Chapter 11
Marta was miserable. She had been at the Harper ranch for over three months…
she loved it here, but in all the time she had been here, she hadn’t had a single monthly bleeding.
She was waking up in the morning feeling nauseous…
and even now she wanted to throw up. She had heard about morning sickness.
She didn’t know if she was making herself sick just thinking about it, or if she was really coming down with it because she was really sick with it.
Kyra had been watching over her carefully, and Marta thought she suspected, but she was the only one, thankfully. What she was going to do, she had no idea!
Carson Thatcher was becoming a nuisance.
He came over at least twice a week on whatever excuse he could think up with.
On one day, he said his mother needed some sinew thread, on another day she needed vanilla, yet another they needed some more sugar…
Kyra always gladly supplied what he needed, and he tried to talk to Marta.
Marta usually saw him coming and slipped off to become scarce whenever Carson arrived.
She didn’t want to talk to him or get to know him better.
She was sure that he was a nice man, but the last thing she wanted was a relationship with another man.
One was enough. She was writing to Grady whenever she got a letter from him, which wasn’t often.
But it made her day to receive one. Especially now, when she thought she might be pregnant…
not that she would tell him that, but she loved hearing from him.
His last letter was so sweet. It read, Marta, I’ve decided that I hate train rides.
They’re boring, but not as bad as stagecoach rides.
Tim sleeps as if they don’t bother him at all…
I try, but my mind won’t let me. It keeps remembering how it felt to kiss you and hold you in my arms. I’ve never felt like that before…
granted, I’ve kissed a few girls before, and it was nice, but I never felt like when I kissed you.
You about buckled my knees, and you did take the wind out of my sails.
I never wanted it to end. The last thing I wanted to do was stop or leave on assignment.
The worst part is, I already miss you, and I know that it’s going to get worse the longer I’m away. Stay safe, Grady.
She had already read it three times. She had written him back but hadn’t received another letter.
She knew he was busy, but now more than ever she wanted to hear from him.
She told him all his mother was teaching her and all they were doing with the garden and around the ranch to get ready for winter.
She also told Grady how much she missed him.
She did mention how much Carson had been coming over to the ranch.
She did tell him that she made herself scarce when he came.
She didn’t feel comfortable around him, not that he had done any thing improper…
she just didn’t feel like getting to know him any better.
She finished by telling him that she hoped he was staying safe and that she thought about their kisses a lot… and that she missed him. Marta.
Kyra suspected that poor Marta was pregnant from the rapes she had received when she was a hostage.
She needed to take her in to see Doctor Flynn to confirm her suspicions and find out when the baby was due.
She knew she was trying to cover up her morning sickness.
She was keeping her secret, but she suspected that Nimrod knew. Not much got past that man.
She went with Marta to town to see Doctor Flynn. For some reason, they weren’t very busy and Nicole got them in quickly. “Good morning, what brings you in this morning to see the doctor?”
“Marta hasn’t been feeling very well, and I wanted Doctor Flynn to check her out.” Kyra told her.
“No, problem. We’re not very busy this morning, he should be right in.” Nicole told her.
Doctor Flynn came in right after she left. “How can I help you today?”
Marta started feeling sick to her stomach just talking about her time with the Gambelli Gang. She did tell him that she had been raped several times by all four of the men while she was a hostage and turned several shades of red in doing so. Doctor Flynn was very professional as he listened.
“But it’s been over three months, and now I haven’t had any monthlies and I’m starting to feel sick in the morning and want to throw up. I’m afraid I’m pregnant with those monsters’ baby…what am I going to do?” Marta told him and tears started falling down her face.
“First, let’s see if you are pregnant or not.
Then, we’ll go from there. You went through a horrible situation, that in itself would throw your entire cycles off.
” Flynn told her and began by taking her blood pressure, listening to her heartbeat, pulse, and finally listening to see if he could hear a heartbeat in her abdomen.
When he stood up, he wasn’t smiling. “Normally, when my patients are pregnant, I tell them congratulations, but I’ll hesitate on this occasion.
I did hear a heartbeat when I listened to your abdomen…
in fact I heard two of them. I think you’re going to have twins.
If you’ve missed three monthlies already, that would mean that you’re due in January.
But with twins, they would come early…so sometime in December would be more likely.
It’s going to be hard to come into having us deliver your babies.
Wyoming has a lot of snow in the winter.
I will try and come out as often as I can to see you and see how you are progressing with your pregnancy.
Don’t lift anything heavy, limit your salt intake, wear loose clothes, get lots of rest, eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, if you start bleeding let me know, if your ankles or feet start swelling let me know, put your feet in cold water to bring down any swelling.
With twins, you’ll get bigger faster…so be forewarned.
” Flynn told her and saw her sad expression.
“Just remember that you don’t have to keep the babies.
There are a lot of people that would want to adopt your babies.
They’ll be loved and will grow up with loving parents.
