Authors: Alexa Blair
Chapter 10
We walked down the stairs of the medical practice together. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t either.
Just as I put my hand out to flag a taxi, he offered to give me a ride.
“I changed my lunch today so I could come to you appointment, so I have a company car with a driver,” he said.
I thought for a moment, then nodded in acceptance.
“You can just drop me off at the old place. I could use a nap,” I said, trying to help keep things short and avoid being any more awkward.
“Are you sure? You and the baby were discussing getting a burger when I first came into the examination room,” he teased.
I gave a small laugh.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I can eat at home. There is plenty there and I can be more relaxed. I know where the bathroom is if I have to pee or the baby decides we didn’t really want a burger,” I joked back.
“Well, I was thinking I might join you for lunch. If you don’t mind. We can order something and have it brought to the house. Send the cook away for the rest of the afternoon,” he said.
“Absolutely. I mean, that’s fine. If you want,” I stammered.
“I do,” he said.
“You do?” I asked.
“Yes, I do,” he repeated.
This time he shifted in his seat to face me.
“May I?” he asked reaching a hand toward my bump.
“Yes, of course. Please,” I said.
He put a hand to my tummy and didn’t say anything for a long moment. In fact, we were almost at our destination before he spoke or moved his hand.
He lifted it and then placed both hands gently and said, “Hello, I’m Chris. Your father.”
At that moment my stomach began to move and bulge in all different directions. My heart beat just as wildly.
Once we reached the building Christopher was out of the car quickly. As I shifted to open the door, it opened for me. As the driver helped me out of my seat, I turned to see Chris kneeling down again. He presented the ring I had returned.
“We don’t share blood, but if you will have me, we will all share a name and a life. I just want to wake up and go to bed with you, and your child is my child is our child. Marry me,” he said.
I couldn’t speak, but he knew. He put the ring on my finger. He kissed me. He knew.
THE END
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Idle Hands
“I would like to have a dress made, please.”
The shop girl looked Miriam up and down. She was familiar with the strange customs of the Amish from nearby Lancaster County, but she had never seen one venture into a shop in the city, and certainly never dreamed of one wanting to have a dress made. “Of course. I have to tell you, miss, we do not carry the fabrics you are looking for.”
Miriam turned her bright blue eyes to the young woman. “Oh! Of course not!” She glanced sheepishly down at her own dress and noted how sharply out of place it probably looked in the shop. “I absolutely do not want a dress like this,” she said, indicating her homespun dress. “I would like a dress made just like that one, if you please.”
Astonished, the young shop girl nodded and led Miriam to a curtained-off area where she helped her disrobe and began taking exact measurements. Finding that Miriam was the exact same size as the dress on display, the shop girl offered to sell it to her at a discount, saving on the cost and time of having a new one made. The idea sounded spectacular to Miriam, so the shop girl pulled the dress off the mannequin, helped Miriam into it, and turned her toward the mirror to see the effect.
Miriam stood looking in the mirror. The beautiful dress was light, almost weightless compared to the dress she had just cast into the corner. She almost felt naked in it. However, the cut and the color were so flattering to her petite figure. She stared at herself a moment before realizing something was out of place. She looked to her hair, still covered by the plain white cap, and removed the cap. Still, her hair was in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She pulled the pins out and let the dark auburn hair fall in cascades down her back and over her shoulders. As she watched the hair fall, she saw a completely different young woman. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, and then turned to the shop girl, who was so shocked by the transformation that she had no words.
Thirty minutes later, Miriam left the store in her new dress, an order for two more dresses, a new pair of sensible ankle boots, an order for two fashionable hats, and a huge smile upon her face. She felt so proud of herself and all that she had accomplished on her first day of Rumspringa. She felt most proud of the fact that she had no intention of ever returning to the Amish community of her parents. If they were still alive, maybe it would have been different, but they had been dead for almost ten years, and in that time, Miriam had felt like she was a bird trapped in a cage where she was more of a burden to her uncle. He made no secret of wanting to marry her off, and made it clear that, when she returned at the end of her eighteen days in the world, she would immediately be married to Owen Miller.
