Chapter 25
— chapter twenty-five
Whenever Trip and Mary came over with baby Addison and three-year-old Bran, Evan braced himself. It wasn’t that the toddler was ill behaved, it was that he was naturally busy. At least, that’s what Trip said.
Evan wasn’t sure if he completely agreed. He didn’t remember any of his four boys getting into so much trouble with such lightning speed. Then again, Rose had taken care of the boys most of the time. He’d claimed that he needed to work as much as possible to pay for all the food the boys ate.
Now, looking back on it, he wondered if it had been more a case of him being content to let his wife do the majority of the work.
There had been many evenings when he’d come home tired after working eight or more hours and noticed that Rose looked just as tired.
He didn’t recall ever volunteering to fix supper or put the kinner to bed so she could relax for an hour or two.
Evan didn’t like to think he’d so willingly given her so much of the workload, but it was certainly a possibility. Rose was capable, organized, and never complained. Now he realized that he would’ve only offered to help if she had complained. He could have treated her better.
No, he should have treated her better.
In any case, his daughter-in-law Mary reminded him a lot of Rose. Mary was a cheerful sort of young woman, continually chatty, and constantly busy. She also seemed to enjoy keeping Trip on his toes.
They were a good match too. Rose had known Mary was right for their quietest boy from the moment she’d noticed him staring at the girl across the aisle at church.
Jah, Trip had been smitten from the very start.
Theirs was a love match, for sure and for certain. Evan enjoyed being around his son and darling daughter-in-law. He loved Bran and Addison too. Of course he did.
They just . . . well, after three or four hours in their company, he was worn out.
He’d just walked into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee when Trip called out, “Bran, nee.”
It was too late. A tumble and a cry rang out, scaring Evan half to death. Running back into the room, he saw Mary sitting on the floor with a wad of tissue on the boy’s face. Bran’s hands were in fists, and he was crying loud enough to be heard in the basement.
“Is he bleeding?”
Trip was holding Addison in one arm and grabbing more tissues with his other hand. “Jah.”
When he walked closer, he could tell there was a lot of blood on the little guy’s face and shirt. “Do you need to go to urgent care? Should I call for a ride?”
“Nee. He’s all right. It’s just his nose.”
Just his nose? Just as he was about to point out that the child could have broken it, Bran stopped wailing.
“See, he’s better now,” Mary announced. Pressing her lips to his forehead, she murmured, “Right, Branny?”
Bran sniffed loudly but did nod.
Evan didn’t know whether to take Addison out of Trip’s arms or retreat back into the kitchen. “What happened?”
“Bran was trying to stand up on top of the high chair,” Mary said. “I don’t think he’s gonna want to do that again anytime soon.” Looking up at Trip, she added, “Get some ice for his lip, will ya?”
“Here, Daed,” Trip said as he thrust Addison into his arms. “I just about had her asleep.”
Evan didn’t know how Addison could ever get a wink of sleep around her brother, but he dutifully cuddled the child closer.
Sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, he smiled down at the sleeping angel.
“Here you go, Addie,” he said in his softest voice. “Stay here with me. I’ll keep ya safe.”
When the tiny girl popped open her eyes, gazed up at him for two seconds, and then fell asleep again, his heart melted a little bit more.
Contrary to what Rose had always believed, he would’ve been just as happy to have had a quartet of little girls around the house as he had been with their boys.
There was something so sweet and delicate about little Addie, especially at this age.
Children were babes for such a short time.
Seconds later, she was sound asleep, her baby hand gripping his cotton shirt as if she was making sure he wasn’t about to let her go. A sense of peace fell over him.
He might not admit this to Trip, but when he was able to hold this baby girl and Bran wasn’t attempting to break everything he could get ahold of, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Kinner were some of the greatest of the Lord’s blessings.
Ten minutes later, Mary and Trip joined them.
Mary sat down on the couch with Bran in her arms. The ice cubes that Trip had handed her in a dishcloth were melting.
