It’s the end of summer and we are finishing up another typical day at the ranch. Joshua and some of the other fellows are corralling the last of the steer after a day out on the range. It was my belief that the exercise and change of scenery did wonders for them. It wasn’t a normal practice for a rancher, but then again I never considered myself a normal rancher. I was damn good at what I did. My nonconventional approach is what set me apart from all the rest.
As I gathered my gear and prepared our horses for the trip back, I heard a young boy’s voice in a panic outside of the stable.
“I’m looking for Mr. Buck Abbott,” the voice said.
I heard someone say he’s inside the stable, so I decided to peek my head out to see what the matter was. I saw a young boy whose face looked familiar from around town rushing toward me.
“Mr. Abbott, you’ve got to come quick!” he said as he came to a halt in front of me, gasping for breath with his hands on his knees.
“Whoa there, young man. What’s all the fuss about? What could be so urgent?”
“It’s Ms. Millie…” he managed, still trying to catch his breath, “. . . they took her to the Dr.,” his sentences were coming in broken, but he had my full attention now “. . . they think the baby is coming.”
Once his words registered in my mind, I leapt onto my horse and tore out of those stables like a man on a mission. I rode my horse Duchess harder than she had ever been ridden. There is no doubt in my mind that we made record time traveling through the gorge back to Asante. I arrived at the doctor’s office and rushed inside hoping I wasn’t too late for the delivery. I was met by a nurse who tried to stop me from entering the room where Millie was. Just as I was about to shove her aside someone yelled out, “that’s her husband,” and she promptly stepped out of my way. Not a moment too soon either because I would have hated to toss her out of the window, but she was impeding my efforts to be by the side of the love of my life as she gave birth to our first child.
As I entered the room, I saw Millie on a table with her knees up and one of her assistants holding her hand. The doctor was in position ready to receive the baby, and he looked at me in relief.
“Thank goodness you are here. She refused to start pushing until you arrived. She is a strong woman because she should have had this baby an hour ago.”
I immediately rushed to her side, grabbed her hand, and kissed it. “I’m here, Lamb, tell me what you want me to do.”
She looked at me, sweat and tears rolling down her face, and she replied, “Tell your son to get off my bladder.”
“Son?” I said with excitement. “How do you know it’s a boy?”
“Because he is as stubborn as you are. I kept telling him ‘not yet, you have to wait on your father,’ but he kept trying to push his way out like he had somewhere to go. That is clearly the type of stubborn behavior only a son would share with a father.”
“May we proceed now?” the doctor interrupted with a mixture of irritation and nervousness in this tone.
“Yes, Doc, we’re ready. I’m here now,” I replied, reassuring him as well as my wife.
As if almost on cue with the very first push that little rascal nearly jumped clean out. As she predicted, it was a healthy baby boy. The doc allowed me to cut the cord, and they cleaned him up and handed him to Millie. As she cradled him in her arms, I peered down at her and whispered “you did it.”
She shook her head and said, “No, sir, we did it.”
At that moment, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and the very notion that I had finally fulfilled every promise I made to my parents culminating with the birth of my first child. His birth marked a new beginning for my bloodline, being born free from the confines of slavery was a monumental moment in the history of the Abbott name. It meant that he will break the tie that binds my family line to a slave existence. He will never experience what it means to be someone’s property. His mind and body will be free to explore all the possibilities that life has to offer. He will not bear the scars of being whipped and chained, physical or mental. As I sat and contemplated all of these thoughts, I said a silent prayer. “Lord, give me the strength and wisdom to be the man and father he needs me to be. Father, as long as my body draws breath, allow me to protect him from all evil. If it is in your will, Lord, let it be done. Amen.”
“Sweetheart, what is the matter?” Millie inquired, sensing that I had withdrawn within myself.
“Nothing, everything is perfect. This is the most proudest moment of my life.”
Just as I said that, my brothers busted into the room. Bear was at the train station picking up some supplies when Millie went into labor, and of course, Josh was with me but got left behind as I tore off on Duchess to make it back here.
“What did we have?” Bear yelled as if had something to do with conception.
“It’s a boy, and yes, I’m fine,” Millie snapped because he failed to show any concern as to how she was doing.
“I’m sorry, sis, you know I care about your well-being, but you are the strongest woman I know, so I rarely worry about you.” It was a good come back to smooth things over.
“So does this mean I’m an uncle?” Joshua asked with a hint of pride.
“It sure does, Joshua, and I’m depending on you to make him the smartest Abbott of us all.”
By the mood in the room, it was evident that this was a proud moment for more than just me and Millie, but my brothers also endeared their roles as uncles. Not surprising considering how tight knit we have all become since everyone reunited, me with my brothers and Millie joining the mix. They all embraced each other as brother and sister, so it only made sense for each person to take a certain bit of responsibility in the raising of our child.
“So what are we going to call the little booger?” Bear said as only he could.
“Well, booger is out of the question,” Millie responded quickly to the notion of calling her newborn miracle a booger.
“I think Joshua is a pretty good name for a handsome young man. Plus he is going to be intelligent like me as well.”
“Yeah, but he is almost bigger than you already, so Jeremiah is more suiting for such a strapping lad. He is clearly going to grow up to be big and strong like me.”
As my brothers engaged in a verbal jousting match, Millie and I just stared into each other’s eyes. We knew that the name had been decided long ago. Millie was very close to her grandfather Elijah and always told herself that if one day she were to have a son, she would name him Elijah after him.
“Sorry to burst your bubbles, boys, but this little man will be named after my grandfather. Boys, say hello to Elijah Monroe Abbott,” Millie announced with pride.
“Hey, little fella. Elijah, huh? I like the sound of that,” Bear said to my son as he walked over to tickle his nose with his huge index finger.
“Yeah, that does have a nice ring to it,” Joshua chimed in as he too moved in for a closer look.
“Well, my dear brothers, I guess the last bit of business to settle is to pick a godfather.”
“You don’t have to say it, big bro, I know your first choice is me,” Bear said to me, beaming with confidence.
“Sure, until he put some thought into it and realized I’m the best choice,” Josh butted in before I could respond to Bear’s statement.
“Must everything be a contest between you two? If you would allow me a moment to speak, what I was going to say is that it isn’t every day that a young man is born and has the honor of having two well-deserving godfathers.”
My brothers digested the idea and then hugged each other like two reunited old friends. They shook hand and congratulated one another.
“Congratulations, Uncle Joshua.”
“Congratulations to you as well, Uncle Jeremiah.”
Once again you would have thought that they were the new parents. I guess Millie and I could not have asked for a better response. We knew that they would love and protect Elijah with every ounce of themselves, and if anything were to happen to us, a child could not ask for a better support network.
The next few hours consisted of everyone rejoicing about the miracle of life and talking about the future. This was a special day for my entire family, and I was pleased to have shared it with my brothers by my side. Before long, I realized the day’s events had taken a lot out of my darling wife. She began to look weary, and even Elijah had dozed off into dreamland for the first time. I told my brothers that it was time to leave so that they could both get some rest. Before I left, I kissed Millie on the forehead and tucked the little man in. “Sleep in peace, my son, dream the impossible dream.”