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Clara stared out the window at the barn. She could hear the mother cow mooing as if her life depended on it. Wondering if the pain of giving birth was the same for the mother cow, she was reminded of when her precious first born, Elias, was born. Instinctively, she placed her hand on her large belly. They would have another child soon and the women’s guild had done several “tests” to determine whether it would be a boy or a girl. They told her they believed it would be a boy and Wes already had his second son named. He would be named Franklin, after the man who had raised Wes after he’d run away from home.
She could hear Elias in the other room with his grandmother, Wes’ mother. Clara’s parents were both deceased. When Wes had mentioned he would have no one at the wedding, he’d been wrong. It turned out lovely, with Clara’s friends in Blackstone and all her ranch hands, including, of course, her favorite foreman of all, Patrick, came to see her get married. They’d borrowed chairs from everyone in town including the restaurant to have enough for all the wedding guests that had come.
Clara felt her baby move in her tummy and smiled, looking down at the bulge. She walked from the kitchen where she’d been washing her hands to the doorway of the parlor. Mary, Wes’ mother, was seated on the floor, grinning wide at Elias, who was four years old. He was rolling around on the floor, pretending to be something but for the life of her, Clara didn’t know what he was trying to be.
“Mama!” Her boy jumped to his feet and ran to her.
“He’s the sweetest boy ever!” Mary said, leaning on one hand, watching Clara pick up Elias and kiss his cheek.
“He is the sweetest boy,” Clara confirmed, lightly pinching her son’s apple cheek where she’d just kissed him.
“Is Papa done yet?” Elias sounded frustrated. His smile was gone and he put on a frown. It was so cute Clara couldn’t feel upset by his tone. “I want to go out and see the new cow. When can I go see the new cow?”
“I’m sure it will be time soon,” Clara said.
“I don’t know why you want to see it so bad,” Mary quipped. “It’s going to be all dirty and nasty at first.”
Elias rolled his eyes dramatically. “Oh, Gamma, you don’t know what happens. You’ve never seen it before. I know it. I have seen it. I know I have.” He turned questioning eyes to his mother. “Right, Mama?”
Clara chuckled, glancing at Mary with a smile. She poked Elias in his round tummy when she answered, “Yes but I’m surprised you remember it. You were just a baby the last time we had a newborn calf.”
“Can we go look now? Can we, Mama? Please?”
Clara nodded, scooping him up in her arms and regretting it instantly. Her four year old was getting to be a big boy. But he clung to her, making it easier for her when his legs wrapped around her waist and his arms went around her neck. He was able to hold himself up to relieve the weight on her arms nicely.
She walked to Mary, who was having a little trouble getting up from the floor. She had one hand on the couch and was trying to push up.
“Here you go, Mary,” Clara said, holding out her hand. Mary gave her a grateful look, took her hand and pulled up to her feet.
She sighed heavily. “Thank you, my dear. These legs aren’t what they used to be.”
The three of them left the house, heading out into the bright beautiful sunny day. It was so sunny, in fact, Clara had to squint at first until her eyes adjusted to the light of the noonday sun.
There was a lot less noise coming from the barn now. Mabel had her calf, most likely, and that was the reason for the silence.
She opened the door but Mary reached around and held it while she passed through with Elias. She set him down, resting one hand on her big belly as he sprinted down the hay covered floor to where his father was standing.
Clara felt a tingle inside when she looked at her husband. Her life with Billy was long in the past now. She was happy with Wes, happier than she ever thought she’d be before he came along. She’d settled with the fact that Billy would be her only love.
She was glad she was wrong. She slowed her pace, allowing Mary to go around her.
“Well?” Mary asked, pleasantly. “Did the little calf get born yet?”
Wes’ responding huge smile gave them all the answer they needed. Clara tried to hurry but by the time she got to the stall where Wes was standing, her son was propped on the top of the stall gate and Mary had both arms up on the same gate, crossed, as she stared over it at the cow and her baby.
“Look, Mama!” Elias cried out, pointing at the newborn. “She’s lickin’ it! Look how dirty he is. You didn’t have to lick me clean, did you, Mama?”
In her current condition, the thought of that and the sight of Mabel cleaning her newborn almost made Clara sick. She put on a fake smile for her son. She didn’t want to ruin it for him.
As it turned out, she didn’t have to answer. Wes made a gagging sound, which didn’t help her stomach at all.
“That would be too much, Elias,” Wes said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “That would have made Mama sick. This is the way God made this animal.”
“Is a cow the only one that will lick a new baby cow? Except not a cow, something else.”
“Now that’s somethin’ I don’t rightly know, son,” Wes said, removing Elias from the top of the gate and setting him on his shoulders instead. Elias instantly started playing with his father’s hair.
