The girls and Heidi had been busy all day in the kitchen, with a couple of breaks to feed, change and play with Michael. Molly and Jessica went upstairs to play together, and Heidi had just sat down when Derek walked in the door.
Heidi made him a cup of hot chocolate and together they sat quietly by the fire.
"It was so busy I didn't get one chance to sit down. I was on my feet all day."
She giggled. "Now you know what it's like to be a mudder."
"I already know that. I know it hasn’t been easy for you being here by yourself when you've not been well. Was everything okay?"
"It was. We had a fun time making cookies and other things."
"Is that what I can smell?"
Heidi nodded. “And we've got corn on the cob and vegetable stew for dinner. There wasn't much meat, so I thought we’d save it for—"
"I'm picking up our meat order tomorrow. Don’t you remember? You said it’ll be enough to see us through Christmas.”
“I’m sorry. I forgot,” she bit her lip.
“I guess you also forgot we’re going to Ben and Faith’s place for dinner?"
She tapped her head. “I did. I remembered earlier and then I forgot. Oh well, the stew will be all right for tomorrow night’s meal. And maybe I'll brown up the meat and add that to it.”
He sipped on his hot drink. “Jah, sounds gut. Stew is actually better the next day, in my opinion, and I like it best with meat. Now, let's you and I relax a bit. We don’t have to leave for another hour.”
Instead of relaxing, her nerves kicked in at the idea of seeing Ben and Faith again. What if she was supposed to remember or know things that she didn’t? “Okay. I’ll get the girls and Michael ready soon. So, what did you sell mainly today?"
"We sold out of most of my toys.”
“That’s great.”
He chuckled. “Christmas is where we make the most money, so I’d be worried if I didn’t sell most of them. I’ve got to take the rest to the store tomorrow. Ben's collecting me just in case you need the buggy tomorrow."
"That's good of you, denke. Maybe we will go out somewhere tomorrow. I already told the girls we might. They want to do some shopping." She felt bad because she should’ve been making things for Christmas rather than shopping. That’s what her mother had done with her when she was young. They never got store-bought gifts.
"Only if it's not too cold. Going by the forecast, the weather should be okay tomorrow, but we've got a cold front moving in next week."
Heidi wondered if she'd still be there next week. "Did you enjoy working there? At the store, I mean?"
"It's okay for a change, but I much prefer working here."
She knew he meant in his barn workshop and that confirmed he had made a full-time job out of his woodworking craft. He must make enough for them to live a comfortable life because they didn't seem to lack for anything.
"The girls are very quiet."
"They're playing games in their room. I don't think they heard you come home."
She walked to the stairs and yelled. "Girls, Dat’s home."
A few seconds later, they were running down the stairs and straight to their father and hugging him.
"And what did you two do today?" he asked.
"We made star cookies," Molly said.
Jessica added, "Mamm had a special recipe in her head, and one for pie and one for cake. It’s a secret, but it's okay to tell you."
"Is that so?" He turned to look at his wife and she smiled at him. "Do you think I might be allowed to have a cookie before dinner?" he asked Jessica.
"Jah," said Jessica, nodding her head while Molly was shaking hers.
"Not before dinner, Dat, but you might be able to have one after dinner if Mamm says so," Molly said.
"In that case, I'd be happy with one after dinner," he said.
"And the rest are for Christmas day," Jessica told him.
He chuckled, and then Heidi said, "Girls, you can get washed up and change into some good clothes. We’re going out to Onkel Ben’s for dinner.”
The girls squealed with delight.
“Tonight?” Molly asked.
“Jah, we’re leaving in less than an hour. So off you go and get changed.”
When the girls headed up the stairs, Heidi asked, “Do you need anything else before we go?”
“Jah, please. I need something to keep going. One cookie perhaps?”
She giggled. “Just one.”
While she was in the kitchen fetching a cookie, she heard Michael waking from his afternoon nap. She brought Derek two cookies on a small plate and when she entered the room she saw he had Michael in his arms. A warm and happy glow washed over her and she realized she had a husband who loved his wife and children, she had a baby, and a real family. This was how things were meant to be, and now she belonged somewhere, right here, with wonderful people.
He looked over at her. "I think someone's hungry."
“I’ll heat his bottle.” She placed the plate down on the low table by the couch. When she came back with the bottle, she took Michael from Derek and sat down beside him to feed the baby.
"Why did you forget we were going to Ben and Faith’s tonight?”
“You know I’m absent minded sometimes.”
“Not usually.”
“Sometimes, like today.” She giggled to make light of it. “I remembered earlier in the day, and then I forgot once I got busy with the girls and everything. They were quite a handful earlier today.”
“Were they?”
“Jah. I’ve noticed that Molly is telling Jessica to do naughty things. I think she’s after my attention.”
“Who? Molly?”
“Jah. I’m probably paying too much attention to Michael, or something.”
“They all go through their stages. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Ben always did things like that to me. He thought it was funny to get me into trouble. I got wise to it pretty quickly.”
Heidi nodded. Being an only child, she had no idea what siblings did when they were young. “I don’t like her taking pleasure in seeing her schweschder get into trouble.”
“Don’t worry too much. Like I said, it’s probably just a stage. I did some awful things when I was young and I can’t even tell you why.”
Heidi hoped that was all it was. Having no siblings herself, she didn’t know whether what Molly had done was normal at this age.
Before they reached Ben and Faith’s home, Heidi found out from the excited chatter of her girls in the back seat of the buggy that Ben and Faith had two girls, Sarah and Lily, who were approximately their ages. Carefully set at Heidi’s feet was a covered carrying-basket holding the cake they’d made from Agnes’s recipe.
