*Author's Note*

Thank you for all the follows, faves, and reviews.

August 5th 1879, Silas Elliot's Arrival

Tolbert POV:

Harvest time had come so I spent most of my time in the fields gatherin' up my crops. Unlike last year, I didn't have no help harvestin' since my wife was too far 'long t'work the fields. Hell, Jessa was actually due soon, but nobody knew that since we lied t'em all an' made 'em believe she wasn't as far 'long as she was. It was the only way t'ensure that ev'body believed her baby was mine.

The sun was sorchin' hot, beatin' down on me wit' no mercy, as I cut stalks of corn down wit' my hand sickle. I had abandoned my shirt hours 'go, but it didn't do much t'cool me from the heat of the Indian summer. Sweat rolled down my bare upper body like a waterfall as I worked. Hell, my hat didn't do much, 'cept keep my face from gettin' red, since my hair was matted an' soaked wit' sweat under it. I wanted t'get at least half my field cleared 'fore lunchtime, but that idea wasn't pannin' out so well since I was harvestin' on my own an' it was hotter than hell out.

Feelin' exhausted an' hungry, I decided to take an early lunch break an' head t'my cabin. I also wanted t'check up on Jessa since she's been feelin' poorly lately. Damn, if I'm t'be honest, the entire pregnancy was marked wit' her feelin' poorly by bein' sick; sensitive t'heat an' certain foods too. Of course, Shaw's bastard would be givin' Jessa hard times in the womb.

"How ya feelin', darlin'?" I asked my wife, who was sprawled out on the sofa wit' a wet rag on her head, as I walked thru the door.

"Like crap on a cracker." Jessa deadpanned as I hung my hat up on the hook by the door.

"Ya et anythin' or no?" I asked, concerned that she was gonna wither 'way from retchin' or lack of ettin' 'fore she even birthed the baby (that she'd taken t'callin' Silas), as I made my way ov'r to her side.

"No, I got a bad migraine an' I feel nauseous."

"Have ya tried drinkin' mint tea or ettin' some ginger candies?"

"No, the smell of them makes me want to puke." She groaned out, movin' one side of the rag up so she could peek a look at me with one of her indigo eyes.

I didn't know what else t'say so I just shrugged an' lightly ran a hand up an' down her arm. If I couldn't give advice least I could do was show her I cared; try t'calm an' soothe her.

I stopped strokin' her arm whenever she bolted up, removin' the wet rag off her hand an' tossin' it ov'r on the coffee table, an' held her belly while lettin' out a pained gasp. Oh shit, she's havin' a birthin' pain… "Tolbert, I think I'm having a contraction."

"I'll go fetch ma, then Doc." I told Jessa, my velvet timbre crackin' wit' nerves, 'fore standin' up. She didn't say a word, just nodded and bit her lip. I bent over slight, placed a hand gently on her hair, an' pressed a kiss t'her forehead 'fore leavin' her side.

Jessa POV:

After pressin' a soft, but quick, kiss to my forehead, Tolbert left to go get Sally and Doc. He seemed a bit nervous and shaken up as he rushed out the door, but I can't say that I blame him since he's going to become a poppy for the first time. Honestly, I'm a bit nervous myself since I have to give birth without an epidural in a hospital. I was nervous to be giving birth at home during a time where if something went wrong you or your baby (sometimes both of you) just died.

After a few minutes alone with just my thoughts the door creaked open followed by Sally walking in. "Oh, sweetheart, we need t'move ya into the bed." She told me as she walked further into the house, making her way over to where I was at the couch.

"I know." I simply told her, pushing myself off of the couch with one hand while holding my belly (in the spot the lighting bolt feeling was at) with the other.

Sally didn't say a word, just appeared at my side and helped me walk over to my bedroom, which was right off of the kitchen. I didn't need the help, I could walk on my own, but I was thankful that Sally was being supportive. Especially since she hasn't been too pleased about me being with Tolbert; him claiming the baby as his.

"You need'a dress down to your shift. I'll make birthin' your boy easier." Sally told me, leading me to my bed as soon as we entered my room.

"I know." I simply told her, breaking away from her side in order to unbutton the back collar of my dress.