Miriam could not turn down the marriage, but she despised Owen. Despite strict Amish culture, Owen was spoiled and spiteful. His parents only had him, and as an only child to them, and for a long time the only grandchild to the leader of their Amish community, Owen was more often than not doted on and allowed to get away with all manner of shocking outbursts. Had it been anyone else’s family member, he would have been shunned ages ago. Plus, her personal feelings for Owen spawned from his mistreatment of her because she was an orphan. The community may have had strong Biblical ties, but that did not mean they were perfect, and as an orphan in many ways, Miriam was treated like one of the shunned.
Many of her community treated Miriam differently after her parents both passed away from an illness that swept across their community. Owen, over ten years older than Miriam, had caught on to the elders’ different treatment of her, and treated her even worse, going out of his way to be cruel. Then as she got older, he started to notice her as a woman. She complained on multiple occasions to her uncle and to her closest friend’s mother, but they both dismissed her concerns as the flirtations of a man in love with a young girl. From that point on, her uncle went about setting up a betrothal of sorts between Owen and Miriam. For over a year, Miriam lived in fear. Once it was common knowledge that she was to marry Owen, he would try to catch her alone. More than once, he had cornered her, putting his hands on her, forcing her to kiss him, and on the one occasion he was caught he turned the blame on her saying she tempted him.
So as Rumspringa neared, Miriam had made excuses to go into the local town outside their community and find a way to leave forever. On one of her excursions, as she was idly passing time in the local general store, she overheard two men joking about advertisements they had seen in the paper regarding mail order brides. Intrigued, Miriam made several more trips into town to learn as much as she could.
As Miriam marched up the steps to the hotel she was staying at in Philadelphia, she could not believe that in less than a day, she had done so much to assure she never return to the Amish community. After she had placed the ad in the paper, which she was told was sent as far away as Denver, Colorado, she had also been informed that she could see inquiries as quickly as the next day due to agencies that acted on behalf of private parties. As Miriam made her way to her room, she fervently prayed that the Lord would bless her with a fast inquiry because she knew her time in Philadelphia would go by fast, and she wanted to be well away before anyone had a chance to come after her when they realized she was not returning on her own.
Miriam let herself in the room and smiled at the expression on her friend’s face.
“Did you stay in here all day, Ruth?” Miriam asked as she nonchalantly walked around the room showing off her new dress. While men from the community were allowed to take Rumspringa on their own, the young women were required to go in pairs.
Ruth nodded mutely, still staring at Miriam with her head uncovered, dress showing off her arms and collar bone, with the beautiful doe-skin boots peeking from the hem of the dress.
Miriam moved to sit next to her friend. “Will you come out with me tomorrow?”
Ruth leaned back against the pillows of the bed. “No. I was going to tell you that I think I am just going to go back tomorrow. I really do not want to stay out here. Just looking at you makes me feel so uncomfortable.”
Miriam sighed heavily. “I know, but you can’t go back yet. Please. Please stay at least for the week, just to see if I have a letter come through. Say you will.”
Ruth stared into her dearest friend’s face. She knew all that Miriam had been through. She knew how Owen was terrorizing her, so she understood Miriam’s desire to leave. However, for Ruth it was very different. The young man she was more or less promised to was a distant cousin from a neighboring community, and he was quiet, kind, and yet was being groomed to lead that community in time. Ruth greatly admired Matthew, and this time away for Rumspringa made her wary. What if he took her absence as a sign that she was discontent? Still, she knew Miriam needed her, and should not be left alone in this big city with so much to tempt her.
Ruth leaned forward and squeezed Miriam’s hand. “Ya. I will stay. But only until Sunday.” Then she remembered something. ”Oh! While you were out, this came for you.”
She handed Miriam a thick envelope addressed to Miss M. Beiler. Miriam looked at it. Certainly, she had not gotten inquiries within the first day! Carefully, she unwound the string tying the envelope closed and pulled out a sheaf of papers. Her eyes opened wide as she realized she was looking at an inquiry complete with marriage contract and directions on how to complete it, travel instructions, and a bank account with money for her journey, as well as short instruction on what to do if she turned down the inquiry.
Miriam read the inquiry and then handed it to Ruth, who read it out loud while Miriam got to her feet and paced around the room.
To Miss Miriam Beiler on behalf of Mister Kinkade Walters, represented by Lawyers Stratt and Worthing.
