Chapter 11 Shocking Revelations

*Author's Notes

2-21-2024: I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. Last night (2-20-24), I decided to post a quick story in "The Dillons: A Treasured Family" to honor Amanda Blakes' birthday.

Sarah: Thank you for your review. What is something that you would like to see in my writing that would make me a better writer? If it's something I can easily do, let me know. I'm willing to take suggestions. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

Dr. Brown wrapped the crying newborn in a blanket and handed her to her mother. "I don't know how to explain this, but this baby is full term. Her cry indicates she has a good set of lungs. If that isn't enough her size and skin tell me she's full term. I would say she's at least six and a half pounds."

Kitty eagerly accepted her newborn daughter. Motherly instincts kicked in. She put the infant to her breast. The baby latched on and immediately started to suckle. "I don't understand. You told me my baby wasn't due until September. I've had two cycles while I've been in New Orleans. You even said that the swelling in my womb put me at seven months along. How can she be a full term baby?"

"I'm as baffled as you are," Dr. Brown confessed. "This does not make any sense, but I think I might have an explanation."

"Do tell," Kitty insisted. "I would love t' hear it."

"You mentioned that your first cycle here was light, but the following month it was really heavy," Dr. Brown stated.

"That's what happened," Kitty affirmed.

"I believe your lighter cycle wasn't a cycle. It was fertilized eggs planting themselves," Dr. Brown started to explain.

"Eggs?" Lucy questioned. "As in more than one?"

Dr. Brown nodded his head. "I believe Kitty's pregnancy started with twins. What she thought was a heavy cycle was her losing one of the twins. She lost one twin, but the other one survived."

"Oh," Kitty sadly replied as she thought about the twin that did not survive. "But why would you be so off on when the baby was due?"

"The only thing I can think of is the position and shape of your womb. It's possible that your womb tilts back, making it harder to determine when babies are due. I've performed surgery on women when I've had to take babies. During some of those surgeries, I've seen wombs that tilted backwards."

"I guess all that makes sense," said Kitty as she admired the beautiful baby girl in her arms. "I'm so glad you're here, Rebekah Madelein."

Present Time

"Are you saying she's my daughter?" Matt asked after Kitty finished her story.

Kitty did not immediately give Matt an answer. She walked back over to her suitcase and pulled out a box. Kitty returned to Matt and handed him the box. "She has her daddy's smile."

Matt gingerly took the box and lifted off the lid. Inside were pictures. The top picture was a baby picture. Matt took that picture out of the box and carefully examined it. "I take it these are pictures of Rebekah."

"Yeah," Kitty answered. "When she was a baby I had her picture taken every few months. But when she turned a year old, I had her picture taken once a year. Each time I had her picture taken, I had the photographer develop two photographs, one for me and one for you. I had hoped that one day I would gather the courage to tell you about Rebekah. But until I did, I wanted you to be able to see her grow up. I thought the best way to do that was through pictures. I know pictures don't make up for actually being there, but at least it's something."

Matt could only nod. He couldn't find the right words to say to Kitty at the moment. He turned his attention back to the box of pictures. As he was going through the pictures, he could see what Kitty had said earlier. Rebekah most definitely had his smile, from his half grin to his full smile. When Matt came to a picture of Rebekah when she was five years old, he laughed out loud.

"What's going on here?" Matt laughed. He showed Kitty the picture of Rebekah standing with her hands on hips and a stubborn look on her face.

"She refused to smile," Kitty answered. "Look at the next picture. It's amazing what a promise of a lollipop can do."

Matt took the next picture out of the box and saw Rebekah sweetly smiling. "I can't imagine where she gets her stubbornness from. It can't be from her momma."

"Who me?" Kitty mockingly asked. "I can't take all the credit. I'm sure she gets some of it from her daddy." Kitty kept silent while Matt went through the rest of Rebekah's pictures. She answered any question that he had.

Matt put the box to the side and glanced down at Kitty's ring. "I suppose that ring came in handy in more ways than one."

Kitty glanced down at her ring and then looked up at Matt. "What do you mean?"

"You wore the ring to Doc's funeral to make me and others in Dodge believe you had gotten married and moved on. I'm sure you wore the ring around in New Orleans to make people think you were a widowed mother," Matt explained himself. "I know the stigma unwed mothers can face."

"You're partially correct," Kitty stated. "I did wear the ring so you and the citizens in Dodge would think I was married, but I never told people in New Orleans I was a widow."

"Why wouldn't you? I could understand your reasoning for allowing people t' think you were a widow."

It was now Kitty's turn to explain. "If I told people that I was a widow, then I would have to live as though Rebekah's father was dead. I would have to live as though you were dead. I just couldn't bring myself to do that. Death is permanent. If you were dead, it would be awful hard to bring you back to life. I wasn't gonna lie about your death and then come up with a story to bring you back to life."

"When people ask about Rebekah's father, what do you tell them?" Matt was curious and wanted to know.

"Lucy and her family knew that you were Rebekah's father. They respected my decision not to say anything. I just tell other people that Rebekah's father is out west, and things didn't work out between the two of us. People seem to accept that," Kitty explained.

"What about Rebekah?" Matt inquired. "Does she know who I am?"