Evan watched small drops of water run down Bran’s cheek and dribble onto the arm of the couch.
He seemed to be the only one who noticed.
“Bran, are you all right now?” he asked.
“He is,” Mary said. “Right, Bran?”
The boy nodded, then looked at Trip, who’d just brought a plate of sliced apples and cheese to the table. “Snack?”
“Jah, son. Let’s feed you a snack.”
As expected, Bran climbed off his mother’s lap and reached for an apple slice. While he ate, Mary mopped the water off the sofa with a dishcloth before walking down the hall. No doubt to take a five-minute break. He hoped she’d take ten. Mary needed as many stolen moments as she could get.
“Eat more slowly, son,” Trip said as he sat down by Bran. “Jah. There you go.”
“Never a dull moment with your lot, Trip,” he teased.
“That’s the truth,” he replied with a laugh. “I tell Mary all the time that I hope our next one is quiet and shy. What do you think of the chances?”
Next? “Son, are you saying you’ve already got another on the way?”
“Jah.” Looking pleased as punch, Trip grinned. “It’s due at Christmas.”
“Well, that’s wonderful news.”
“I think so too.”
When Mary joined them ten minutes later, Evan called out, “Congratulations, Mary. I’m happy for you.”
“Danke.” She pressed both of her hands to her tummy as she looked up at Trip. “It was a happy surprise, ain’t so?”
“It was.” Winking at her, he added, “Emphasis on the surprise.”
“We didn’t think we were going to have another child for a year or two, but it seems that the Lord had other plans.”
“He must know that this babe will be blessed with love,” Evan said.
“Maybe so.” She shrugged. “To be honest, Trip has had an easier time wrapping his head around us being a family of five than I have.”
“Babies are always a blessing.”
“Oh, for sure. I canna imagine how disappointed I would be if we didn’t have Bran and Addie. And now we will have another. It will be a lot, but we’ll get through it, right Trip?”
“Right.”
Unbidden, Leanna’s expression came to mind. He hadn’t doubted her disappointment, but now, listening to Mary’s voice, filled with love and contentment? Well, it gave him a better understanding of how she must feel.
What would he do if he and Rose had never had their boys? What would he be doing now?
Trip interrupted his thoughts. “Daed, you can put Addie down if you’d like. She’ll likely sleep for an hour or more.”
He looked up at Trip. “I’m all right.”
“You sure?” He frowned. “Believe me, I know holding a sleeping Addie can make one’s arm go numb. She’s an armful.”
“My arms aren’t so weak that I canna hold a babe, son. Besides, I never got to hold a sweet little girl when I was younger. Your mother kept giving me boys.”
Trip shot a meaningful glance his way. “You’re right. You don’t look like you’re having a problem holding this babe at all.”
“Wait a minute. Did you come over to prove a point?”
Trip tilted his head. “What kind of point would that be?”
“Never mind. It was just something I’ve been talking about with Jeremy.” He waved the hand that wasn’t holding Addie securely against him. “You know how that boy gets.”
Now that Mary had just handed Bran a wooden toy train and he was carefully rolling it on the floor by the couch, Trip moved to sit on the side of the coffee table. “If you’re talking about your decision not to see Leanna anymore because she wants a baby, Jeremy did tell me about that.”
Even though he’d expected as much, Evan still didn’t appreciate being the subject of his sons’ conversations. “He shouldn’t have been discussing my private business.”
“I think it would be surprising if he didn’t.” He raised his eyes to meet Evan’s. “After all, most everything you do affects him.”
The reminder, spoken in Trip’s usual low-key manner, made Evan want to flinch. Because he was right. Sure, Jeremy was out of school and worked. He’d been working for years. He was responsible and essentially self-sufficient.
But he was still a boy, and he still lived at home and likely would continue to live at home for at least the next couple of years.
No teenager would want to share a house with his father’s new wife or baby. Feeling slightly better about breaking things off, Evan nodded. “Danke. That is a good reminder.”