Our client, Mister Walters, an artist of growing influence and son of Mister and Missus Frank and Geraldine Walters of Topeka, Kansas, wishes to answer your advertisement regarding your ability to serve in the capacity of wife and homemaker.
Included in the packet are all the details and directions if you are so inclined to join hands in matrimony with Mister Walters. If you are disinclined, please return the contents of this packet to the address on the envelope by 8 am on this following Friday.
We look forward to your prompt response to this inquiry.
Signed - Lawyers Stratt and Worthing
Ruth put the letter down and flipped through the rest of the paperwork, her eyes popping wide when she reached the amount set aside for Miriam’s travel, three hundred dollars plus access to more if the occasion called for it.
Miriam stopped her pacing. “What do you think?”
Ruth shrugged her shoulders. “This is the first offer. Certainly, there will be more tomorrow? At the very least, you should sleep on it, ya?”
Miriam, never one of the more patient ones, sat on the edge of the bed in a huff. “I don’t know that I will be able to sleep. Look how official everything looks! Do you think he is a man of great importance? He must be very busy to have lawyers handle his requests for him, no?”
Ruth watched as Miriam played with a long strand of hair that was typically bound up and out of easy reach. She admitted to herself that Miriam truly was beautiful, and while her Amish attire did not hide that fact, the new clothes and her new hairstyle certainly accented her beauty. Ruth glanced for a moment in the mirror opposite the bed they were sitting on. Ruth was so different, in appearance and character. Where Miriam was almost olive skinned with her dark hair and deep blue eyes, Ruth was very fair skinned with mousey brown hair that was thin and wispy, and pale blue eyes that most often appeared grey rather than blue. A hint of jealousy touched Ruth and she clamped down on it. Yes, she needed to go home, and soon.
Ruth returned her attention to Miriam as she sat puzzling over the papers.
“You know, maybe this is a sign. Maybe the offer came so quickly because it is the one you should take.”
Miriam stared at the paper as Ruth’s words sank in. “I don’t know...I wonder if I should give it another full day...”
Ruth leaned back in the bed and closed her eyes. "I think you should sleep on it, but I also think you should not take too long. Something about this particular one seems fortuitous to me.”
Miriam sat still for a moment. "You really think so?”
Ruth peeked out of one eye. “Ya. I do.”
***
Miriam was up before Ruth the following morning and spent the early morning hours praying for guidance. She was not a person to just go with the first option, even as badly she wanted to start afresh and leave her past behind her. She considered Ruth’s words, and felt a stirring in her gut that her friend was correct, but doubts and a sudden fear of the unknown made her reconsider.
After all, one thing about this mail order bride system was that while she had filled out a lengthy application in order to place her ad, she was warned she would learn very little of the men who sought her hand until she met her chosen in person. She feared she could end up with a drunken philanderer or someone just as bad as Owen. However, once she signed her marriage contract, she was legally bound, never mind her own convictions about marriage despite hardships.
Finally, as Ruth began to stir, Miriam made up her mind to wait for the day’s inquiries to arrive, then she would sort through them that night and make a decision the following morning. When Ruth woke, Miriam told her of her decision and then finally talked Ruth into leaving the hotel and exploring the city with her.
That evening the weary pair entered the hotel. Miriam checked the front desk and was surprised to learn no further inquiries were left, though the young man indicated that someone might have taken them directly to her room. Arm in arm, the young women made their way up to their room and let themselves in to discover the hotel services had left the room spotless, with complimentary snacks from their kitchen. However, there was no mail or special delivery.
Miriam sat on the edge of the bed in exasperation. “What can it mean?” she wondered out loud.
Ruth took off her sweater and her cap, then began unlacing her tall black boots. “It means you got your answer, Miriam.”
Miriam looked at her friend and she realized Ruth was right yet again. She smiled and went to the dresser where she had put Mister Walters’ proposal. As she flipped through the papers, her mind’s eye thought about Topeka, Kansas. It was no small town anymore. From the little she knew about it just from conversations in the general store back home, she knew that because it was a launching point for so many travelers intent to go farther west, Topeka had become a decent city in its own right. She wondered what it would be like to live in a city. She also wondered what it would be like to be married to a respected gentleman like this Mister Walters.