Chapter 7- Change of Seasons
A/N: A big "thank you" to my pal, Zipitupcowboy, on how to handle the tragic passing of Buck. She is my horse maven in every sense of the word, not just for FF. ¡Muchisimas gracias, dama!
Spring rolled into Dodge City, bringing plenty of distractions along with sunshine and the occasional downpour. With the change of seasons, Mother Nature had viciously aimed a tornado in Dodge's direction, hurling not only wind and debris at the small town, but apparently one of Cupid's arrows.
Newly O'Brian had found his true love in Patricia Colby, a woman he'd met by chance on a stagecoach ride to Dodge. She had been kind and assisted him with some of the wounded after the violent storm. Unfortunately for the young couple, the devastation reached far beyond the leveled homesteads and businesses in western Kansas. By happenstance, Doc had diagnosed the recently betrothed Patricia with leukemia, bringing a pall over the joyful engagement.
In a command decision, the gunsmith and part time Deputy U.S. Marshal had decided to keep the illness from his fiancée, reasoning she'd be better off not knowing about her terminal diagnosis. Unfortunately, that hadn't been how the scenario played out. Once married, Patricia had accidently learned of her illness via a letter meant for Newly. The couples' grief had been raw and deep and sadly, Patricia had lost her battle with leukemia shortly after their nuptials.
The death of Patricia had caused Kitty to reflect upon her many blessings, rather than dwell upon the horrible things that had recently happened to her. She'd held her little ones close and cried for hours, caressing her belly, murmuring words of thanksgiving, even for the child she'd believed she hadn't wanted. Matt had held her all night long, whispering how much he loved her and all of their children. The Dillons had made love all night long, finally having surrendered to sleep just before the sun had come up.
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In mid-April, Kitty was seven months along and had figured this child was indeed going to make it. She'd known in her heart and mind it was time to prepare for the newest Dillon, so she began by asking Matt to bring some boxes of baby things down from the attic.
"Sure, Honey," Matt happily responded as he finished his morning coffee, "I can grab a couple of boxes before I head into town, if that's okay with you."
"That's fine, Matt," Kitty grinned as she cleared the breakfast dishes and hauled them to the sink, "that way I can see what's still usable and I'll have plenty of time to order whatever we need." She pumped some clean water into her rinse basin.
The big man approached his wife, standing so close behind her their bodies nearly melded together. "Where are the kids?" he whispered into her ear, the feel of his breath upon her flesh making her stomach flutter.
"Doc took them for a buggy ride to the pond. He wants them to get more fresh air before the next rain comes," she eyed him over her shoulder.
"Hmm," he moaned as he kissed the nape of her neck, "What would you think about-"
"No, Sir," she scrunched her neck, "I have a lot I want to get done before Doc brings the little ones back. You have no idea what it's like trying to get something done with a two-year-old and a four-year-old around."
Matt set his wife free as he faced her, leaning against the counter, folding his arms across his chest. He sighed, "I remember how hard it was. Gave me a whole new respect for all you are able to accomplish in a day."
Kitty furrowed her brows as she focused on washing the plates, "You mean when I was at Doc's?"
"Yes," Matt confirmed, picking up a dish towel to begin drying, "Addie and Matthew ran me and Festus ragged. Thank goodness for Robin."
"I suppose we can add one more good thing t' come out of the…ordeal," she glanced up at Matt, her eyes narrowing.
"Aww, Kitty, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," he set down a plate and wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders.
"It's okay. Honest," she patted his hand and continued with her task.
"We need to come up with a boy's name," Matt resumed his dish drying duties.
Kitty arched her ginger brows, wiping away a bubble that had settled on her nose with her shoulder, "A boy's name, huh? What about, Timothy?"
"No. Not a favorite."
"Okay, how about…Henry?"
"No."
"Paul?"
"No."
"Chester?" the redhead lilted her voice, slyly glancing up at her incredibly tall husband.
Matt paused, placing the last clean plate on the pile. "Chester…" he mumbled, squinting his eyes, "Chester Dillon…" he let the name roll off his tongue before clutching her shoulders. "Honey! That's it! Chester! I love it!"
Kitty's mouth fell open as she studied her husband's face. She murmured, "Matt, you can't be serious…"
The slowly blossoming boyish grin gave him away. He began to chuckle as Kitty pushed his hands off her shoulders.
