Chapter 5

"Well, it's about time," Gabby said as I trotted past the porch, heading to the back of the house. She was sitting in the porch swing stitching on some garment. I just smiled, tipped my hat and kept riding. Thomas had come from the garden out back, to meet me. "Doc," he said, "Everything all right up top? Everybody ok?" "Just fine Thomas, Miz Maisy was just catching me up on things, how's everything been around here?" I asked. He shook his head and look down at his feet and kind of grinned. " 'Bout the same, I reckon, momma's been baking and Addie's been doing the laundry and airin' out the house, I's just stayin' out the way, out back to the garden." I replied, "I thought that garden plot was looking especially clean." I dismounted and handed him the reigns, he just chuckled and walked the horse off to the barn. I turned and started towards the back door. As I pushed it open I heard a high clear voice say, "Better wipe them feet, Ms. Abigail has been flitting 'round here all day long cleanin' an scrubbing everything, why's I caught her up on a chair fanning a rag at the corners of the ceilings tryin' to knock down cobwebs." I peeked around the door at Bet, she was taking fresh baked bread from the oven as she spoke and my mouth just watered at the smell. I backed down the steps, kicked my boots on a piece of wood by the back porch and set down to take them off. I then walked back up the steps and set them just inside the door. "I will just leave these here for now in case I need to leave in a hurry," I said as I grinned at her. "How 'bout a slice of that hot bread with some cream butter and jam on it?" She smacked the back of my hand as it snaked forward for a slice. "Now Doc, you know Ms. Abigail has got us to fixin' food for the neighbor ladies when they drop by tomorrow for her baby shower. I been bakin' bread all mornin' and got to get started on some tea cookies and a cake." She grinned as she slid a piece of bread over to me. "If she asks me I am going to put all the blame on you!" and turned her back and went to the pantry.

I thought I could ease out to my office and get some paperwork done when Gabby called through the front window, "James, come on out here and sit with me for awhile." I grimaced and headed for the front door, trying to eat my bread quickly. I was just choking down the last piece as I stepped out the door. Gabby pushed herself up out of the swing and came over to kiss me. "I swear," she said, rubbing her lower back, "I don't know what is going on inside me, but I believe our daughter is taking riding lessons." She grinned at me as I leaned down to embrace her. "Why, my dear," I said looking down at her mid-section, "What has come between us?" She replied, "Don't blame me, I just woke up one morning and there it was." I helped her sit down into one of the rocking chairs and sat next to her. Thomas had made us a matching set, mine a little taller than hers but otherwise identical and a perfect fit. "I got a letter from momma, she said that she would come up in about 2 weeks and stay for awhile to help with the baby." "Clay finally asked Dora Jean to marry him, and they are planning a September wedding, said it will be outside and a lot cooler then. Papa's bought another race horse, and momma said that we will probably be attending his funeral before the year's out." "Their flowers and gardens are in bloom and are already getting fresh tomatoes off the vine. I do declare it's hard to understand how we all live in one state and part of it is ahead in crops and the other part is just started blooming." "The ladies are coming tomorrow for the baby shower and for some reason I just can't stop cleaning. Bet said I'm nesting, getting ready for the baby to come and want everything to be as clean as possible. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they packed up and left for just being plum tuckered out, I have probably run them ragged." She stopped to take a breath. I said "Gracious, you have been busy today and I don't think we have to worry about them leaving, they know it's just something you go through when you are expecting and know it will pass. But I will make sure there's a little extra in their wages this week for all you have put them through." She smiled and slipped her hand in mine as we rocked there and watched the sun set over the mountains.

Thomas, Bet and Addie had lived on the farm when we moved there. Addie moved up here years ago and had worked in town as a cleaning lady. When she married her husband Thomas Allen, Sr., he brought her out to the farm to live and work for the McPhersons, the people who had previously owned it. Mr. McPherson had died and his wife decided to move to Atlanta, to live with their daughter. At the meeting in her lawyer's office she explained to me that she did not own the Allens, they worked for her. They were paid wages for helping out on the farm. They had elected to stay and live on the farm for the new owners, assisting them as they had the McPhersons. Thomas was an excellent craftsman and could build anything from buildings to furniture and his wife Betty was an excellent seamstress. They had their own cabin and acre of land deeded to them by Mr. McPherson. Adelaide, Thomas's mother, had her own cabin across the way from them and also owns an acre of land, to do with as she pleased. She was one of the best bakers in 3 counties and won countless ribbons at the county fair. Before we could purchase the farm we had to agree to keep them on and not try to take their land from them. They lived about a quarter of a mile on the other side of the pasture.

The first time we saw the farm we knew we had to have it. A quaint 2-story house with 3 bedrooms upstairs and a kitchen, dining room, parlor and a small 2 room office with a separate entrance downstairs. It came with 3 acres of land, a smokehouse, several small outbuildings and a good size barn for livestock. We were about a mile from town, close enough for doctor visits but not too close for all the noise and the traffic. We made that decision after staying in a hotel in town while we looked for a place to live. The streets were muddy when it rained and dusty when it was dry. The saloons kept us up at night and the the regular hustle and bustle of a medium size town kept the streets all busy from sun up to sundown. I had visited several empty offices in town, but could never quite find one that suited me. Gabby had been raised in the country and wasn't at all interested in living in a busy city and raised as an orphan I, could pretty well adapt to anything.

"Well," I said, as I stood up, "I believe I will go in and get caught up on some paperwork and then get in the bed, I am slap wore out after that ride today." Gabby offered me her hand to help her stand up and as she stood she startled. Her eyes got big and her mouth puckered. "What's wrong," I asked. "I don't know," she said, "I just felt my stomach tighten for about a second, not even a second and just a twinge." I grinned at her and said, "Sounds like the stork is on its way. Timothy Major McAllister is making his presence known." "Pooh," she said, "Abigail Ivy McAllister is just settling in," as she smiled up at me and fluttered her long eyelashes.