I want to thank my beta reader, Larkspur1, for her invaluable assistance. I also want to thank Lis for allowing me to bounce ideas off her as well as for her excellent suggestions. Finally, I owe a big thank you to a special little boy whose antics served as the inspiration for some of Beth’s and Miranda’s.

My True-Love Hath My Heart
Part 3
By Deborah Grant
November 2006

Adam Cartwright was jarred from a deep sleep by the piercing cry of his infant daughter. “Bronwen,” he said sleepily, shaking her shoulder. “Bronwen, Miranda’s hungry.”

“Mm,” was his sleepy wife’s response so he shook her shoulder again. “I’m awake,” she muttered sleepily as she sat up and fumbled for her spectacles on her bedside table. While she walked wearily over to the cradle that set by the French doors leading to the verandah, he lit the lamp then turned it low so the room would be in semi-darkness. Once that was done, he rolled over, turning his back to his wife, who sat in a rocking chair nursing the baby, and prepared to go back to sleep. Just when he had almost drifted off, their older daughter’s high-pitched voice could be heard crying, “Ma-ma! Da-da!”

He opened his eyes and saw Bronwen was still nursing Miranda, so he reached for the nightshirt he kept tucked under his pillow for just such occasions. Before he slipped it on over his head, he called, “Daddy’s coming, Princess.” Beth continued to cry so he hurriedly jerked the nightshirt on and threw back the sheet. (The month of December had been so hot that Adam and Bronwen never slept with more than a sheet covering them, and on the hottest nights, he’d carried their mattress and the cradle onto the verandah and the entire family slept outside.) He walked over to the nursery, barefoot, and found his first-born, standing up in her crib, her big hazel eyes full of tears that trickled down her plump cheeks.

“Da-da!” she cried holding out her arms to him.

He scooped her up and held her tight, until he felt the damp patch on his nightshirt. “Princess, Daddy’s going to have to put you down so he can change your diaper, uh, nappy.” He walked over to the chest of drawers he’d painted lavender to match the chintz curtains, pulled open the drawer containing the neatly folded clean nappies and pulled one out. Still holding Beth in one arm, he leaned over and spread the nappy on the wooden floor with his free hand. Then he pulled out another nappy and set it on the floor beside the first. That accomplished, he knelt and placed Beth on the outspread nappy. Or tried to. She tightened her arms around his neck in a stranglehold as soon as he attempted to put her down.

“Princess, Daddy needs to change your wet nappy for a clean one,” he said firmly as he gently disengaged her arms. The minute he laid her down, she began to cry and it was only with difficulty that he removed the soiled cotton nightgown and nappy, placing them in the bucket Bronwen kept in the nursery for Beth’s and Miranda’s dirty nappies and clothes. By the time he’d cleaned her little bottom and put on her clean nappy, her cries had subsided into hiccupping sobs. He picked her up, careful to hold her away from the wet spot on his nightshirt. When he tried to put her back in her crib, she clung to him and began to cry.

“All right,” Adam said with a tired smile, “you may sleep with Mama and Daddy.” Tomorrow—no, today, he corrected himself—was six weeks since Miranda’s birth, and the end of his enforced celibacy. He’d planned to celebrate by making love to Bronwen as soon as it was light. That plan, he realized with an inner sigh, was going to have to be scrapped. Well, they could always have a romantic night after the girls were both asleep in the nursery.

Bronwen had just finished putting Miranda back in her cradle so he handed Beth to her and then got his other nightshirt from their chest of drawers and ducked into the privacy of the nursery to change. When he emerged, he discovered his wife and daughter were in bed and half asleep. He got into bed with them and fell back to sleep almost immediately. It seemed only minutes later that he was once again awakened by Miranda’s piercing screams, although he could see the first faint sunlight in the eastern sky so he knew he must have had a couple more hours of sleep. Bronwen began to stir, but Beth continued to sleep. “Good morning, Sweetheart,” he said, leaning over their sleeping child for a quick kiss. Miranda increased her volume so Bronwen reached for her spectacles and put them on before hurrying to check on the baby.

While Bronwen was changing Miranda’s nappy, Adam went to the commode chest and lifted the lid on the top section, revealing the washbasin and pitcher. He washed his face and trimmed his beard and when he was finished, he poured the water from the basin into the slop jar, which was stored in the lower section along with the chamber pot. While Bronwen rocked Miranda back to sleep, he hurriedly dressed in his work clothes before heading out to the barn. He had to milk their cow and then water her and his blood bay gelding, Zephyr, and their two carriage horses before turning them out in the fenced pasture to graze. Once that was accomplished, their stalls had to be mucked out. Then he fed their pigs. (Bronwen would feed her chickens and gather the eggs after breakfast) That was his early morning routine.

As he headed down the backstairs, he heard their factotum, Nell, in the kitchen so he stuck his head in to say good morning.

“Good morning, Mr. Cartwright,” she said with a warm smile. Noticing his bleary eyes she said with a little grin, “You look tired, sir.”

“Beth and Miranda both woke up last night,” he replied, stifling a yawn.

“Well, in a few more months, Miranda will be sleeping through the night,” she said encouragingly. Then with a grin, she added, “Besides, as my mother would say, ‘Those who dance must pay the piper.’”

“Ha-ha,” Adam replied with a sardonic grin and then headed out the backdoor followed by the sound of Nell’s laughter.

On his return, after handing Nell the pail of milk, he stopped to wash more thoroughly using the sink in the bathhouse. When he entered the bedroom, both the girls were sleeping and Bronwen, attired only in her drawers, was performing her morning ablutions. He saw her feeling for the towel and handed it to her with a grin. After she put on her undervest, he asked quietly, “Ready for me to brush your hair?” She nodded and sat down in front of her vanity. First he freed her hair from its braid, and then he picked up her hairbrush and began to draw it through her long ebony tresses with sure, firm strokes.

“I love your hair; it’s like silk,” he whispered. He bent over and began to kiss her soft white shoulders but at almost the same moment, Beth sat up and said loudly, “Ma-ma. Da-da.” The baby whimpered, but mercifully did not awaken.

“Are you hungry, Princess?” he asked, reaching for his little girl and then swinging her overhead, causing her to giggle.

‘You’re going to wake the baby,” Bronwen snapped, but kept her voice low.

He put Beth on her feet and said, “I’ll take the baby downstairs so the two of you can dress,” and Bronwen nodded. He carefully picked up the cradle and Bronwen said to Beth, “Let’s get you dressed, Beth fach.”

He set the cradle in the dining room by the open French doors leading to the verandah. Nell had already set the table and he’d only just sat down when she entered the room, carrying a large tray.

“Here, let me take that,” he said, getting up and taking the heavy tray from her and setting it on the buffet. There was a toast rack with several slices of buttered toast, two soft-boiled eggs in porcelain egg cups, three bowls of oatmeal and a plate of bacon and fried potatoes for him.

“I’ll get the tea,” Nell said then and hurried back to the kitchen while Adam sighed. What I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee.

When Bronwen and Beth entered the dining room, he was just finishing a cup of tea. As Bronwen put Beth in her highchair, he poured her a cup of tea, adding milk and a lump of sugar to her cup. He said grace and then they began to eat. He watched in amusement as his daughter tried to feed herself, most of the oatmeal ending up on her face and in her hair.

“Adam,” Bronwen said, and he smiled at her. “Adam, your elbows.”

“My elbows?” he repeated raising an eyebrow.

“They’re on the table,” she said patiently. “You don’t want to set a bad example for Beth and Miranda.”

“Oh, right,” he said, a little embarrassed, and quickly moved his elbows. “I, uh, guess, I’ll have to be more careful.”

“Yes,” she said firmly, “because we don’t want the girls developing unladylike habits.”

“Something tells me that you’ll remind me if I do it again,” and she grinned at him.

“Yes, I’ll soon have you cured of putting your elbows on the table, and your feet on the furniture,” she added with a smirk.

“So then I can cure you of your habit of kicking off your shoes and leaving them where they fall?” he asked, and she stuck out her tongue. He grinned broadly and then said, “I guess we both need to mend our ways so we set a good example. Hmm?”

She smiled and, looking at their little girl’s oatmeal smeared face, she said with a sigh, “The first thing to teach Beth is that food goes in one’s mouth, and not on one’s face.”

He chuckled and then hurriedly finished his breakfast so he wouldn’t get a late start on his ride to the mine. Even so, he fount Rhys waiting for him.

“G’day,” he greeted Adam, adding with a little grin, “looks like Miranda woke you up again last night.”

“Miranda and Beth,” Adam replied with a sigh. “I remember Beth was about six months old before she’d sleep through the night, so we have about four more months without a good night’s rest ahead of us.”

Rhys grinned and then said, “Let’s stop by the post office and see if there’s any news about our latest shipment of ore.”

“I hope we get a better price than we did on the last shipment,” Adam said glumly.

After they stopped off at the post office, they headed to their mine. As they rode along, Rhys commented, “It’s hard to believe that Beth will be a year old in only about a week.”

“It doesn’t seem that long ago I was nervously waiting for Bronwen to go into labor,” Adam commented, grinning crookedly. “Now, Beth is walking and she can say ‘Ma-ma’ and ‘Da-da’ and wave ‘Bye-bye’. I don’t want to brag—Well, yes, I do. She is the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen,” he said with a proud smile.

