She Left the Babies in the Bed

Chapter 3

***

One night in early February, while the sky was still pitch-black, Matilda woke with an urgent need to use the chamber pot. Tucking back into the warm bed afterward, she had almost fallen back asleep when the realization came to her that she had been feeling a little unwell lately, with a lot of the same symptoms she’d had when she was first expecting Lydia. The thought refused to be pushed out of her head no matter how hard she tried to tell herself that nursing mothers did not get pregnant and it was normal not to have a cycle for some time after having a baby. Finally she fell back into a fitful sleep and woke with a start when she heard a voice, clear as a bell, say, “So are the girls twins?” It took some time to realize she was all alone in the room and to shake off the scary message of the hallucinatory voice.

Jacob was his usual cheerful self when she got downstairs, but reading his wife’s mood, he made every effort to lighten her spirit. She remained distraught throughout the day. That night when he tried to gather her in his arms, she stiffened and seemed repelled by his touch. Jacob did not press her but lay there puzzled. Both he and Matilda had been quite innocent when they married, but quickly the intimate part of their life had become a source of joy and delight. He had been surprised when she was the one to initiate lovemaking after Lydia was born, in fact on the very night her mother had finally left them on their own. There were the occasional nights when both of them were too tired for anything but sleep, but they still reached for each other and dozed off entangled. Ever-patient Jacob just patted his troubled wife on the back for a minute and said softly, “Good night, Mattie. Sleep well.” Hearing only silence, he rolled over and sank into a fitful sleep.

***

Spring came suddenly to the rolling farmland of western Kentucky that year. Redbuds bloomed in welcome surprise on the ridgeline above the farm, and the night was filled with the insect-like noise of tree frogs awakened from their winter sleep. Jacob finished the onerous morning chores of feeding and milking the cows, giving mash to the horses and slop to the pigs. He headed back into the house for breakfast and chuckled to see Lydia chewing on her toes in the cradle. She gave him a gummy smile when he bent over to tickle her chin. Matilda had just put plates of eggs, sausage, and cornbread on the table and sat in her usual place. Jacob knew something had been on her mind for weeks, but each time he tried to press her, she turned away. This morning he saw a shift in her as she caught his eyes and looked at him directly. He waited patiently for her to speak.

“Jacob,” Matilda said, louder than was necessary, “I have to tell you something.” Jacob’s mind raced with a dozen possible disastrous announcements his wife might make. Finally she spoke, almost too softly for him to hear. “I think I have another baby in me. I fear it might be a second girl.” Jacob jumped up to embrace her, splashing his coffee across the table.

“What wonderful news, Mattie!” he exclaimed. “Why did you not tell me sooner?” He pulled her close into his arms laughing in relief that none of his fears were realized. “Did you think that I would not welcome another baby, no matter if it might be a girl?”

Matilda had tears in her eyes now. “But Jacob, it’s so soon after Lydia. I just . . . I . . .”

“I have to go tell William and Ed!” Matilda seemed genuinely surprised at Jacob’s joy as she watched him shovel breakfast into his mouth like he was starving. As soon as he was done, he took a minute to talk to the ever-interested baby Lydia. “You are going to have a sister, Lydia, or maybe a brother. Isn’t that exciting!” Such was her father’s animation that Lydia not only smiled, she let out her first real laugh. Jacob put a kiss on each of her plump little cheeks and headed for the door.

***

Matilda became more and more anxious as her belly swelled through the spring. Her nights were restless, and mornings came early. Lydia seemed to be thriving, but Jacob was concerned about what Matilda would do with two little ones both wanting to nurse. Margaret, Matilda’s mother, had not been feeling well for some time now and could not travel. Because her presence had been so little help during Matilda’s last confinement, it was a relief not to have to ask her to come. Jacob gave it a lot of thought and finally spoke to Uncle Jesse.

It was mid-June when Jesse showed up one day in his carriage with a snip of a girl seated beside him. Matilda was hanging laundry when they arrived. The child wore a threadbare smock and pinafore, her thin stringy hair braided, her expression sad. Jacob came out to greet them with his usual hearty welcome. “Morning, Uncle Jess! Wonderful to see you! And who have we here?” he asked, nodding to the girl, who squirmed uncomfortably and would not meet his eye.

“This is Abby. She’s come to help Matilda with Lydia and the new baby.” Jesse stepped out of the carriage and helped Abby down. He walked over and picked up a sleeping Lydia from the bassinet basket and handed her to the strange girl. Matilda started to protest, but Jesse interrupted, “Abby, why don’t you take Lydia inside the house and get acquainted?” As they walked away, Matilda noticed that Abby’s face took on a happy expression as she talked to Lydia and she seemed to know exactly how to hold and comfort her. Matilda turned to Jesse and Jacob as she watched them walk into the house.

