A Baby for Hannah (40 page)

Before Kendra could go, the stair door opened. Hannah drew in her breath as Miriam stepped down, followed by their mom. Miriam’s dark-blue dress seemed to float out from the stairs.

“Well, what do you think?” their mom asked, stepping off to the side.

“Oh my!” Hannah said. “It turned out so lovely. It’s as wonderful as it could be.”

“And the weather,” Miriam said, beaming. “Can you believe such a wonderful gift from
Da Hah
? And to think I once thought I’d never get married.”

“Things do change,” their mom said. “Now be careful. You’d better come in and sit in the bedroom until it’s time to go out.”

“What about me?” Dennis said from the living room door, a big grin on his face.

“You look okay,” Kathy said, running her eyes up and down his new black suit. “Just don’t make too much noise.”

“Mom,” Miriam said, going to stand beside Dennis, her eyes shining, “I’m keeping him with me.”

“Then sit on the couch and just wait,” Kathy said, guiding them both toward the living room.

“I wonder if my wedding will be like this,” Kendra said. And then she slowly turned red as she caught Henry’s eye. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

“I know,” Henry said, taking her hand. “But I’m sure our wedding will be just as
gut,
I promise you.”

A deep blush spread up Kendra’s neck.

Hannah left them gazing into each other’s eyes. It wasn’t that long ago when Jake would have made her turn just as red if he had said something like that.

The next hour was filled with last-minute details, with Betty and Kathy scurrying from the kitchen to the barn and back to the living room. Finally, the time came when Betty came in and said, “More people are starting to arrive. Dennis’s cousin and his girlfriend had better not be late. We can’t start until all of the bridal party is here.”

“Betty, they’re just now arriving,” Miriam whispered in excitement, having stood up to watch out the living room window.

Betty sighed. “Will I
ever
be glad when this day is over!”

A few minutes later Betty once again dashed into the living room with an announcement. “It’s time! The preachers have already started walking in.”

Kathy jumped up and said, “Okay, now line up and start walking.”

“And no one fall down going across the lawn!” Betty added. “Steve mowed it yesterday, so there’s no excuse.”

With that, the wedding party followed as Betty and Kathy led the way to the barn.

“It is a lovely day, isn’t it?” Kathy quietly said to Betty, who nodded. People were watching them already, turning their heads to see the bridal couple, who stopped just outside the barn door while the others went in. Kathy motioned Hannah toward her seat. With a grateful sigh, Hannah sat down and slowly glanced around.

Jake was sitting on the ministers’ bench. Her dad and Steve sat straight across from them, her dad with a slight grin on his face. Steve was looking around hurriedly, as if looking for any cobwebs on the barn beams that might have been missed. Everything had been whitewashed last week and then swept out again last night. Hannah’s aching arms testified to her efforts on behalf of a clean barn floor.

To Hannah’s left she caught the eye of Mary Keim, who smiled and looked quite plain in her Amish dress. She must have decided to forgo her new Mennonite clothing out of respect for Miriam. Mary had always been careful about the feelings of others, so her modest dress was no surprise.

A soft sound of moving cloth on hard benches swept through the crowd, as everyone turned to watch as Dennis’s cousin and his girlfriend came into the barn. Dennis and Miriam were next, with Kendra and Henry following behind. From her outside seat, Hannah didn’t have to crane her neck to see that Miriam looked radiantly happy.

Dennis’s cousin and girlfriend took their places in the middle of the six designated chairs set up across from each other, waiting until the others were in place. Then together the six sat down in perfect unison. Hannah smiled. It was a wedding just like Miriam had wanted. At her wedding, one of Jake’s brothers had sat down too quickly, but she hadn’t cared.

With a loud voice, the song leader gave out the first number, and the singing began. The preachers got up and walked toward the house with Miriam and Dennis following behind. Hannah watched them go, holding her breath. Miriam had been quite confident that no one would fall down on the lawn, but if someone
was
to fall down, that was the place.

The line disappeared into the house with no mishaps, and Hannah breathed easier. They would soon be back from the last-minute marriage instructions, and shortly thereafter they would be man and wife. It was strange to think of Miriam as a married woman, but then perhaps Miriam had thought the same thing about her. Well, if things turned out as well for Dennis and Miriam as they had for her and Jake, they would be fine.

The singing rose and fell, echoing off the barn ceiling. Eventually Dennis and Miriam appeared again, followed ten minutes later by the line of ministers. Jake got up to speak first and told the familiar story of Abraham sending his servant to look for Isaac’s wife. Hannah listened to the rise and fall of Jake’s voice, feeling the joy it brought her. He was her husband, even if he was a preacher, and soon she would do for him what no one else in the community could do. She would have his
bobli.
They would be a family, just Jake and her and the
bobli.
In the years ahead, if
Da Hah
willed, many more children would follow.

Jake concluded his remarks and sat down. Minister Mose asked everyone to stand as he read the Scriptures. Bishop John had the main sermon, lasting over an hour, in which time the joy on Miriam’s face kept increasing. Hannah thought Miriam looked ready to cry when Bishop John asked her and Dennis to come forward and join hands.

Hannah didn’t move on the hard bench until the questions had been asked, answered, and Bishop John said they were now man and wife in the eyes of
Da Hah
and man. Nothing but death could ever part them.

When the last song was sung, the bridal party stood, and Dennis led the way into the house. Hannah followed with Kathy and Betty.

As they entered the living room, Miriam gave all of them big hugs, holding Hannah the longest.

“None of this would have happened without you,” Miriam whispered into her sister’s ear.

“Shhh…,” Hannah whispered back. “It was but
Da Hah’
s grace. That’s all.”

