Chapter 10
626 Words
Chapter Ten
Emily rocked herself in the leather glider in the living room, dressed in a lovely, dark blue gown, and holding her two-day-old baby girl. The garment buttoned up the front and was low cut, showing off her generous cleavage. Mary Haske and the family minister sat on the sofa opposite, chatting.
Becky was in the kitchen with Rodney, setting out trays of food on the kitchen table. Brad and his brothers were outside with the kids. While Brad and Neil were dressed in dark suits, Jed was wearing a new pair of blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt. Emily wondered as she watched them through the front window if he actually owned a suit. She listened to the giggles of Katy and Trevor as they were being doted on by their uncles.
The front door opened and the brothers burst in with the two kids, who were laughing and stomping around. Most would frown on the noise, but, when Emily and Brad had arrived home the day before, Becky told them that if they started tiptoeing around the baby and worrying about the noise they were making, they’d both be nervous wrecks, and the child would never get any sleep. Becky also said that, in general, babies found it comforting to sleep in a bustling household that was calm and peaceful. Emily had agreed. It was the child’s father who still needed convincing.
Brad started toward Emily, but stopped when she met the deep love burning in his somber, brown eyes—for her and their child. He took her breath away, this handsome man, dressed in his Sunday best; a custom-tailored suit that hugged his rugged frame. It was no wonder that every woman who had been in church today for their baby girl’s christening had smiled in appreciation at Brad. But he was hers. Emily glanced at the solid, gold band encrusted with diamonds that sparkled every time she gazed down at it. A symbol and his token; she was his wife, and she belonged to him: Mrs. Emily Friessen.
Their wedding was a blur, but what Emily did remember, as the labor wracked her small body with pain, was Brad grabbing the skinny minister by the shirt front and hauling him over to the bed. He told the young man that he had two choices on how he wanted to leave the hospital room—either marry them quickly and walk out, or go out on a stretcher.
Keith had shouted a warning at Brad, but it was Dr. Montgomery who surprised everyone by saying, “If you’re smart, you’ll marry them and make it the fastest ceremony you’ve ever done. Skip to the ‘I do’ part now, and see these two properly wed before this baby appears in the next few minutes.” Then she pointed to the side of the bed and added in her husky voice, “Preacher, you can stand right there. Start talking.”
As the doctor urged Emily’s legs up, the preacher had scurried to the side of the bed, as instructed, and flipped to a page in his book. Keith, who already had the marriage license out, along with a pen, wrote his signature as witness and handed both items to Brad. Then, as Emily screamed “I do,” Brad held the paper and pressed the pen into her hand, so that she could scribble her name.
While Emily pushed, Brad had sat beside her and supported her back. The preacher hurried along and spoke fast, and right before the baby’s head crowned, he uttered the words, “I pronounce you man and wife.”
Becky Ann Friessen was born at 9:22am, weighing in at seven pounds and two ounces; right after her father had pushed a diamond-encrusted gold band on her mama’s finger.
Fallen Hero
The Outsider Series (Jed, Diana & Andy)
- Writer