"You've got a name for your boy picked? If not, better pick it quick." Sally told me, taking a seat in the corner chair (she didn't need to gather towels or anything since Tolbert always kept them by the wash basin on the dresser), as I pulled my maternity dress off, letting it fall to the floor and pool around my feet.

While getting into bed, I told my mother-in-law, "I've had the name picked out for a while now. It's Silas, Silas Elliot."

"Hmm…" Sally pressed her lips together in a firm line, her brown eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

As my labor progressed, the pain got intense and I felt like I wanted to claw my eyes out of something. At one point my hands began to shake and a tear or so rolled down my cheek from the pain. I felt so alone lying in bed. Sally wasn't much comfort, she just sat in the corner quietly watching me. It was a bit creepy. Doc, he just read a book while sitting on a stool he brought in from the kitchen. Of course, every now and then he'd check me to see how I was dilating, but he wasn't much of a talker. If he did talk, it was only to ask me questions about how I was feeling and stuff. Doc assured me that labor was a very long process, that we'd be doing a lot of waiting before it was actually time for me to push.

I felt dizzy and tired, but from what I didn't know since I was just lying in bed waiting for my body to dilate to 10. It was dark out, hinting that it was night time, and I was only halfway dilated. Yea, my body was being slow…

"How ya feelin', Jessa?" Doc asked me from around the cigar that was stuffed into the right corner of his mouth, lifting his head up from his book to look at me.

"Exhausted and light headed." I honestly told him.

He nodded, then asked, "How's them birthin' pains?"

"Hurts like a bitch." I honestly told him, biting my lip as a birthing pain shot right thru me.

"Jessa, watch your tongue." Sally snapped from her spot in the corner, her eyes narrowed in a scolding way.

"Hell, Sally, the girl's young and in labor for the first time so she can curse a bit if she wants." Doc told my mother-in-law, his eyes giving her sharp look from over his wire glasses. He let out a chuckle before admitting, "I ain't bothered none by it; heard some expectant mothers say worse."

Sally didn't say a word, just shook her head. I could tell that she wasn't too pleased by Doc's remark, backing me up instead of her when it came to my foul language.

"I'll check ya, see if you've made any progress." Doc told me, closing his book and putting it onto the bedside table. I quietly nodded, watching him place his cigar into the tableside ashtray before standing up and making his way to the bottom of my bed. Sally just watched with uninterest in her brown eyes as Doc Rutherford lifted up the thing sheet covering me; quickly examining me. "Jessa, you're still only 'bout halfway there." Doc told me, covering me back up with the sheet.

"Of course, I am…" I sighed thru gritted teeth as a really bad pain ran thru my stomach and into my lower back.

"Labor's a lengthy process; can last days sometimes." I was told by Doc as he went back to his stool by my bedside, sitting down on it and grabbing his cigar from the ashtray.

Of course, Pitocin hasn't been invented yet so… Of course, I just nodded and told him, "I know, Doc."

"You're young, that's why this first birthin's takin' so long." Sally told me in a matter-o-fact way as she just sat in the corner, staring at me like I was some kind of tv program or something.

Suddenly, an excruciating sharp and breath-taking pain rain thru my lower belly. As I clenched my jaw, I felt something wet, thick, and sticky roll down my thigh. Oh no, something's wrong! "Doc, I'm bleeding!" I cried out in a panicked shriek.

Doc tossed his cigar into the ashtray before jumping to his feet and quickly rushed over to the bed. Quickly, he pulled the sheet off me only to reveal that blood was pooling around my thighs and staining the skirt of my shift. Sally's eyes locked onto the bloody sight, but she didn't say a word. Doc gave me a sympathetic look while saying, "You're not ready to push yet, but your bleeding means something's gone wrong with the pregnancy. I need to ask Tolbert if he wants to let your labor continue, risking a still birth, or if he wants me to remove the baby by cutting it out, but risking you bleeding out or going into a shock and stroking out."

"No!" I loudly exclaimed, causing the doctor to just look at me with wide eyes. Finding a strength, I didn't know I had, I told him, "Doc, you won't ask Tolbert what he wants to do since it's my baby and my body." My indigo eyes locked onto his as I told him, "I want you to save the baby."

Doc gave me a dead serious look. "That means I'll have to cut it out."

"I know."

