Edith and the Mysterious Stranger (20 page)

I never knew I could find someone to love
that would mean so much to me, all done up so attractive and neat
and beautiful in one lovely package.

I dream of you all the time. It seems so
real I wake up thinking you are in my arms kissing me and then I
can’t go back to sleep. As badly as I needed sleep last night I
couldn’t sleep the whole night through.

Talking about dreams, do you
believe in dreams? I do. I believe that if you work hard enough,
dreams can come true.
We first began writing as friends,
but my affection for you has grown tremendously. Writing to you has
been a dream fulfilled. And yes, I do love you with all my heart. I
wish to see you and hold you in my arms once again.

With Love and Affection,

A Most Devoted Friend

Melinda gasped as she eagerly opened Edith’s
reply:

My Dearest Friend,

With each letter and the revealing of our
thoughts, my fondness for you has grown, also. And yes, I think
it’s time we meet. This time with no masks. My dearest friend, it’s
difficult to tell you how I feel. Many times I struggle to tell you
my true feelings in each letter. But every time I try, I can’t seem
to do it justice because my heart is so full. I feel like Elizabeth
Barrett Browning as she wrote to her beloved. She had piles of
letters from him. Once she said: “My letters! All dead paper, mute
and white! And yet they seem alive and quivering against my
tremulous hands.” His letters were very dear to her, as are yours
to me. She also wrote:

Love me, sweet, with all thou art,

Feeling, thinking, seeing, --

Love me in the lightest part,

Love me in full being.

This is how I feel. Sweet Friend, I don’t
know if I can write any longer. My heart aches to touch you and
meet you in person once again.

With Love,

Edith

After reading the letters, she handed them to
Edith, amazed and touched by the tenderness of each letter, so
romantic, so full of love, so sincere and genuine.

“Well?” asked Edith.

“Oh, my!”

“Is that all you can say?”

Melinda moaned.

“Are you all right, Sweetie?” Edith said as she
quickly dropped the letters in her bag.

“No!” Then Melinda grabbed her belly. The
anguish and discomfort were obvious as she groaned, “O-o-o-oh.”

“Melinda, are you having more cramps?”

“Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h!”
She was in
discomfort, and she did not care who heard. “Yes! Yes!
Yes!”

The bedroom door swung open, and Gilbert burst
in, his eyes wide, breathing heavily.

“What’s the matter?” he demanded.

He stared at Melinda as she held her belly and
moaned. He strode to her and knelt on the floor beside her, placing
his hand on her knee and looking up at her twisted face.

Then he turned to Edith and said, “She’s ready,
isn’t she!” His mouth was dry as he said, “She’s never had them
this hard before. During the past week they’ve been quite
bearable.”

As he spoke, Jenny and Joseph entered the room.
John had gone to bed early and was sound asleep.

Joseph asked softly, “Can I help?”

Edith nodded. “Yes. Gilbert, get her to bed.
Joseph, I need clean sheets and sterilized water. Jenny, I need you
to help me in the bedroom.”

Gilbert tenderly helped Melinda to her feet and
led her to the bed. After sitting her down, he knelt beside her and
took off her slippers. He fluffed some pillows behind her back to
give support. And then he sat beside her, holding her hand in his.
His face was laced with concern, and his heart was thumping against
his chest as he caressed her fingers.

The tragedy sixteen years ago was etched deeply
in his memory. His first wife had died during childbirth when Jenny
was born. The memory of it returned as he squeezed Melinda’s hand,
and tears began trickling down his cheeks. How he loved this
woman!

She was his life, and he felt he could not
endure a life without her. She brought him greater happiness than
he thought could ever exist. He felt so lucky…no, the word was
blessed. He felt so blessed that she had chosen to marry him. She
could have married anyone, but she fell in love with Gilbert, a
rancher. It was as if God had had pity on him and gave him this
most prized possession. He lifted her hand and pressed his lips
lovingly against the soft flesh of her palm.

With her free hand, Melinda lovingly pushed her
fingers through his thick wavy hair and smiled, “It’ll be all
right, Sweetheart. Don’t worry.”

Before she could say another word, she grimaced
and moaned once again, grabbing her stomach with her hand.