“I’m only her doting uncle,” Rhys said, grinning broadly, “but I have to agree. She is a little beauty.”

“If we put Miranda on her stomach, she can lift her head. And she already smiles at us,” Adam continued, not even aware of his own beaming smile as he thought about his little girls.

“By the way,” Rhys said, “I saw that we both have letters from Tad and Mam and you got one from Nevada.” The men shared a smile at that news.

When they arrived at the mine, Rhys went into their office to check the mail and Adam began to walk around the mine to see how things were going. He paused to greet the young men who worked with hammers to break the lumps of ore that had been brought up from below, and the old men and young boys who picked out the richest lumps of ore and bagged them. (Adam didn’t like using children but Rhys had pointed out that Cloncurry had no school and the boys’ families needed the money they earned. Adam had agreed to hire boys but only until there was a school in Cloncurry they could attend.)

“Good job, Digory,” he said to the youngest boy as he watched him work, and the boy grinned up at him. Then Adam strode over to the lift so he could go down and inspect the mine. As he entered the cage, Old Kitto Tregellas handed him one of the hard hats the miners used with a candle fastened to the front to provide light.

It was several hours later when he emerged, and Old Kitto handed him sharpened match sticks so he could clean the grime from his fingernails. Then he slapped the dust from his shirt and trousers and walked over to their office. He found Rhys working on the books, a worried frown on his face.

“I take it the news isn’t good,” he said as Rhys looked up.

“No,” Rhys said bleakly. “This month’s profits are down from last month’s.”

“That’s the third month in a row our profit margin has decreased. If this keeps up, we won’t be making a profit,” Adam said, his tone equally dejected. He and Rhys were both silent and then Adam began to speak, slowly and deliberately. “Rhys, I think it’s time we diversify our interests so we can survive the hard times.”

“What do you mean?” Rhys asked.

“The land around Cloncurry is basically good for two things: mining and raising cattle or sheep. I think we should take some of our profits and invest it in a cattle ra—uh, station,” Adam replied.

“I don’t know,” Rhys said uncertainly. “I don’t know anything about running a cattle station.”

“But I do,” Adam replied. “However, what I propose is that we hire someone to manage the station for us. Peter Dawson might have some ideas, but I don’t think we’ll have any problems finding a good man.” He looked at his friend and said, “The station could supply the money to keep the mine afloat in the lean years I believe are ahead of us.”

Rhys was still undecided. “I don’t know if we could take enough of the mine’s profits to buy the land and the cattle. I don’t want to take on a debt we might not be able to repay and risk losing everything.”

“Cartwright Enterprises is doing very well. I propose taking some of my share of our profits and combining it with a portion of the mine’s profits to enable us to buy the ranch, uh, station. A loan from me to Cartwright & Davies,” and he grinned slightly as he added, “at no interest.”

“I can see you’ve put a lot of thought in this idea,” Rhys said carefully.

“Ever since the price of copper started to fall,” Adam replied. “We both know how volatile the mining industry is. We may have several difficult years ahead of us. Luckily, we found some silver as well as copper, but we’re going to need another source of income to keep the mine afloat during the hard times.”

“Yes,” Rhys said slowly. “Even so, I fear we have other difficult decisions to make. We’re going to have to be honest with the men. If the next month’s profits continue to decline, we’re going to have to reduce wages.”

“I agree,” Adam said with a sigh, “but that’s a last resort. In the meantime, if we lose any men, we won’t replace them.”

That evening as Adam rode home, he longed for Bronwen’s sweet kisses, to hold her close and lose himself in their lovemaking. As he rode up to the house, he saw his wife and daughters sitting on the verandah with their little terrier. Miranda was lying on her comforter while Bronwen, Beth and Belle sat on the swing. Beth was chewing on her teething ring and drooling while Bronwen was drinking a tall glass of some liquid. She smiled and answered his unspoken question as he drew Zephyr up in front of the house.

“Some of Mam’s teething tea,” she said with a tired smile. “Poor Beth is having a very bad time today.”

“Da-da,” Beth said then, dropping her teething ring on the swing and holding up her arms. He ground tied Zephyr and then ran up the steps onto the verandah.

“How’s Daddy’s Princess?” he asked, swinging her up over his head while she squealed in delight and Belle yapped excitedly. Miranda began to wave her arms and make cooing noises so he put Beth back on the swing and bent over the baby.

“How are you, Angel? Have you been a good girl for Mama?” he asked picking her up and kissing her cheek.

Beth’s lip came out in a big pout and then she began to cry and Belle began to bark. When Bronwen tried to pick Beth up, she pushed her hands away, crying, “Da-da!”

With a sigh, Adam put the baby back down, whereupon she began to fuss. “Give her to me,” Bronwen said and Adam heard the irritation in her tone, and felt a little annoyed with her. It wasn’t his fault that Beth was so jealous of the baby. “Why don’t you take Beth with you while I quiet the baby,” Bronwen added so he swung Beth up on his shoulders, which stopped her tears, and holding Zephyr’s reins, the three of them walked to the barn trailed by Belle.

As Adam reached the barn, Buttercup was standing at the gate, mooing, to remind him she needed milking, and he realized bringing Beth with him hadn’t been such a good idea. He led Zephyr to the water trough and then said to his giggling daughter, “C’mon, Princess, let’s get you back to the house.”

He covered the distance at a jog, carefully holding onto Beth’s chubby legs, the sound of Buttercup’s distressed moos following him. Bronwen was no longer on the verandah so he went inside and up the stairs and found her nursing Miranda.

“I had to bring her back,” he said as she looked up, surprised to see him so soon. “I can’t watch her and milk the cow and groom Zephyr,” he explained. He walked past her into the nursery and spied the rag doll Bronwen had made for Beth. “Princess, be a good girl and play with your dolly for Daddy,” he said, handing her the doll and setting her on her feet.

Beth dropped the doll and toddled over to Bronwen as fast as she could and tried to climb up on her lap. The baby stopped nursing and began to wail. “Please take Beth to Nell,” Bronwen snapped, her nerves frayed by a day with a teething toddler and a fussy infant. Adam frowned at her tone, but he picked up Beth, who began to scream at the top of her lungs, and carried her down to the kitchen. Nell had heard Beth’s screams and was waiting in the hallway.

“I’m sorry, Nell, but I’ve got to milk Buttercup and Bronwen is nursing Miranda,” he said as he handed his screaming daughter to the older woman. Beth’s screams increased as her daddy left the house.

“Hush, Beth,” Nell said soothingly. “Daddy is going to milk Buttercup so you can have a cup of milk with supper. How about if Nell gives you some bread and butter? Would you like that?” Beth continued to cry loudly, especially when Nell put her in her highchair, but she quieted when Nell handed her a little triangular bread and butter sandwich with the crust cut off, leftover from that afternoon’s tea.

Adam found Belle waiting at the backdoor and she trotted at his heels as he walked to the barn. He milked Buttercup and groomed Zephyr as quickly as he could and then put all the livestock back in the barn. That accomplished, he jogged back up to the house with a barking Belle running behind him. Nell had put Belle’s dinner out for her and she began to eat while Adam went to the bathhouse for a quick wash at the sink. He took the stairs two at a time and, as he approached the master bedroom, he heard Bronwen softly singing to Miranda as she rocked her. He stood quietly, leaning against the doorjamb, his eyes drinking in the sweet sight of mother and child. Bronwen looked up and smiled at him. Once Miranda was asleep, Bronwen put her in her cradle and walked over to join Adam. They left the door open so they could hear the baby if she cried and went down to supper, hand in hand.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said quietly as they walked down the stairs. “It was a bad day, but I shouldn’t take my frustration out on you.”

“I understand,” he replied, giving her hand a squeeze. “I hope Beth is going to outgrow this jealousy of the baby.”

“Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Broome both say it’s natural for the first-born to be jealous of the new baby,” Bronwen said earnestly. “They say the best thing to do is make certain we don’t make more of a fuss over Miranda than we do over Beth.” Then she added, “I’m going to write Mam and see what she says.”

Since it was so hot, Nell had fixed sandwiches made of smoked meat and a green salad for supper. Beth, her face smeared with butter, smiled at her daddy when he came to carry her and her high chair to the dining room. By the time supper was finished, her face was more colorful since Nell had cooked peas and carrots and mashed them up for her. (Adam thought they looked revolting but Beth enjoyed them.)

Adam didn’t want to worry Bronwen, so he said nothing about the problems with the mine and she didn’t feel like reliving her difficult day, so they didn’t say much as they ate. Then about halfway through the meal, Adam snapped his fingers (which made Beth giggle) and said, “I almost forgot! We got a letter from Tad and Mam and another from my family.”

Bronwen’s face lit up. “Beauty! It seems forever since we’ve heard from them. Let’s hurry and finish so we can read their letters.”

Nell brought Bronwen a damp washcloth so she could clean Beth’s face. (Luckily, no peas and carrots had gotten into her hair.) Unfortunately, Beth reached up and grabbed Bronwen’s spectacles with hands that were covered in butter, peas and carrots.

