Thursday, August 28, 2014

Chapter 30


The week that Sloan, Dan, and one of the teams were gone was pretty uneventful. Well, not uneventful completely but uneventful in that nothing truly bad happened. The cantankerous new bull refused to be kept away from the heifers and acted like he hadn't had any female company since time began. So, after repairing the fence twice only to have him knock it down and go visiting the females of his species, we simply left him where he wanted to be. They actually were able to put him in his place better than we could and by the end of the week he was almost docile. Stupid beast.

I'd spoken to Josiah and we both agreed most of the remaining apple trees needed to be stripped and preserved. Most of them went into the cider press and I left that to the men. Josiah's family still owned some orchard land in the Ozarks and he more than knew what he was doing in that quarter. After taking inventory of what I had I filled in a couple of holes by canning apples several different ways and then I simply started peeling and slicing and putting them on the trying trays. In November we would get the Granny Smith apples and the winter apples for keeping.

It was at the very end of the week that things took a turn. I explained to Josiah and he understood as he'd had an uncle that had the same problem. By the time that Sloan came back I was in a bad way.

"Teaghan? Are you down ... aw sh ..." He ran over and tried to pick me up. "Did you fall. Dammit I should have had those stairs .."

"Shhhh. Please God don't make so much noise. Need dark. Need quiet."

Sloan went stock still. He said quietly, "When did it start?"

"The bad part last night. Please just let me alone ..." It was a bad one. A really bad one. It had been a long time since I'd had to deal with a bad headache without the pills. But this time I couldn't. Because of the baby.

"Shhhh. Just hold on."

"Noooo. Down here. Cool. Dark."

"And a damn good place to get sick."

I was pretty much done in for the next two days. The third day I woke and realized a heavy set of black out curtains, the kind Mom had hung up in town when I was little, were draped across the window. And I was naked yet wrapped in the softest thing I've ever felt. I brushed the damp cloth off my forehead and tried to sit up.

"Hey ... easy there. You sick again?"

I looked at Sloan and it was like little flickers of light were fluttering all around him. "Aura."

"What?"

"It was a bad one. I'm still seeing an aura when I look at you. That's ... that's a kind of light. It's like my brain sees things that aren't there."

"I know what it is. I read up on migraines when I found out you have them. You've never said you see auras though."

"Don't. Unless it's a bad one. This ... was a bad one." My stomach rolled but there was nothing left to come up. The room swam in and out of focus so I closed my eyes. That only made me notice the cover even more. "What's ... what's this?" I asked rubbing my hands across it.

"A new fleece textile from out of Canada. You like it?"

"Ummm hmmmm."

"Good. Now lay back down and sleep."

"Mmm kay."

*****

The next morning I was on my way back to feeling human. "I'm sorry Sloan," I said shamefaced.

"Why? Did you do something to give yourself the migraine?"

"No."

"Then don't stress about it. Hey ... you're stomach isn't flat anymore. That was quick."

I looked at him as we lay in bed. He had the cover pulled away and seemed strangely fascinated by the changes my body insisted on revealing so quickly.

"Pretty soon there won't just be a bump, I'm gonna be fat." I didn't tell him I suspected I was going to be roughly the size of the tobacco barn. Twin boys had a bad habit of turning up in our family on a regular basis. My dad hadn't been a twin but he'd had a set of twin brothers. And there were twins on Mom's side of the family as well. Then there was Jeremiah and Jason. I thought it best to keep it to myself for a while yet rather than give him something else to get moody about.

He repeated the act of running his hand along my formerly flat anatomy with deep fascination. "With my kid," he said muttered poking at my stomach with a gentle finger. "Did you make that list like I asked?"

"I started it. How I'm supposed to finish it when I don't know what I need?"

He looked up briefly and then nodded. "I'll ask my aunt."

"No. I mean ... can we keep it to ourselves a while longer?"

He looked up at me and gave me a suspicious stare. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to have to ... you know ... talk about ... you know. Everyone will know that we ... you know."

He lay there puzzling out what I had said and then snickered. "Sweetheart, they already realize we have sex."

"Shut up." Sloan shook his head and rolled his eyes and other things that showed he was trying not to laugh or be exasperated. I told him, "OK ... so they probably figure we do because that's generally what married people do but I just know someone is going to get in our business about it more than I can stand. Besides, I don't think anyone should know until you tell the boys."

"Uh ... can't you do that?"

"Huh?"

"I mean ... er ..."

"Oh no ... you aren't going to push that off on me. You're their uncle. You are the man. You ... well you caused this so you are just going to have to ..." I thought for a second then said, "You are just going to have to do your duty."

Sloan groaned and muttered, "Maybe I can just let it slip while Dan and I are talking."

That night Sid asked, "Are you going to puke?"

"No, the headache is over."

Both boys looked at me and rolled their eyes. "Not the head banger ... Josiah says you'll likely puke a lot ... just like Shotgun when he eats something he shouldn't."

I slowly turned to looked at the two and they gazed at me with interest ... like I was some kind of science experiment. "Did your Uncle Sloan say something?"

 

13 comments:

  1. Thanks Kathy. I'd say I love this story but I love all of your story's.

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  2. Great story Kathy thanks for all of your time and sharing all of your story's with us.
    Wayne

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  3. darn. hadn't realized I'd caught up! I seriously wanted to knock Sloan upside the head with a rolling pin a few times. This is great Kathy. Thank you!

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  4. Love the story ... but ... I got caught up ->>>>>>pacing ->>>>>> waiting ---->>>>moooaaarrrr
    Please.......(smiley face)

    What can I say you write it, I read it...
    THANKS

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  5. Hello Kathy just checking to see if you have added more to this great story.
    Wayne

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  6. I really hope you work on this story next. :) thanks

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  7. How ever did I manage to miss this one!? What a treat to read this today, and, of course, look forward to more! Thanks Kathy :o)

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  8. Still waiting, hope you are well. Sure miss your stories in my life.

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  9. Another great story waiting to be finished. I hope you are well.

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  10. Kathy, I love your work and hope to see all your stories finished one day. However I can wait for you to be healthy again.
    So, did the fall damage your tail bone or Compress anything? Mercy I hope you know how many people feel we know you and hope for your return to health and that of your family.

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