You won’t have to be constantly reminded of what happened to you. ”
“Thank you Doctor Flynn for all you’ve done and the advice. I won’t do anything to harm my babies, they’re innocent in all of this. I’m just not looking forward to bringing them into this world. I’m not sure what I’ll do with them.” Marta told him and made to leave.
“Doctor Flynn, what if we made people believe that I was the one pregnant with the twins?” Kyra asked him quietly.
“Nimrod and I adopted Grady, Marley, and Brody many years ago when our own three children died early in their lives. I’ve never gotten pregnant again, but I always wanted more children.
I’m not so old as to not get pregnant again.
Do you think we could pull it off? And it would solve what to do with Marta’s babies. ”
“Kyra, you don’t have to do this…are you sure you want to start all over again with two babies?” Marta asked her holding onto her hands.
“I do, I’ve been thinking about it all the while I saw you trying not to throw up with your morning sickness, I even talked to Nimrod about it.
He has always known that I missed having a baby of my own…
this way I’ll get one or rather two of them.
Would you mind me taking your babies to raise, Marta? ” Kyra asked her quietly.
“Kyra, I can’t think of anyone who I would choose to raise my babies better than you and Nimrod, and I think Grady, Marley, and Brody would make the perfect older brothers and sister.
I even think that Charlie, Cass, and Lyra would make great cousins to play with.
Thank you, it would be a blessing to know where they will be going when they are born.
” Marta hugged Kyra and tears came to both of the woman.
Doctor Flynn patted them on their shoulders.
“Alright, I’ll tell everyone that you came in with Marta because she had a stomach bug, but you had me check you over because you thought you were going through menopause.
But instead, you found out you were pregnant with twins instead.
I’ll come out to the ranch to check over Marta instead of her coming in to see me each month.
No one will know that Marta is pregnant except Nimrod, Brody, and Mattie.
I know that Nimrod will understand, and Mattie is too young to know what’s going on… what about Brody?” Flynn asked them.
“I know my son, he will understand when I explain it to him. He will also support us when we tell him what we are doing. When it starts to snow, we won’t get any visitors for the rest of the winter.
No one will know about her or me getting big with child.
” Kyra told him and smiled. “It will work, Doc.”
“I’ll do my part and keep it a secret. Good luck and congratulations to both of you.
” Flynn told them and watched them leave and head to the resale store to spend some money and to the general store, too.
He shook his head. He felt sorry for Marta being pregnant with the rapists’ babies, but he had to hand it to Kyra jumping in to take the babies to raise.
Kyra and Marta did head to the resale store for maternity clothes, baby clothes, and even rattles.
They then went to buy some flannel, yarn, and some knitting needles for Marta to start making some booties.
Everywhere they went they spread the word that Kyra was pregnant with twins and due around Christmas.
Kyra found it hard to talk to so many people…
although it was just Carrie at the resale store and Helen at the general store, she did a good job feeling excited after all this time being pregnant and with twins, too.
They even stopped at Marley’s and told her about the babies.
Marley was thrilled that her triplets would have babies to grow up with. She hugged her mother and Marta too.
“Mama, I’m so happy for you. Although if you had babies fifteen years ago, you might not have adopted Grady, Brody, and me.
Our lives wouldn’t have been so wonderful.
I’m glad that you have Marta there to pick up some of the slack around the ranch so that you can take it easy now that you are pregnant.
I won’t get to see too much of you with winter fast approaching, but you make sure to let us know if you are having girls, boys, or one of each.
Our babies will want someone to play with as they grow up.
I can’t wait to see them. I’m so excited and can’t wait to tell Cooper!
” Marley told her and hugged her again. “Wait until I write and tell Grady all about our mother being pregnant with twins.”
“I’ll write and tell him about it, Marley. He’s really busy right now with that railroad thing. He’s so busy that he can’t even write us on a regular basis.” Kyra told her and then she and Marta climbed back into the wagon to go home.
They had been out of town for a few minutes when Marta asked her, “Do you feel guilty lying to your own daughter, Kyra? I’m sorry for making you do this.”
“You’re not making me do this at all. I volunteered to do this, and truth be told…
I can’t wait to hold those babies in my arms. It’s like they’re already mine.
It doesn’t matter how they were conceived or who their father was…
from this moment on they’re my babies, and I already love them with my whole heart.
Thank you Marta for giving me what I’ve always wanted and was never able to have by myself.
Nimrod hated that our babies died and it broke our hearts.
The year that our baby died because the sod house was so cold, he dug a hole in the frozen earth with a pickax while it was so cold outside that I thought he would catch his death outside.
But he was determined to have a proper burial for our baby boy.
I cried for three days after his death. When our daughter died from the rattlesnake bite, I thought my heart would break to put her in the cold hard ground.
When my third baby came early and still born, I couldn’t stop crying.
Nimrod thought that I might mourn myself to death.
I think that’s one of the reasons he brought back all three of the children to us that day he came back from town.
The three of them filled my heart with joy and we never looked back, but I always dreamed of holding babies in my arms. Now that dream will come true, too.
” Kyra told her as they pulled up into the yard of the ranch.
Unfortunately, Carson was waiting for them.