Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 9

A Chapter by Sympathy Heart

Chapter 9

During breakfast the next morning, Gabriel broke the silence when he started to speak with a large amount of biscuit stuffed into his mouth. Unfortunately, every word came out muffled. To her displeasure, Mae scowled at her son while tapping her foot on the floor.

“Gabriel, swallow! I can’t understand a word you’re saying,” Mae scolded.

After forcing down a large lump of the biscuit he started over, “What I was saying was that I ordered another wall tent the other day and it should be here sometime today, so I need it to be put over in the corner in the living room. I had to get another one after what happened last year at Shiloh.”

“What happened?” Kate’s curiosity arose.

“Well, on the second day a thunderstorm rolled through and some of the ropes came loose. Needless to say I found it in the Yankee camp up in a tree after it had taken out several of their tents, not that that bothered me any.”

Later on in the afternoon Kate and Mae were in the kitchen baking while Rob and Gabriel had to attend another meeting for the reenactment. They had intended to go outside and plant flowers, but a spring shower had put an end to that plan. Besides, baking was a great way to bond with each other. At the moment both women had patches of flour covering them, but that was the fun of baking. Ever since she was a little girl, Kate had always enjoyed baking whether it was with her father or mother.

“So Mae, is Gabriel you’re only son?” Kate asked as she greased a cookie sheet with a stick of butter.

“Yes. We didn’t have any other children,” Mae replied while mixing a bowl of cake batter.

“How come? Never wanted anymore?”

“No, we did…”

“You’re still young; I bet you could have another baby.”

The other woman chuckled warmly, “Oh honey, I’m older than you think I am. Believe me; if I could have another baby, I would in a heartbeat.”

After sticking the cake in the oven, Kate started on the chocolate chip cookies. She wouldn’t press Mae further on the subject of children, although she would question Gabriel about it later, because it seemed as if she was hiding something. Maybe I should just let it go. Besides, if things work out I might have a baby soon. Kate stirred in a bag of chocolate chips and placed mounds of the sticky dough on the greased cookie sheets. The memory of the night before came back to her in a pleasant rush; everything had been perfect, so why wouldn’t there be a chance of her carrying a baby at the moment? Oh, how wonderful that would be, but Gabriel’s questioning of what she would do at reenactments if she did become pregnant filled her head. She would need the special maternity dresses made, so she had better ask Beth to make some for her soon instead of at the last minute when she’d be trying to button up her regular day dress.

“Mae, could we go back to Beth’s, today?”

“Well sure… but what are we having made this time? You have everything you’ll need.”

Kate turned her eyes downward. Should she mention the reason for going back to the seamstress’s? “I want to get one or two maternity dresses made.”

Upon hearing her daughter-in-law mention ‘maternity’ her eyes widened, “Oh my heavens! Are you pregnant, Kate?”

“I… don’t know. It would be way too early to tell, but I would like to get dresses made for the future if and when I am pregnant.”

“Of course we’ll go. Let’s get the kitchen cleaned up and the cookies taken out of the oven, and then we’ll head into town.”

As soon as the kitchen was clean, Mae and Kate were on their way to Beth’s shop. The way there was full of talk about babies and Kate being a mother. Mae was excited about the possibility of Kate being pregnant, but she would control herself for everyone’s sake.

The seamstress’s shop provided a warm environment compared to the rain falling outside. Beth was happy to see them since she hadn’t had very many customers because of the weather.

“Hello, ladies! What brings you out in this gloomy weather?” Beth greeted from behind the front counter where she was organizing a basket of ribbons.

“We need a few maternity day dresses made for Kate,” Mae explained.

“Ooh, do we have a little one on the way?” The seamstress walked over to the two with a grin on her face.

Kate was the one to reply, “I’m not sure yet, but this is for the future when I am pregnant.”

“Okay, well I will certainly make you some, and all of them free of charge,” she threw a wink in Kate’s direction as she pulled out her measuring tape and wrapped it around her waist, leaving enough room for the growth of her belly during pregnancy. “Now, what color would you like them to be?”

“Um, whatever color you want to make them,” Kate was looking at the different fabrics displayed on their bolts. “Don’t I have to have a new crinoline as well?”

Beth was somewhat shocked by her question, “Oh, heavens, no! All you’ll need to wear is the chemise, pantalettes and dress. You won’t have room for anything else.”

“Oh. Well, that makes sense,” Kate started chuckling at her own mistake. The baby will be my crinoline.

After all of the measurements were taken, the three women enjoyed cups of tea while talking about the reenactment and who was expected to be there. All of the talk excited Kate, and she wished those few days would hurry up and arrive. Apparently it was one of the biggest events to happen every year, and it would be the perfect time for Gabriel to see her in a whole new light.

“Darlin’, Gabriel’s going to have a heart attack when he sees you in that gorgeous dress,” Beth commented.

“I have you to thank for that, Beth. I wouldn’t have any dresses if it wasn’t for you,” Kate leaned over and hugged the older woman.

prev chapter