"Very funny, Dillon. Very funny," she scoffed, turning toward the sitting room.
"Now, now, Kathleen. You brought it up," he followed behind her, plopping himself next to her on the settee.
"Well, you said 'no' to everything else. I thought you were just being contrary and not listening to me," she rested her hands atop her perfectly rounded belly.
Matt studied his wife, noticing her lightly rose-tinted, freckled cheeks, and her perfectly plump, berry-colored lips. He placed one hand over hers and leaned in for a tender kiss.
"What was that for?" Kitty whispered; her eyes closed as her forehead rested against her husband's.
"You look so beautiful…and healthy. I couldn't help myself," he sat back, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
She stared at her hands atop her swollen belly, "You're very sweet, Matt. Doc says I need to gain quite a bit of weight yet. Only about ten weeks to go…" her voice trailed off as she rubbed the sides of her stomach.
"You'll get there, Honey. Our boy is gonna be strong and healthy. I know it," he nestled his chin atop her head.
They sat in total silence for a few minutes before being jolted out of their private thoughts by a boisterous female voice shouting through the screen door, "Yoohoo! Anyone home?!"
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Once the children had been tucked into bed for the night, Matt, Kitty, Doc, and Festus sat at the round kitchen table, discussing the proposal Hannah Cobb had made to Kitty earlier in the day.
"I think it's a terrible idea, Kitty. I've got t' leave for that trial tomorrow. Besides, I thought once you'd decided to sell your remaining half of the Long Branch to Hannah, you said you never wanted t' go in there again."
"I know what I said, Matt, and why I said it. But with this little one comin', I feel like I need to put all my demons to rest," she patted her stomach, never taking her eyes off her husband.
"How many days does Miz Hannah need ya t' work for 'er?" Festus asked as he nursed his glass of water.
"Just one night is all. She said Sue can help Sam the other night she'll be gone."
"No, I don't think it's such a good idea, Kitty," Doc offered, tugging on his earlobe as he shook his head, "You're seven months along. You need t' stay off your feet."
"Thanks, Doc. Maybe she'll listen t' you," Matt scoffed as he rose to begin pacing around the kitchen.
"But it's only one night," the redhead calmly argued, resting her forearms on the table as she held her milk glass with both hands.
"And just who is gonna take care of our children?" her husband knitted his brows as he reclaimed his seat.
"I can ask Bess for Robin tomorrow. I'll tell her that it's Doc's turn in the office and that both Festus and Newly are on deputy duty while you're gone."
"And then what?! Ya plan on riding out here to the ranch after midnight?!" the big man bellowed as he poured himself a whiskey, "I don't think so, Kathleen."
"As a matter of fact, I was planning on spending the night in one of the rooms and heading home the next morning," she smirked, feeling she'd outsmarted her husband.
"And what if something should happen to you there? What if you get sick…or hurt?" Matt dug in his heels, tilting his head as his eyes grew wide.
"Well lucky for me Doc will be in town," she grinned at the elderly physician, pleased with her own brand of sarcasm.
"So now I'm your pawn, huh?" Doc bristled as he scrubbed his mustache.
"What's the matter with you three?" Kitty studied her ever-loyal tribe of men, "I thought you'd be happy I've overcome my aversion to the Long Branch."
"Wael," Festus began, "I think Miz Kitty may have a point thayre, Matthew. It is only one night, and golly bill…what could possibly happen in one night?"
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As fate would have it, that one night had been the very night that Dan Whelan and his band of marauders had come to raid Dodge City. Whelan had also made it clear that part of his mission was to kill Matt Dillon. Luckily for the Dillon family, Kitty had been able to save her husband due to her poker playing prowess and her ability to think quickly on her feet. She'd beaten Dan Whelan at a no-limit game of five card stud, with a card cleverly hidden under her vest.
Kitty hadn't gotten off scot-free, though, as she'd fallen hard when Whelan had slapped her after she'd taunted him about being a coward. She'd been quite fortunate that he'd shot wide in order to draw the prematurely returning marshal into the saloon; the same saloon where the outlaw had met his ending due to a perfectly aimed bullet from Matt Dillon's pistol.