“Oh Beth, no! Now Mama can’t see,” Bronwen scolded as she snatched them back, which made Beth cry.

“Here, I’ll finish cleaning her up,” Adam said with a chuckle, and Bronwen stuck her tongue out at him as she headed for the sink in the bathhouse.

As soon he had Beth cleaned up, he lifted her out of her chair. “C’mon, Princess, let’s go read our letters.”

Belle was scratching at the backdoor, so Bronwen let her in and the little family settled in the library: Adam was ensconced in one of the leather chairs with Beth on his lap and Bronwen across from him with Belle at her feet.

“You go first, Sweetheart,” he said so Bronwen opened the letter from her parents and began to read while Adam jiggled Beth on one knee.

December 2, 1875

Dear Bronwen,

By the time this letter reaches Cloncurry, you and your family will have celebrated your first Christmas in your new home with not one, but two, children. Tad and I are eagerly awaiting the news of the baby’s safe arrival, and then little Elizabeth’s first birthday is not far away.

We are in good health. Tad has decided it is time to bring a younger doctor into his practice, something I’ve been suggesting to him for at least a year. Dr. Phelps is very young, only about twenty-four or twenty-five but your father says he has a good bedside manner. I don’t know if one could call him handsome, not like your Adam or his youngest brother. No, he is a good man and a kind one. In that respect, he reminds me of Adam’s middle brother, although they are nothing alike physically since Dr. Phelps is short and wiry. The patients at first resisted seeing anyone but Tad but they are beginning to grow accustomed to Dr. Phelps so Tad no longer has to work such long hours.

Bronwen stopped reading and said to Adam, “I am so glad to know this. Being called out at all hours was beginning to be too much for Tad.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s like Pa turning over some of the responsibilities for running the ranch to his sons. He was always reluctant just like Tad, but now I understand that he’s giving Hoss and Joe more responsibilities.”

Bronwen didn’t say anything but she thought, I imagine he feels that if he’d given you more responsibility, then you might still be living on the Ponderosa, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistake with Hoss and Joe. Especially Joe.

“I’ll hurry and finish so we can read what Pa has written,” she said with a smile.

I know you write that Emily is not a very regular correspondent (but I think now that you have two little ones to care for you have a better understanding of why she doesn’t write as often as you’d like) so I will share the news that her Alfred starts school this January. I think it may be harder on Emily than little Alfred. I do hope that when Beth and Miranda are old enough to attend school, Cloncurry will have one.

We haven’t heard much from Rhys. I know he and Matilda are grieving over the loss of their baby, and only time can ease their grief. We are so grateful you and Adam are there to help them in this difficult time.

We hope to hear from you soon and you can tell us all about your Christmas. Give our love to Adam and give our little grandchildren a kiss from us.

Love,
Mam and Tad

As she folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, Bronwen asked, “Do you think Rhys and Matilda will come to Beth’s birthday party?”

“I don’t know, Sweetheart,” he replied sadly. “I hope so, but only if it’s not too painful for them.” Then he said to Beth, “Princess, Daddy needs you to go sit with Mama so he can read Grandpa’s letter.”

“Come see Mama, Beth fach,” Bronwen said, holding out her arms. Beth let Adam set her down and she toddled over to Bronwen. Once she was settled on her mama’s lap, Adam began to read.

December 5, 1875

Dear Adam,

I hope that you and Bronwen and the little ones had a wonderful Christmas. (Although it is difficult for us to picture the four of you in sweltering heat since it is so cold here.) We are looking forward to the letter telling us of the new baby’s safe arrival. (Your irrepressible younger brothers are taking bets on whether the newest member of the Cartwright family will be a boy or a girl. They want me to tell you that the odds are on a boy this time. They have a separate wager about the name if it’s a boy. Hoss is betting heavily on Adam, Jr. while Joe favors Benjamin Llywelyn for his grandfathers.)

Bronwen began to giggle and that started Beth giggling. Adam snorted. “Irrepressible! Incorrigible is a better description. I’d give anything to see their faces when they read our letter telling them they have another niece.” Grinning broadly, he continued reading.

The last time I wrote, I told you of the terrible fire in Virginia City with its tragic loss of life as well as property. I can now report that the city is rebuilding at a remarkable speed. The main streets of the town are beginning to be lined by new buildings that are of a better quality than those that were lost in the fire. The new International House being built will have six stories and promises to be even more extravagant than the first two incarnations. The most grandiose building planned is the new Storey County courthouse.

It won’t be long before Hop Sing will begin his Christmas baking and provided the weather isn’t too inclement, we plan to invite the neighbors to a party on December 23. Hoss wants to dress up as Santa Claus for the youngsters—Davy, little Andy and Susan McKaren, Emma and Jess Lightly and several others from families that settled since you left. He did it last year and I think he had more fun than the children.

We all hope that the four of you have the merriest Christmas ever and know that all of you will be in our hearts. Give Bronwen and the children a kiss from us.

Love,
Pa Hoss Joe

When Adam finished, he noted Beth’s eyelids were starting to droop. “Looks like our little girl is almost asleep,” he said with a wink.

“I’m ready for bed myself,” Bronwen replied with a tired smile.

“Beth, why don’t you let Daddy carry you up to bed, okay?” and he took her from Bronwen. Belle started to trot after them, but Adam said firmly, “Stay, Belle.” (Adam and Bronwen had both decided when they first moved into their new house that Belle would not be spending the night with them. They put her little basket in the library. It had taken a lot of work and firmness on their part but Belle finally accepted that she slept in the library.)

The three of them headed up the stairs: Adam carried Beth in one arm with her head on his shoulder and the other arm was around Bronwen’s shoulders, while she put an arm about his waist. As soon as they walked into the bedroom, the baby woke and announced that she was wet and Adam realized that Beth’s nappy was damp.

“I’ll change Beth if you’ll change Miranda,” he said with a sardonic grin and Bronwen sighed, thinking she seemed to spend a good part of her day changing nappies. If she didn’t have Nell to help with the laundry, she didn’t know how she would manage.

Beth was so sleepy that she was barely awake while Adam changed her and she didn’t fuss when he put her in her crib. However, Miranda was now wide awake.

“Why don’t I take the rocking chair and the cradle into the nursery and I’ll see if I can rock her to sleep while you get ready for bed?” he suggested.

“We don’t want to wake Beth,” Bronwen said tentatively.

“I won’t. You know what a sound sleeper she is,” he replied with a little grin. Then he added, “I’ve been thinking it’s time we moved the cradle into the nursery.” Her eyebrows went up and he said casually, “Well, I’d like to have some privacy. Wouldn’t you?” He reached over and tenderly caressed her cheek, and was charmed by her faint blush.

After he’d moved the rocking chair and cradle into the nursery, he took the baby from her and sat in the rocking chair. Miranda smiled at her daddy and cooed and showed not the slightest sign of being sleepy.

“Angel,” he said very softly, ‘you know your daddy loves you, but he really wants you to go to sleep so he can show Mama how much he loves her.” Miranda only smiled and waved her arms. A few minutes later, Bronwen appeared in the doorway dressed in one of her short-sleeved cotton nightgowns, her hair in a long braid hanging down her back. The cotton was thin enough that he could see how her weeks of going on long walks, pushing the girls in a baby carriage, was helping to regain her slender figure.

When she saw Miranda was still awake, she said softly, “Here, I’ll take her while you get ready for bed.”

He removed his clothes and then got into the bed she had already turned down and waited. He could hear her softly singing a lullaby in what he knew must be Welsh. His mind drifted back and he could hear Belle-mère singing to Joe in French, and then further back to Mama singing an old Swedish lullaby to Hoss.
. . .

When Bronwen came out of the nursery, she saw her husband was sound asleep. His face was so relaxed and peaceful that she smiled before getting into bed beside him as carefully as she could. It was only a matter of minutes before she, too, was asleep.

After several days of torrential rain, Beth’s birthday on January 12 was sunny—and scorching hot. The day began as most did, with Beth and Miranda crying to be fed or changed. Bronwen fed Miranda after exchanging her soiled nappy for a clean one and Adam changed Beth’s. Since Beth still tried to climb up on her mama’s lap whenever she saw her nursing her baby sister, he took her downstairs and carried her highchair into the kitchen and put her in it. That way she could watch Nell fix breakfast and not be underfoot.

“There, Princess,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead, “Daddy’ll be back just as soon as he can.”

Beth’s big hazel eyes began to fill with tears and her lip came out in a pout. “Da-da,” she said, holding out her arms.

“Now, Beth, you know your daddy has to go feed the horses and milk Buttercup. He’ll be back just as soon as he can,” Nell said calmly as Adam headed out the backdoor. “Nell is making something special for your birthday. That Mr. Hop Sing who works for your grandpa sent us a recipe for flapjacks and I’m going to try to make some.”

When Bronwen came downstairs, she found Beth giggling as she watched Nell trying to flip the flapjacks over while Belle happily ate the first attempts that were charred black on one side.

“I’m getting better at it,” the older woman said, feeling a little flustered as she glanced over at the plate of flapjacks that were a very dark brown.

“Oh, you’re trying out Hop Sing’s recipe for flapjacks,” Bronwen said with a grin. “Your daddy is going to be very pleased, Beth fach.” Seeing how happy her little girl was watching Nell, she kissed her cheek and left her in her highchair while she went into the dining room and set the table.

