Chapter 14—"Marry Me"

"…ma…ma…ma!" Elizabeth clapped her hands in acknowledgement of Michaela's first words as they picnicked underneath a great oak by the Charles. The little girl pulled up on her mother's skirt and giggled as she collapsed into her lap.

Elizabeth held her close and whispered secretly into her baby's ear, "I don't care what your father calls you, you will always be my Michaela."

As if she understood her, Michaela pushed off of her lap and crawled into the grass before Elizabeth could stop her. In her haste, Michaela lost her balance and collapsed in a wobbly heap. The wide eyed baby turned around and stared at her mother in utter shock, but soon, smiles filled both of their faces as Elizabeth planted herself on all fours and began to chase her little girl.

But before she could reach her guffawing daughter, Michaela disappeared into the air, carried away by two large hands.

Elizabeth pushed up and caught her breath as the stranger held her baby. She couldn't make out the figure for the glare of the sunlight, but she could hear his words. "What a beautiful little girl!"

"Thank you… Thank you very much," Elizabeth said automatically, rising to her knees and instantly reaching for her little girl.

The man caught himself starring at the child, and laughed awkwardly, quickly handing the child back to her mother. "Oh, I am sorry. How presumptuous of me."

"No, it's alright," Elizabeth said, gauging the suited, fair haired man. He seemed to be respectable, the type of man that Josef would be friends with, so she proceeded cautiously, "This one just learned how to crawl! I have to watch her like a hawk, so she doesn't get away from me. I suppose I'm a little too overprotective of my girls."

"Girls?" The man perked up, catching Elizabeth by surprise. Men didn't usually like to talk about her children, and they were by far her favorite subject to engage in a discourse.

"Oh yes. I have five daughters. Michaela is my youngest," she said proudly, hoisted Michaela up on her hip. Michaela giggled at the bouncing sensation but buried her head in her mother's neck shyly as the man continued to watch her intently.

"What a blessing that must be," he warmed, his eyes focused on Michaela and Elizabeth.

"Yes, it is. Did you and Mrs. …?" Elizabeth prodded, knowing that it was past time to make an introduction, but it was certainly the man's position to initiate it.

"How very rude of me. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Alexander Montgomery. And no, my wife and I don't have any children," he finished. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows discreetly. She was intrigued. She was going to ask him if he and his wife were new in Boston. But, as he said himself, he was rather presumptuous.

"Oh, well… There's plenty of time for children," She replied, trying to keep her mind moving along with her mouth. "Did you and Mrs. Montgomery just move to Boston?"

"In fact, we did." Elizabeth smiled, slightly uneasy as he didn't elaborate on his answer.

She felt the heavy weight of her baby growing in her arms, and she knew that was her best excuse to end this increasingly awkward conversation. "Well, Michaela and I must go. She needs her afternoon nap."

"Do you often picnic here?" He asked suddenly as she turned her back to him.

"On occasion. Why?" Elizabeth set Michaela in her baby carriage and covered the innocent baby with a white blanket, touching her cheek for a moment with her own to send her off safely to dreamland.

"I only hope to see you again," he suggest jovially.

"I'm sure we will. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Montgomery."

Porcupine Bear's body weight was instantly removed from hers, but Michaela still felt his mouth and hands and sweat soaking through her clothes and penetrating her skin. And she could hear Sully, but she couldn't open her eyes just yet. Perhaps she had faded away into her imagination, or perhaps she had lost her mind and she was only hearing and feeling what she wanted to feel. She felt her side and touched the warm liquid on her abdomen. Perhaps she was dying and God had sent an angel to take her to heaven.

Catherine stood in the mouth of the cave, watching the two men struggle for control. Her eyes immediately went to Michaela lying listlessly against the cave wall. She quickly ran to her side and lifted her quivering body into her arms. She smoothed back the hair on her face, rubbing her own cheek against Michaela's too give her warmth.

