Amish Christmas Twins

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “They aren’t expecting me.”

He stood aside so his mother could open the door for him. “That’s goot. They can be just as surprised and happy to see you when you are well. Now, back to bed with you.”

She closed her eyes. “You are very bossy.”

He fought back a smile. “And you are very stubborn.”

“So I have been told,” she whispered before her head lolled to the side, and he knew she was asleep again.

She didn’t rouse when he laid her on the bed. He stepped back and thrust his hands in his pockets. Her daughters crept in behind him. Lucy tugged on the hem of his coat. “Mama sick?”

Willa looked small and vulnerable lying beneath the thick quilt. He wanted to see her standing strong with that stubborn chin jutting out. He nodded. “Ja, I think she is very sick.”

Megan squeezed past him, grasped her mother’s hand and tugged on it. “Mama get up.”

His mother scowled at him and leaned down to reassure Megan, slipping her arm around the child’s shoulders. “Your mamm just needs to rest. Kumm, we must let her sleep. You are all going to stay with us for a few days. Won’t that be nice?”

“Feed cows again?” Lucy asked.

“Ja. Tomorrow John will let you feed all the animals again. Now it’s time to make our own supper. Go into the kitchen. I’ll be there in a minute. You may each have a cookie from the plate that is on the counter.”

The girls reluctantly left the bedroom. John followed his mother down the hall. “You sound positively delighted to have this family of strangers stay on for days.”

“I am.”

“Well, I’m not. I haven’t been able to get a single piece of work done today.”

She stopped and turned to face him. “You have done nothing but work yourself half to death for the past four years.”

“You speak as if that is a poor thing.”

“Work is all well and good, but you’ve forgotten how to have a little fun now and again.”

“I know how to have fun.” His mother was being ridiculous.

“What was the last thing you did simply for the fun of it?” She stared at him with her arms crossed.

“I enjoy my work. It is fun to me.”

“You can’t think of anything, can you?”

He shook his finger at her. “If they do stay another day, you will keep the chatterboxes occupied while I get caught up on my work. A forge is no place for such wild kinder.”

“They aren’t wild.”

“Maybell will disagree with you.”

“I will keep them. All you had to do was ask.” She smiled sweetly, and he saw exactly how tomorrow was going to turn out. It would be a repeat of today.

“The first thing on my list will be repairing their buggy so they can leave.”

“If Gott wishes them to go, they will go. If He wishes them to stay, they will stay.” His mother turned away and walked into the kitchen.

Chapter Four

Willa stretched her stiff and aching muscles, then snuggled down beneath the warm quilt again, reluctant to open her eyes. If only she could stay asleep for a few more minutes. Just a few more.

“You’re awake, I see.”

The familiar voice put an end to Willa’s wishful thinking. She turned her head and found John’s mother sitting in a rocker beside the bed. There was daylight pouring through the window. “What time is it?”

Pushing to her feet, Vera patted Willa’s shoulder. “Time to eat something. I’ll be back in a minute with your tray. I hope you like strong tea. I never could drink coffee while I was pregnant.”

“You don’t need to coddle me,” Willa said, but Vera was already out the door.

Willa sat up in bed and pushed her hair back from her face. Her chest ached from coughing and her throat was scratchy, but she didn’t intend to stay in bed another day as much as she wished she could.

“This is not coddling. It’s plain common sense,” Vera said as she returned with a tray of tea and cinnamon toast. “The more you rest, the sooner you will be well enough to travel. Perhaps tomorrow.”

When Vera finished propping pillows behind Willa, she placed the tray on her lap.

Willa smiled her thanks. “A good night’s sleep has done wonders for me. I won’t trouble you any longer.”

“Eat and then we shall see.”

“Where are my daughters?” Willa looked past Vera to the empty hall. She wasn’t used to having the girls out of her sight. She couldn’t rest easy until she saw them.

“They are helping my son John with the chores. I believe they are gathering the eggs and feeding the chickens.”

Willa bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure they will be much help.”

Vera chuckled. “I’m sure you are right, but John needs a lesson in patience. Kinder are often the best teachers of that virtue.”

“I don’t want them to annoy him.”

Vera moved to the window to look out. “I hope they will. My son has become a stuffy fellow. It will do him good to see the world through the eyes of little ones for a change.”

Willa moved the food tray aside. The last thing she wanted was to cause John trouble. He’d been more than kind. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for us, but I must be going. I still have a long way to travel. Has John had a chance to repair my buggy?”

Willa stood. The room spun wildly. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head as Vera steadied her.

“Sit before you fall down.”

“It will pass. I stood up too quickly, that’s all.”

“Nee, this is your babe’s way of saying you need more rest. Back in bed and don’t try getting up again unless John or I am close by. I don’t want to have to pick you up off the floor.”

Willa’s legs trembled, forcing her to sit on the side of the bed. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn’t going anywhere until she had regained more of her strength. She meekly allowed Vera to tuck her in again. When the dizziness subsided, Willa opened her eyes to find Vera watching her with a worried expression. It had been a long time since anyone had worried over her.

“I’m fine now. Truly I am.”

“You will drink your tea and eat your toast, and not another word about leaving. Is that understood?”

“It is,” Willa answered, feeling like a scolded child. Vera Miller was clearly used to giving orders and being obeyed.

“Goot. Rest today and tomorrow you will feel much better.”

After Vera left the room, Willa sipped the tea and nibbled on the toast as she took stock of her situation. She couldn’t leave today, and it wouldn’t do her any good to argue. She shuddered to think what could have happened yesterday when her horse was trotting unguided along the roads. They were safe for now. The children were being fed and looked after, something she couldn’t do herself.

Leaning back against the headboard, she drew a deep breath, pleased that it didn’t trigger a coughing fit. The tea was soothing, and it was making her sleepy.

Another day’s rest would see her stronger, but she couldn’t stay longer than that. Time was growing short. She had to learn if her great-aunt or her cousins would take her and the children in. Her baby was due in less than two months. She had to have a safe place for the girls and her babe before she gave birth. Nothing mattered but protecting them, even from herself.

* * *

“How is she?” John asked his mother when he came in. His two terrors followed right behind him. He hoped Willa Lapp was able to travel. Keeping an eye on her two energetic children was exhausting. How did women do it? Between answering their endless questions and keeping them out of harm’s way, he was ready to cart them all to Hope Springs himself.

“Willa is resting at the moment, but she is in no shape to travel. She stood at the side of the bed and almost fainted.”

He stifled a groan. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He wanted her to be on her way, but he could hardly push a sick woman out the door. “Then the kinder must stay with you the rest of the day. I have work to do and I cannot have them underfoot. They court disaster at every turn.”

His mother frowned at him. “That’s a harsh thing to say about such darlings.”

“Johnjohn’s mad,” Lucy told her.

John pointed at her. “This one almost tumbled out of the hayloft door. I barely caught her in time. Megan dropped the basket of eggs and broke half of them. And someone left the henhouse door open. I spent the last hour hunting down and catching our chickens.”

His mother actually smiled, making him feel foolish for allowing two children to get the better of him. “I wondered what was taking so long. Accidents happen. It’s not as if they are going out of their way to annoy you, but I will keep them with me for the rest of the day. Does that make you happy?”

“It does. Very, very happy.”

“Kumm and redd-up, girls.”

Megan cocked her head to the side. “What’s redd-up?”

“It means to clean up. I can’t believe John let you get so dirty.”

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