When she finished, she went back into the kitchen and saw Nell was frying potatoes for Adam so she went to the smokehouse Adam had built and got some bacon to fry for his breakfast. She and Nell were just setting the food on the table when Adam entered the dining room.

“Flapjacks!” he exclaimed with a big dimpled grin.

“I’m afraid these aren’t as good as what you were used to back in Nevada, but I’m getting better at them,” Nell said, her cheeks reddening slightly.

“I’m sure they’re delicious, Nell,” he replied. “I can hardly wait to try them.” After he’d blessed the food, he winked at his wife and daughter and said, “All right, ladies, I’m going to show you the proper way to eat flapjacks.” He took one from the platter and placed it on his plate. “First, you slather it with butter, and then you add something sweet. We have honey but jams or preserves are also delicious. Back when I was in college, I spent one summer with my friend Aaron on his family’s farm and they put maple syrup on their flapjacks. That was sheer bliss.” He cut half the flapjack into bite-sized pieces and put them in Beth’s little pewter bowl. “There you go, Princess.”

He and Bronwen both watched as Beth picked up one of the slightly sticky pieces. After she put it in her mouth and swallowed, she grinned from ear to ear and quickly picked up another.

“I think our birthday girl likes flapjacks,” Adam said with a grin almost as broad as his daughter’s.

Since the day was already so hot, as soon as Adam left for the mine Bronwen and Nell decided to bake the birthday cake. It was Nell’s job to bake the cake while Bronwen watched the little ones. She put Miranda’s little bonnet on her and laid her in the baby carriage. Beth always fussed about wearing her bonnet, but Bronwen did not intend for her little girl to be freckled or tan. She put Beth’s bonnet on and tied it under her chin so she couldn’t take it off. Once the girls had their bonnets on, she put on her wide-brimmed straw hat and the three of them set off on their morning walk with Belle trotting at Bronwen’s side and Beth clutching her dolly in one hand and her toy rabbit in the other. (Beth resisted riding when they started out, but she always ended the walk sitting up in the carriage.)

As they walked past the Davies house, they saw Matilda in the yard playing catch with her little terrier, Pip. Pip saw them first and came running over, barking at Belle. Matilda walked over, and Bronwen called, “G’day!”

“G’day,” Matilda replied. Then she smiled at Beth. “Happy birthday, darling.” Beth smiled back at her and Miranda gurgled and waved her arms. Matilda’s smile was a little tentative as she said, “G’day to you, Miranda.”

Bronwen said quietly, “Adam and I hope you and Rhys will be coming to Beth’s birthday party.”

“Yes. Yes, we’ll be there,” Matilda said.

“Would you like to come walking with us?” Bronwen asked and after a slight hesitation, Matilda nodded.

They had a pleasant walk and Bronwen was pleased to note that her sister-in-law seemed less withdrawn than she had been for the past few weeks. Bronwen remembered Adam telling her that grief was not something one got over, the way one got over an illness. Rather, it was something one learned to live with. It seemed Matilda was learning to live with hers.

After the girls’ morning nap, Bronwen decided to give them a bath and wash their hair. She spread Miranda’s comforter out in a corner of the kitchen and asked Nell to keep an eye on her while she took Beth to the bathhouse. Beth loved bath time; she was having so much fun splashing the water that she began to cry when Bronwen lifted her out of the tub. Her crying increased as Bronwen struggled to comb the tangles from her thick silky hair.

Once Bronwen finished combing Beth’s hair and dressed her, they went to the kitchen.

“Let’s trade,” Bronwen said. “Beth, you can sit in your chair and watch Nell. Mama has to give Miranda a bath.”

As soon as she heard her mama’s voice, Miranda began to make cooing and gurgling sounds. “Mama’s here, Precious,” she said scooping up the baby.

“Ma-ma!” Beth said, wanting her mama’s attention focused on her rather than the baby.

“Mama has to give your sister a bath so she’ll be nice and clean for your birthday party,” Bronwen said, leaning over and kissing her first-born’s cheek. “And it smells like she needs her nappy changed,” she added, wrinkling her nose.

“Ma-ma!” Bronwen heard Beth scream as she left the room with the baby.

The bathhouse was dominated by the large cast iron claw foot tub. Adam had ordered the largest available, which was five feet, ten and three-quarters inches, and he liked to joke that his diminutive wife could swim in it. Of course, it was much too big for the girls’ baths. Bronwen used one of the wooden washtubs for Beth’s baths, but she bathed Miranda in the sink. Miranda hated bath time; she apparently believed her mama was trying to drown her. This day was no exception and Bronwen’s nerves were beginning to fray by the time her baby was washed and dried. She knew Miranda was going to be hungry soon so she put her back on her comforter in the kitchen, and told Nell she was going to take a bath.

“But your lunch is ready,” Nell protested.

“It will have to wait,” Bronwen replied. “If I don’t wash my hair now, it will never be dry by tonight.”

She took a quick bath in the huge tub, using some of the Pear’s Soap Mam sent her from Sydney. Then she began the more difficult task of washing and towel drying her long hair. She went out on the verandah to work the comb through the tangles. She was about half done when she heard the baby cry and knew it was time to nurse her. She went to get her, her long hair flowing down her back just past her hips. She was relieved that Beth’s highchair was turned so she had her back to her sister, and that confrontation was avoided.

She took the baby into the library and sat in one of the comfortable leather armchairs, draping her long hair over the back so it could dry. As Miranda nursed, Bronwen thought, How my life has changed. It was just two years ago I was living with Tad and Mam in our home in Darlinghurst, thinking I would never meet a man I could love. Then the man of my dreams swept me off my feet, and she giggled softly, remembering her first meeting with Adam. Three months after that we were married, and nine months later we were parents. Only three months after Beth was born, our little family left Sydney and settled here in the Outback, and I soon found myself pregnant again. I love my little girls, but I never realized how exhausting motherhood could be.

Being a wife is also different than what I imagined. Learning to live with a man I’d only known for three months was more of an adjustment than I’d thought it would be. I did know he was very reserved, but I never realized how frustrating it would be living with a man who never wants to share his problems or his worries. I know he doesn’t intend to shut me out but I can’t seem to make him see that is exactly what he is doing.

Miranda whimpered fretfully then so Bronwen moved the baby to her other breast. As she began to nurse, Bronwen returned to her musing.

In all fairness, I think poor Adam has probably had a more difficult time adjusting, she thought with a grin. He’s gone from an entirely masculine household to being the only male in a household of females. Her grin broadened but then her expression grew more sober. It’s funny how it’s the little things that have been the biggest challenge. He is so fastidious and I try to be more neat and tidy with my things, but it’s hard. Just learning to share a bed was a struggle. I’m a restless sleeper but I can’t turn over the way I’d like because I don’t want to wake him. When it’s chilly, we fight for the covers. She shook her head at the memory of waking chilled because all the bedclothes were wrapped around her husband, for inevitably, she lost the struggle.

I know he is eager to resume marital relations. A part of me is, too, but most of the time I’m so tired that I just don’t feel very loving. And I am still so fat. I don’t even want him to see me. And, well, if I’m honest, I’m a little afraid to make love because I don’t want to get pregnant again too soon. I know he says these French letters should prevent that, but what if they don’t?

Just then Miranda indicated she was full so Bronwen burped her, snatched up her comforter and headed to the kitchen. She spread the comforter in the corner out of the way and put the baby on it. Then she sat at the kitchen table by Beth’s highchair. She had finished eating mashed potatoes and mashed up peas and carrots and was now gleefully eating the fairy bread Nell had made her. Nell set a large green salad topped with sliced hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes from their garden in front of Bronwen, and with a smile, she said to her, “I think I’d better finish combing your hair for you while you eat.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about my hair!” Bronwen exclaimed. “Yes, thank you, Nell, I guess you’d better.”

While both the girls napped that afternoon, Bronwen and Nell worked quickly dusting and polishing the furniture in the dining and drawing rooms. Once that was accomplished, Bronwen began decorating the birthday cake. She was half finished when the girls woke up from their naps. Since Nell didn’t know how to decorate the cake, she went upstairs to watch the girls. She changed both their dirty nappies, but Miranda was hungry and screamed her frustration at not being fed. Beth watched with big eyes as Nell paced the verandah, trying to soothe Miranda.

Bronwen could hear Miranda’s cries in the kitchen and as soon as the cake was decorated, she ran up the stairs and took her hungry infant from Nell and sat down in the rocking chair to nurse her. Beth immediately ran over to climb up on her mama’s lap.

“You come with me, Beth,” Nell said, reaching for the toddler’s hand.

“No!” Beth said, slapping Nell’s hand.

“Beth! That was naughty!” Bronwen scolded and Miranda stopped nursing and began to scream again.

“Come along, Beth,” Nell said, unperturbed. She scooped Beth up and when she began to scream and kick, she swatted her little bottom. The kicking stopped but Beth’s screams increased in volume. “Don’t worry,” Nell said to Bronwen over her shoulder. “We’ll go sit on the swing and we’ll be fine.”

“Oh Nell, what would I ever do without you?” Bronwen called after her.