"There's a chance you'll have a hard time conceivin' or never may 'gain if I cut wrong." He told me, not to try and change my mind, but to let me know the risks I would be taking to have a crude c-section.

"I don't care, it's a risk I'll take in order for Silas Elliot to be born alive." I told the doctor, my voice firm and full of resolve, as I sat in my birthing bed bleeding.

Doc just nodded his head and told me, "I'm gonna go bar the doors with chairs so Tolbert doesn't rush in durin' the operation.", before walking out of the bedroom. Yea, I imagine once Doc starts cutting, I'll be screaming bloody murder.

Sally left her chair in the corner and approached me with a stern look on her round face. "Jessa, don't be foolish and risk your life. Leave this in the lord's hands, he knows what's best." She ordered me in a loud sharp tone as I watched Doc thru my open bedroom door grab a chair from the kitchen table and bring it to the back door.

I furrowed my dark brows at my mother-in-law while firmly telling her, "No, Sally, I won't lie around bleeding and waiting to dilate only to have a stillborn son. I'm going to make sure he's born alive, no matter the cost."

"Sweetheart-" Sally began only for me to harshly cut her off with, "I've made up my mind, Sally, and you're not going to change it. I'm having Doc cut out my baby and that's that."

"Doors are barred, time to operate." Doc told me as he walked into the room.

Sally didn't say a word, just gave me a narrowed look and went back to her seat in the corner. I just nodded at Doc while telling him, "I'm ready, do what you have to do.", as he went over to my bedside table and opened up his bag.

He took a flask of whiskey out of his bag along with a bite stick. Hanging me the whiskey he said, "Take a long sip of that." I just nodded, uncorked the bottle, and took a shot from the bottle. Holy shit, that whiskey was strong. I handed the bottle back to Doc only for him to pass me over the bite stick. "Bite on that so ya don't bite your tongue off from the pain." Once again, I just nodded and did what I was told.

I laid on the bed, biting on the stick and clutching the sheets in the hands, as Doc pulled a leather operation tool kit out of his bag. He set it on the table and opened it, showcasing an array of sharp tools, scalpels, and instruments. When he pulled a long and sharp looking scalpel from the tool kit I knew that it was time for my 19th century style c-section.

Tolbert POV:

I'd been sitting outside on my porch for hours now, waitin' for Jessa t'have the baby. I know that birth takes a long time so I wasn't too upset that it's late at nite an' I'm still waitin' for Doc t'come out an' wit' news 'bout my newborn baby. Its just I'd feel better if I had somebody t'keep my company an' to talk to. Yea, poppy an' all my brothers ended up leavin' once dinner time rolled 'round. Roseanna an' Alifair made dinner for my family since ma was helpin' Doc wit' Jessa. Of course, they didn't send anythin' ov'r for me tho. Eh, don't think I'd be able to et tho wit' how nervous I was. Hell, waitin' 'round for Jessa t'birth the baby was nerve wrackin'. The only company I had was Clayton, the red hound pup. He was sleepin' on the porch at my feet.

I was rockin' in my rocker, starin' out at the twinklin' stars shinin' in the dark sky, whenever the most heart wrenchin' scream pierced the air. Oh no, somethin's wrong wit' Jessa. That scream was unnatural, filled wit' too much pain. I sprung to my feet and rushed to the door, not givin' a shit 'bout propriety since I needed t'get to Jessa cause I knew deep down in my gut she was in trouble. When I went t'open the door it wouldn't budge. Somethin' was barrin' it. Clayton was now up an' howlin' due to Jessa's blood curdlin' cries emergin' from the house. Dear god, somethin' was wrong; she shouldn't be screamin' like that. Smackin' my hand against the door, I shouted, "Let me in there!" Smackin' the door again I added in a shout of, "Doc, let me in there! Now!"

My screamin' pleas went unheard, til the door finally opened to revel my mama. She had a grim look on her face as she held a swaddled baby in her arms. "It's a boy, she named him Silas Elliot." She told me in a tight tone, dumpin' the baby in my arms. 'Fore I could ask her why Jessa was screamin' bloody murder for, she told me, "She started bleedin' an' demanded that Doc cut the baby out even tho it risked dyin' an' leavin' ya, son." What?! I just blinked, un able t'say a word as my mama's words washed ov'r me an' sunk in. Doc cut the baby out?! "She refused t'risk a stillbirth, but instead of leavin' it in the lord's hands she took it in her own."

