Just Between Friends (5 page)

     Ben knew what they meant.  He was only one year younger than his brother and they shared the same bedroom.  At night, when Alec thought Ben was asleep, he would hear him crying, and would often want to say something to him, to console him, but he knew he would only be humiliated if he did, so he just kept quiet.  “Where is Alec?”  Ben asked.  “Maybe I could try to talk to him.”

     “He’s out in the barn,” Ethan replied, “but I don’t know if it will do any good.  He’s in a really bad mood today.”

     “But please try anyway,” Louise cut in.  “Maybe he’ll open up to you, alright, honey?”

     “Sure Ma, I’ll give it a try.”  Ben knew how Alec felt.  He knew what it was like to care for someone he couldn’t have, for he was in love also, but he couldn’t tell anyone, for they would think him awful for being in love with a thirteen-year old.  There was only three years difference in their ages, but thirteen was still too young.  He would just have to wait until Cassandra Porter was sixteen, then he would confess how he felt about her.  He could only hope she would return those feelings then.  Three years seemed so long.

     As he entered the barn, Alec was stacking hay in the loft. He could tell by the way his brother was throwing the bales that his anxiety was high. He wished he knew what to say to make him feel better, but he knew this was something Alec could only work out on his own.  For now he could just be there if he chose to open up to him.  “Care for some help?” Ben yelled up.

     “No, I think I can handle it,” Alec answered, without even a glance in his direction.

     “Are you sure?  It looks like you still have a lot to do.”

     Alec had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up above his elbows, and the veins were bulging in his upper arms, as he tossed yet more bales into the stack.

     “I said I can handle it!”  He replied angrily.

     “Okay, okay, I just thought I would offer my help,” Ben explained, as he climbed the ladder to join his brother.  “I’ve finished with my chores, and I was kind of bored.”

     “I’m sorry.” Alec apologized.  “This just hasn’t been a very good day for me.”  He stopped what he was doing, swiped the back of his hand over his forehead and down his face, where perspiration was glistening against his skin, then gave Ben his full attention. 

     “I understand.  It’s alright.  Alec, I was just wondering if we could talk.  I know how badly you’re hurting, and you know I’m here for you any time you need to unload.”

      “I know, Ben, and that means a lot to me, but sometimes we have to work things through ourselves.”

     Ben hesitated a moment before he spoke, wondering if this was the time to approach such a subject, but he needed to talk with someone,  “I kind of know how you feel about Miranda and all.  You see, I like someone too, and I can’t have her either.”

     Alec looked at him in surprise.  “What are you talking about, Ben?  I didn’t know you liked anyone like that.”

     Feeling embarrassed, Ben remarked, “It’s not exactly something I’m proud of.  You see, she’s younger than me.  Three years younger to be exact.  She’s only thirteen.  Why, I couldn’t tell her or anyone until she’s older, and by that time, she’ll probably like someone else.”

     “Do you think she suspects that you like her?”  Alec asked, with suspicion in his voice.

     “I don’t know.  At times when I see her, she looks at me funny, and she starts fussing with her hair. Sometimes, I suspect she likes me too, but I can’t be sure.”

     “It’s Cassandra, isn’t it, Ben?  You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”  Ben could see tears forming in his brother’s eyes, as he continued.  “She’s a pretty little thing.  She looks a lot like her sister.”  With that, Alec grew silent.

     After a while, he spoke, “You know, Ben, just because things didn’t work out for Miranda and me, doesn’t mean it can’t work out for you and Cassandra.  She’ll be fourteen soon.  I think you ought to tell her how you feel.  Maybe if I’d been honest with Miranda all these years, I would have gotten her, instead of Steven.  Now, I just have to find a way to get over her.”

     “You will,” Ben encouraged, “and who knows, they’re not married yet.”

     “That’s right,” Alec agreed, “they’re not.”  With that, he slapped Ben on the arm, and went back to work, leaving Ben to wonder just what he meant by that.

     The rains came, and lasted the rest of the summer, bringing relief to the crops and its workers.  The seasons were passing quickly or so it seemed.  Winter was almost over, and it wouldn’t be too much longer before spring set in.

     It was now the first day of March, and Samantha’s baby was already two weeks overdue.  It was the middle of the night, but the evening before, her pains had begun.  They had just been small ones then, nothing compared to what she was experiencing now. She hadn’t awakened Michael earlier, thinking it could just be a false alarm, but now, she knew it was the real thing.  She woke her husban
d, screaming, “Michael, wake up!  The baby is coming!”

     Michael jerked upright.  For a moment he didn’t realize what was happening, when Samantha urged, “You must get the doctor!  My water just broke!”

     Michael moved as if in a dream.  Throwing on his clothes, he assured her, “I’ll just go and tell your mother I’m leaving.  She’ll stay with you until I get back.”  Then bending over, he kissed her on the forehead and added, “I love you,” before hurrying from the room.

***

     When the doctor arrived, Samantha’s pains were coming about every five minutes.  After examining her, he told her and Michael that the baby would probably be arriving within the next few hours, as long as there were no complications, and for everyone to relax.  Everything was going fine.

     Doctor Mitchell had been treating the people of this town for over twenty years, and during those years, he had brought many babies into this world, Samantha being one of them.  He was a man of medium height and build, with thinning gray hair, and deep-set eyes.  His gray mustache attached to the sideburns that ran down each side of his round face. 