When Adam returned home that night, he found all his girls waiting on the verandah: The birthday girl was wearing the pretty new red dress her aunt had made her for Christmas while the baby had on one of the little gowns her grandpa and uncles had sent her. Bronwen was wearing one of the dresses she’d made when they were first married. She read his thought and said, “No, you odious man, I’m not wearing my corset too tight,” before sticking out her tongue at him, causing Beth to giggle.

Adam grinned crookedly and then picked Beth up and tossed her overhead, saying, “How’s my birthday girl?” as she giggled and squealed. “I guess I’d better hurry and get ready. Rhys told me that he and Matilda will be here.”

“Yes, Matilda told me the same thing,” Bronwen said with a nod. “I went ahead and filled the bathtub for you and laid out your clothes.”

“Well, Princess, Daddy has to go get ready for your party. I’ll see you in a bit,” and he kissed her soft cheek before setting her back on the swing.

He leaned back in the tepid water, wishing he had time for a long soak and that Bronwen could come scrub his back for him. Instead, with a sigh, he lathered up and washed. He hurried up the back stairs in his robe and slippers and then dressed in a starched white shirt, frock coat and trousers. Since the thermometer he’d purchased and placed on the side of the house read 105 degrees, he wished frock coats and trousers were made of a lighter fabric than broadcloth. Still, even though Bronwen’s dress was made of muslin, her corset and layers of petticoats must also be uncomfortable in this heat.

He joined his family on the veranda, escaping the stifling heat of the house. He was playing horsy with Beth when Rhys and Matilda walked up.

“Happy birthday, Beth!” Rhys said with a big smile and Beth dimpled.

“I thought we could eat on the verandah since it’s so hot in the house,” Bronwen said and her brother grinned and replied, “That sounds wonderful to me.”

“What should I do with Beth’s gift?” Matilda asked.

“Oh, I’ll put it with ours in the drawing room,” Bronwen replied. “The food is on the buffet in the dining room. Please just help yourselves.”

“I guess one of our hens made the supreme sacrifice for Beth’s birthday dinner,” Adam teased, winking at Bronwen before helping himself to a bite of roasted chicken.

“No, they did not!” Bronwen said indignantly. “I bought the chicken from Mr. Beardsley,” and Adam chuckled.

“That’s my city girl,” he said with another wink.

“I couldn’t kill a chicken either,” Matilda said with a shudder.

“And that’s mine,” Rhys said with a big grin.

When they finished eating, the sun was going down and the temperature became more comfortable.

“Let’s eat the cake here and then we’ll go into the drawing room to open Beth’s gifts,” Bronwen suggested, and the others agreed. Nell brought out the birthday cake, decorated with marzipan roses. At Bronwen’s and Adam’s urging, she joined the others.

“Oh, it’s too beautiful to eat!” Matilda exclaimed while Beth clapped her hands and smiled. “Who made the roses?”

“I did,” Bronwen said. “Mam taught me how and she sent me the almond paste so I could make the marzipan.”

“It’s a lovely cake, and I’m sure it tastes as good as it looks,” Adam commented.

Bronwen grinned at him and said, “I’ll light the candle and then you can help the birthday girl blow it out.”

As soon as she lit the candle, Beth reached out to touch it. Adam firmly held her hands and gently blew out the flame. “The birthday girl gets the first piece,” Bronwen said, smiling at her little girl. She cut Beth a little piece without a marzipan rose since she thought it would be too rich for the toddler. Then she cut thick slices for Adam and Rhys and smaller ones for herself and Matilda.

Beth did eat a little cake, but most of it ended up on her face, causing her daddy and uncle to chuckle. Once she’d been cleaned up and the sleeping Miranda was put in her cradle, they all adjourned to the drawing room to open Beth’s gifts. Matilda had knitted her a jumper for the coming winter while the packages from Sydney and Nevada both contained pretty new frocks. Adam and Bronwen gave her a cloth ball. She was getting sleepy but she did play ball with her daddy and her uncle before her mama declared she must go to bed.

“Say ‘bye-bye,’ Beth fach,” Bronwen commanded her sleepy little girl.

Beth yawned and rubbed her eyes before saying, “Bye-bye.”

“Well, it’s time for us to be going,” Matilda said to Adam after Bronwen took Beth up to the nursery.

“We’re very happy you could join us,” Adam said, smiling warmly at his sister-in-law. “I’ll walk you to the gate.”

As he came back up the paved path to their house, he whistled for Belle, who came running as fast as her short legs would take her. He said goodnight to Nell, who was just going into her room, and then put out the lamps in the drawing room, except for one that he would carry to light his way up the stairs. When he entered their bedroom, he spied Bronwen curled up in a window seat, quietly crying.

“What’s wrong, Sweetheart?” he asked, feeling a frisson of anxiety as he set the lamp down on his bedside table and hurriedly covered the distance between them.

“It’s nothing,” she said with a sniff.

“You don’t cry over nothing,” he said firmly, sitting beside her.

She hesitated and then dropped her eyes before saying softly, “I was just thinking how a year ago when Beth was born, we were with our families.”

“And you miss Tad and Mam?” he asked, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turning her face up to his.

“I’m sorry, Cariad. I love our house here; I do. But I still miss Tad and Mam so much,” and her voice caught in a sob.

“I don’t want you to be unhappy,” he said quietly.

“It’s not always so bad,” she replied, but her voice quavered just a little and he gently caressed her cheek with his fingertips. “I didn’t want you to know.”

“My poor Bronwen,” he said tenderly and held her comfortingly.

“I feel so pathetic,” she said, her voice a little muffled against his chest.

“You are not pathetic,” he said firmly, tilting her face up toward his once again, so he could look convincingly into her violet eyes.

“But Mam left her family back in Llanelli when she married Tad and she’s never seen them since,” she said with another sniffle. He smiled tenderly and pulled out his handkerchief with one hand and handed it to her.

After she blew her nose, he said with a hint of a smile, “And do you think Mam has never cried because she missed her family?”

She managed a little smile then before answering. “I suppose she did when she was alone. I guess we are both lucky to have such understanding husbands.”

He winked at her and then leaned down so he could capture her mouth in a kiss. It was a gentle, tender one but, to his delight, she initiated a more passionate kiss. His fingers began to remove her hairpins so her long tresses tumbled down. As their kisses and caresses grew more heated, he took her hand and stood up so they could remove their clothing, and then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to their bed. He started to join her, but then snapped his fingers and exclaimed, “The French letter!”

She began to giggle softly as she saw it and he winked at her. “Laugh all you want, but it should stop us from making another baby.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

January 31, 1876 dawned clear and cold on the Ponderosa. Since there was no sign of an approaching snowstorm, Ben sent Jacob into Virginia City for the mail. When he returned late that afternoon, Ben looked up from his paperwork and saw the ranch hand was wearing a broad grin.

“A letter from Queensland?” Ben asked eagerly and Jacob nodded, handing his employer the mail. Ben smiled and said, “You look half frozen. Get Hop Sing to give you a cup of coffee.”

“I’ll do that,” Jacob said, flashing another smile.

Ben wanted nothing more than to open the letter from his first-born, but he made himself set it to one side until Hoss and Joe returned from taking hay to the stock, which should be within the hour. In fact, it was only about a half an hour later when he heard them and the other hands ride into the yard. As soon as his two sons came through the front door, they saw their pa sitting by the fireplace with a letter in his hand.

“A letter from Adam?” Hoss asked eagerly and Ben nodded. The two brothers quickly removed their hats, hanging them on the rack by the door, and put their gunbelts on the credenza, followed by their heavy coats. Then they sat on the settee and looked at their pa expectantly.

“Hop Sing,” Ben called, “we’re going to read Adam’s letter. The cook, smiling broadly, came out of the kitchen and sat on one of the chairs at the dining table. Then Ben took the sheet of paper from the envelope, cleared his throat, and began to read.

December 25, 1875

Dear Family,

Our two little girls are both taking naps so Bronwen and I are taking advantage of our free time to write to our families. First, I must tell you that Beth loves her rabbit.

“Aw, I shore wish I could’ve been there when she saw that cute little critter,’” Hoss said wistfully.

“Yeah, me, too,” Joe said. “I bet Beth’s a little doll now. She sure was a pretty baby.” He saw his pa looking at him and said, “Oh, sorry.”

. . . Bronwen was equally pleased with the gowns for Miranda. We dressed her in the one with the red smocking for Christmas morning. Bronwen had made Beth a little rag doll with black yarn hair to be her ‘baby’ and now she doesn’t want to go anywhere without her baby and her rabbit. She looks adorable clutching one in each hand. We showed Miranda her rattle, but Bronwen said she’s still too young to play with it.

Bronwen and I were so pleased with our gift. (There’s nowhere to buy books in Cloncurry so they are especially precious to us.) We were delighted that Tad and Mam also gave us one. I read aloud to Bronwen most evenings and as soon as we finish the book we’re reading, we’re going to start Roughing It.

Hoss, I want to thank you for suggesting to Bronwen that the best gift she could give me was my old tack. It’s like having a little piece of the Ponderosa here with me, and it means more to me than I can express.

Ben looked up then and saw the happy smile on his middle son’s face, and smiled back at him before returning to the letter.