Trip frowned. “Of what? That your actions affect the rest of the family?”
“That Jeremy isn’t quite an adult yet. If Leanna and I hadn’t broken up, Jeremy’s life might have been turned upside down.” He wasn’t sure he believed that, though.
“Because you’d be happily married?”
“Because Jeremy would have to get used to living with Leanna.”
“And . . . possibly a baby?”
Before he could stop it, a snapshot of Leanna holding their babe appeared in his head. With effort, he pushed it away. “I don’t want another child. I have four already.”
“You have four grown men, Daed. And jah, Jeremy is still living at home, but it’s not like you have to do much extra to take care of him.”
“Don’t forget that I have four grandchildren too. My children are having children. I’m in a different time of my life. That’s what I tried to tell Leanna.”
Trip tilted his head to one side, as if what he saw on Evan’s face was puzzling. “Daed, if you love Leanna, then I don’t see how adding a baby into your life would be so terrible.”
“I’m just saying that I’ve already done this. Leanna was asking too much of me.”
“If Mamm was here, she’d tell you what she thought about that.”
That stung. Mainly because Trip was right. Rose was biddable and a mighty gut frau. But did she ever allow anyone to walk all over her? No. No, she did not.
She had also loved having a houseful of kinner. She had loved being a mother and would have been on Leanna’s side.
Hating that Trip was right yet again, he said, “There’s no need to bring your mother into this discussion.”
Trip raised his hands. Surrendering. “I’m sorry if speaking about Mamm pains you.”
“It doesn’t.”
“I hope not. Because Mamm has been gone a long time now.”
“She died four years ago, Trip.”
His son stood up. “Sometimes I wonder if you think of that as a long time ago . . . or not long enough,” he murmured. More loudly he asked, “Would you like me to take Addie?”
He’d practically forgotten he was holding her. “Nee. She’s comfortable here. Might as well let her be.”
Trip’s eyes softened. “You always were the best at holding babies.”
“Babies are easy to hold, ain’t so?”
Trip gazed at his little girl. “Addie is. Bran was another story, though.”
“All children have their own story, I think.”
“Jah. I guess you’re right. Some people have a knack for it, though. Like you.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “Once, when Jeremy was still a little kid, I was helping Mamm with the laundry. We started sharing stories about when we were all little. That’s when Mamm told me that she gave you all the nighttime feedings,” he said as he crossed the room to join Mary in the kitchen.
“I’d forgotten that.” Here he’d been thinking he hadn’t done much, but maybe he’d done more than he remembered. He had taken over many of those feedings with pleasure. It had given him time to be alone with a newborn while the rest of the house was asleep.
Rocking a bit, he ran a hand along Addie’s back, smiling as he realized he couldn’t feel the bumps of her spine. She was a chubby baby. Just like Trip had been, he realized.
Noticing that Bran was contentedly playing on the floor with a knotted rag and Trip was helping Mary rinse some bottles in the kitchen, Evan rocked again and allowed himself to remember the many sleepless nights he’d spent holding his boys.
When it became obvious that Kurt fell asleep faster in his arms in the middle of the night, he’d taken over that duty, much to Rose’s dismay.
Being a new mother, she’d cried a bit about it.
She’d approached motherhood like she did everything else, with a single-minded determination to be as good as she and God thought she could be.
More than once, Evan found himself holding Kurt in one arm and a teary wife in the other. Doing his best to ease them both.
By the time Trip came along after Russell, Rose’s attitude had changed very much. She practically handed Trip to him before Evan crawled out of bed.
And then with Jeremy? Well, by then he’d hear the babe before Rose did and would hurry to take care of him before she was even aware their youngest was awake.
Absently, he wondered if he still had the knack.
Then he remembered that he had already decided he didn’t want to find out. Not even to make Leanna happy.
No. Not even to fulfill Leanna’s greatest wish.
Trip was right. Rose would have been disappointed in his decision. Very much so.