Clara was amused by it. Apparently, Mary was too, by the look on her face.
It had taken no time at all for Clara to be comfortable with Mary staying on with them. When she and Wes found the woman, she was living a hundred miles away in a small town called Olive Groves, a small place known for the amazing olives produced on the farms there. She was living alone, in a shack.
Clara could still recall the look on Mary’s face when she’d seen Wes. He didn’t even need to introduce himself. She’d known who he was as soon as she opened the door. He didn’t get out a hello before she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, crying fitfully.
Not that Wes wasn’t also weeping. Although they were standing in her doorway, it was Mary who fell to her knees, pressing her face against her hands, rocking back and forth. Wes had knelt next to her, soothing her until she was able to function again.
She left the shack behind, getting nothing but one bag full of clothes and a few personal items to take with her. She’d jumped at the chance to live on the ranch with him and Clara.
On the way back to the ranch, Mary had spent most of her time apologizing to Wes for running him off that day. She explained that she was trained well by her husband never to cause problems. With him gone, she’d felt listless, useless, and had tried to die several times from starvation. The people in Bear Creek hadn’t let her expire. They had gathered donations of clothes, needed items and food, bringing it to her and almost forcing her to become their friends. Their excessive kindness had pulled her from the depths of despair and brought her back to life.
She’d spent the first five years after he’d gone searching for him. She traveled around, obtaining her own horse and buggy, which she rode in with Wes and Clara, tying the couple’s horses to the buggy so they would come back to Blackstone with their owners.
Now, she was happy as a clam. Mary settled in nicely with them at the ranch. She’d proven to be a much changed woman from what Wes told Clara before they slept at night. He’d mentioned it time and again, expressing amazement at the changes he saw in her.
He knew he himself had changed in those twenty years. He’d grown up. He’d had a stable father figure in Frank and a caring boss in Ben when he started working for him.
Clara knew how much Wes missed Greg. He’d spoken of him on several occasions, bringing him up casually as if he wasn’t gone.
“Would Mama have done that if I came out all dirty like that cow?”
“That’s a calf, son,” Wes said, “and no, she wouldn’t.”
“But how do you know?”
Clara pinched her lips together to keep from laughing. Elias sounded so serious. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings by laughing at him.
“Because you did come out dirty like that and she didn’t lick you clean.”
“That makes me feel sick,” the little boy said in a deadpan tone.
Clara had to turn away, touching her fingers to her lips, reminding herself not to laugh. She felt the same way and intended to tell her son that as soon as she got herself under control.
“When you were born,” Wes said, his voice gentle, “there was a midwife in the room. She helped your mama. She was the one who cleaned you with water and towels when you were born.”
“I’m glad mama didn’t have to do that. Ewww.” Elias made an outrageous face and proceeded to tap his father on the head with his fingers.
“Okay, I saw the cow… I mean, calf…” He laughed loudly as if he’d told a fantastic joke. “I want to go ride. Can we go ride horses, Papa? Pleeeease?”
Wes looked up though he couldn’t see his son. “You want to go riding?”
“I do!” Elias smacked Wes directly on top of the head. He decided it would fun to make his father’s head a drum and started patting his hands on Wes’ head in a peculiar rhythm he made up himself.
Clara didn’t say anything when it became clear Elias wasn’t hurting Wes. Her husband turned to her.
“You feel like going riding, big lady?”
Clara gasped, feigning being upset. Mary did the same, playfully slapping Wes on the arm. “Oh, son! Don’t be mean.”
“I’m not mean to my sweet woman,” Wes remarked, stepping over to Clara and leaning over exaggeratedly, as if he couldn’t reach her over her huge belly. He planted a kiss on her lips. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, love. You and Ma can go in and make some lunch for us all. Would you like that, too, buddy? We’ll go for a quick ride and come home to a wonderful meal?”
“Yes!” Elias shouted the word, pounding his little hands on his father’s head.
Wes just laughed, reaching up and tickling his son while at the same time lifting him from his shoulders and setting him on his feet. “Go on now, little drummer boy,” Wes said, patting the child on the head. “Go get your horse. I’ll be there in a little bit to put the saddle on and we’ll go for a ride.”
“Okay, Papa!” Elias raced to the open door and disappeared through it.
Mary went out behind him, heading for the house. Clara stayed behind just long enough to look lovingly into her husband’s eyes.
“This is the life I dreamed about, Clara.” She heard heavy emotions in his voice.
A gentle smile crossed her lips. “Me, too, my love. Everything is almost perfect. When our next little one is born, it will be perfect.”
“I love you.”
OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!
Grab my new series, "Guns and Justice in the West", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed my new western adventure story and the extended epilogue! Let me know your thoughts below.