After having shared a long, hot bath together, Matt held Kitty close while they lay on their sides in the borrowed bed. The small room brought back both sorrowful and lovely memories for the redhead, for it had been the first room Kitty had been assigned when she'd started out as a working girl at the Long Branch. This had been the room where she'd conceived a baby with Bear Sanderson nearly nineteen years prior, as well as the same room where Matt had come to make love to her for the first time.
"Kitty?" he whispered in her ear, his chest pressed firmly against her back.
"Yes?" her soft, quivering voice answered.
"I didn't mean to yell at you earlier. I was just scared," he ran his hand up and down her side, stopping to rest it on her swollen belly.
"I know you were, Matt. And you can quit apologizing," the redhead rolled onto her back, "and you were right. I never should have agreed to this in the first place. Whelan could have killed us both. And then where would Addie and Matthew be? They could've been orphans," she quietly wept as the realization washed over her.
"That's enough of that now, Honey," he wiped away her tears and placed a gentle kiss upon her temple, "We're all three here and just fine. Thanks t' you, I might add."
She stared at her strong, handsome husband, cupping his stubbled cheek, "You're so good to me. If anything ever happened t' you, I don't know what I'd do."
Matt cleared his throat, tucking some of her copper strands behind her ear, "You'd go on, that's what you'd do. We have three children that need their mother."
"And their father," Kitty whispered, turning onto her side, her hand firmly pressing against his bare chest.
"I'm not goin' anywhere, except home with you tomorrow," he captured her plump, pink lips in a deep, probing kiss.
As he embraced his wife, Matt made a mental note to have that talk again with Festus. The talk about what the Festus should do if he should die before his children could be raised to adulthood. After returning to Dodge City from Deep Ford four years ago, Matt had instructed Festus on what to do should he leave Kitty a widow to raise their daughter and any other children they may have on her own.
The rain pounded against the windows of the jail, rattling the panes of glass. Matt gratefully accepted the cup of Haggen brew that Festus offered.
"This here's a real gully washer, Matthew. I hope it stops soon, er else Front Street is gonna be nothin' but a muddy ol' stream," the hillman stared out the window.
Matt decided to take advantage of the slow morning and approach his dear friend with a most unconventional request.
"Festus," the big man began, clearing his throat as he leaned back on his chair, casually crossing one leg over the other, "I'd like t' ask a favor."
"Why shore," he jangled over to the front of the marshal's desk, eager to assist in any way he could.
"Why don't ya grab a seat?"
Festus curiously eyed his friend as he sat at the table in the middle of the room.
"I need you to promise me something, my friend," Matt stood and walked to the front of his desk, leaning his backside against it.
"Anythin'. Just ask."
"If anything should ever happen t' me-"
"Aww foot, Matthew, ain't nothin' gonna happen-"
"Please," Matt held up his hand, "let me finish. This is hard enough for me," he walked to stare out the window, biting the inside of his cheek, looping his thumbs over his belt.
"Alright, I'm a listenin'," Festus braced himself.
Continuing to watch the rain pound the boardwalk, the patriarch of the tiny Dillon family quietly but firmly beseeched, "If I should die before Addie or any other children Kitty and I may have are raised, I need you to do something for me," he turned to meet his friend's intense gaze.
"Anythin'. All ya got t' do is ask."
"If I die while my kids are young, I want you to find Ezra Roseveare and bring him here. I believe he loves Kitty and he offered to marry her before, you know that," Matt ran his tongue over his top teeth, "and he's a doctor who will be able to provide a good life for my family."
"Matthew," Festus stood, shaking his head, "I don't know how Miz Kitty would feel about that. She's purty stubborn, jus' in case ya haven't noticed."
The big man chuckled, "Yeah, I've noticed. But she said 'yes' to his proposal before, so I know she trusts him," he then murmured, "She likes him, too. They'd make a good pair. And keep in mind, he had no druthers about raising another man's child."
"I still don't know what she'll say when-"
Matt interrupted, approaching his loyal friend, "That's why we aren't gonna tell her. Promise me you'll grant me this favor if the need arises."
"But, Matthew-"
"No 'buts', Festus. If you agree t' this, you'll give me peace of mind from this day forward. That way I can do my job without too much worry. This is why I shouldn't have had a family at all. But I do, and don't get me wrong…I love them with all my heart and I wouldn't change a thing. Well, except I should have married Kitty sooner."
Festus took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He sighed, "I'll do 'er. But ya better not ever actually die on me in yer prime."