When the buggy stopped, Derek cautioned the girls not to run to the house. They were to wait until Heidi got out with the baby, and they would walk quietly and calmly with their mother.
“We won’t run, Dat,” Molly assured him.
“We’ll walk slowly,” Jessica added.
“Good, see that you do.”
When Faith opened the door, Molly stepped forward. “We made a peach cake to bring over.”
Heidi reached down and pulled her back slightly, and then said to Faith, "Jah, we did. It's in the buggy and—"
"Dat’s bringing it in." Molly finished her sentence for her as she started unbuttoning her coat.
"That's wunderbaar. We love peach cake," Faith said. Then two young girls appeared beside Faith. “Off you all go and play, after you hang up your coats.”
“I’m sorry. She’s left her manners somewhere today,” Heidi said regarding Molly.
Faith swiped a hand through the air. “They’re all the same at that age. She'll learn.”
Once Heidi was inside, Faith helped her get her coat off, hanging it on a peg by the door. She stared at Michael who was asleep. “Oh, he’s so adorable. He’s always asleep.”
“That’s all he does—eats and sleeps. Is there anything I can do? I can give Michael to Derek when he comes in."
"Nee, everything is done. I'm just giving the vegetables a few more minutes."
Ben walked into the room, said hello to Heidi and then grabbed his coat, donning it as he went out of the house to see Derek.
"The food smells nice. I don't know how you do it, working full time and then coming home to make a meal."
"Ah, I have a trick for that. I cook a variety of things on my day off and have them in the fridge, and then I can just reheat them as I need them."
"Aha! That's a good idea." That reminded Heidi of how she had her frozen meals prepared ahead of time and all she had to do was pop them in the microwave. The only difference was someone else had cooked them.
"How are you feeling?"
Heidi was a little tired of people asking her how she was. "I'm fine. I really don't think there's anything to worry about. Derek is such a worrier."
"He's just being attentive. Ben is like that, too. We're blessed with good husbands."
"I know. I know, he's so good to me. I'm just tired of all the fussing. "
Just then the two men came inside. They left off talking while Derek handed the cake-carrying basket to Faith as he greeted her, and then he and Ben went into the living room, resuming their outdoor conversation on the way.
The women went into the kitchen, and Heidi pulled out a chair and sat down. Faith set the basket on the counter, peeking inside. "What a beautiful cake. And it smells wonderful, too." She joined Heidi at the table.
"Denke. It's my first time to use this recipe. I hope it's good."
"I'm sure it will be. Now, can I have a hold of Michael?"
"Of course you can." She passed him over.
"I'll be so happy when I'm blessed with another boppli."
Heidi gave a little giggle. "It'll happen.”
"It hasn't happened yet, and you and I had our girls so close together that. when you got pregnant a third time, I thought that I would too. That's how it happened with the others, but I missed out this time."
Heidi nodded. "The right time will come, I'm sure. Have faith," she said with a giggle, bringing a smile to her sister-in-law's face in response to the wordplay. "I didn't have much time to talk to Derek about his day, but I heard you were busy in the store."
"Jah, we were. It was one of the busiest days we've ever had and everyone wanted their items gift-wrapped. I was so pleased I had pre-made some boxes last week. That saved us a lot of time today, I can tell you that."
"Good planning on your part. These days, everybody likes saving time. They like to buy gifts and have them wrapped at the same time.”
Faith stared at her. "Are you sure you’re all right?"
“Jah, why?"
"Because you're talking a little differently."
"Oh, I didn't realize. Derek said something along the same lines today."
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but you’re saying things you wouldn't normally say."
"I don't know. I just think I'm tired, with the boppli and all."
"Jah, it's so hard when they’re small and you're not getting enough sleep. Are the girls helpful to you?"
"Jah, they’re a big help. I don't know what I'd do without them."
At that moment, Michael opened his eyes wide and stared up at Faith. The expression on his face made her giggle.
"He likes you," Heidi said.
"Of course he does. He knows I think he’s the sweetest baby who ever lived. The sweetest baby bu, I should say in case the girls are listening." Faith laughed.
"I don't think they’re listening. They're too busy playing with my girls. Are you sure I can't do anything?"
"Nothing needs doing, just relax. I've been meaning to have you here for some time, but there's always been one thing or another standing in the way. With Christmas coming, it would've been well into the new year before we could've gotten together if it wasn’t done tonight. Derek has been so helpful at the store. I don't know that we could have managed without him helping today." She looked down at Michael and made faces.
"He does like making his wooden toys with all those moving pieces. It keeps him busy."
Faith looked up at Heidi. "That should be enough time for the vegetables now. I'll find the girls, and I'll take Michael with me if that's okay."
Heidi smiled at the way Faith was taken with Michael. “Of course you can take him."
The dinner was a leg of lamb roasted with several kinds of vegetables. She recalled that the last night in her apartment she’d had a lamb roast meal. Even though Faith admitted that she'd had the meat already cooked, it tasted so much better than the frozen meals Heidi heated in the microwave.
When everything went quiet, Heidi looked around and saw everyone looking at her. It was then she realized someone had just asked her a question. She was certain it was Ben. "I'm so sorry, what was that? I was a million miles away."
Derek said, "Ben was just asking you if you mind if I work at the store on Christmas Eve."
“That's fine, I had expected you would be needed."
"So, you're fully recovered?" Ben asked.
"I feel fine."
"Don’t hesitate to call if you’re not doing well, and he can come home right away," Ben said.
"I'll keep that in mind, but I'll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about."