Christmas Eve, Jo and Ryder retired early to their cabin. Jo confessed to Melody she had gas pains and didn’t want to disgrace herself in front of company.
In the main house, a freshly cut lodge-pole pine stood proudly in the parlor corner near the piano, decorated with popcorn garlands and candy canes. Daddy Royce fiddle tuned, Cleantha at the piano, and Tru’s husband, Melody’s Uncle Quinn and his harmonica, set the room into a festive mood playing Christmas carols.
Melody, Twyla-Rose, Birdie-Alice, and Van did their best to keep up and find the words to every verse of Good King Wenceslas. When they couldn’t remember the words, Melody and Van made up words to fit, giving everyone the giggling fits.
Big, good-looking Telt Longtree lay stretched out on his belly on the floor in the middle of the room, his pretty, plump wife Wren next to him, both of them deep in a game of tiddly-winks with Tru and Quinn’s boys Lukas and Roman. Rafe and Doreen, and Buck and Idella, were in the kitchen sipping hot buttered rum drinks. Gabe, seated on the parlor sofa, his feet up, had charge of little Joy. She’d fallen asleep in her daddy’s arms right after supper.
The party mood was interrupted when the front door flew open, and Ryder rushed in. “Jo, Jo…the baby. We were in bed and pop. I heard a pop and then water between her legs. She’s in labor.”
Birdie-Alice calmly relieved her husband of their sleeping daughter. Gabe rolled up his sleeves. “Ryder, go back to the cabin, get Jo, and bring her over here. We’ll get her upstairs to her old room. Keep her on her feet for a while, let her walk around a bit.”
Ryder, shirt unbuttoned, in his longjohns, barefoot, red in the face, eyes blazing, looked ready to explode. “She’s not one of your God damn mares!”
Gabe put his hand on his shoulder and said very quietly, “I know, she’s my sister. I love her too. We need to let her move about a little until the contractions get too hard and start coming close together. Her labor will go faster if she moves around.
“Melody, go with Ryder. Bring back any baby things Jo’s brought with her, and a spare nightgown if she has one. And help Ryder get her over here and up the stairs. I brought a kit with me for this very purpose. We’ll start to gather up what we need.”
Melody opened her mouth to say she doubted her brother would cooperate with her. Gabe gave her an encouraging smile. “Go on, Jo will be happy to see you. She knows how capable you are. And your brother knows it too.”
Melody pressed her lips together and took her brother by the hand to lead him back to his cabin. “First thing you’re going to do, brother, is get dressed,” Melody said.
“Melody,” Buck said from the kitchen doorway, “tell her we love her.”
∙•∙
Van didn’t normally drink. Hard liquor usually brought on the sweats and nausea, but after four hours of listening to the hushed voices, the shuffling feet, low moans and sharp cries coming from the room upstairs, he found himself seriously considering a belt of strong spirits.
Leaning against the porch rail, arms crossed, he inhaled the frosty air to quiet his nerves. He didn’t know how Ryder could stand it. If it were Melody up there writhing in pain, he’d go insane. The situation had him questioning the idea of marriage, family, and children. If all it brought with it was pain and agony, sacrifice and constant worry, then why the hell would anyone want to do it?
A strong hand clapped him on the shoulder. “She needs to cry out, release the pain,” Buck said. “She’s focusing on the work. It’s hard, but she’s a strong, healthy young woman. She’s gonna be fine. As for Ryder, I don’t know, it’s even odds right now. They sent him out of the room. He’s sitting at the top of the stairs, head in his hands.”
Buck leaned against the porch post opposite and gazed up to the heavens. “I wish Petra could be here. Jo and Ryder have a good marriage.” He paused, shook his head at Van. “I know, you had your doubts. I did too, at first. His work takes him away from home a lot. But Jo has her school. I’m positive any child of theirs will receive more than enough attention. Jo will have plenty of good help. Ryder’s dedicated to her. They have a strong bond.”
“Did I ever tell you about my mother, how she became a madam?”
