With great reluctance, the couple pulled away from one another and returned to their work; pausing throughout the day to steal kisses, share jokes and secret smiles, and clasp hands even as they tended the roses that both so adored.
Taking things a step further, Thomas gathered a rich assortment of fresh golden blooms, radiant as they shone in the light of a bright Texas sun, and gathered them in the form of an ebullient bouquet; holding the luminous arrangement behind his back as he approached her with a teasing smile.
“I have a surprise for you, my lady,” he told her, adding as his hand sprang forth with his ebullient nature made gift, “Although their beauty does not rival your own, I do hope that you’ll still accept and enjoy them.”
Staring at the bouquet with wide eyes, Amy let loose with a sharp gasp as her gaze focused on its fresh golden beauty.
“So I take it you like the bouquet?” Thomas asked with a chuckle. “I sure am glad, Darlin’.”
His eyebrows shot upward as she took the flowers from his offering hand, clutching their stems with unseeming tightness as she let loose with a low sharp moan.
“So it seems you REALLY like the bouquet,” her suitor observed, adding as he cocked his head in what seemed a show of keen curiosity, “Its beauty, in fact, seems to have stunned and left you speechless beyond the point of reason.”
Doubling over with a loud, sharp shriek, Amy gasped as she kept a fierce hold on the erstwhile stems of her rich rose gift.
“Now Amy,” Thomas observed, softening his next words with a gentle smile, “You don’t have to exaggerate your enthusiasm for my benefit—the roses are hardly culled from real gold, you know….”
“Could you shut your dang smooth talkin’ mouth for 10 seconds or so? I’m in pain here!” Amy bellowed, adding as she dropped her flowers sharp to her side and grabbed her bulging stomach with clutching hands. “The baby is coming! Now, if not sooner!”
Gasping outright, Thomas rushed forward to scoop his wailing lady up in two sheltering arms and run for the house with feverish steps; not stopping until he had lain her trembling body in the sheets of her whisper soft bed.
“I’m going to run into town and get Doc Adams, the man that birthed me and has taken care of our family for years,” he told her, identifying the kindly silver-haired physician who had brought him into the world as well as helped to ease his parents’ transition out of it. “Don’t move from that spot, Amy!”
Rolling her eyes heavenward, his irritable patient pitched her head backward and let loose with a howl that betrayed her pain.
“Rest assured I won’t,” she promised him, adding as she shook her head from side to side, “I mean, where would I go exactly?”
Thomas thought a moment, then nodded.
“Right, good point,” he answered, adding as he raced for the staircase, “I love you!”
In all of his years practicing medicine, Dr. Calvin Adams never had seen a patient in greater distress; one whose obvious degrees of pain and exhaustion were painful to regard.
“Are you sure you don’t want to lay down a while?” he asked, squeezing the hand of the stricken soul who now kneeled motionless beside a convenient bed.
Jumping to his feet with a sharp grunt of protest, an indignant Thomas Wyatt balled his fists at his sides as he considered these patronizing words.
“I’m absolutely fine, thank you very much,” he informed his concerned physician, adding as he made a broad gesture in the direction of the bed before them, “And, for that matter, so are Amy and Amelia.”
Letting loose with a mighty shriek that would do her mother proud, the blue-eyed, porcelain skinned baby Amelia jumped into the sheltering arms of her mother, who opened her eyes to regard her beloved with a sweet, gracious smile.
“This isn’t even your baby,” she reminded him, adding as she reached forward to take his hand in hers, “Yet you stayed here by my side as we brought her into the world together,” she paused here, adding as her eyes widened in what seemed a show of sheer wonder, “And you didn’t even pass out cold!”
Thomas laughed, bringing her hand to his soft lips for a warm affirming kiss.
“As far as I’m concerned, Ma’am, you both belong to me now,” he told her, adding as she met these words with arched eyebrows and a side-eyed glance, “While still remaining strong individual types, of course. And, furthermore, I belong to the two of you as well. Although I never shall venture to replace your daughter’s father, in your memory or her heart, I aim to be the very best father and companion that I can be for our odd little family here.”