"When she was little, I kept things simple. I told her that daddy's job kept him away from us," Kitty replied. "But when she got older, Rebekah asked more questions. She wanted to know who her father was. I did not want to lie to her. I told her that Matt Dillon, Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, was her father. Anytime she has questions, I try to answer them as honestly as I can."

"I guess that means she thinks I chose Mike and Beth over her. I suppose you thought the same thing," Matt assumed.

"She doesn't know who Beth or Mike are," Kitty declared. "I didn't want her to feel that way."

Matt picked up the most recent picture of Rebekah. "Two daughters in their early twenties, and I've missed seeing them grow up. It's something I can never get back."

Kitty suddenly felt guilty for keeping Rebekah from Matt. She knew she did it out of stubbornness and spite. Rebekah grew up without a father, and Kitty was to blame for that. Kitty bit her bottom lip and looked at Matt. She owed him an apology.

"Matt, I'm so sorry," she apologized. "So sorry. So sorry. So sorry." Kitty kept repeating.

Dodge City: A Year After Matt Was Shot

"Kitty. Kitty. Honey, wake up," Matt gently nudged Kitty. "Yer havin' a dream."

Kitty woke up and saw Matt's concerned face. "It was a nightmare. I dreamt that you never told me about Beth and that I left Dodge City. I went to New Orleans and Rebekah was born there. I kept her from you for twenty-two years. For twenty-two years you never knew about your little girl."

As if she knew she was being talked about, three month old Rebekah made her presence known. Kitty sat up and flipped the covers off of herself. She was about to get out of bed, but Matt stopped her.

"I'll get her." Matt walked out of their bedroom and into the smaller one down the hall. He bent over the cradle and lifted the tiny bundle. "Miss Rebekah Madelein Dillon, what seems to be the problem? Are ya hungry? We'll go see momma. Shhhh." hushed Matt as he rubbed the baby's back and patted her bottom. He returned to his and Kitty's bedroom.

Kitty was sitting up in bed prepared to feed her daughter. "Give her to me. It's time for her to eat."

Matt handed Rebakah to Kitty. Kitty placed Rebekah to her breast, and the baby immediately found Kitty's nipple and began feeding. She watched her baby eat and thought about her nightmare. Kitty couldn't imagine Matt not knowing about Rebekah. He was such a good daddy. Kitty found out she was pregnant shortly after Matt returned to Dodge. After learning about her pregnancy, Matt and Kitty decided to get married. They wanted their child to have both parents in his or her life. Following their wedding, Matt and Kitty moved to a house on the edge of town.

Rebekah Madelein Dillon entered the world on the one year anniversary that Matt was shot. The pleasant memory of her birth replaced the horrid memories of Matt's gunshot wound. She was the light of her parents' eyes. They absolutely adored her. The same could be said for her grandpa, Doc Adams and her uncles Festus and Newly.

"Matt in my dream, you missed seeing both Rebekah and Beth growing up. I can remember you being upset about that." She switched Rebekah to her other breast. "You'll see Rebekah grow up. But what about Beth? You'll miss her growing up."

Matt contemplated Kitty's words. He tried to come up with the words to best explain how he felt about that. "Kitty, I don't want to sound like a heel. I know Beth is my daughter, and I do feel bad that I won't see her growing up. But I would feel worse if I missed Rebekah growing up."

"You're gonna be retiring in six months. Maybe the three of us could take a trip out to Arizona so you could see Beth. You've already missed a year of her life. In six months, she's gonna be a year and a half."

"Mike and I have arrangements. She sends pictures of Beth and lets me know how Beth's doing. There will be a time that I see Beth again. For now I'll have to be satisfied with pictures to see Beth grow up," said Matt.

"Make sure Rebekah and I come along," stated Kitty.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Matt vowed.

Someday he would see Beth again, and someday he and Kitty would have to explain Beth to Rebekah. He was not looking forward to that. But there was no need to obsess over it right now. Would he and Kitty ever tell Doc, Newly, and Festus the truth about Mike? Would they ever tell anyone about Beth? That remained to be seen.

"Matt, do you think Mike had different arrangements than what the two of you planned?" asked Kitty.

"What do you mean?" Matt replied with a question of his own.

"The letter she sent me about you being the father of her child," said Kitty. "I get the feeling she wanted to get us separated so that you would be available for future marriage."

"I guess I never considered that, but I guess it's possible. But I want you to know that as far as I was concerned, there was no plan of marriage," Matt responded. "All I know is that I'm glad I told you about Beth after I returned to Dodge. We had a rough time after that, but we were able to get through things."

"Yeah," Kitty agreed. "The few weeks after you returned were on the rough side, but we survived. We found our way before either of us got lost."

Kitty removed Rebekah from her breast. She put Rebekah up to her shoulder and firmly patted the baby's back to encourage a burp. While waiting for the burp, Kitty turned her attention towards Matt and leaned in for a kiss. Matt did not disappoint. In the middle of their passionate kiss, Rebekah released a massive burp. Matt and Kitty pulled away from each other and started to laugh.

The End

*Author's Notes

* My dear, wonderful readers: I hope you enjoyed this story. I love Matt and Kitty. There's no way I could keep them apart for over twenty years.

*Guest and Suzy Q: Thank you for your reviews. I wish I could send private messages to you.