“You might’ve, I don’t remember,” Van said, half listening.
“Her mother died of the influenza, leaving my mother, and her brother in the care of their low-life son-of-a-bitchin’ father. The brother ran off at the age of twelve and boarded a ship to South America. My mother never heard from him again. She took off on her own at age thirteen and made it to California. She worked the gold fields plying her trade. Made enough money to buy her own establishment in San Francisco. She did all right for herself. I remember the ladies took good care of me. I went a little sideways for a time, but I got back on track thanks to your mother. And tonight, I’m here listening to the sounds of my second grandchild come screaming into this world. I’ll be here, God willing, to greet your children too.”
Van straightened and shoved his hands down deep into his trouser pockets. “No. Oh no, Dad. I can’t ask Melody, or any woman, to go through what Jo is going through. No, Melody’s too small. It’d kill her. It sounds like it’s killing Jo. No. I’m never getting married. This is torture.”
Buck laughed at him. “Women, well, most women, want children. They know the risk. It’s life, son. You’ve seen new life enter the world. Hell, I’ve seen you reach in and grab hold and pull’em out.”
Disgusted, Van sputtered. “That’s calves, and colts.”
“It’s the same road. Cattle, horses, humans, we all enter through the same portal.”
“Dad, the way you talk sometimes,” Van said and turned away, “you’re too, too, pragmatic.”
“Coarse, I think, is the word you’re looking for.”
“Yeah, that too,” Van said and grumbled.
Melody came out on the porch and wrapped her arms around Van’s waist. “Jo delivered a big, healthy boy a few moments ago. Idella weighed him on the kitchen scale. Eight pounds, ten ounces. Ryder’s on his knees beside her bed. He could use a shot of something stout to put the starch back in him,” she said to Buck. “And Gabe, I’m sure he’d welcome a drink as well.”
Buck laughed and blew a kiss to the heavens. “I have just the remedy. A bottle of brandy I picked up when we were in Portland last New Year is sitting on the top shelf of the pantry. We’ll raise a toast to the new member of the clan,” he said, going inside the house.
“Do you drink?” Melody asked Van.
“No, but I might try it tonight. God, poor Jo. How is she, really?”
“She’s deliriously happy, laughing, and crying. She had a relatively easy time.”
“How can you say that? She was in agony for hours and hours.”
“Sometimes labor can go on for days.”
“Days? My God, Melody. Do you want children?”
“Yes, I told you, I would love to have children. I would love to teach them, show them all the things I know.”
“But, but the pain?”
“Who’s to say a rose doesn’t experience pain when it gives birth to a new bud, and it opens up to a flower, and yet it blooms and blooms and blooms. And birds, laying eggs, that certainly looks painful to me, and yet they do it over and over and over.”
“That’s your answer?”
“No, it’s not an answer. It’s a matter of acceptance, following the course of the nature of things. If you allow your fears to deny you what everyone else is willing to risk, you’ll be missing out on so much beauty, joy, and wonder. It’s a gamble. Life, new life, requires faith. I have a lot of faith. Ryder’s learning. He’ll do better next time.”
“Next time?”
“Yes, next time. Jo said she’d like a girl.”
“Well, that’s just plain crazy.”
Melody laughed at him. “You know what’s crazy?”
“I have no idea what you think is crazy. I couldn’t guess in a million years.”
She punched him in the arm. “I really don’t think spirits are going to revive me. I think a dip in the pond is what I need.”
He opened the screen door for her. “Hmmm? I thought you didn’t know how to swim.”
“Mother and Idella have been giving me lessons. I raced Twyla-Rose across the pond yesterday. I won by a body length. Birdie-Alice and Doreen said I’m good enough to swim solo if I want.”
“Oh, yeah? As our guest, I need to see for myself. It would be irresponsible of me to allow you to go to the pool unattended.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Meet you after everyone goes to their cabins. Surely they’ll want to get some sleep. I’ll test your abilities.”
Giggling, Melody ducked under his arm and entered the house.