     He was standing at the foot of the bed waiting out another of Sam’s contractions, and when he saw her pain subside, he told the soon to be parents that he would be downstairs when he was needed.   

     Michael stayed with his wife, trying to help anyway he could.  It was now mid-morning, and it seemed an eternity since she had awakened him, reporting she was in labor. 
Shouldn’t this have been over by now?  What if something was wrong with Sam or the baby?

    “Michael!”  Samantha cried, “Please get the doctor, I think it’s time!”

     Michael jumped to his feet, for he had been sitting on the edge of the bed, applying cold-damp washcloths to his wife’s forehead.

     He quickly returned with Doc Mitchell in tow. 

     When they entered the room, Sam was having another contraction, but this time, it took forever for it to end, and her nightdress was pushed up revealing her swollen stomach. 

     Doc Mitchell hurried to her side then, and turning back to Michael, said, “Michael, if you would please leave the room now, I need to …”

     “I’m not leaving my wife!”  Michael insisted.

     Sam let out another heart-wrenching scream, while digging her fingers into the bed once more.  Her nightclothes and hair were soaked with perspiration. 
How much more was his wife going to have to endure?
  Michael wondered. 
How much more could she take? 

     Sam’s face was twisted in pain, and no matter how much he wanted to help her, he knew he couldn’t.  He stood at the head of the bed, holding her hand, while doc Mitchell was doing his best to help his son or daughter into the world. 

     His hand was turning red where his wife was gripping it so hard, and just as he felt it release, his eyes witnessed the miracle.  There she was, his beautiful baby girl.  He watched as the doctor cut the umbilical cord, then after a small pat on her backside he heard her first cries.  Both he and Sam watched as he cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket.

     There were no words to describe this feeling.  Michael leaned over and placed a kiss on Sam’s forehead, and taking a wash cloth, wiped the perspiration from her skin.  She was so pale, and her breathing was a bit shallow, but her green eyes lit up, as the doctor placed her new daughter in her arms.

     She looked up at Michael, noticing tears glistening in his eyes.  Slowly, he spoke, “She looks just like her mama.  She’s going to break all the fella’s hearts when she grows up.”  He couldn’t have felt more proud, looking down at his wife and newborn daughter.

     Samantha reached up and stroked the side of his face, and lovingly proclaimed, “I love you, Michael.”

     He leaned down and kissed his wife, then his daughter, and declared, “And I love you both, very much too.”

     Just then, the bedroom door swung open and Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, along with Steven came strolling in.  Arthur was the first to speak, “We’ve come to see that grandbaby of ours.”

     Amelia hurried to Samantha and hugged her, asking, “How are you feeling?  Were there any complications?” 
Her poor
daughter,
she thought.  Her long white nightdress was still clinging to her skin, and she had red patches all over her face from the strain of giving birth.  Her unkempt hair was stuck to the sides of her cheeks.  She looked exhausted.

     “No Mama.”  Sam assured her.  “Everything went just the way it was supposed to.”

     Doctor Mitchell cut in, “A few days bed rest and she’ll be her old self again.  Well, I’d better be going.  You take good care of that little lass do you hear?”

     “No need to worry about that.”  Michael assured him. “She’ll have us all wrapped around her little finger in no time, and thank you doctor.”

     “No need to thank me.  That’s what I’m here for.  It’s always such a pleasure to bring a new life into the world, especially when they arrive as smoothly as this little one.”  He then retrieved his bag, as he added, “I’ll let myself out.  Goodbye.”

     After doc Mitchell had gone, everyone fussed over the baby, and asked what her name was going to be.

     “Well,” Sam replied, “we’ve decided on Sarah Elizabeth, after my grandmother Sarah, and Michael’s grandmother, Elizabeth.”

     “That’s a beautiful name,” Amelia agreed, “and so wonderful that she would be named after both great-grandmothers.”

     “That’s what we thought.”  Sam agreed.  “Oh and by the way, Steven, you haven’t even come over to see Sarah.  You’re so quiet over there.  What’s going on?”

     “Nothing,” Steven assured her.  “I was just staying out of the way until everyone else had their fill.”

     Samantha sighed, “Oh for crying out loud, little-brother, get over here and meet your niece!”

     As Steven walked up to see Sarah, he could only stare in awe.  Never had he seen anything so small and fragile.  He touched her tiny hand, and she wrapped her little fingers around his big one.  He looked at Sam and said, “She’s so beautiful.  I hope one day Miranda and I are blessed with such beautiful children.  This little miss would surely be hard to beat.”

     “You can say that again,” Michael chimed in.  “If they all came out looking like Sarah, I’d say we have at least a dozen.” 

     “Well,” Sam spoke up, “I vote we just settle for her, for a few years anyway.  After all, I am the one who has to go through all the pain.”

     “Oh that was nothing,” Michael teased.  “I say we have another before the year is out.”

     “Oh you,” Sam exclaimed, swatting at him, but she knew he was only joking with her.

     Steven jumped in, “I really hate to interrupt this personal conversation you two, but I think I’ll go over and see Miranda and give her the news that I’m an uncle.  She’ll be thrilled.”