"Is she?..." I asked, not even able to add in the words dead or okay since I was in so much shock.

"Doc's finishin' sewin' her up. She's alive, but just passed out from the pain."

I just nodded and walked by my mama, makin' my way to the bedroom I shared wit' my wife. As I walked into the room I saw Doc packin' up his bag while Jessa was layin' on the bed, still an' sweaty lookin'. I didn't say a word to the butcher, just placed Silas in his cradle and took a seat on the stool next t'my wife.

"She'll wake up in time." Doc told me 'fore pointin' to a small bottle an' sayin', "That's laudanum, she can have some ev'ry few hours for pain."

I nodded 'fore coldly tellin' him in a dark velvet tone, "Ya can leave now, ya done 'nough considerin' ya cut my wife up like Jack the goddamn Ripper."

The middle-aged Doc gave me a hard look 'fore grabbin' his bag and leavin' the room. Whenever I heard my front door slam shut, I let out a sigh of relief. That bastard, listened t'Jessa intead of consultin' me 'bout what t'do wit' the birthin'. I'm her husband, fuck it's my right t'make medical decision in her best in'trest.

"I gotta get goin' an' I won't be able t'come by anytime soon cause of the harvest. Will ya be okay wit' her on your own?"

"Yea, ma, I'll be okay." I'd have to be, didn't have much of a choice.

A tight, but crestfallen look crossed ov'r my mama's face 'fore she walked off. I knew she'd left the house whenever I heard the door slightly slam shut. I was now left all 'lone wit' my cut up an' passed out from pain wife an' a step-son that couldn't 've come like any other normal baby does.

Shaw POV:

I was asleep in my bed; Olga's naked body was pressed up against mine. She had her arms wrapped around me, not vice versa, and her chin was pressed against my bare shoulder as I slept half on my side, half on my stomach with my face buried into my pillow. I had an arm hanging off the bed with my fingertips skirting on the hardwood floor. I was spent and in a dreamless sated slumber, drooling and slightly snoring into my feather tick pillow.

I'd been sharin' my bed with my housekeeper since 'bout mid-July; it was now early August. Jessa should be due in a couple of weeks considering I knocked her up in late November. Reckon I was just biding my time; wettin' my dick with Olga til Jessa had our baby and I was able to go see her. I intended to visit her and convince her to try again with me for the sake of our kid havin' both blood parents and a stable family. I intended to bring up Tolbert's alcoholism and the horrors of my own childhood with my hateful and heavy drinkin' step-dad Peter as reasons to get her to resume our relationship. As soon as Jessa agreed to come home with me, I was sticking Olga on the next train to Portland, Oregon where there's plenty of loggin' camps full of sex deprived men wantin' women. Til then tho Olga was my bedwarmer. Hey, I wasn't a monk and I considered a warm body much better than my hand.

A loud, but frantic knock echoin' from my front door startled me awake. I sat up in a bolt, causin' Olga to fling off my back and land into the mattress with a bouncing thud. "Ooh!" She shrieked, wakin' up from being jostled. "What's wrong?" She asked, coming to her senses as she sat up behind me while I was sitting on the edge of my bed, placin' my feet down on the floor.

"Nothin', just go back to sleep." I told the brunette, reaching for the pair of Levi's I discarded on the floor by my bed last night.

"But, Shaw, it's late. Something's wrong for persistent knocks t'be soundin' off at our door like this." Olga told me in her dulcet tone, sitting up with the blanket loosely around her, as I stood up and pulled on my jeans.

"Olga, stay in here and let me handle it." I ordered her, giving her a stern stare in the dark, before rushing out of my bedroom. The knocks grew quicker and more frantic as I walked thru the kitchen on my way to the front door. "I'm comin', I'm comin'!" I shouted to whoever was at my front door as I made a beeline to the gun rack near the door. Hey, I was Hatfield kin so I wasn't gonna open a door empty handed in the dead of night. With my rifle in my right hand, I flung open my front door with my left only to be met with the site of Doc Rutherford standing in in front of me with a blood-stained hand curled up and ready to knock. "What're you doing here, Doc?" I asked, my brow arched up high into my hairline, as I put the gun down by my side.

