ABIGAIL’S DREAM

By Heidi

It was at a meetingsevening of the Ladies Comitee of Virginia City. Every two weeks the ladies came together to hold a nice teaparty and to conversate about all sorts of subjects. One of the members was the teacher Abigail Jones. At a certain moment Sharon parker looked at her and thought she looked rather pale.
“Are you feeling alright Abigail? You look so pale”, Sharon said.
“You are right because I feel indeed not alright. I am so sick”, was the answer.

When Abigail had realised the shock that she was pregnant a new period began for her in her life. She knew who she would make a father and it was exactly the man of her dreams.
“Ma, I have something to tell you and I want you to sit down”, Abigail said one morning to her mother.

Ma Jones went to sit down and looked at her daughter being amazed.
“What is it then?”, she wanted to know.
“You will become a grandma”, Abigail said directly.
“When?”, Ma asked.
“In about six months and Adam Cartwright is the father”, her daughter replied.
Ma fainted at once.

Not much later her body began to show the signs of a woman in a happy expecting way. Everybody could see that the teacher of the school in Virginia City was on her way to motherhood.  

On a Sundayafternoon Abaigl sat to rest on her porch and her look fell upon her already very big belly.
“You sit here very warm and I carry you under my heart while your father doesn’t know anything. But just wait and grow for another two months and then I will introduce you to your father”, she said softly to her unborn child.
Hard kicking was the reaction of the baby.

Abigail made herself ready to go to the Ladies society when her mother came in.
“Are you ready that you go now you are due any moment?”, she asked.
The former teacher looked first at her belly and then at her mother.
“Now I am that extremely pregnant I ought to go. To give an example to other pregnant women and to let them see that they are in their full lifetime”, Aqbigail answered.
She got up and walked to the frontdoor. She felt her enourmous belly and knew enough. Her pregnancy had ended  and now the delivery had started.
“Ma, get the doctor because I must give birth to the baby”, the mother-to-be said.
“You go to bed and I get the doctor”, Ma said directly.
Abigail walked to her bedroom with a baby who wanted ot get out and quickly too.
 
In bed the young woman thought; ‘I hope the doctor come in time because according to me the baby is on its way very soon.’
She was in bed waiting for the heal master but more for the father of her baby, Adam Cartwright. Suddenly the door went open. Abigail went to sit and looked at the visitor.
“Ma, help me because the baby is nearly born”, the mother-to-be said to the visitor.
“I couldn’t find the doctor anywhere so I came back to help you. Are you still holding on?”, she asked while she went to sit on the bed.
“Oh, there comes another contraction”, Abigail said while she went to lie down gently.
She grabbed her hand sand that gave the young woman support. Suddenly Abigail got a tidal wave of pain and she screamed it out of pain.
“You gotta help me because I feel something coming”, Abigail said.
“You mean……….?”, ma asked amazed.
Abigail nodded. Ma checked and saw that the baby was almost born.
“Start to push because it seems that he is nearly here”, she said clam.
Abigail began to push and screamed at every pusushcontraction.
“Ma, grab the baby because now I cannot hold him inside anymore”, Abigail screamed.
 “Just push. I will recieve it”, she said calm.
The mother to be took a breath and pushed heavily. With a lot of shouting and screaming Abigail gave birth to a healthy son.
“It is a boy”, she said smiling.
Abigail sighted of relief. Carefully she came up and reached over to the baby.

At that moment the teacher woke up and she realised that she had dreamed everything.
“What was that a lovely dream. We are the ideal family: Adam, me and our lovebaby”, she said to herself.
 
She got up and got dressed to go to school. At the same time by coincidence Adam arrived to deliver his son Mitch.
“Good morning Adam, Mitch”, the teacher said.
“Morning Miss Jones”, Mitch said polite as he usually was.
Adam just nodded.
“Daddy, I see you this afternoon”, the young Cartwright said.
He climbed out of the carriage and ran to his friends.
“Last night I dreamed that you were off to sea and that I was having your baby”, Abigail saidwithout turning a hair.
“Well, pity for you that it will remain only a dream because I was way too happy with Mary to get remarried to you and besides that I must raise Mitch. Have a very nice day Miss Ab”, Adam said smiling.
He truned the carriage and went back home. Abigail was too insulted to give another reaction. She saw Adam drving away and realised that it would always be a dream.


THE END
January 2003

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