Chapter Sixteen
The sun was shining brightly through the window when Tillie woke next. She blinked, unsure of where she was for a second before everything came rushing back. A warmth filled her heart as she looked down at the face of her infant baby girl.
She had left in the middle of an ice storm, she had ended up at Levi Yoder’s house, and she had given birth during the night. A beautiful baby girl.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
Levi.
“Come in.”
The door eased open, and there he stood, another tray in hand. “I wasn’t sure if you’d feel like coming downstairs.”
Tillie give her sleeping daughter one more look, then pushed herself upright in the bed. She was sore and achy, but she couldn’t stay there forever. She would have to start getting around soon.
“How about for supper? That is, if the roads are clear,” she hopefully added. She had taken up too much of this man’s time already.
He shook his head, though she couldn’t read his expression. Was he remorseful, angry? He couldn’t be overjoyed. She was the epitome of everything he had lost. Why had things turned out so twisted?
“Maybe tomorrow?” she asked.
He gave a shrug and came into the room. He set the tray on the end of her bed, his blue eyes straying to where her daughter slept.
It was amazing to watch his features soften as he looked at her. And Tillie felt a surge of pride. She may have gone against everything she’d been taught growing up, but she couldn’t help but love this baby. The perfect little baby who came three weeks early in the midst of an ice storm.
“Maybe.” Levi shifted his gaze back to her. “I don’t figure there’ll be many buggies out, but maybe some English cars. I can still walk over to my neighbors’ house if you want.”
Her stomach rumbled as the smell of the food he had brought in reached her. “That smells delicious.”
He nodded. “Mims made it. My sister.”
Tillie smiled. “I remember Mims.”
Actually, Mims was kind of unforgettable. Like a young Eunice. Forceful and in charge, yet somehow lovable all the same.
“She means well,” Levi said with a chuckle.
“Sisters always do,” she quipped.
He nodded toward the door. “I’ll just . . .”
Tillie pulled the tray closer to her. “You don’t have to go. In fact, I’d rather not eat alone.”
He stopped, his blue eyes assessing. “I have one of those little soft baby chairs. We could put her in it, if you wanted to come downstairs. I think it’s a little warmer down there anyway. Are you up to that?”
Surprisingly, she was. “I’d feel better if you took the baby down.” She wasn’t sure how strong her legs would be, and she surely didn’t want to take any chances. She had thought it would take her a couple of days to get downstairs, but if Levi was willing to carry Emmy, Tillie figured she’d be able to make it too.
He hesitated only a moment before answering. “Jah, of course.” Then he had gathered up the tray and headed out of the room before she even had her feet on the floor.
Emmy slept peacefully, her little mouth moving at nothing as if she were eating some invisible treat.
Tillie eased her feet. She could do this. Jah, she was a little sore. Having a baby wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but she knew the stiffness would pass soon. She had heard enough talk from Amish ladies and English women alike. It was just a matter of time.
There went that word again. Time. Everything needed time.
“You’re up,” Levi said as he came back into the room.
She nodded, trailing her hand around the footboard of the bed. “Jah.”
He looked down at the baby and back to her. And she could see on his face the second thoughts of caring for such a small creature.
“She won’t break.”
“Are you sure?” he croaked. His voice sounded strained and a little odd.
She had to admit it was strange, the power such a tiny creature could hold over the adults around it.
She smiled at him reassuringly. “Pretty sure.” And then she realized men didn’t have the practice with other people’s babies that women did. At one time or another, she had held almost every baby in the district. Women were just like that. But men didn’t have that prior experience.
“Place your right hand under her bottom,” she instructed. “And your left hand under her neck. Support her head. And you’ll be fine.”
He swallowed hard.
“And hold her close to your chest. If she can hear your heartbeat, she’ll feel more secure.”
He shook his head and slowly moved toward Emmy. “How do women know these things?”
Tillie shrugged. “I guess the same way men know how to fix roofs and the best way to plow a field.”
Gingerly he scooped Emmy into his arms. The look on his face was wistful and a bit sad, and somehow filled with joy at the same time. Only a baby could do that.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said. The words were more of a breathless whisper as he looked at Emmy. Tillie understood and it filled her heart with joy to see that Levi felt the same way she did. Emmy was a miracle. Not a mistake.
* * *
The baby arched her back as he picked her up. She raised a tiny fist in the air.
“She wants to stretch,” Tillie told him.
She was amazing, this baby he held in his arms. And the woman too. Her mother. Simply amazing.