Michaela felt the engulfing, warm arms, and then she knew she had to be dying. "Mama," Michaela whispered, her voice smaller than a little girl's, "You're here, Mama—"

Catherine didn't know what to say, but as soon as she felt the blood seeping from underneath Michaela's nightgown, Catherine stopped thinking and ripped the bottom of her new dress, pressing the fabric against the wound. Had there been gunfire? She couldn't think straight—

Suddenly, she looked up and saw the strangest sight she had ever seen—a young Indian girl dressed like a white man standing over Porcupine Bear and Sully, shakily aiming the gun down at them as they rolled across the rocky floor.

"O'eétahe ho'nóho'amé!" Catherine called out, hoping to reach the girl on some common ground.

But the girl only frowned at her, not understanding a word that Catherine spoke.

"O'eétahe ho'nóho'amé!" Catherine yelled this time, but the girl cocked the gun and closed one of her eyes as she zoned in on the men fighting.

Catherine could feel Michaela bleeding, but this girl—she couldn't allow another person to be shot, she couldn't allow Sully to be shot. Quickly but gently, she put Michaela back against the stone, but Michaela reached out and grabbed her fiercely, "Don't leave me, Mama! Don't leave me!"

"I have to stop her, Dr. Mike—I have to—" Catherine smoothed down her skin, trying to bring her back from her delirious dreamland.

"No Mama!" Michaela grabbed Catherine's wrists, throttling them so she couldn't move away.

Finally, Catherine went straight to the heart, testing how buried her love was for the first time. "It's Sully, Dr. Mike—Sully could be hurt!"

Michaela heard the words and pushed through the darkness, opening her eyes into the glowing cavern, finding those eyes saying his name. "Sully…," she whispered.

Catherine nodded, scared for the first time of the unmasked eyes that Michaela wore. "Yes, he is here… He came for you."

"Catherine?" Suddenly, a gunshot rang out throughout the cavern, and the women gasped as a falling groan resounded throughout the amber lit space.

Like two flashes of light, Porcupine Bear sprung up off the ground and speared Smiles No More into his grasp.

Sully lay face down on the ground, and silence suddenly filled the air as they waited for his next breath.

As the baby felt the first moments of life, she cried out, breathing in the world as her father held her up proudly in their small teepee.

"It's a girl!" He cried. "We have a daughter, Snowbird!"

"Let me see her." She held her tired, weak arms out for her daughter.

Cloud Dancing spoke directly to the baby as she calmed and closed her eyes in his secure embrace. "Come, little one. Come meet your mother."

"Oh…" Snowbird examined her greedily, feeling every finger and toe, touching her nose and eyelashes in pure adoration. "She looks like you, Cloud Dancing."

Cloud Dancing's chest swelled with pride, and he wrapped his arm around them both. "I think she has your smile."

Snowbird eyed him, a teasing tone in her voice, "You make up such tales. She is not smiling. She is grounded in truth and wisdom. A very serious baby."

Suddenly, the baby laughed and smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at her mother and father for the first time. "She fooled you, Snowbird."

"What should we call her?" All eyes met as the baby's smile spread to her parents.

"Little Smiles?"

Suddenly, the sound of hooves brushed through the clearing, wiping the smiles away from the new parents' faces, and the baby began to cry in her mother's arms.

"Sully…Sully…" Michaela struggled with her words, "Sully, answer me now!"

"Michaela…" he moaned, his voice fading as consciousness left him again.

"Go…go to him…" Michaela pushed Catherine away from her, the reality of the situation becoming far too clear and present for her.

"But you're—" Catherine protested, reaching back to cover her wound.

"DO IT, CATHERINE!" Michaela winced as her emotions burst, and she closed her eyes, her attention going back to the numbing pain across her womb. "I can control it—I just… We need to see where he's been shot."

Catherine left Michaela and moved across the cavern to Sully. There was no visible wound on his backside, so she put her hands on his shoulders and flipped him over, cradling his head in her hands.

