Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

F R A N C I N E R I V E R S
and biscuits and then sat down to visit. Ruthie wanted to sit in her lap, and
she lifted her up. “When are you going to have a baby?” Ruthie asked, bringing
stinging color into Angel’s cheeks and a soft, mortified gasp from
Elizabeth.
“Ruth Anne Altman, you are never to ask things like that,” her mother
said, taking her from Angel’s lap and setting her firmly on her feet.
“Why not?” Ruth was not the least discomforted and clearly not comprehending
why her mother and Angel were.
“Because it’s very personal business, young lady.”
Ruth looked up at Angel, her eyes wide and surprised. “You mean you
don’t want to have a baby?”
Miriam suppressed a laugh and took her little sister’s hand. “I think we’ll
go out and swing awhile,” she told them.
Elizabeth sat down again and fanned her hot face. “That child just blurts
out whatever she’s thinking,” she said and apologized.
Angel wondered whether to tell her she couldn’t have children and
decided against it.
“I came to ask for your help,” Elizabeth said. “The baby comes in
December, and I’d like you to act as my midwife.”
Angel couldn’t have been more stunned or aghast. “Me? But Elizabeth, I
don’t know the first thing about helping someone have a baby.”
“I know what needs to be done. Miriam wants to help, but I don’t think
a young, impressionable girl like her should be attending a birthing. It might
frighten her needlessly.”
Angel was silent a moment. “I can’t see that I would be any help at all.”
“I’ve been through it before. I’ll be able to tell you what to do. Back
home, I had a midwife, but out here there’s only John, and John simply will
not do.” She smiled slightly. “He can birth a calf or foal, but he’s perfectly
useless when it comes to bringing his own children into the world. He falls
to pieces the minute I show any pain, and, well, I can’t go through the
whole business without some discomfort, now, can I? He fainted when
Miriam was born.”
“He did?” Somehow she couldn’t imagine the stoic John passing out over
anything.
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