At noon they paused long enough to eat a meal of leftover muffins spread with butter and thick pieces of salt pork, that they washed down with tall glasses of the icy milk that Jeremiah had collected that morning and set in the cold pit to keep cool. When they were finished with their meal, they went back to work. By the time that they were finished with their work, the interior of the log cabin positively gleamed with cleanliness.
Theresa's back and shoulders ached from all the hard work she had put her body through, by the time she and the girls had finished cleaning and were getting ready to sit down and eat supper. She knew that she had probably over done on the cleaning, but she just couldn't help herself. Keeping busy was the only thing that had kept her mind off of Jeremiah and wondering if he was okay. The fear that he wouldn't ever come back, continuously plagued her, no matter how hard she fought to keep it hidden. Throughout the day she had said a silent prayer to keep Jeremiah safe, but for the first time in her life, praying hadn't seemed to ease her fear in the least.
As she dished out the beans and salt pork she had set to simmer earlier into bowls for herself and the girls, a sharp pain wept through her abdomen. Theresa instinctively clinched her teeth, so as not to alarm the girls by crying out. When it had passed, she took her place at the table and nodded to Lucinda to give the blessing over the meal. The girls ate hungrily, their appetites having increased because of all the work they had done during the day. Theresa ate slowly, savoring the seasoned beans, making the meal stretch, so that he stomach would begin to relax.
The pain didn't go away like she had hoped it would and Theresa found it increasingly harder to keep from crying out when the pains hit her. She and the girls washed the few dishes from dinner, then each took a turn in the large metal tub that was sectioned off in a corner of the sitting room. When she had at last climbed into the steaming hot water to take her bath, Theresa was more than ready to have the warmth from the water spread over her aching body. The pains in her stomach had continued to plague her as she had bathed the girls, and it had been a struggle to not cry out when they came. Now as the water eased over her, she felt some of the tension in her back and shoulders begin to dissipate. Hopefully, the pain in her stomach would stop to. If it didn't, she knew that there was a strong chance that the baby she carried inside of her would decide to make his appearance early. That was something she didn't want to happen, but knew that if it did, there would be nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Babies had a way of deciding that they were going to be born, no matter how inopportune the time might be.
The little enclosed room off the sitting room that she was currently taking her bath in, had been one of Jeremiah's ingenuous ideas. He had decided that he didn't want to have to truck in the heavy metal tub that they used to bathed in, into the house from the barn every time that they wanted to take a bath. So he had sectioned off a small section of the sitting room and built two walls out of the regular wall to make a little room. Then he had instructed Theresa to make a heavy curtain out of some denim material and had fastened it onto some fishing line and strung it across the entranceway of the room. That wasn't where his little inventions had ended either.
Jeremiah had cut out a small hole in the floorboard and wall of the room to use as an area for them to drain the used bath water out of. A wooden flap with hinges had been made with the wood that he had cut out of the floor and wall, so that when the room wasn't being used, the hole could be closed to keep the cold air out.
By the time that she was finished taking her bath, some of the aches and pains she had been experiencing had diminished, except for the pain in her stomach. Although the pain didn't increase in strength, it didn't totally dissipate either. To Theresa the movements going on inside of her stomach felt almost like the baby was kicking her, but only stronger. So far, though, she hadn't begun feeling any pressure below her waist and knew that that was a good sign. As long as the baby continued to just kick or somersault, or do whatever it was doing inside of her and her water didn't break, she knew that she and the baby would both be fine. She had barely let that thought ease her mind, when another sharp pain ceased hold of her, catching her off-guard and making her cry out.
The sharp cry from their ma brought the twins' heads swiveling around to face her in surprise. Theresa forced her face to mold into a smile, as the twins got up and came to stand on either side of her. By the look of alarm on their young faces, she knew that she had to act as normal as possible, to keep the twins from becoming frightened.
"Is mama alright?" Lucinda asked.
"Mama's fine, darlings. The baby seems to be kicking up a storm inside of mama's belly. It should pass soon." Theresa told them.
"Does it hurt your belly?" Mar Louise asked.
"A little. Would you like to feel it?" Theresa asked them.
Both girls nodded and she reached out with each hand and took hold of one of their chubby ones. She moved the hands around on her stomach until she had found the place where most of the movements were occurring and then laid their hands on top of that area. She removed her hands and waited to see their reactions when they felt the baby's movement. They didn't have long to wait and she laughed as the girls' eyes lit up with amazement. They stayed that way for quite along time, before Theresa decided that it was time for the twins' to go to bed.
"How would you girls like to sleep with Mama tonight?" she asked as the girls picked up the toys that they had been playing with.
"Really, Mama? Can we really?" they exclaimed excitedly together. It had been quite a long time since they had had the treat of sleeping in their ma and pa's bed.
Theresa nodded and rose slowly from the rocking chair. She was relieved when she felt no pain. Hopefully, the baby had decided to calm down and go to sleep. As least, long enough for her to be able to get some much needed rest. She led the girls into her and Jeremiah's bedroom and listened as they said their prayers. Then she said her own prayer and climbed into bed besides the twins. She blew out the lantern and snuggled closer to the girls, her last thoughts on Jeremiah as she fell asleep.
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