They'd all been learning and adapting, taking the broken pieces of their pasts and building something new. Christmas came quietly. Dorothy sent gifts by post and Miss Maybelle organized a small gathering at the ranch with neighboring families. It was Nora's first real Christmas in years. The previous one had been marked by fresh grief and desperate poverty.
Now she had a home decorated with pine boughs, a tree that Tommy had helped choose and decorate and more food than they could possibly eat. Elias gave Tommy a leather holster with a wooden gun he'd carved himself, child-sized and perfect for the boy's endless games of cowboys and outlaws. He gave Nora a cameo brooch that had belonged to his mother, presented awkwardly but with clear intention. Figure you should have something that's just yours, he said. Something that says you belong to this family, this place.
Nora's gift to him was simpler but just as meaningful. A photograph of the three of them taken by a traveling photographer who'd come through town the previous month. In the image, Elias stood with his hand on Tommy's shoulder while Nora leaned into his side. They looked, Nora thought, like exactly what they were. A family.
Elias stared at the photograph for a long time. His expression working through emotions he couldn't name. Finally, he set it on the mantel right next to Sarah's picture, not replacing it but joining it. Both parts of my life, he said quietly. Past and present.
Grief and joy. I need both to be whole. Nora understood. She still wore James' ring on a chain around her neck, still thought of him with love and sadness. The dead didn't need to be forgotten for the living to be honored.
That night, after Tommy was asleep and the house was quiet, Elias and Nora made love slowly, tenderly and afterward lay tangled together in the darkness. Never thought I'd have this again, Elias murmured against her hair. A family, a home that feels alive. Someone to wake up to. Neither did I.
Guess we're both lucky. More than lucky. Blessed. It was the first time Nora had heard him use that word and it filled her with quiet joy. Winter gave way to spring with the usual prairie drama.
Sudden thaws followed by late freezes, mud that sucked at boots and wagon wheels, the gradual greening of grass and emergence of wildflowers. The ranch came alive with new calves and foals and Tommy appointed himself official helper, much to everyone's amusement. In March, Nora realized she'd missed her monthly courses. At first she told herself it was stress or the change of seasons or any number of things. But when the nausea started and her breasts became tender, she couldn't deny the truth.
She was pregnant. The realization filled her with equal parts joy and terror. She'd been pregnant once before with Tommy and that pregnancy had been normal and easy. But she'd also watched Sarah's story through Elias's grief-stricken recounting. Two pregnancies that ended in tragedy.
A woman who died trying to bring new life into the world. For 3 days, Nora kept the knowledge to herself, warring with fear and hope. Finally, she told Miss Maybelle who'd become her closest confidant. Oh honey, that's wonderful news, Miss Maybelle exclaimed then saw Nora's expression. Unless it's not?
Are you not happy? I'm terrified, Nora admitted. What if something goes wrong? What if I can't carry to term or if the birth goes badly or Elias lost everything the last time. I can't do that to him again.