hysterical. "Well she's got another think coming. I'm not about to quit. And I'm not about to become a mother right away, either. Fionn and I have decided-" She blushed brightly. "Never mind what Fionn and I have decided. The point is I'm not about to stop practicing, and I take umbrage at her very insinuation!"
Adam couldn't swallow his laughter at Josie's indignation. She scowled at him, and he chucked her under the chin. "All these years and you're still surprised by Aunt Rachel's assumptions?"
Josie's face melted into a smile. "I suppose I shouldn't be, should I?"
"There's no excuse for it. What's the rest of the letter say?"
Josie returned to the paper in her hand. "Since I am unable to attend your wedding, I have no choice but to hold a wedding of my own. I am pleased to announce that on December 2, Sheriff Coffee and I will be joined in holy matrimony." Josie let out a shriek and quickly clapped her hand over her mouth.
"You made that up!" Adam insisted, diving for the letter. He snatched it from her and scanned it. "She's lying," he concluded. "It's the only logical explanation."
Josie smirked. "All these years, and you still expect Aunt Rachel to be logical?"
Adam chuckled, but then a sour taste filled his mouth. "Oh. You don't think she and Roy would have… children, do you?"
Josie's lip curled and she shook her head. "Couldn't possibly. Aunt Rachel's too old. She's got to be at least-"
"A hundred and fifty?"
Josie laughed and swatted his arm. "I was going to say fifty-eight. Or nearly, anyway. She's eight years older than Mama, and she'll be fifty next year."
"That's a relief. I think the last thing this world needs is another Stoddard cousin."
"We're getting one anyway. Your wife, remember?"
Adam slapped his forehead and laughed. "Oh, yeah! Sorry. Still getting used to the idea."
Josie giggled. "I was thinking. If we're double cousins, and we've married siblings, does that make our children triple or quadruple cousins?"
Adam wrinkled his brow and thought hard before replying. "I don't think so. I think it's more like multiplying a fraction. They'd be two-and-a-half cousins, or something like that."
"That's ridiculous! You can't have a two-and-a-half cousin."
"What do you suggest then?" Adam huffed.
Now Josie fell silent for several moments. "I say we all live together in one big house and just let all the kids think they have four parents."
"That would probably be easier."
"What does the rest of the letter say?" Josie asked.
Adam scanned it again. "No need to send a wedding gift, honeymoon to London in the spring, all her love to Hoss and Patience, she can't wait to hear about their baby, and say hello to Joseph as well."
Josie shook her head. "I can't believe this. Do we tell the rest of the family?"
"There's a letter from her to your mother in the stack I picked up. I expect she mentions it there. Let's not ruin the surprise. But let's make sure we're both in the room when your mother reads that letter. I don't want to miss the look on her face."
"I love the way you think." Josie stretched up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.
Hannah's reaction was everything Adam and Josie had hoped for. She squealed and then laughed until tears streamed down her face.
"I'm so sorry to miss that wedding," she said when she at last brought herself under control. "What a spectacle that will be." She placed the tip of her left index fingernail between her teeth like she always did when she was thinking. "Though I am quite glad to not be a member of the planning committee!"
All the Cartwrights joined her in a fresh round of laughter.
"I should get home," Adam said, kissing Hannah's cheek. "I just had to see your reaction to the news." He shook hands with his father and Little Joe, hugged Josie, and headed for the door. He was reaching for the handle when a knock sounded from the other side. Pip woofed and rose from his spot on the floor next to the settee and joined Adam at the door. "Hello, Fionn!" Adam said when he opened the door. "Everything all right?"
"Aye," Fionn said absently as he peered around Adam into the house. "Is your father here? Had a piece of… business I wanted to discuss with him." He gave his head a little shake and peered intently at Adam. "Why aren't you at home with me sister?"
Adam smiled. "I was just heading home. I'll leave you and Pa to it." He patted Fionn's shoulder and started out the door. Fionn grabbed his elbow.
"Stick around," he said. "This will only take a moment." He caught Ben's eye and nodded his head toward the kitchen.
"What do you suppose they have to discuss?" Josie asked as Ben and Fionn disappeared into the kitchen. "He's already asked me to marry him. He can't propose again."
Little Joe snorted. "Fionn could. And he'd make it seem completely reasonable, too."
Josie's question was answered a few minutes later when Ben and Fionn emerged, Ben grinning, and Fionn looking stunned. Josie jumped to her feet.
"What is it, Fionn?" she asked.
Fionn turned his wide, unblinking eyes to her.
"I'm goin' to be a citizen," he said in a voice just barely over a whisper.
Josie shrieked, crossed the living room in two steps, and flung her arms around his neck. Happy tears trickled down her face.
Hannah clapped her hands. "Congratulations, Fionn! How wonderful. Ben, did you do this?"
"I was completely uninvolved," Ben said, still grinning. "I'll let Fionn tell you."
All eyes turned to Fionn. Even Pip stared at him. Fionn caught Josie's eye and addressed her as if she were the only person in the room.
"It was your Aunt Rachel. She paid my fee as a weddin' gift. All I have to do is present meself at the courthouse in Carson City, have two witnesses say I'm a contributin' member of society, and take an oath of loyalty. That's it. I'll be an American citizen."
More tears tumbled down Josie's face as she kissed Fionn squarely on the mouth. Fionn barely noticed; he was still stunned and wide-eyed.
"I'll get to vote in November," he finished when Josie released him.
"If you hurry, you can vote on statehood next month," Josie pointed out. A delegation had met in Carson City during the month of July to write a new draft of a state constitution that the citizens of the territory were due to vote on September 7.
Fionn's jaw dropped as the other Cartwrights crowded around and congratulated him.
"Gee, Aunt Rachel's been writing to everyone, hasn't she?" Little Joe observed.
