A Teacher’s Heart of Gold – Extended Epilogue

Tabby looked out over the water, shading her eyes with one hand. She rested the other on her large belly, which held the first of the children she would have with her loving husband. Algie was out on a boat with Mack, doing some fishing. Mack was, at that moment, trying to pull one in, and Algie was helping. It must be a big one, she thought, turning away from them to look back at the blanket where Ellie was sitting. She played with Sally Johnson, forming shapes in the sand and building small mountains, only to knock them down and laugh uproariously.

Tabby and her little family weren’t the only ones on the shore. There were many others taking advantage of the summer day. All the families had mentioned how lucky they were that she would have her child during the summer break. That meant she wouldn’t be able to take any time away from her teaching. They had teased her with this throughout her pregnancy, and she laughed every time. It was all in good fun and meant as a compliment to her teaching ability.

The school year was coming up on them, though, and the parents were anxious for her to give birth so they could be assured of her presence in the schoolhouse come the beginning of class. To the dismay of some but the delight of others, she’d taken on two assistants, and when she was unavailable, they would be teaching the children. One of those assistants was Jacob Stanley. At seventeen, Jacob was an outstandingly smart young man who decided teaching was his future, much to his father’s dismay. Franklin had told his son he would be a professor if he was going to teach.

But Jacob knew he would need to get experience and wanted to start in the smallest positions. There wasn’t one, so Tabby made one up for him. 

The other assistant was Beatrice, who was well known to them all and whose son Rory made a loud sound of dismay when it was announced his large, friendly mother would be teaching everyone in the class. Rory only had one year to go by that point anyway, and he would get through it fine, being a smart young man like he was.

Tabby started feeling strange when she returned to the blanket spread over the sand and lowered herself to sit. There was pressure building in her lower abdomen. Instinctively, she knew what it must be. 

However, she’d been warned by many of her mother friends not to be overly anxious right away. Sometimes it felt like it was time when it really wasn’t.

The cramping feeling went away, and she breathed a little easier. That must have been what her friends were talking about. She’d been getting similar feelings of pressure all weekend, and nothing had come of it.

“Are you doing all right, Mama?” Ellie asked, looking over at her. Ellie’s hair had gotten so long that she always kept it in a braid she could do herself. At seven, Ellie had become quite an intelligent, classy young lady.

“I’m… I’m fine, honey. Why do you ask?”

Ellie scanned her. “Your face looks weird.” She said the words without a change in her own expression at all as if she was just stating a fact. 

Sally turned her eyes up to Tabby and raised her eyebrows. “Your face is very red, Miss Kings… Mrs. Bronson. You should get under the umbrella or to the shelter because maybe it’s the sun, and you’re gettin’ burnt.”

Tabby didn’t feel too hot. If she was sunburnt, it didn’t feel like it. 

Algie was coming over from the shore. He was holding a large fish on the end of a string, and Mack was coming up behind him, holding another line with several fish on it.

“Look at this!” he called out to his family as he got closer. “Will you take a look at what…”

He stopped when he was closer, staring at Tabby. He came over, lowering the fish to the tin bucket with water sitting beside their blanket. 

“What’s wrong? You okay?”

“Apparently not,” Tabby responded. “What’s my face look like? The girls say it looks burned, but I don’t feel it.”

“No, it’s splotchy. Red dots all over,” Mack was the one who responded. 

“Well, I feel fi-” She didn’t get the word out before a sharp pain slid up her back, making her lean forward suddenly in surprise. She let out a little squeak.

“Uh oh,” Algie said, his eyes widening. “I’ve heard that sound before. Come on. We gotta get you to a bed. Come on.”

He stood up and whistled loudly. Tabby’s eyes darted toward the water, where Charlie and Ruth splashed each other. “Charlie! Need your help here!” Algie called out. 

Charlie and Ruth both began to run toward them. The pain had stopped, but the memory of it still burned in Tabby’s mind. She didn’t think she was going to like the birthing process. No, she wasn’t going to enjoy this at all. She kept her mind focused on having a healthy child. That’s all she really wanted. 

But when the pains were coming closer, she already knew she would be in a lot of pain. 

“God, be with me,” she murmured, leaning on her husband and Charlie as they walked as quickly as possible up to the lot where the buggies were parked. 

“He’s with you,” Algie murmured. “And we are, too. You’re gonna be fine. Everything is gonna be just fine.”

 

Algie believed what he was saying, but it didn’t stop him from being worried. Half an hour later, he was pacing the hall in front of his bedroom, remembering when Carol had given birth to Ellie, and they had all lost her. 

“She’s stronger than Carol,” Charlie said from his seat by the bedroom door. He was sitting on the edge, one hand propping his arm up while he leaned on the other on the armrest. His fingers were working a mile a minute though there was nothing between them. “Just remember that. She’s younger and stronger than Carol. She will pull through just fine, and you’ll have a new baby keeping you up at night. All I can say on that is better you than me.” 

