I never thought through love we'd be

Making one as lovely as she

But isn't she lovely made from love

"Isn't She Lovely" Written and sung by Stevie Wonder

Chapter Twenty Nine

Doc and Hannah bent over the baby and said nothing. Kitty pulled herself up to Matt with the strength she had left and he wrapped his arms around her gently. "Matt?"

"Doc!" Matt said urgently. "Kitty asked you a question." Then, more gently. "It's all right, Kitty."

"Sometimes they just need a little help getting started." Hannah answered for Doc, handing him something.

Finally Kitty heard the sound she was waiting for and started crying herself.

Doc cleared his throat and ran a hand over his mustache. "She's gonna be just fine, Kitty. A little small, but she'll grow." Once Hannah had the baby swaddled in a blanket the wailing subsided and she handed her to Doc. "By golly, aren't you a pretty little thing," he said, looking at her with tears in his eyes.

"Doc, give me my baby!" Kitty said impatiently. Doc walked to the bed without taking his eyes off the baby he considered his grandchild.

"Kitty, Matt, you have a beautiful daughter," he said, placing the baby in Kitty's waiting arms. Kitty cradled her newborn daughter, crying softly.

"I can't believe she's finally here! Oh, Matt, just look at her, she's-" She was too overcome with emotion to say any more.

"She's just as beautiful as her mama," Matt continued for her, not noticing the tears coming from his own eyes.

"Well, I think she's gonna have your hair." Kitty sniffled, stroking the dark waves. "I don't think I've ever seen a newborn with this much hair." As Kitty looked into her daughter's face, the baby's eyes opened and met her mother's. Hello, Mama, are you going to let my Daddy hold me? "Matt? Did she just-"

"Yeah, Kitty, I saw it, too."

"Here, Cowboy, you heard the lady." Kitty turned and held the baby out to him, and Matt felt a moment of panic.

"I don't know, Kitty, what if I drop her or something?"

"You won't drop her. Come on, she wants to meet you. She already knows me." Kitty smiled at him encouragingly. Matt held his hands out and she gently placed the baby into them. He stared down at the tiny creature who barely filled his two hands. She was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen, unless it was the look of love and pride in her mother's eyes when she presented their child to him for the first time. He wanted to tell Kitty this, but couldn't seem to find the words. He looked at her, dumbfounded.

"Kitty, I...you..." He looked back down at his daughter. "She's ours," he said finally, shaking his head in wonder.

"I know, Matt. I feel the same way." Kitty watched as Matt and the baby studied each other intently. One arm managed to work its way free from the blanket and a hand shot into the air, surprising all three of them. Matt reached out and four tiny fingers instinctively curled around one large one.

"You've got a pretty good grip for a little girl," Matt said with a note of pride in his voice. "You'll be handling that shotgun as good as your mama before we know it."

Kitty cleared her throat. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. How about if we get her walking first?" She put an arm around Matt's waist and leaned against his shoulder. Someday is finally here, she thought, sighing contentedly. Our someday.

That afternoon, Doc tapped on the doorway of the bedroom. "There are four very anxious uncles and a cousin waiting to meet this young lady, if that's all right with her parents."

"Oh, I don't know, Doc. I think she's a little young for gentleman callers, don't you, Kitty?" Matt grinned at his wife, who, at the moment was tired, cranky, and not nearly as amused as he expected her to be.

"If you have your way, Matt, she probably won't have any until she's my age and you'll never have any grandchildren." Kitty frowned, and then smiled, relenting, when she finally realized he was joking. "Go ahead, let them see her." Matt lifted the baby, awake but content after her first feeding, from Kitty's arms, and carried her to the outer room of the office, where Festus, Newly, Louie, Chester and Joe all waited to meet the newest resident of Dodge City.

"Wal, if she ain't a pearl button bangle billy, I don't know whut is!" Festus exclaimed, only to be shushed by Chester.

"Be quiet, Festus, you're gonna scare her 'n make her cry. You don't wanna upset Miss Kitty now do ya?"

"Aw, hush up, Chester, an' quit bein' so blame ignernt. I knows a heap more about younguns then you do!"

"Well, look who's a-callin' who ignorant! I've had more babies 'n you have!"

"Oh, foot! You ain't a-fixin' to tell me you had any babies your ownself! Everbody knows it's the ma thet has the younguns, ya ninny!"

Doc closed the bedroom door. "I think we've heard about enough of that conversation, don't you?" he asked Kitty, coming over to the chair next to the bed. "And now it's time for you to get some rest, young lady. I'm just going to stay here with you because, well, I just don't think you ought to be alone for a while."

Kitty reached for his hand. "Doc, I didn't thank you before. I couldn't have-"

"Oh, pshaw! You're the one who did all the work. Being the first one to see that little girl come into the world is thanks enough. I've waited a long time for this day. An awful long time. We all have." Doc patted her hand. "I want to tell you something. That man out there is as proud a father as I've ever seen. Proud of the baby, and proud of you, too."

"Oh, Doc!" Kitty sniffled and pulled the sheet up to wipe her eyes. "Am I ever going to quit crying about everything?"

"You will, honey. You will."

Matt stood at the window, holding his child and telling her all about Dodge City. Unimpressed, her eyes drooped closed and she fell asleep. Lost in thought, he stood awhile longer in the quiet of the room before gently laying the baby down in the cradle he'd brought from home earlier. He looked over at his sleeping wife, who, he realized, was not only awake but crying softly. He went to her side immediately and sat on the bed next to her.

"Kitty, what is it? Do you need me to get Doc?"

"No." She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "You're gonna be a good father, Matt."

"Well, that's nothing to cry about, is it?" Kitty shook her head. "Wanna tell me about it?"

"I was just thinking," she drew a long breath and let it out, "about her sisters."

"Her sis-oh. I know, Kitty." Hearing Kitty speak of her lost babies as the sisters of the child they had just brought into the world, Matt finally understood that to her they were more than just children she never had; they were every bit as real as the daughter she had just given birth to.

"Am I being selfish? Shouldn't she be enough?"

"You aren't selfish. You're the least selfish person I know."

"I know I couldn't have kept the other three, but...I'm sorry our first one didn't live, Matt."

"Sshh...you don't have to apologize for that. It just ...happened. I know I didn't think I wanted any babies back then, but I'm sorry, too. And I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't tell me."

Kitty gave one last small sob and wiped her eyes again. She sat up, reaching for his hand. "It's all right, Matt. We were both young and stupid and didn't know what we wanted from each other, anyway. Maybe she's God's way of evening things out."

"'She' needs a name, Kitty."

"Matt, if it's all right with you, I thought we could name her after my mother." Kitty looked at him hopefully. "And your mother?"

"I think that's a fine idea, honey. I can't think of anything I'd rather call her."