Doc's hand fell instantly to his side. His wire glass covered eyes held worry in them as he told me, "I got something hard to tell ya." Gesturing to the inside of my house with the tilt of his head, he quickly added in, "Best if we do it sittin' down inside."

I nodded and stepped aside, letting the old saw bones into my house. As I shut my door and placed my rifle back on the gun rack, my heart stopped beating for a minute and sunk down to the pit of my stomach. I wasn't stupid, I knew why he was here and wanted to talk to me…something happened to Jessa and/or our baby. I don't know how he knew, but he knew I was the baby's daddy and came here to break some hard news to me. As I pivoted on my bare heel, I noticed that Doc was sitting on one of my armchairs, lighting the oil lamp on the table by him. My bare feet smacked against the hardwood floor as I quickly made my way into the living room. Instead of sitting on the couch or in my wingback chair (that's across from Doc's) I just perched myself on the oak coffee table, sitting parallel to the doctor. I just gave him a look that I'm sure was gut wrenching (like a somebody shot my puppy and drowned my kitten depressed level look) as I silently begged him with my honey eyes to tell me what was wrong with my estranged family.

Doc swallowed down an invisible lump before telling me, "Shaw, Jessa went into labor in the early afternoon. Come a few hours 'go she was only halfway ready t'deliver the baby whenever she started bleedin' badly 'tween the legs."

"She lost the baby." I supplied, winded and feeling like I was just run over by a Mack truck.

"No, she begged me to save the baby no matter what so I performed an emergency operation and cut the baby out."

My eyes turned into honey hued half-dollars as my jaw dropped. "Jesus…" Trying my best to compose myself, I asked in a swooshing breath, "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She lost a lot of blood and there's always a risk of infection and fever, but she's got grit and I do believe she'll heal up just fine. She'll be okay in time, but there's a chance she might have a harder time conceiving or might never conceive again." Doc lengthily told me in a soft, but professional filled tone.

"And the baby, what about my baby?" I asked in a rush, hoping that my kid was okay considering the botched birth.

"Your son Silas Elliot is a strong, healthy boy, but might be colic do to such a traumatic birth." Doc told me, causing the corners of my mouth to turn up in relief and pride. I have a son, a son named Silas Elliot. She named him after me in a way. I knew she still loved me.

"Thank you, Doc, for telling me what happened." I gratefully told the old sawbones. I knew that HIPPA laws weren't around yet so it wasn't too hard of a task to tell me about Jessa and Silas, but I also knew that Doc didn't have to tell me anything either since we were broken up. Reckon I was grateful the man felt I needed to know about them, that he must feel they'd be better off with me then with Tolbert.

"No need to thank me, it's the least I could do. I took one look at the boy after cuttin' him out and knew he was yours. Looked just like you did when your mama, god rest her soul, birthed ya." Giving me a pointed look, he told me in a very serious tone, "I believe Sally knows the truth about Silas Elliot and she's not too happy about it. She was very cold to Jessa during the labor, even tried to talk her out of saving the baby boy." I nodded, causing him to continue with, "She even told Tolbert that Jessa foolishly chose to get cut open and risk her life, dyin' and leavin' him, to have the baby right 'way instead of lettin' the lord handle whether or not the baby'd take a breath once it was born."

"Let me guess, Tolbert's rejecting Silas." I deadpanned, my voice tight and harsh, as I looked Doc straight in the eyes.

"Not entirely, he placed the baby in the cradle by Jessa's bedside instead of holding him, but I'm sure he will if Jessa gets a fever or her health declines." He told me, his voice a bit drawn out, as his eyes drifted away from mine. He let out a long sigh before bringing his gaze back up to meet mine and telling me, "I advise you to intervene if you can."

"Intervene on what, Shaw?" Came Olga's dulcet voice from the doorway separating my bedroom from the kitchen. Great, the Five Points bitch choose this exact moment to toss on that scarlett satin-silk robe of hers (that I'm sure was a part of a lingerie set she used to seduce men with) and walk out of the bedroom.