We were hoping that Rhys and Matilda would join us for Christmas dinner, but it was just too much for them. I was disappointed, but not surprised. I hope and pray that next Christmas they will have a baby to love or at least Matilda is expecting one.

“I hope the same thing,” Hoss said. “Seein’ Matilda with that little dog of hers, I know what a good mama she’d be.”

Ben nodded and then continued.

Tomorrow is Boxing Day.

“What’s Boxing Day?” Joe asked while Hoss looked puzzled.

“I can just hear Joe asking, “What’s Boxing Day?” Ben read and chuckled at the astonished look on his sons’ faces. He glanced over at Hop Sing and saw he was smiling broadly.

Boxing Day is a holiday here in Queensland and Bronwen says it’s a holiday in Wales and England. She and Matilda made fruitcakes and ginger cookies (except they’re called biscuits here, which is really confusing) for Rhys and me to give to all our employees. We will be delivering the boxes to all the men and their families tomorrow morning. Bronwen embroidered some handkerchiefs as our gift to Nell.

I think that is all my news for now. We hope you are all having a very merry Christmas and that 1876 will be an even better year for you than 1875. I don’t think Bronwen and I could have a better year than one that saw the birth of our two precious daughters.

Affectionately yours,
Adam

There was silence in the great room as each man thought of the missing family members, then Hoss said quietly, “Adam shore sounds happy, don’t he?”

“Yes, he does,” Ben replied. “Happy and content. He’s found a woman to share his life and now God has blessed them with two beautiful little girls.” He saw the grave and wistful expressions on his younger sons faces and added, “I’m sure that one day each of you will be as fortunate as your brother.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About two weeks after Beth’s birthday, Adam announced at breakfast that he would be back late and not to wait supper for him.

“Why must you be late?” Bronwen asked. “Is there something wrong?”

“No,” he replied carefully. “Rhys and I are thinking we should diversify our assets and so we’re planning on buying a cattle station. I just want to talk the idea over with Peter Dawson and see if he has any suggestions about a location and where we should buy the cattle. I’m sure Peter and Janet will invite me to tea before I leave, and the last time I had tea with them, I was full to bursting with the crumpets, scones and cucumber sandwiches Janet kept urging me to have more of.”

Bronwen smiled. “Yes, Janet will make sure you have plenty to eat. I hope you make it back before Beth’s bedtime because I know she’ll fuss about going to bed if you aren’t there to kiss her goodnight.”

“I’ll try,” he said, “but I can’t make any promises.”

As Adam and Zephyr headed home, he felt a definite feeling of satisfaction. His visit with Peter had been very fruitful. Peter had been able to tell him of a prosperous small cattle station in the area that would soon be for sale. When Adam asked why it was being sold if it was successful, Peter had explained that the station owner’s wife had been unable to adjust to the isolated life on a station. Peter also had a young Africander bull that he was willing to sell for a reasonable price, and that was a breed that did very well in the Outback.

He hadn’t gotten as early a start home as he’d hoped, and it was growing dark when he approached Cloncurry. He knew Bronwen would have already put the girls to bed and hoped Beth hadn’t given her too much trouble, and that Nell had managed to milk Buttercup. When he rode past the house on his way to the barn, Belle spotted him and ran toward him, barking her greeting.

As he swung out of the saddle, Belle trotted up and Zephyr leaned down to sniff his canine companion. The friendship between his large horse and his tiny dog always amused Adam. He unsaddled his mount and groomed him hurriedly, and brought the carriage horses in from the paddock to the barn. (He saw Buttercup was contentedly grazing on hay in her stall and knew Nell must have managed to milk her.) He made sure the three horses had fresh water and hay before heading to the house with Belle trotting at his heels. He washed up at the sink in the bathhouse and then started to go up the backstairs when he became aware of the sound of weeping. It didn’t sound like the girls and it seemed to be coming from the library.

“Bronwen?” he said quietly as he entered the large room with its built in bookshelves and comfortable leather armchairs. The chairs were empty, but then he saw her in one of the window seats, an open book on her lap, sobbing loudly.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked anxiously.

“N-nothing’s wrong,” she managed to get out. “I was just rereading the end of A Tale of Two Cities.” She gave a shuddering sob then saying, “I don’t know. . . . Oh. It must be that time.”

“That time? What time?” he asked, totally lost.

“Time for my monthly flux. I almost always get weepy before it happens.”

“You cry like this every month?” he asked incredulously.

“Pretty much.” She gave a watery smile. “The crying is the least of it. I always have cramps and sometimes they’re pretty bad.” She saw his look of growing consternation and added, “Poor Adam. You never realized what you were getting into by taking a wife, did you?” She managed a grin and added, “Look on the bright side, Cariad. Now we know the French letters are working.” He shook his head and she added, “Oh, I have good news for you. When I walked to the post office with the girls, there was a letter from Pa and one from Mam. They’re on your desk.”

He got the letters and then sat down beside her. He opened the letter from Pa and began to read:

December 25, 1875

Dear Adam,

Congratulations to you and Bronwen on your new daughter. Yes, you’ll never receive a better birthday gift than that precious child. I must admit that I hope she will take after your mother. Hoss is very touched that you gave her Inger for a middle name.

We hope that you and Bronwen and the little ones had a wonderful Christmas. Hoss is very anxious to know how you liked Bronwen’s gift, and he said to tell you that he really likes his emu eggshells. (Joe can’t believe there’s a bird big enough to lay those eggs and the two of us are having a hard time convincing him.) He is enjoying his boomerang. Please tell Bronwen that I love my new scarf, and the fact that she knitted it using wool from her brother’s sheep ranch makes it extra special to me.

We were able to have our Christmas party and your brother was a wonderful Santa Claus. Roy, Paul, Todd and Virginia and Johnny and Ann all asked after you and instructed me to send you and your family their best wishes.

Give Bronwen our love and give those precious little girls kisses from their grandpa and uncles.

Love,
Pa Hoss Joe

“Oh, I’m so glad Pa liked his scarf,” Bronwen said delightedly, and her whole face glowed with happiness.

He put his arm around her and hugged her saying, “I knew he would. Just as I knew Hoss would like the emu eggshells and Joe the boomerang.” She smiled at him and he kissed her. It was a long sweet kiss, but when it ended, he said, “Will you read me Mam’s letter?” She nodded so he handed it to her.

December 25, 1875

Dear Bronwen,

Tad and I were so happy to learn of Miranda’s safe arrival. (Tad wonders if Adam enjoys “The Tempest” as much as you do and that’s why you chose the name Miranda?)

“You’ll have to write Tad that she is indeed one of my favorite Shakespearean heroines,” he said, and she smiled at him before continuing.

The emu eggshells have a place of honour in our parlour. Such a unique gift! And so lovely! Who would have thought a rather homely bird would hatch from such a beautiful egg?

I can’t help thinking back to last Christmas when you and Adam were both here to share Christmas dinner with us and to help make the Christmas taffy. It was strange this year with just the two of us. No, it was the three of us because we invited Dr. Phelps to spend Christmas with us. Tad and I both missed you, Bronwen fach. I’m not complaining; please don’t think that. You’re a mother now so I think you understand how I feel. Or you will when Beth and Miranda grow up, marry, and move away from home.

Adam watched Bronwen’s expression anxiously as she read that paragraph, wondering if it would bring another bout of sadness and homesickness. She sensed his regard and reached for one of his hands and gave it a gentle squeeze before returning to her mother’s letter.

We are both looking forward to hearing about your Christmas. Give our love to Adam and to those two little granddaughters of ours.

Love,
Mam and Tad

“I’m glad they could share Christmas with Dr. Phelps,” she said quietly. “I think I do understand what she means about missing me, although I have a very hard time imagining Beth and Miranda as grown-up women with husbands and children of their own.”

“That won’t be for years and years,” he said firmly, and she smiled wistfully.

“I have a feeling it will be much sooner than we’d like,” she said quietly. Just then Miranda began to cry and a moment later Beth added her, “Ma-ma! Ma-ma!” to the din.

“Maybe not,” Adam remarked with a wry grin as he went to check on Beth while Bronwen took care of the baby.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a warm, sunny spring day on the Ponderosa. The wildflowers were beginning to bloom and signs of new life were everywhere. Soon the new calves would be old enough to be branded, and then they and their mothers would be returned to the open range to graze. Ben forced himself to concentrate on the account books while he waited for Jacob to return from town with the mail. There hadn’t been a letter from Adam since the beginning of March, and Ben was growing a little anxious since his oldest son was a faithful correspondent.

It was late afternoon when Jacob drove the wagon up in the front yard. As soon as he spied his employer sitting on the front porch taking a break, he called, “Good news! There’s a letter from Queensland!”

Joe was in Denver on a business trip so it was only Ben, Hoss, and Hop Sing who gathered in the great room to hear Adam’s letter.

April 15, 1876

Dear Family,

First, let me apologize that it’s been so long between letters. My life has been very hectic these past few weeks or I would have written sooner. Rhys and I are now the owners of a cattle ranch, or station as we call them here. Peter Dawson told me about a successful station that was going to be sold because the owner’s wife couldn’t handle the isolation of life on a station. I checked it out myself and was satisfied it would be a good investment. Most of the hands were willing to stay on so the biggest problem was finding a man to manage the station for us. We placed the foreman in charge while we looked and he proved to be an excellent manager. His only weakness is keeping the books but I decided I could handle that task so we are all satisfied with the arrangement.

