didn’t often try to compare himself to his father, but that evening, as he drove the buggy back to their house with Roy and Jemima asleep between him and his wife, he knew his father would be looking upon him with approval.
“What are you thinking about so intently?” E.A. asked. “You’ve got a funny expression on your face.”
“Oh, I was just thinking about my daed.”
“What about him?”
“Well, I have lots of memories of falling asleep next to him when he was driving us home from a long day at church or from supper somewhere. I guess I couldn’t help but be glad that here I am, doing the same thing.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of that, too.”
“What have you decided?”
“That I like this part of our lives. I like having to look over at you above two children’s heads.”
He chuckled. “I like that, too.”
After directing the horse through a left turn, he smiled at her fondly. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. Tired, too.”
“I noticed all the women standing around you when we got there.”
“They said I looked like I was much farther along than three months.” After darting another look at the kinner, she added, “Marie said I looked like I was closer to five months.”
“Maybe she was just teasing ya.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so, Will. I’ve read a lot of books about first pregnancies, and lots of them say the only change one might notice at this point is a thickening of the waistline. This is more than that.”
Will couldn’t argue with her. He’d privately been thinking that she had sure seemed to be looking rather big rather fast. “Why do you think that is?”
“That maybe we got the date wrong and I really am five months along.”
He was glad it was dark because he didn’t think he would be able to hide his shock. “If that is the case, our baby will be coming sometime in April.”
“Jah. Practically around the corner.”
April did feel like it would be there before they knew it. First they had Christmas; then it would be time to get Roy and Jemima settled in their new school. And, according to Melanie the social worker, by the end of January they might even have a court date about the adoption.
After months of simply talking about fostering children, now everything was moving at lightning speed.
Hoping he didn’t sound as frazzled as he was starting to feel, he said, “We have the sonogram on Monday afternoon. I guess we’ll find out then.”
“Jah. I guess we will.”
Seeing the gas lights flickering by their front door in the distance, he murmured, “We both know that our Lord Jesus doesn’t make mistakes. If it’s His will that we have our baby in April, then so be it.”
E.A. reached out behind the children’s sleeping forms and squeezed his biceps. “You are exactly right. There’s no reason to worry.”
“None at all. We need to think positive, for sure and for certain.” He directed Chip, their horse, to the barn.
She laughed as he pulled up the brake on the buggy and hopped down. “Will, it’s a good thing we have each other. If we didn’t, each of us would be making mountains out of molehills right and left.”
Walking around to help her down, he kissed her on the cheek. “You are right about that. It’s a gut thing we have each other, indeed.”
As he pulled Jemima into his arms and E.A. took hold of Roy, Will almost believed that everything was going to be just fine. That the children would adjust to both the baby and them and settle into their lives as if they’d always been there. That the adoption would go through without a hitch and that their baby would soon be born without any complications. That he and E.A. would be able to weather all these changes without getting too stressed or worried or fearful.
That everything in their future was going to be just fine.
But try as he might, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that things weren’t going to be that easy.
He really hoped he was wrong.
Chapter 12
The day before Christmas
Six hours after they left the clinic, the news still shook him to the core. They’d left the doctor in a state of shock, eaten their lunch at Josephine’s in almost complete silence, and had to remind each other to look more relaxed and happy when they stopped by his parents’ house to pick up the kids.
Jemima and Roy might not have noticed, but Will’s mother sure did. She kept giving him worried glances while they were loading the children in the buggy.
Somehow, someway, after they’d gotten home, he and E.A. had gone about their usual routine of having supper, supervising baths, and reading a bedtime story.
Now, at long last, they were sitting together on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was finally the right time to focus on their news—it was just too bad that he still didn’t have the right words.
“I don’t understand how this could be,” Will said for the third time. “Do you have twins in your family that I didn’t know about?”
“Nee,” E.A. replied, “but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.” After another moment, she added, “My parents called while you were reading the kinner their story. I told them the news.”
E.A. had grown up Mennonite. Since they were living as New Order Amish, they now had a phone in the kitchen. They didn’t use it much—only for emergencies and special occasions.
Will guessed that their “sonogram day” counted as that.
“What did they say?”
She chuckled softly. “Will, they sounded as shocked as we are. Mamm said she’ll come over tomorrow to chat.”
“Just be sure Jemima and Roy don’t hear you talking about it.” When they were alone in the buggy, they’d decided to wait until after Christmas to tell the kids.
“Don’t worry. I don’t want to share the news until we’ve gotten our own heads wrapped around it.”
“Eventually, I guess we’ll have to decide the right way to tell them.”
“Jah, but ‘eventually’ is the key word. The poor things are still trying to get used to the idea of my pregnancy.” She frowned. “They seem okay, though neither of them seems to want to talk about it.” She blinked. “Do you think we should worry about that?”
“Nee. They’ve accepted it already, E.A.