“Sweetheart, lie down. Maybe it’ll help.”

Edith saw his furrowed brow and knew he was
worried. She watched Gilbert as he tenderly helped Melinda lie
down.

“Gilbert, I’ll let you stay just a little
longer. But you have to leave when I tell you. Okay?”

“Are you sure I can’t help?”

Edith shook her head. “One time I gave in and
let a man stay. I was telling his wife to breathe deeply so she
could relax. That way the cramps wouldn’t be so painful. It didn’t
take long before her husband started to encourage her, too. He kept
saying over and over again, ‘Breathe deep, Honey. Breathe deep.’
After a while, she couldn’t’ stand it any longer. She scowled at
him and yelled, ‘I am! Just shut up.’ Apparently she had never
talked to him that way before, and he was shocked. And then, during
her strongest cramp, she scowled and said, ‘You did this to me!’
That was the last time I allowed a husband to stay.”

Gilbert chuckled. He needed a little humor
at that moment to ward off the anxiety. He was worrying too much,
and he knew it.

“Yup! This was all my fault, if you really
think about it.”

Melinda touched his brow tenderly. He was
trying so hard to joke around, but she could see the anxiety in his
face.

“Don’t worry so much, Sweetheart. Edith
knows what she’s doing. We’re in good hands.”

Before Melinda could utter another word, she
gasped, and a gush of warm liquid soaked her thin robe and the bed
around her. Gilbert’s mouth dropped open at the sight of the
yellowish liquid. His heart was pounding furiously, and he began to
stutter as he looked at his distraught wife.

Melinda grabbed Gilbert’s arm and dug her
fingers into his flesh as she groaned. A shooting pain gripped her
abdomen, causing her belly to stiffen into a round solid lump. When
the cramp subsided, she released her powerful grip, took a few deep
breaths, and closed her eyes, hoping to be ready for the next
one.

When Edith saw the worry lines deepen on
Gilbert’s forehead, she stepped forward and said, “There is one
thing you can do, Gilbert.”

She took his hand and led him out of the
room to be with Joseph. There was no way she would allow him to
stay any longer. He was fretting too much, and in his condition,
anything could happen. She had seen bigger men than Gilbert faint,
possibly from holding their breath too long. This was women’s
work.

When she entered the bedroom, Edith sat beside her
cousin and rubbed the tension out of her back. She massaged her
shoulders and gently reminded her to breathe deeply. She wiped the
sweat from her brow, gave her sips of water, and continued to rub
her lower back. After an hour, Edith could tell that it would not
be much longer.

Melinda’s cramping had increased in strength and was
almost unbearable. They were coming more frequently, not allowing
any time to rest. Just as she thought she could have a short
breather, they started up again. Why couldn’t she just take a
moment to catch her breath? But no, this baby was ready to come,
and no one was going to stop his or her progress, not even for a
moment. She had no choice in the matter. The excruciating pain
would not cease. She realized that she needed to keep breathing to
help relax. She closed her eyes to concentrate.

Her cousin’s soothing voice reminded her, “Take deep
breaths, Melinda. Breathe deep, breathe deep.”

For some reason, Melinda felt so alone, as if no one
understood the pain she was feeling. How could anyone comprehend
it? She knew it was all up to her to get her baby into this new
world, and she felt like she was not succeeding. As each
contraction began to build, she became more irritated, and she knew
that if anyone crossed her or said one word, they had better
beware.

Just as she thought the pain could never get worse,
it did. Her abdomen tightened and held for several seconds, but in
her mind, it felt more like several minutes. Melinda moaned with
despair as she closed her eyes and prayed for help.

Just then, Edith said, “It’s time, Melinda. You
need to push now. Yes, that’s it. Push some more. I can see the
baby’s head. Push again.”

Melinda held her breath, clutched the sheet
between her fingers, and pushed with all her strength. Before she
realized what had happened, she heard the soft innocent cry of a
newborn infant. Relief swept over her like a warm blanket.
Melinda’s body was exhausted. Her breathing had slowed down as she
listened to the soft cry of her newborn child. When she opened her
eyes and looked at her baby, she smiled and tears of joy trickled
down her face. She could not deny the hand of God in what had just
happened.