“The men are setting up the benches now and the corner table is ready,” Betty announced. “We’re taking the food out right away. Dennis and Miriam need to go first…so let’s go.”

Dennis took Miriam’s hand and led her back out the kitchen door and across the lawn.

“They are such a wonderful couple,” Kathy said.

“I know,” Betty agreed. “But don’t go telling them. It would go to their heads.”

Forty-Three

Hannah tossed and turned in bed. She was swimming in a great lake. All around her huge waves came rushing in, washing over her head, leaving her gasping for air. Around her stomach a giant creature had grabbed her and was squeezing at regular intervals until she cried out in agony.

“Hannah, Hannah!”

Jake’s soft voice seemed to come from a great distance. She awoke to his hand gently shaking her shoulder in the darkness. Hannah clutched his arm, wiping her hand across her wet forehead.

“You were dreaming,” Jake said. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know.” Hannah groaned as pain crept across her body again. After a moment she said, “I think the
bobli’s
coming!”

“The
bobli
!” Jake leaped out of bed and groped for his clothing. “They don’t come quickly, do they?”

Something clattered across the darkened floor. Silence followed until Jake lit a match with a soft scratch and transferred the flame to the kerosene lamp. Dim light flickered on the bedroom walls of the cabin, and Jake’s anxious face came into focus.

“You know what to do,” Hannah said. “Go call Mattie from Mr. Brunson’s cabin. Mary left us the key above the sink. Then let Betty and Miriam know.”

“Okay,” Jake said. “But should I disturb Betty and Miriam in the middle of the night like this?”

“
Jah,
” Hannah said. “Betty said she wanted to know, and Miriam said she would come whatever the hour. It was her idea, and she wants to be here. I was so hoping it wouldn’t happen at nighttime.”

“How close are you?” Jake asked, already at the bedroom door.

“You’d better hurry!” Hannah groaned.

Jake’s running feet faded away followed by another crash. Moments later the front door opened with a creak and slammed shut. Hannah lay listening, trying to breathe slowly. The pain was dull now but waiting like a phantom in her body, ready to leap out of the shadows again.

“Please help me, God,” she whispered. “I’m all alone now…and yet I know You are with me.”

The pain came again, and Hannah clutched her hands tightly together. It seemed harder this time, and very close to the last stab. Dimly in the distance she heard the sound of Jake’s driving horse galloping toward Mr. Brunson’s cabin.

Surely Jake would be able to get in. He had the key, and Mary said they were keeping the phone connected until Hannah’s baby came.

Would Mattie be able to drive down in time? She was only an hour away, so surely she could. Mattie had said confidently that she had never been late for a birth. Hannah watched the flickering light of the kerosene lamp on the cabin walls for long moments and then climbed out of bed. Walking was
gut,
wasn’t it? And it might calm her fears.

After pacing for a few minutes, Hannah stopped at the bedroom window and looked out over the starry sweep of the night sky. It was so clear tonight, almost as if one could see straight into the heavens. Was
Da Hah
near?
Jah,
He was. Had he not been with them over these past few months?

With a faint rattle on the gravel, Jake’s buggy came down from Mr. Brunson’s cabin, driving fast, his lower lights on, his form dimly visible inside the darkened conveyance. He didn’t stop but continued on to Betty’s. He must have been successful in reaching the midwife or he would have stopped in to tell her.

Hannah watched until the buggy disappeared on the main road. Another spasm of pain gripped her. Clasping her hands over her swollen stomach, she bent over the bed until the pain passed. She straightened and collected herself, pushing the fallen strands of hair away from her face. She walked out to the living room, taking the kerosene lamp with her. Its light threw wild shadows on the wall, flickering across the rocking chair and Jake’s little desk in the corner. Hannah paused, a smile creeping across her face. The moment of the
bobli’s
arrival had finally come. The next few hours might be filled with pain and agony, but
Da Hah
was with her, Jake loved her, and they would soon be a complete family—something no one could ever take away from them. Not even death could completely erase what
Da Hah
had done.

Standing at the living room window, Hannah looked out across the darkened landscape to the mountains, their ridges outlined by the stars. How beautiful they were tonight. They had seen her fears, but they had also seen her love.

The spasm caught her by surprise, and Hannah cried out, the sound echoing off the cabin walls. She clutched the edge of the rocker, holding on until it passed.

“Dear God, help me,” she prayed. “Help me be strong. Help me be worthy of Jake’s love and the wonderful
bobli
You are about to give us.”

Hannah slowly let go of the rocker and walked into the kitchen. The light of the kerosene lamp reached just inside the doorway, revealing a bowl lying on the floor. So this was what Jake knocked over in his rush to find the key to Mr. Brunson’s cabin. She awkwardly bent over to pick up the bowl and return it to the counter. Tomorrow it could be put in its rightful place. Tonight more important things were at hand.

Returning to the bedroom, Hannah lay down and gave up the idea of more walking. The spasms seemed to be coming quicker, and she clutched the bed quilt through them, trying not to cry out.

It seemed like ages before the faint sound of buggy wheels came up the driveway again. So Jake must have made it to Betty’s and was returning, but it was Mattie she really needed.

The cabin door creaked on its hinges and quick steps came toward the bedroom.
It’s not Jake’s tread, so it must be Betty’s,
Hannah noted.

With a great bustle of energy her aunt burst in. “My, my!” Betty said. “A
bobli
on the way and the midwife nowhere in sight. What is wrong with that woman? I do declare, you can’t depend on anyone anymore.”

“Where’s Jake?” Hannah asked, attempting a smile.

“He drove on to let Miriam know. Why, I don’t understand. There’s nothing the girl can do tonight anyway, and she might as well stay home with her husband.”

“Miriam wanted to know,” Hannah groaned.