"I told you to stay in bed." I quickly snapped at Olga, making her jump slightly and hit her shoulder against the doorframe. Pointing to the bedroom, I told her in a low tone, "This don't concern you, now get back in there."

Olga's face fell before she nodded and scurried back into the bedroom. Doc gave me a very pointed and judgmental look as the bedroom door shut with a mere squeak. Doc shook his head and stood up with a firm look on his face. "Shaw, if I would've known you've been sharin' your bed with a young lady I wouldn't 've told ya 'bout Jessa and the baby. Seems that she's settled with Tolbert cause you've found somebody else."

Standing up, I quickly defended myself by telling Doc, "Doc, Olga's not my woman. She's my housekeeper, but she'll be movin' on soon."

"Son, from the way she looks at you, your housekeeper ain't leavin' anytime soon." Doc told me, putting extra stress and emphasis on the word housekeeper, before walking out of the living room and towards the front door. With his hand on the door knob, he looked over his shoulder and told me, "Your mama raised ya better than this, but s'pose your father didn't.", before opening the door and walking right out of my house.

I just stood stock still in my living room, everything that I've been told sinking in and washin' over me like a tidal wave. Oh my god, I almost lost my son and my girl's still in the wind…Jessa had to have a risky c-section to have Silas, to ensure that he wasn't stillborn. Goddamnit, why didn't I drag her kicking and screaming to Sully and make him take us to a 21st century hospital? I knew something was wrong with her last month, damnit I should've followed my instincts.

I didn't even think, just let my feet carry me into the kitchen and in front of the cabinet that I kept my whiskey and shine in. I was on autopilot as I opened up the cabinet and grabbed the large bottle of shine that I'd got from Johnse a few days ago. After slamming my cabinet door shut, I went over to my kitchen table and slumped down into my chair at the head of it. With a long huff of a sigh, I uncorked my bottle, put it to my lips, and tipped it back. The West Virginian corn likker slightly burned as it went down my throat, providing me with a strong sense of alcohol that I needed to dull my senses.

I'd downed 'bout a fourth of Johnse's shine whenever I heard the bedroom door squeak open. Jesus, I thought I told her to go to bed? I didn't even bother to look at Olga as she tipped toed into the kitchen, just tipped back my bottle and let the homemade hooch run down my throat with warm abandon. As I pulled my bottle away from my lips, holding it parallel to my bare chest, the brunette took a seat by me at the table. I didn't acknowledge her, just took another swig of my likker.

"Ya drink too much." Olga told me in a scolding tone, her eyes set on the bottle in my hand as I pulled it away from my mustache and beard framed lips.

"Don't worry 'bout how much I drink." I coldly told Olga, tilting my bottle at her before setting it down on the edge of the table.

She nodded her head and went quiet. Right as I reached for my shine bottle Olga's dulcet tone rung out curiously with, "Who was that man an' why was he here?"

"Don't worry about it, Olga. It doesn't concern you."

"But, Shaw, it's late and-" She began til I roughly cut her off with, "Doc was here to tell me something personal that I'm not gonna be sharing with you, so shut the fuck up and go back to bed."

"I shoud've neve left the Five Points…" She sadly sighed, her face falling as her brown doe eyes dulled over.

"Yea, you should've." I agreed before taking a large swig of my corn likker.

"I'll be in bed, don't bother joinin' me less yer gon'be respectful t'me." She told me in a threatening tone as he stood up from the table.

"Don't threaten me, missy. This is my house; you're just here out of the kindness of my heart, but as of right now you're startin' to outdo your welcome." I snarled, not giving a shit if I upset her or not since I wasn't in the mood to be bothered.

Olga just shook her head at me, causing her brunette curls to swish around her scarlet robe covered shoulders before stalking off to the bedroom. Stopping at the doorway, she looked over her shoulder and curtly told me, "Drinkin' an' poutin' instead o'talkin's quite foolish, Shaw.", before disappearing into the bedroom.

"Goddamnit!" I shouted, throwing my shine bottle at the bedroom door. It hit the wooden door and instantly shattered. Corn Likker rolled down the door and onto the floor, leaving stains and streaks behind.