“So Ol’ Adam owns a cattle ranch,” Hoss said with a slow grin. “I knew ranchin’ was in his blood.”

“He’s a canny businessman, and I’m glad to know his family’s economic future doesn’t depend solely on their copper mine,” Ben commented before returning to the letter.

They herd cattle a little differently here in the Outback. By crossing different breeds of dogs such as Highland collies and bull terriers with dingos, they’ve a developed a dog they use to herd the cattle. I had a chance to see some of the Queensland heelers work, and I was impressed.

I know it’s spring in Nevada but it’s autumn here. The rainy season is over and the temperatures are beginning to go down, although it is still pretty hot most days. Our little girls are growing and changing every day. Bronwen and Nell can’t let Beth out of their sight because she’s learned how to creep up the stairs, and they are afraid she’ll fall and hurt herself. If I give her a pencil and paper, she’ll scribble lines on the paper. Actually, she’ll scribble lines everywhere so we have to put pencils and pens where she can’t reach them unless we can supervise her. Just this past week, Bronwen and I have become Mama and Daddy instead of Ma-ma and Da-da.

Miranda can sit now without one of us propping her up and she giggles, laughs and squeals at us. In fact, it’s clear to Bronwen and me that she is already trying to imitate sounds and she recognizes her mama’s voice. Bronwen is convinced that she knows her name, and I’m beginning to think she’s right. (Beth was almost a month older before she knew hers and responded to it.) She’s beginning to play with the rattle that you sent her for Christmas.

Taking care of two small children can really be a challenge we are discovering. (Bronwen just read over my shoulder and snorted when she saw I’d written ‘we’.) To illustrate what I mean, let me tell you what happened yesterday. When I got home in the evening, I didn’t see Bronwen and the girls waiting for me on the verandah as usual, so I went upstairs to our room. As soon as I opened the door, I beheld my first-born, as naked as the day she was born. She grinned at me, and held up her arms. At the same time, Bronwen came running in from the nursery with the baby in one arm and Beth’s missing nappy in her free hand. She blushed (and my wife has the most adorable blushes) and said, “Beth you naughty girl!” Then she blushed again and explained to me that Miranda had started crying before she’d had a chance to finish pinning Beth’s nappy, and the next thing she knew Beth, sans nappy, had disappeared. She was so embarrassed and Beth was so totally unconcerned with her lack of clothing that I couldn’t help laughing. Bronwen began to laugh as well, saying she wished I could have seen the look on my face when I opened the door and saw Beth. Hearing us laugh, both girls began to giggle.

It’s growing late so I’ll close. (Bronwen, who is still reading over my shoulder, reminds me that I haven’t told you that she sends her love.)

Affectionately yours,
Adam

Hoss guffawed, saying, “Doggone! I wish I coulda seen the look on ol’ Adam’s face.” Ben and Hop Sing were both chuckling at the picture Adam had painted.

“Oh, wait,” Ben said suddenly. “There’s another sheet of paper in the envelope.”

“I betcha Adam drew us some more pictures,” Hoss said excitedly.

“You’re right,” Ben said with a happy smile as he unfolded the paper, and the other two men got up and stood beside his chair. “This must be Beth,” he said, indicating the top drawing.

“Aw, she’s shore a pretty little thing,” Hoss said. Then looking at the bottom drawing he said gently, “Yup, looks like Miranda does take after Adam’s ma.”

“Yes, she does,” Ben said softly as he gazed at the infant’s likeness.

“Mistah Adam and Missy Bronwen have two very pretty daughters,” Hop Sing said with a tender smile. “They need to bring little girls here for visit.”

“I’m hoping they’ll come next summer,” Ben replied. “I know they don’t want to travel until the baby is at least a year old.”

“It’ll shore be different havin’ some female Cartwrights in the house,” Hoss said with a grin. “Say, Pa, we’ll need some little beds. You know, the right size for two little girls.”

“You’re right,” Ben said thoughtfully. “We don’t have any child-sized furniture.”

“I could make some little beds,” Hoss said enthusiastically and Ben smiled at his middle son.

“Well, you’ll have to wait until after the spring roundup and branding, but you have plenty of time between now and next summer.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a chilly evening in late June. The mine’s profits had continued to plunge so Adam and Rhys were both under considerable stress, which they tried to hide from their wives. This particular evening, the two men were surprised to find Matilda waiting by the Cartwright’s gate. Before either of the men could ask her if anything was wrong, she smiled at them.

“Adam, Bronwen and Nell have had a very rough day. Beth is teething and Miranda is very fractious. Jealous of the attention Bronwen has been giving Beth, I daresay. Anyway,” she added quickly, “Bronwen asked me if it would be all right if you have supper with us, and I said of course.”

“I am capable of fixing my own supper,” Adam said, a bit put out with Bronwen for foisting him on Matilda and Rhys.

“Nonsense,” she said firmly. “It’s no trouble and we’d love to have you. I invited Bronwen, but she said she was too tired and was going to bed early.”

She’s tired all the time, Adam thought. We haven’t made love in weeks. I never realized that in gaining a mother for my children, I’d lose my wife. He smiled at his sister-in-law and said, “As long as it’s no trouble, I’m happy to join you for supper.”

Adam couldn’t help noticing the immaculate condition of the Davies home, which was a stark contrast to his own home, where the furniture was only dusted once a week, if that often. Beth’s doll and rabbit and cloth ball were often left on the stairs or in the hallway. Lately she’d taken to pulling the books off the bottom shelves in the library and scattering them around the room. Miranda was now crawling and she often joined in the fun.

As the three of them ate the meal of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding Matilda had prepared, she remarked, “Alice told me that Bert’s widowed sister has moved here. She’s staying with the Greenes until her house is built. She is going to be working in the pub with Bert.”

After dinner, Rhys said to Adam, “It’s still light. Why don’t we go to the pub and have a drink?”

Adam started to say he should be heading home, but then he thought, Why should I hurry home? Bronwen will be busy with the children and she wants to go to bed early. She won’t even miss me. He smiled at his friend and replied, ‘Sounds like a fine idea to me.” Then he turned to his sister-in-law. “Matilda, thanks again for the delicious supper.”

The pub was crowded and when they walked up to the bar, instead of stocky Bert Greene, they saw a tall woman with glossy reddish-brown hair, smoldering emerald eyes and a luscious mouth. She was dressed in a simple blouse and skirt, but they didn’t disguise her womanly curves.

“G’day,” she asked in a low, husky voice. “What do you fancy?” She smiled at Rhys in a friendly fashion but let her eyes travel over Adam, obviously liking what she saw.

“Two pints,” Rhys replied.

When the woman handed them their drinks, she made sure her fingers brushed up against Adam’s and she smiled at him, a sultry and suggestive smile.

“Bert Greene’s widowed sister isn’t quite what I expected,” Rhys remarked as they sat at an empty table.

“Nor I,” Adam said, stealing a glance at the bar.

The two men sat in companionable silence, sipping their beer, until Rhys said, “It’s a lucky thing we got such a good price for our cattle since the price for copper has plummeted.”

“But it will turn around eventually,” Adam replied. “I just wish we hadn’t been forced to let some of our men go.”

They watched a game of darts and, almost against his will, Adam found himself darting glances at the bar. I’m just looking, he rationalized. No harm in looking.

“Want another?” Rhys asked when they finished.

“Better not,” Adam replied. “I need to be heading home.”

“Guess I should too,” Rhys said but just then the woman appeared at their table with two more pints of beer.

“On the house, mates,” she said with a smile. “My brother tells me that we’re neighbors.”

“Right,” Rhys said as she set the pints in front of them and picked up the empty glasses. “My wife and I live next door to your brother and his family.”

“And you live in that beautiful big house at the end of the street,” she said to Adam, and he nodded. “Well, since we’re neighbors, let me introduce myself. I’m Ruby Newton.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Newton,” Adam said, but she interrupted.

“Ruby, please,” she said with another sultry smile.

“Ruby,” he said with his crooked grin. “I’m Adam Cartwright and this is my brother-in-law, Rhys Davies.”

“Pleased to meet you. Since my brother is tending the bar, would you mind if I joined you?”

“Uh, no, of courses not,” Rhys said.

Both men watched as she walked back to the bar, admiring the sensual sway of her hips.

“You know, I don’t think Matilda and Bronwen would approve,” Adam said quietly.

“We’re just being neighborly,” Rhys replied. Then he added sheepishly, “But you’re right. Well, we’ll just chat for a few minutes, finish our drinks and be off.”

When she rejoined them, they both noticed that she’d undone one more button on her blouse so they could see a tantalizing glimpse of her generous cleavage. Adam began to have serious doubts about the wisdom in agreeing to have a drink with her.

“Well, Adam—I may call you Adam?—I can tell that you are not from Queensland,” she said, before taking a sip of her ale, her eyes never leaving his.

“No, I’m from the United States,” he replied, adding carefully. “My wife, however, is from New South Wales.”

“She’s a fortunate woman,” Ruby said with another sultry smile.