“What is going on? Where did you find that child, and why did you bring her here?”

“It was me,” Jacob said. “I asked Jesse to find me someone to help you out. You know you’re exhausted now, and when the new baby comes, it’s going to be worse. I have too much to do with the crops and the animals to be of much use to you. Please don’t be upset, Matilda.”

Jesse spoke up. “Abby is the second girl in a family of eight. She has helped her mother since she could walk, so she knows babies. Her parents are struggling to feed them all. I am paying her family her wages, and I’ll give you money for her food. You’d be doing her and her family a favor Matilda, and she is just staying until school starts in the fall.” Matilda’s silence dragged out for an awkwardly long moment while the men stood waiting for her to speak.

“Well, if it’s done, I’ll just have to deal with it, won’t I?” Matilda’s words did not match the look of reprieve on her face.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief and gave his wife a hug. Jesse, reading the conflicting emotions from Matilda, pondered briefly on the state of his nephew’s marriage, then said, “I’ll be heading home, folks.” He climbed back into his rig and raised his voice to a slightly higher pitch. “Gee up!” he said, and the wagon rolled away down the dusty road.

Matilda grumbled and went back to the laundry, but after supper was over, with the house in order, she and Jacob lay together under her the quilt she and her mother made together before her wedding. She reached her hand over to touch her husband’s shoulder. “Thank you, Jacob,” was all she needed to say. He put his strong arm around her and pulled her close.

“So glad you’re happy, sweetheart,” Jacob said.

Matilda went off to sleep with a feeling of contentment she had not felt since Lydia was born.

The Birthday Girl

Lydia lay in bed for a few minutes with her eyes closed after she woke anticipating the excitement of her long-awaited eighth birthday. It was still dark outside, but the overeager bantam rooster demanded the sun to rise at his command. Soon there would be the noise of people stirring about the house, but for these few minutes Lydia could be alone with her dreams. Great-uncle Jesse had promised her a surprise, so she let her mind wander with delicious anticipation about what it might be. She wondered if her mother would make a special dinner like she did for her brother Jake when he turned seven in August.

Quietly, so as not to wake grumbly Jake or her other dear little brother, Josiah, Lydia washed her face, dressed, and made her bed. She tiptoed down the steps into the dark kitchen and headed to the outhouse while the rest of the family slept. The cool morning made the usual stench a bit more bearable as she sat down to relieve herself. She washed her hands in the ice cold water bucket on the porch and went inside. Her dad came down the stairs just as she closed the door.

“Well, if it isn’t my little Lydia all bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. Wonder why she’s up so early?” Lydia giggled with delight as her dad scooped her up in his arms for a hug.

“It’s my birthday, Pa!” Lydia giggled again and kissed her daddy’s scratchy cheek.

“Oh my!” Papa responded with a fake tone of surprise. “If that’s the case, we better get done with chores so we can celebrate. I’m heading out to the barn. Why don’t you come with me and help me feed the animals?” Lydia nodded her enthusiasm, happy to do anything to please her father. Taking three steps for every one of his, she scurried to the barn, picked up a bucket, and began to fill it with corn for the chickens. After they were all out in the yard, she slipped into the henhouse to steal eggs from their still-warm nests. She was ever so careful as she put them in the straw-lined basket, but just as she was picking up the last one, the old rooster entered the house and flew up at her in a rage. Terrified as she was of the rooster’s sharp claws and beak, Lydia protected the filled basket by wrapping both arms around it. In doing so she lost her grip on the one egg she was holding, and it landed with a splat on the wooden planks of the henhouse floor.

“Mean old thing! Look what you made me do,” Lydia yelled at the rooster and shooed him away as she headed back out the door, holding carefully onto the egg basket.

By the time she got back to the house, Mother was bustling about the kitchen. “Good morning, Mother. I fed the chicken and gathered the eggs. There are thirty-three of them today. There would have been thirty-four if the mean old rooster hadn’t made me drop one.” Lydia was proud of her math skills, which she had learned from her Uncle Jesse. Because of him she was ahead of all the other students her age in the local school, even though she had only started going a year ago.

Lydia’s mother’s sharp tone brought her back to reality.

Her mother stood with hands on hips and mouth tight as she hissed, “You are a wicked child to blame the rooster for your carelessness. Shame on you!”