“How’s the baby?” Levi continued to warm himself in front of the fire but looked over to where Emmy rested.
Tillie had placed the baby seat on top of the coffee table, far enough away from the fire that nothing would pop out and hurt her, but close enough to keep warm. She was wrapped in the little yellow blanket that Levi had given her just after she was born. She looked warm and toasty and quite content.
“I think she is quite well-adjusted for a newcomer.”
Levi smiled at her words, and that made Tillie feel a bit warmer inside. It was crazy, and she had to get herself out of this fantasy that she had been creating in her mind.
“I mean, she’s good.”
He turned his full attention to the baby. “She looks better than good.”
His voice sounded a bit wistful, and she wondered if Levi was starting to have a few fantasies of his own.
Was that natural? Healthy? Or were they both getting caught up in the drama of being iced in so close to Christmas?
“A penny for them,” Levi said.
Tillie dragged herself out of her thoughts and turned her attention back to the man who was still hovering by the hearth. “I’m not sure they’re worth any more than that.”
He sat in the chair closest to the fire, and despite his earlier refusal, he picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip. He sighed. “That’s good,” he said, closing his eyes. “I never can manage to make decent coffee.”
“I’ll show you how,” she offered.
He shook his head. “Mims tried, Mamm tried, Mary tried. I guess I’m hopeless when it comes to coffee.”
“Well, you’ll have mine for another day or so, jah?”
“I believe so. It’s going to be at least tomorrow before we can get out, if even then. But I think the day after will be fine.”
And if the police could get word to her family, then she wouldn’t have to worry about their concern for her well-being. She could relax and enjoy the next couple of days.
Chicken.
She knew she was, but she was simply enjoying the peace while she had it. For soon, very, very soon, all that and the perfect little Amish fantasy she had created would be shattered.
* * *
“I told you I would do them, and I’m going to do them.”
Levi sighed and sat back in his seat as Tillie took their dishes to the sink.
“At least let me fetch you the water,” he said.
She nodded. “I’ll let you do that. It’s cold outside, and I’m sure you’re faster than me.”
He nodded, then gave Emmy one last look before hustling out to get Tillie a bucket of water.
“You are quick,” she said when he returned just a few minutes later.
He smiled at the compliment, somehow loving it and feeling silly for loving it all in the same moment. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“I had a baby. I didn’t get hit by a bus.”
“Fair enough.” And if Tillie was doing the dishes . . . He made his way over to where Emmy slept. Once again she was in the little fabric baby seat they had placed on one end of the table while they ate.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her words more like a hiss than a normal question.
“I want to hold her.” He really hadn’t given it much thought. He had just acted on it.
“She’s asleep,” Tillie protested.
Levi frowned, though in mock annoyance. “She’s always asleep.”
“She’s a baby,” Tillie replied unnecessarily. “They tend to sleep a lot.”
“I want to hold her,” he said again and started to undo the buckle that held her in place.
Tillie sighed, but didn’t argue. She turned back to the dishes, and he gently scooped Emmy into his arms.
“Fine,” Tillie said. “But if she wakes up hungry, you’ll find yourself in here doing the dishes.”
He brushed aside her protests and gazed down at the tiny baby. Would he ever tire of just looking at her?
Like he was going to get to see her at all after tomorrow. She would go back home and that would be that. His life would return to normal.
The thought was paralyzing. Normal was not a state he liked these days. Normal was alone and sad and lonely. As much as he had hated the thought of having Tillie and now her baby in his house, he couldn’t imagine them gone. And it had only been a day!
He needed to get ahold of himself, and fast.
In his arms, Emmy woke, her soft blue eyes searching his face for something, he had no idea what. Apparently she hadn’t found it, and she puckered up and started to cry.
“Shhh . . .” He tried to bounce her a bit like he had seen the women in town and at church do, but she was so tiny he was still afraid he might harm her. Not on purpose, of course, but she simply looked so fragile.
Except when she was crying. In that moment she looked angry.
Tillie sighed. He barely heard the sound over the baby’s wails and his own crooning, shushing sound. Then she dried her hands on a dish towel and held her arms out for her baby.
Her baby.
Reluctantly, Levi handed her over.
“Let me feed her, and you can have her back, deal?”
He smiled. “Deal.”
She took the baby from him and nodded toward the sink. “The dishes are all yours.”
* * *
While Levi finished the dishes, Tillie fed Emmy, burped her, changed her, and managed to get her back to sleep.
“You want to hold her now?” she asked as he came back into the room.
He shook his head. “I mean, jah, I do, but I want her to sleep as well.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Tillie said. Though she knew the next day wouldn’t be much different than today. It would be weeks before Emmy would be the kind of baby Levi was dreaming of holding, but that he wanted to hold her at all filled Tillie
