I wanted to ask him to explain what he meant but something stopped me from speaking. Instead, I felt that at this moment I really should be listening.
“You are bringing a child into this word that you must set-apart to the Ancient of Days. Teach him that he must never eat anything that grows on the vine, drink alcohol of any kind, eat any meats that are unclean, and that he must never bring a blade to his hair. He is set-apart to the Ancient of Days.”
“But—” I began, but he shook his head.
“You must go now.” As soon as he spoke those words, the peaceful world around me began to disintegrate.
“Wait!” I cried, not quite ready to leave. It was the first time in a long time I felt, good.
“Remember your promise!” He called after me.
“What promise?” I asked running back toward him and that peaceful place that was getting further and further away. He smiled.
“To seek the old way!”
The breath slammed back into my body. I opened my eyes to see a beautiful brown skinned nurse standing over me.
“Welcome back mama!” She said, smiling down at me. I felt too tired to speak so I closed my eyes again.
When next I awoke, it was to learn that the doctors had to perform an emergency C-section and were able to save both my babies. Unfortunately, due to a condition called Placenta Accreta my placenta grew too far into my uterus. When my water broke it caused bleeding, and the only way they could get the bleeding to stop was to give me a partial hysterectomy.
So, my son that I named Luke and my daughter that I named Dynasty, would be the only children I will ever bear. For the first few months I grieved that news. Well… that and the fact that both of my children had been born with my eyes. Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder if they too will have a cursed life like mine and my great-grandmother before me.
My mother-in-law says I was just suffering a severe case of postpartum depression and the sadness and doubt will pass.
“You were blessed to have two beautiful babies. Many women wish they could have one!” She told me several times a day. Her words were true. Luke looked like Gabe but had my skin and eyes. Dynasty also looked like her father and the only thing she got from me is my eyes and hair. They were truly gorgeous babies.
The man in my dream told me Luke was set-apart. I just pray that meant the chain will break with me and my kids will have a blessed and productive life.
Anyway, Gabrielle was right. By the time the twins were four months, the major part of my sadness had passed. Of course there will always be a part of me that will hurt for my lost love, but being the mom of two really amazing children was helping tremendously. I no longer grieved the lost of my womb because I was not going to have any more children anyway.
My husband is the only man I will ever know in that way. The love I carry for him is for life. There will never be another that can take his place. I was at peace with that. I would live my life for my children. And with that mindset, things really began to come together on the farm.
The fellas were true to their word and dug in to help me get the land back producing. You’ll be amazed at what can happen to berry groves after going almost two years of being unattended. We spent the first few months just gaining control over the weeds. It was hard back breaking work. But with all the hands, we were coming along just fine.
The twins were growing quite well. Gabrielle is a God send. Without her, I don’t know how I would have done it. Now at eight months, they were so busy. Luke had just started to toddle around, and Dynasty not to be out done, was pulling up on everything, determined to walk with her brother. Gabrielle and I had our hands full trying to keep them out of trouble. We were constantly chasing them. Needless to say, they kept us on our toes.
I was noticing something different about my son. Just so I would be able to lend a hand out in the field, we built a little play area for them to kind of block them off, and keep them in one spot. But no matter what we built, Luke tore it down. We tried the wooden gates, you know, the really cute ones they advertise on the infomercials.
Yeah, he tore that down too!
So, we tried metal gates. The ones people use to keep their pets out of their living rooms. Hey! Don’t judge me! You have no idea what I’m dealing with here! Anyway, you may have guessed it. He bent the metal so that he and his sister could escape to freedom.
Hmmm… anyhow, outside of being the mother of a super baby with a twin sister that was determined to keep up with him, regaining order on a farm that had two year overgrowth, rotted fences that needed mending, and a bipolar bull that chased away all my help when he wasn’t feeling his best, I could honestly say, all things fell into a working order.
That was until… Gabe showed up.
Chapter 23
My Strength Has Returned
Were the gates of death revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Job 38:17
Yasmin
The day my strength returned started off pretty awesome. We were having something of a cookout on the farm. Kenny and Stacy were