"Nearly," Adam agreed.
Fionn cocked his head. "Did she already tell you?"
"No," Adam said. "She wrote to us about something else entirely. I'll let Josie fill you in."
"I hope she wrote more plainly to you than she did to me," Fionn said. "She used so many fancy words I wasn't sure I understood correctly. That's why I'm here. Had to ask Mr. Cartwright to translate."
Adam chuckled. "She does tend to be a bit grandiose."
Ben poured everyone a round of brandy, and after a quick toast, Adam said his goodbyes again and departed for home, smiling broadly in the wake of Fionn's news and wondering how he'd be able to keep it to himself long enough for Fionn to tell Molly himself.
Once Adam left, Fionn turned to Josie.
"So what news did Miss Stoddard have for you?" he asked.
Josie laughed. "Oh, Fionn, you better sit down for this!"
Fionn hurried to harvest the rest of his corn so he could claim his citizenship before September 7. Ben and Adam offered to come along and act as his witnesses. Neither Josie nor Molly was about to miss out on seeing Fionn take his oath of citizenship, and they insisted on coming along, too. Josie was content to ride Betsy, but Adam wasn't about to let his pregnant wife ride on horseback all the way to Carson City, so he drove himself and Molly in their most comfortable buggy.
At the courthouse, Molly tried to blame her pregnancy for the tears that streamed down her face as Fionn swore his allegiance to the United States of America, but Josie's eyes were wet, too, and she certainly had no such excuse.
Afterward, despite Fionn's protestations, Ben treated everyone to a huge meal at the fanciest restaurant in town. He ordered a bottle of fine wine, and everyone raised their glasses to the new Citizen O'Connell.
Worried about the toll the long drive to Carson City and back all in one day would take on Molly, Adam put the pair of them up in a hotel for the night. Ben and Josie rode back to Virginia City late that afternoon with Fionn, who couldn't leave his farm for more than a day now that his corn was in. He wanted to have it all converted to whiskey before he and Josie married in November.
The sun was sinking over the horizon as Ben and Josie rode into their front yard, just in time to see Little Joe run at Hoss with a thick board like a battering ram. Hoss braced himself, and Joe and his board bounced backward.
"You're getting there! You are getting there!" Little Joe said with a grin. He set up for another run.
Ben practically leaped off Buck and strode over to his sons as Joe and his board dashed toward Hoss again. This time, Little Joe bounced backward and landed on his rump in the dirt.
"Hoss, you're there!" he cheered. "You are there!"
"What's going on here?" Ben demanded.
"Well, hi, Pa, Josie!" Hoss said, turning to them with a wide smile. "I'm in training!"
Josie slid off Betsy, handed her reins to a ranch hand, and joined her uncle.
Ben raised his eyebrows. "You're in training? Training for what?"
"Why, uh," Hoss stammered, then gestured to Joe. "Tell him, Manager."
"You know the fall festival coming up next month?" Little Joe said.
Ben nodded. The fall festival to benefit the library had been such a bit hit among the previous year that a committee had formed to make it an annual event. Josie, Sally, Joe, and Fionn didn't even have to help with the planning this time. So many ladies from town had stepped forward that the quartet would be able to simply enjoy the festivities.
"Yeah." Ben crossed his arms.
"Well, they're bringing in a little circus, see, and they've got a wrestler," Joe explained. "His name is, uh, Bearcat Sampson. And they will give a hundred dollars to anyone who can pin this Bearcat Sampson in under five minutes." He thumped Hoss on the chest.
Ben smiled and slapped Hoss on the shoulder. "And you're the one who's going to do it."
"We sure are!" Joe answered for his brother.
Josie rolled her eyes as Ben ignored Joe and addressed Hoss.
"Now, everyone knows you're as sturdy as a Missouri mule," he said, "but this Bearcat Sampson, or whatever his name is, he's a professional wrestler. He makes his living at it."
"Pa!" Joe protested. "Pa, Hoss is in shape. Look at him!" He thumped Hoss's chest again. "This Bearcat or anybody else doesn't stand a chance with him. You can't knock him off his feet." He nudged Hoss, who didn't budge.
"Hoss," Ben tried again. "This man knows every trick in the book! You really think you'll be ready for him?"
Hoss's grin fell as he looked from Ben to Little Joe, who gave him a big wink.
"I don't know, Pa, but Joe's got a whole training schedule planned out for me. I'd sure hate to think of all of that going to waste."
Ben and Josie shared a skeptical glance.
"Well," Ben sighed, "you want to get your lumps, don't let me stop you."
"Or me," Josie added.
"Thanks," Little Joe said. "We'll be careful."
Ben put an arm around Josie's shoulders and started to lead her toward the house when he spotted the stack of twisted horseshoes half-concealed behind Hoss and Joe. He frowned, stepped between his sons, and picked one up.
Hoss shifted uncomfortably. "I'll, uh, I'll straighten those out, Pa."
"See that you do," Ben grumbled. He gave his middle son a good once-over with his eyes. "And shouldn't you be home with your wife?"
"Oh, don't you worry about Patience, Pa. Her ma and sister have been over all day puttin' some finishing touches on the nursery. I was just givin' them some space."
"Have you agreed on a name for a boy yet?" Josie asked.
Hoss growled low in his throat, and Josie giggled.
"I guess that means no," she said.
"Bit of a sore subject," Joe stage-whispered.
"Come along, Josephine," Ben said, putting his arm around her shoulders once more. "Let's go have some supper and leave these two to their horseshoes."
"I'll be along in a moment, Uncle Ben," Josie said, slipping out from under his arm. "I need to go to my clinic for a bit."
"What for?"
"To take inventory of my supplies. Something tells me I'm going to have a lot of patching-up to do."