Edith quickly wrapped the infant and placed
the bundle in Melinda’s arms. The little pink face had splotches of
filmy white colostrum. Her baby’s hair was strawberry blond, about
an inch long, and had big gray eyes and long eyelashes. The infant
was beautiful, very beautiful indeed.

The joy that swept over Melinda was
indescribable. It was as if trying to describe a sunset to someone
who was blind. How does one describe the ultimate joy of holding
one’s child, of being in charge of raising such innocence? What a
humbling responsibility!

After cleaning Melinda up, putting a clean
sheet on the bed, and helping her get comfortable, Edith walked out
to the living room to announce the news.

As she saw the expectant look on Gilbert’s
face, she said, “Your wife and new daughter are waiting for
you.”

“Is Melinda all right?”

“Yes. Everything went well.”

Gilbert smiled. “A daughter?”

Edith nodded.

Down the hall Gilbert strode at a quick
pace. When he entered, tears instantly welled up in his eyes as he
asked, “Melinda, are you all right?”

“Yes. Everything’s fine.”

“I heard we have a daughter.”

Melinda looked down at the bundle in her
arms and smiled. “Yes, we do.”

Gilbert strode toward her and knelt beside
the bed. He took her hand in his and kissed it tenderly.

“Do you want to meet your daughter?” Melinda
asked.

Gilbert smiled and nodded.

She pulled the blanket down so he could see
the baby’s face.

“Oh, Melinda. She’s beautiful. She looks
like you.”

Melinda handed his daughter to him, and he
carefully took her in his arms.

Gilbert held her close to his chest and
marveled at such a new creation as he said, “She’s so little.”

Melinda watched his eyes as he gazed
adoringly at his new daughter, not taking his eyes off her once.
She smiled as she watched him. Nothing could be more wonderful. How
could her happiness ever exceed what she was now feeling?

“Gilbert?”

His eyes strayed from his daughter’s to
Melinda’s. “Yes?”

“I named our son. What do you want to name
our daughter?”

Gilbert smiled. “I’ve been doing a lot of
thinking and have come up with a name that describes her perfectly.
It’s a Greek word, and it means ‘pure’. I think it fits her.”

“What is it?”

“Makayla. We can call her Kayla for
short.”

“Oh Gilbert, I love it.”

While the family was gathered together in the
bedroom, Edith was washing the dirty dishes that had been used that
evening, and Joseph was drying them. After a while, he stopped and
watched her, enjoying being beside her and talking. She was so
enchanting in her apron, tied neatly around her waist, and her hair
was mussed from the busy evening. It was now eleven p.m. and she
looked exhausted but was still going. What a trooper! How he
admired her tenacity, her perseverance and determination!

When Edith noticed that Joseph had stopped
wiping, she turned and faced him with a grin, and chided him, “Get
busy drying, you slacker!”

“Me? A slacker?” Joseph laughed.

“Yes. Here I am working my fingers to the bone
like a slave, helping to bring a child into the world, and now I’m
slaving over these dishes. And what do you do? You just stand there
watching me work. Hmmm, I once heard there was no rest for the
wicked. Well, I must be a very wicked person.”

Joseph chuckled. Without even thinking, he
reached out and gently moved a loose curl from her cheek. Then he
backed up a couple steps and his eyes swept over her, marveling at
her beauty, as he said softly, “You look mighty fine for a wicked
woman.”

It was not so much what he said but the way
he said it that warmed Edith’s soul. His eyes gave her the message
that she was a very beautiful woman. Here she was with loose
tendrils hanging in her face, and an apron tied around her waist.
She knew that she looked tired and worn, but Joseph was making her
feel like one of the most beautiful women on earth.

When Joseph saw the coy look on her face,
his heart picked up speed and he wondered if she was feeling the
same way. On impulse, Joseph stepped toward her, slid his hands
around her waist, and pulled her close to him.

As he enfolded her in his arms, he whispered
in her ear, “Oh, Edith. I love you so much.”

Edith was taken aback. With surprise, she
pushed him away and said, “But…we’re just friends, Joseph. I have
never let you know differently, have I? If I have, I’m so
sorry.”