Tolbert POV:

I'd been sittin' by my wife's side just starin' at her as she slept. She was more less passed out still from the shock an' pain of gettin' Silas cut outta her. Goddamn, I still can't believe she choose t'risk her life t'have the baby. Why couldn't she just leave it in the lord's hands whether Silas would be born healthy or stillborn? Why'd she have to play god, demand that Doc cut the baby out? What if she don't fully heal or if she can't have no more babies, where does that leave me?

A shrill cry made me take my stormy eyes off Jessa's unconscious form t'look at the cradle by her bedside. The newborn wit' a patch of golden-brown hair on its head wiggled and screamed on top o'his lungs. Clearly, he was hungry. Sadly, his mama was still out of it so he couldn't feed. The cryin' was hurtin' my head. Damn, boy had a set o'lungs on him. Lettin' out a long sigh, I gently picked up the boy. Gently bouncin' him in my arms, I tried to shush him wit' the words of, "Silas Elliot, yer mama's restin' so ya need'a settle down til she's able t'feed ya."

The boy just looked at me wit' his light blue eyes, eyes I had a gut feelin' would change to honey brown, an' continued t'wail his lungs off. Damn, why won't this boy settle?... Babies like bein' held an' bounced, but seems like my step-son's a stubborn one an' don't like bein' rocked at all.

"Silas?" Jessa's voice softly croaked, makin' me snap my head to look at her.

"Darlin', yer 'wake." I let out in a sigh o'relief as my eyes raked ov'r my wife's weak form.

She winced in pain as she pushed herself t'sit up. Lookin' at the cryin' baby, she stretched her arms out and pleaded, "Please, let me hold him, Tolbert."

I nodded, stood up, an' placed the baby in her 'waitin' arms. As soon as Silas saw his mama, he stopped cryin'. What the hell?... Jessa took one look at the golden-brown haired baby in her arms an' started t'get misty eyed. Instinctively, she opened up the top of her shift and placed the newborn at her breast t'nurse.

"Uh, Doc told me what happened." I told my wife, causin' her to just nod and stroke her son's head as he nursed. "Why'd ya do somethin' so drastic for? Ya could've died. Hell, there's a chance we might not be able t'have any more chil'ren."

Gesturin' to the baby sucklin' at her breast, she told me, "I couldn't wait hours for my body to dilate. I was bleeding and the chance of Silas being stillborn wasn't one I wanted to take."

Jessa POV:

Tolbert didn't say a word, just nodded as his eyes drifted to look at the floor. I could tell by the way he was biting his bottom lip so hard (it might draw blood that's how hard it was) that he was upset with my decision to have a c-section. I knew that in this time men decided that happened to their wives and children, but I just couldn't give Tolbert that power over me and Silas. I didn't trust that he'd want to save the baby and I couldn't let any harm come to Silas Elliot.

"I'm a mother; I'll always put my son before myself." I told Tolbert, my indigo eyes locking onto his face even tho his stormy eyes were down casted and not focused on me at all.

Lifting his stormy gaze up to meet mine I couldn't help, but to feel like he was struggling to hold himself together. Tolbert let out a small huff before telling me, "I can't help ya wit' him even tho yer cut up. I gotta do the harvest an' run my shine sells or we'll starve."

"I understand." I simply told him as I straightened up the top of my shift and placed Silas over my shoulder. "Maybe your mother can come over and help me then?" I suggested as I started to burp my newborn son.

"She can't. She's gotta help poppy wit' their harvest an' keep up wit' the house."

Oh…So even tho I was in pain and had a large stitched up cut in my belly I was forced to tend to my son and to the house on my own. Okay, I can handle that. Well, it's not going to be easy, but I can do it. "I'll be fine by myself." I assured Tolbert as Silas let out a tiny burp.

AN:

Basically, what happened to Jessa was that she had pre-eclampsia (that wasn't diagnosed since she's living in the 1800s…) and it caused her to suffer a placental abruption (which can cause still birth/harm to the baby). I read that c-sections were done in the 1800s as a last resort since they were risky. Normally, the doctor would consult the husband, but Jessa was adamant that Doc save her baby and cut it out that he bypassed Tolbert and just listened to her.

So, are you guys shocked to see that Shaw's messing around with the so-called housekeeper 'mail order bride' or did you see it coming? Shaw's a piece of work, isn't he? Tolbert's a bit in shock while Jessa's proving to be stronger than she looks huh…