Love in Tragedy

Love in Tragedy Chapter 2

A storm had blown in and was sweeping across South Carolina. The tobacco crop was harvested, and hay was stored. Thomas and Samantha were sleeping when a loud clap of thunder woke her. She gently got out of bed and got a drink of water as the sound of rain danced on the roof and the lightning lit up the sky.

After gazing out the window and finishing her glass of water, Samantha felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She gritted her teeth and clinched her pregnant belly as the pain shot through her. She let out a scream of pain that awoke Thomas. He quickly jumped from the bed and rushed to Samantha to see her holding her belly with tears in her eyes.

Thomas shouted, “Is it the baby”?

“Yes”, Samantha said, gritting her teeth together as the pain shot through her.

She knew the baby was coming, and the darkness of the night, along with the heavy storm, created fear inside as she knew it would slow the doctor getting to their farm.

Thomas quickly wrapped his arms around Samantha and got her to bed and told her he was going for the doctor. He rushed to the barn and saddled his horse and rode swiftly into the dark with rain beating down on him with every gallop his horse made.

As the thunder continued to pierce the night, Thomas reached the doctor's home and rushed to the front door. Beating against the wooded door with force and yelling for the doctor as his heart raced with worry as the light from the oil lamp pierced the darkness in the doctor's home.

With the doctor in tow, Thomas led them both back to the farm where Samantha lay on the bed with the pain of contractions rushing through her body. She was sweating, and her breathing was forceful with each tick of the clock. She knew if Thomas and the doctor did not arrive shortly, she would surely have a difficult childbirth with no one around. With her cotton nightgown pulled over her knees and her legs spread apart, Samantha was trying to breathe between each contraction, knowing she would have to push soon. As the sweat rolled down her face, she heard from outside the sound of horse hoof beats and the cry from Thomas's voice that he was coming to her side with the doctor.

As the rain continued to fall and the sounds of thunder in the distance, Thomas opened the door to his home and he and the doctor made their way inside. Water dripped from each of their bodies from the ride to the farm.

“In here doctor”. Thomas said as he walked into his home.

Thomas and the doctor made their way into the room where Samantha was lying, breathing deeply between contractions, crying from the pain and the thought of Thomas and the doctor not making it back in time.

“Were her baby, were here”. Thomas stated as he softly brushed her sweat-riddled hair from her forehead.

Thomas knelled by the bed to hold Samantha's hand as the doctor began instructing Samantha on the birth of their child. Samantha pushed and screamed from the pain and the baby began the journey into the world. After what felt like an eternity to Thomas, he heard the doctor exclaim that it was a baby boy and his ears heard the wonderful sounds of the baby taking his first breath of air outside Samantha's womb and started to cry. Thomas, still holding Samantha's hand, looked at her eyes and, through the exhaustion of childbirth and the sweat running down her cheeks, saw the smile from her as he smiled back, knowing their lives had changed forever and that he was now a father.

The doctor finished the childbirth and gathered his things. He spoke to Thomas and gave him instructions on the newborn. As Thomas was thanking the doctor, the rain ceased and the darkness was filled with calm. The doctor left the home and Thomas went back into the room where Samantha lay with their newborn. As they both looked at each other with a smile, Samantha softly asked Thomas to come join her and the baby on the bed. The sweet newborn child was wrapped in the new quilt Samantha had made just four months prior. Thomas looked at the child and then at Samantha and kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you".

As the night continued on, Thomas and Samantha were able to get little sleep, but as morning dawned, Thomas knew he needed to get up and continue on with the chores around the farm. Samantha, still in pain from childbirth, slowly turned herself to the side of the bed and rose to her feet. She grabbed the newborn, still sleeping in the warmth of the quilt, and slowly moved towards the main room of the home. Thomas lovingly warned her to not over exert herself at home while he was tending to the farm and Samantha smiled at him and softly told him, "I will be fine my love".

Thomas walked out the door and Samantha sat on a rocker with the baby in her arms. She slid her shoulders out of her cotton gown and brought the baby to her breast for feeding. The sweet child took to breast and began feeding and Samantha felt overwhelming love in her heart for her new son.

As the day continued on, Samantha began to get her strength back and was busy holding and nurturing the baby. She filled the day by singing to the child and rocking him in the rocker. The baby was a calm child and cried very little. He had dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. Samantha could not help but smile each time she looked at his face, knowing inside that their lives had changed forever, as Thomas did the previous night.

The evening was approaching and Samantha was able to prepare a meal of simple soup and sourdough bread for the family while the baby was sleeping in the cradle during the day. Thomas would be in from the farm shortly and Samantha wanted to have supper ready when he came through the door. The rains the night before made the soil wet and muddy, and she knew that Thomas's day would be a hard day's work, and she wanted him to be able to clean up and have supper before the night set in so they could spend it with the baby.

Samantha was excited about the nightfall so she and Thomas could pick a name for the baby. She had a few names picked out but waited for Thomas to come home to tell him the name she had chosen. She was sure Thomas would love the name, as she was going to use Thomas's grandfather's middle name for the baby.

Thomas had cleaned up, finished supper and was sitting on a rocker near the slow-burning fire in the fireplace, as fall was starting to push in. Samantha had finished cleaning the kitchen with her strength, slowly leaving her from the day's activities.

As she sat down in the other rocking chair near the fireplace with the baby in her arms, she looked at Thomas and smiled. "Thomas, I have a wonderful name for the baby and I want you to be happy." "I want to name him Edward," she softly told him.

Thomas gazed into the baby's eyes and happily exclaimed that he agreed with the name and said to the baby, "You, my son, are Edward, welcome to our world my son." Samantha smiled at Thomas and looked at Edward and drew him closer to her chest with the love and warmth of a mother.

As night fell onto the farm, Thomas and Samantha placed the baby in the cradle, wrapped in his quilt, and settled into bed for the night, as they both knew tomorrow brought more farm work and a busy day inside the home. Soon the darkness was filled with sleep and their bodies regenerated the strength they both lost the night before and throughout the day.