He grinned wide, and Algie had to smile back and chuckle. They both knew what it was like to be kept up by a baby’s cries at all hours of the night, but Algie had a different experience than Charlie. 

They heard the sounds of deep labor as Tabby cried out from the other side of the door. They could hear the midwife calling directions and encouraging Tabby to push. 

“Why is this taking so long?” Algie murmured, pacing back and forth. The only good thing about Tabby’s cries of pain was that they let him know she was still there, still fighting to push the baby out, still alive…

“Because that’s the way God intended. Don’t worry, Al. Any minute now, we’re gonna hear the cry of your new son or daughter. Which one do you want? A boy? You already have one of each.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter whether the child is a boy or a girl. I just want both of them alive and healthy when all this is over.”

Charlie nodded. “I understand, believe me.”

Algie continued to pace up and down. Things on the other side of the door got a little too quiet for his tastes. Fear pierced his mind and heart. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he strolled to the door of his bedroom and burst in, his eyes on the bed the moment he entered.

Tabby was pushed up on her elbows, staring at the midwife and another young woman in a nurse’s uniform. They were swaddling a child in a thick blanket, the baby lying on a tall counter table they’d brought in with them. 

One of the nurses was rubbing a circle in the blanket. Algie realized it wasn’t the blanket she was massaging. 

Tears sprang to his eyes. He was at the bed in a flash. Tabby’s terrified eyes turned to him.

“Oh, Algie,” she said, her voice wobbling with fear and trepidation. “Our baby. Our baby boy….”

Algie grabbed her by the shoulders, sitting next to her on the bed. He held her close, brushing the sweaty strands of hair from her forehead. 

“He’s gonna be fine,” he whispered, turning his head toward her and lowering it. “Pray with me, Tabby. Pray with me. Pray hard.”

Algie closed his eyes and began to pray fervently for his newborn son’s life. 

“God, be with him,” he murmured. “Heal what ails him and give him life, Father, please, we beg you. His mama and I beg you, Lord God, please breathe life into our little child.”

Tabby murmured Amen repeatedly as Algie continued to pray for a few more minutes. When they heard a rustling sound, a gasp, and the cry of their son as he came into the world, Algie’s tears fell, soaking his cheeks. He and Tabby began to laugh, praising God and rocking back and forth on the bed. 

A few seconds later, the midwife brought the crying child to his parents, handing the baby to Algie, who gazed upon the beautiful boy, his heart filling with brand new love. He turned to his wife and held him out so she could take him. 

Her face was just as soaked as his. 

“Look at our beautiful son,” she whispered. “Look how beautiful and perfect he is. Does he have all his fingers and toes?” 

They checked.

He did.

Algie looked for resemblances to either of them, pulling the swaddling blanket down to see the baby’s face. As soon as he was settled in his mother’s arms, the child quieted down and snuggled up close to his mama. 

“Look at that.” Algie sucked in a soft breath. “Look how he recognizes you, Tabby.”

He was amazed to see the little boy open his eyes slightly and turn to his papa. His mouth worked just a little, but Algie was sure he was smiling.

“He’s smiling at me,” Algie said, his voice high-pitched as he laughed while he spoke. “Look at that. He’s smiling at his papa. Aren’t you, my strong, handsome little man. Look at you, so perfect in every way.”

“You should go get his brother and sister,” Tabby remarked quietly. “Show them I’m okay, and they have a new baby brother.”

“I’ll get them right now,” Algie agreed, nodding. He got off the bed, glancing at the baby one more time. “He’s so perfect,” he whispered as he left the room. 

The children were in the kitchen with Ruth and Charlie, who’d gone to tell them the news. Ellie and Mack looked excited, but he could see the anxiety on Mack’s face as soon as he entered the room. 

“She’s fine, healthy, and very much alive,” he announced immediately, not wanting to keep them in suspense. He could see them visibly relax. “You two have a baby brother now.”

“A baby brother!” Mack exclaimed happily, a big smile coming to his face.

“Aw, a brother….” Ellie sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t you worry, Ellie. You’ll fall in love with him when you see him. And you’ll be able to take care of him, too. Mama will show you how. You’ll be the best big sister to him you can be, won’t you, my dear girl?”

Ellie brightened up, smiling at him. “I will, Papa, yes I will!”

“Come on, let’s go see him.”

The children followed him back into the room and piled around the bed, which had new sheets on it and a clean quilt. Mama and baby looked comfortable against a bunch of pillows. 

“So what’s his name, Papa?” Mack asked. “Did you pick one out?”

“Certainly not Algernon Jr!” Algie announced with a laugh.

“Steven,” Tabby said, her eyes on her husband. “Steven Riley. Is that all right with you?”

Algie smiled. “Steven Riley Bronson. I like it, Tabby. It’s perfect.” 

He leaned and kissed his beautiful wife’s forehead and followed it up with another for his newborn son. His family was finally complete once more.

THE END

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