"Sully...Sully…" She gently hit the side of his face and he groaned in response.

"What do you see?" Michaela asked, forcing down the ache building in her body.

"His…his—" Catherine struggled for the word, but Sully suddenly opened his eyes and screamed out as the pain shot through his leg.

"Where does it hurt, Sully?" Michaela called out, not knowing for a moment if she was talking to him or herself.

"My leg… my thigh," he answered gruffly.

"Thank God," Michaela sighed. A superficial wound they could handle right now. She lifted her head and looked towards the mouth of the cave. "Oh no…," she groaned, suddenly remembering Smiles No More. She struggled for a moment, attempting to get up.

"What are you doing!" Catherine asked, seeing her stunted movements as she pushed Sully up to a sitting position.

Michaela pushed up on a rock, avoiding looking at either of them, and answered, "I have to go after her… She's not safe with him—"

"But she shot Sully!" Catherine protested.

Michaela pushed fully up, the blood draining from her face as she glared at Catherine. "She didn't know what she was doing! I think you would be able to understand that!"

The two women stared at each other, both impassive. Catherine watched Michaela's stone eyes and knew there was only one way she could help this situation. "I-I will go."

Michaela shook her head and closed her eyes, avoiding the pain in her stomach. "She doesn't know you."

Catherine walked across the cave to her, and as soon as she reached her, the color in Michaela's face dropped. Catherine exhaled, "But Porcupine Bear does. He will listen to me. Let me do this. You take care of each other. Go back to Colorado Springs."

"Alright." Michaela gave in. "I'm too weak to go anyway."

Catherine nodded and turned towards the mouth of the cave. Michaela watched her, and for some unknown reason, she called out, "Catherine!"

"What?" She turned around, searching for understanding.

"Be careful."

"I thought I might find you two here again!" Elizabeth sat up abruptly on her picnic blanket, pulling her feet underneath her dress modestly. She was sure she wouldn't meet anyone here today, otherwise, she would have never presumed to take off her stockings.

"Mr. Montgomery…How nice it is to see you." She filled her face with an elegant smile, despite the fact that she was sure her French twist was falling down about her face.

"And you, Mrs. Quinn. I'd like to introduce, my wife, Caitlyn Montgomery." Elizabeth finally noticed the thin, but lovely woman standing next to him. She had almost a foreign complexion, as if she were descended from Spanish kings.

"Oh, how do you do, Mrs. Montgomery."

"I'm well, thank you," Caitlyn replied, barely above a whisper. Elizabeth surely didn't know what to make of that. There was such a fine line in society from being modest to being painfully shy. This woman obviously edged towards the latter.

"And how is little Michaela doing?" Alexander piped up, inviting himself to sit on the blanket. His wife didn't follow him but stood nervously behind him. Elizabeth was positively aghast by this, but she didn't say anything. That would have been improper.

"Oh, she's thriving, of course. She's interested in everything. She likes to splash in the water, so please excuse our wet stockings…" Elizabeth laughed nervously, quickly hiding their stockings in the picnic basket.

Alex smiled at her, his gaze like a watchful owl. "Charming, really. It's wonderful you're so involved. Most women would just assume hire an au pair…"

"Being a mother is the most important thing I've ever done," Elizabeth said easily from her heart.

"I believe that as well," Caitlyn suddenly spoke up, her eyes bright and hopeful. Finally, she sat down on the picnic blanket, her eyes locked on Elizabeth like she was her lifeline. "There's nothing…nothing a woman can do that is greater than having a child. Loving a child."

Elizabeth smiled sincerely and looked at the birdlike woman with maternal empathy. "I'm sure you'll make a very fine mother one day, Mrs. Montgomery."

"Did you tell her, Alex? Did you?" Caitlyn's face suddenly went ashen as she rose from the picnic blanket, gathering her things in a frenzied hurry.