Matt grinned, offering his friend his big hand, "I'll do everything within my power to make it so you'll never have to follow through on your promise."
"You'd better," the deputy heartily shook his best friend's hand, "you'd just better."
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"Mama, I don't like peas, so ya don't need t' plant none," Addie informed her mother as she helped the elder redhead plant some seeds in the warm May sunshine.
"Oh, really now," Kitty smiled at her daughter as she kneeled on the tilled dirt, planting her rows of green beans and carrots. "And it's 'you don't have to plant any', not 'none'," she tapped the four-year-old's nose with her finger. "Thank goodness you woke from your nap early t' help Mama, otherwise I may have planted peas on accident."
"I know," the smiling child skipped around her mother, her pig tails bouncing with her motions.
"Adelaide, please," Kitty sighed, wiping her brow, "can you go skip closer to the house, Honey? You're kicking up some of the seeds and making more work for Mama."
"Sorry, Mama," the mini version of Kitty skipped toward the porch, only to be met head on by a large, barking mongrel charging from behind the house.
"Addie!" the panicked redhead tried to get to her feet quickly, but it proved difficult due to her burgeoning midsection. "Shoo!" she shouted from the garden patch, tossing a rock toward the growling animal.
Hearing the commotion, Festus ran from the large corral, shotgun in hand.
"Addie girl, stop!" the hillman shouted as the child slowly approached the yapping canine, her hand poised to pet the animal.
"Hi, Doggie," the child softly spoke.
"Adelaide!" Kitty yanked her daughter into the folds of her dusty skirt so harshly they both almost toppled backward.
"Mama, he's okay. I think he's hungry," Addie's big blue eyes studied her mother's.
"Miz Kitty, you back up real slow like. He might could be rabid," Festus quietly instructed, lifting the shotgun.
"No!" Addie wriggled free from Kitty's grasp and launched herself, wrapping her arms around the dog's neck.
"Festus! Stop!" Kitty shouted, slapping at the barrel of the rifle.
At that moment, the large animal stopped barking and began to lick Addie's face, causing the little girl to giggle.
"Wael, I'll be," Festus approached the child and dog, "he's just a pup, Miz Kitty."
"He's a mighty big puppy," Kitty made her way to stand above her child and the mongrel, "Adelaide Jane Dillon, how dare you run away from me?! That animal could have bitten you!"
"No, Mama. I'se seen him b'fore and gaved him some milk," Addie patted the top of the dog's head.
Kitty closed her eyes, tilting her head toward the sky and pinching the bridge of her nose. She sighed, "Where do I even begin with that sentence?" She thrust her hands upon her hips, "Child, it's 'I've seen'-oh! Never mind," she pulled Addie from her position next to the dog, "You're gonna get a spanking for disobeying me, little lady."
The girl's eyes widened in disbelief, "No, Mama, please!" She tried to pull away from Kitty, "I just wanted t'-"
The mangy dog slowly approached the mother/daughter duo and licked Kitty's freckled hand as she held onto Addie's arm.
"Festus, please do something with this animal," Kitty asked without taking her eyes off her daughter.
"C'mere, ya mutt," he patted his thigh, smiling, "I'll rustle ya up some vittles."
Kitty rolled her eyes and set her daughter free. She motioned toward the porch, "Up the stairs and sit on the swing."
"Okay," Addie mumbled, her head hanging low as she trudged up the stairs.
Kitty awkwardly lowered herself onto the swing, taking a deep breath, "Adelaide, we got lucky that the puppy wasn't wild. You have t' be careful around strays. It can be very dangerous."
"Mama, look!" the little girl pointed down the drive at an oncoming wagon, grateful for the reprieve.
The very pregnant mother scooted her way to the edge of the swing while the dog came barreling out of the big barn, barking at the unexpected visitor. Kitty shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand, squinting to see who happened to be dropping by the ranch.
"Miss Kitty!" a familiar male voice shouted from down the drive, "Can ya call off your dog so I can get closer?! I've got that bed ya ordered for Doc!"
"Howdy, Burke!" Festus waved from the loft door, "I'll be right down!"
"Come 'ere, Mutt!" Kitty uncontrollably chuckled as she patted her thigh.
The dog immediately quieted and ran to sit at the feet of his new mistress as she waited on the porch.
"Good boy!" she patted the top of his head, "You are a very good boy!"
TBC