"No, Caitlyn, I—" Alexander stopped and composed himself as Elizabeth looked away, allowing him to maintain some dignity in his wife's strange social outburst. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Quinn. I didn't mean… I'm sorry if we have offended you in anyway."

"Not at all," Elizabeth whispered, shocked at such a display of emotions between a husband and wife in front of a virtual stranger. It was only in the darkness of the night that she allowed herself to tell Josef the innermost whisperings of her heart, and he protected her secrets with his life. She watched the couple disappear behind the gossamer veil of trees and lifted Michaela in her arms protectively.

The baby curled into her mother's arms trustingly, and Elizabeth whispered into her ear, "You are my last heart."

"Michaela…" Sully watched her rip at his pants, revealing the flesh that had been punctured. She didn't speak.

"Michaela…" He tried again, watching her face narrow as she pulled the bullet out of his leg. "You should sit down. We have to stop your bleeding before we—"

"I have to stop yours first. You know that," she said shortly, not giving a moment to anything she was feeling. It was too much to end like this—both shot, wounded, and to talk now would simply make the bleeding worse.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, unable to take her quiet, ragged breathing and tortured silence.

Michaela tied the wound with the very end of her nightgown and when she finished, she nodded once. "I know."

"But you don't believe me." Michaela met his eyes for an instant. She couldn't handle this right now.

"I need your help." She pointed towards the blood on her abdomen. Sully sat up and moved to her. Without words, he carefully lifted the base of her disheveled nightgown, revealing bruised legs and muscles, and finally the wound on her lower abdomen.

"Oh my God, Michaela…He—he cut you…He—" Sully felt sick inside as he stared at her sliced body.

Michaela lowered her eyes, unable to look at his face. "It's not too deep, but we should pack it down before we head back."

Sully ripped the torn end of his pants and fastened them around her middle like a tube. Once he was done, his hands stopped and lingered there, waiting for her to look at him. She would be alright. She would. But would they? "Can't you talk to me?"

Michaela scoffed, fighting the tears that were coming. How could they have gotten so far off course? "I'm having trouble feeling my own body right now. I don't think I can begin to tell you what's going on in my mind."

Sully lifted her face and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, Michaela. You."

Michaela took in his words and let out a shaky breath. "I'm a doctor. I'm used to knowing things, believing in things. People trust me. I'm not used to giving myself to anyone. I gave myself to you—I trusted you."

Sully pulled slightly away and shook his head. "You're lying."

"What?"

Sully pulled her closer, so she couldn't move away. "You let yourself say the words. You let yourself dance through the actions. But you never gave yourself to me. We've been pretending everythin' was alright for weeks. And it ain't."

"What do you expect me to do, Sully? What?" Michaela raged, feeling the hot tears coming down against her will.

"I just want you to love me!" He screamed back, holding her so close she thought her body might erupt and burst into flames. Was love a trap or freedom? She had no idea.

She pushed back on his chest and felt for her own. Her hands fumbled furiously for the buttons of the nightgown, and deliberately, she unbuttoned them until the nightgown slid off her shoulders.

"Is this what you want?" She cried, lost within herself and him and the moment. Sully sat before her, amazed, dazzled, frozen, humbled, tantalized, and petrified. When he didn't move, she screamed, forcing him to answer her, "IS IT!"

Sully immediately took her into his arms, protecting her exposed body with his own as he whispered over and over again as she cried into his shoulder, "No…No…God no…"

"I hate you so much…" She whispered, holding him tighter as she hit his back and buried her face in his neck. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

"Stop it, Michaela!" Sully soothed, even as she continued hitting him, "Stop it! You can hate me as much as ya want, but I ain't goin' anywhere. I'm stayin'. I'm stayin' even if you walk away."

"You'll be waiting a long time." She pushed away from him, taking his jacket with her.

"Maybe. But I'll risk it." He grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Marry me, Michaela."