“I’m the fortunate one,” he said firmly and then swallowed the last of his beer. “I really need to be getting home. Very nice to have met you, Mrs. Newton,” he added, as he stood up.

“Ruby, Adam,” she said with a pretty pout.

He ignored the pout and turned to Rhys, who was hurriedly draining his beer. “Ready?”

Rhys set his glass down and stood up. “Good evening, Mrs. Newton,” he said as he and Adam left the pub.

When Adam walked up the stairs, carrying the lamp left burning for him in the drawing room, he discovered Bronwen rocking a fretful Miranda and softly singing to her. He stood in the shadows, listening to Bronwen’s rich sweet voice sing the old Welsh lullaby.

Yes, Mrs. Newton, he thought as he watched mother and child, I am the fortunate one to have found my Bronwen. No matter how lovely you are, you won’t tempt me to betray the vow I made to forsake all others and keep myself only for her. I love her so much and I love my daughters; right now their needs have to come first.

He waited quietly until he saw her carry the sleeping Miranda into the nursery and then he stepped into the room. When she came back, he had removed his corduroy jacket and hung it in his wardrobe, and was in the process of unbuttoning his shirt.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” she said, obviously startled.

“I thought you might be sleeping so I tried to be quiet. Then I heard you singing to Miranda so I waited until you took her into the nursery,” he replied, removing his shirt and placing it in the wicker hamper for dirty clothes.

He began unbuttoning his trousers and she said quietly, “You’re awfully late.”

“Rhys and I decided to stop at the pub and have a drink,” he replied in a matter-of-fact tone as he tossed the trousers after the shirt. “We stayed a little longer than we intended.”

“Matilda told me that Bert’s sister moved to Cloncurry and is working at the pub,” she remarked in an offhand manner.

“Yes. She was there,” he answered in a carefully neutral tone as he tugged on one ear. That gesture set off warning bells in Bronwen’s head. The words in Mam’s last letter, words she hadn’t shared with Adam, came to her. I know how busy you must be with the girls, Bronwen fach, but I have to give you some advice: Don’t become so busy with your daughters that you neglect your husband.

“I, uh, I know that it’s late,” she said quietly, “but would you mind brushing my hair? I’ve been so busy with the girls that I’ve been neglecting it.”

“No, I don’t mind,” he replied, gesturing at the bench in front of her vanity. She sat down and started unpinning her chignon. “No, let me,” he said, and his long slender fingers deftly loosened her soft, dark tresses. He picked up the brush and began to apply it slowly and gently at first, and then with more vigor. She watched his reflection in the mirror, letting her eyes travel over his broad shoulders, muscular arms and chest. She remembered what it felt like to have those arms holding her close, to taste his sweet kisses. As he brushed her hair, he was so intent on his task that he never noticed her undoing the buttons of her nightgown.

“There,” he said, setting the brush down when he’d finished. “Your hair is so beautiful; you shouldn’t neglect it.” He smiled at her reflection. “‘But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her’,” he quoted.

“I think my hair isn’t the only thing that I’ve neglected,” she said softly, turning to look at him. She stood up and tugged on the sleeves of her loose gown so that it pooled at her feet. “I think I’ve neglected my husband as well.”

A few days later while Bronwen and the girls were going for their morning walk, they encountered a tall, striking woman who was a stranger to Bronwen. She could tell immediately that this woman’s form-fitting princess sheath dress of deep green moiré was more fashionable than her own polonaise of blue-and-green plaid tarlatan. Bronwen surmised this must be Bert Greene’s sister, newly arrived from Brisbane.

“G’day,” she said with a pleasant smile.

“G’day,” Ruby replied, returning Bronwen’s smile. Then she leaned over the baby carriage and smiling brightly said to Beth and Miranda, “G’day to you, too.”

“G’day,” Beth said, dimpling, while Miranda only looked at her with big eyes.

“My, you certainly are pretty girls,” Ruby said with another smile. Then she straightened and said, “Let me introduce myself. I’m Ruby Newton.” She held out her hand and Bronwen shook it.

“Bronwen Cartwright. And this is Beth and this is Miranda.”

“Cartwright,” Ruby said, glancing at Bronwen appraisingly. “Ah, I think we are neighbors. I’m staying with my brother, Bert Greene, until my own house is built.”

“I thought you must Bert’s sister.” At the other woman’s arched eyebrow she grinned and said, “Well, there aren’t many strangers here in Cloncurry.”

Ruby looked around the quiet street of the small town and replied, “Yes, I see what you mean.” She paused and then said, “My brother told me that lovely big house at the end of the street is yours.”

“Yes,” Bronwen replied, adding proudly, “My husband designed it.”

“My, he certainly is a talented man,” Ruby commented.

“Yes, he is,” Bronwen said. “I think you’ve met him.”

“Have I?” Ruby asked, feigning ignorance, which amused Bronwen.

“Yes, he and my brother went to the pub a few nights back. My husband is the only American in Cloncurry, so I’m sure you would have noticed his accent.” And she smiled sweetly at the other woman.

“Oh yes. A tall dark fellow?” And Bronwen nodded, a little smile playing about her lips, for she was certain Ruby Newton had known she was Adam’s wife from the moment she’d introduced herself.

“So, what do you think of Cloncurry, Mrs. Newton?” Bronwen asked then.

“It’s certainly quiet,” Ruby said noncommittally. Just then, Miranda reached for Beth’s rabbit and Beth snatched it back, yelling, “No!” and hitting her sister.

“Beth, that was very naughty!” Bronwen scolded in a very severe tone while picking up her sobbing baby. Beth began to cry loudly then, seeing her sister in her mama’s arms.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Cartwright, but I have to be going,” Ruby said hurriedly. Well, if that’s what life at home is like, I should be seeing Mr. Adam Cartwright at the pub any night now, she thought as she sauntered up the street, smiling in anticipation.

When Adam returned home that evening, he saw his girls playing ball in the yard.

“Dad-dy!” Beth squealed, running toward him, while Miranda crawled over as fast as she could. Adam scooped up first one daughter and then the other, swinging them over his head as they giggled and shrieked. He set the girls down and bent over to kiss Bronwen. “Did you ladies have a good day?” he asked after the kiss ended.

“Ball, Dad-dy!” Beth commanded, holding up her cloth ball.

“In just a minute, Princess,” Adam replied in a firm but gentle tone.

“Yes, we had a lovely day,” Bronwen said. “When Beth fed herself, most of the food actually made it in her mouth.”

“Good girl, Princess,” Adam said, picking Beth up and tossing her in the air to shrieks of delight. “Daddy is very proud of his big girl.”

“Da-da! Da-da!” Miranda said excitedly, waving her arms, so he transferred Beth to his left arm and scooped Miranda up his in right. “Watch us, Mama,” he said as he ran up to the verandah and back, a daughter tucked under each arm, giggling and screaming in excitement.

“While we were on our walk, we met Bert’s sister,” Bronwen remarked in an offhand manner after Adam set the girls down and they began to roll Beth’s ball back and forth between them.

“Hmm,” he said, tugging on an earlobe.

“She’s a very attractive woman,” Bronwen commented with a studied nonchalance.

“Yes, she is,” he replied. Then he grinned—a big dimpled grin—and said with a wink, “But I happen to prefer dainty brunettes with beautiful eyes the color of violets in the spring.” He reached over and put his hands about her waist and then lifted her over his head, twirling her around.

“Oh, Adam,” she said with a happy smile, her cheeks growing pink.

“Up!” Beth said, tugging on his trousers while Miranda shrieked excitedly, “Da-da! Ma-ma!”

Two houses down the street, Ruby Newton watched the four Cartwrights from the verandah of her brother’s house, her luscious lips twisted in a bitter smile.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Here ya go, Hoss; here’s the Ponderosa’s mail.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Hoss replied, talking the envelopes from the wizened little clerk.

“Got one there I know you’ll happy to get,” Pete said with a wink. “Come all the way from Queensland.”

Hoss’s gap tooth grin just about split his face. “A letter from Adam is about the best news there is,” he said as he left the post office.

It was just about suppertime when he rode up to the ranch house. Joe had finished his work breaking horses and was sitting on the porch with Ben and Paul Martin, sipping lemonade.

“Any word from Adam?” Ben asked as his middle son dismounted.

“Shore is,” Hoss said with a grin. “Just let me take care of old Chubby and we can read Adam’s letter.”

When he returned from the barn, Hop Sing had joined the other three men. As Hoss sat down, handing the letter to Ben, Paul said, “You know, this reminds me of when Adam was at Harvard. I remember sitting on the porch of your old cabin listening to Ben read Adam’s latest letter.”

“Yeah, I remember them days,” Hoss said thoughtfully. “I remember how much we looked forward to Adam’s letters back then, just like we do now.”

The older men smiled, but Joe thought about how his memories of Adam had grown dimmer each year his brother had been away until he hadn’t seemed quite real.

“Well, let’s hear what he has to say now,” Ben said, opening the envelope and taking out the sheet of paper.

July 14, 1876

Dear Family,

Miranda turns eight months old today. She is a very bright little girl. At the same age, Beth would say Ma-ma and Da-da but she would sometimes call Matilda Ma-ma and Rhys or any other man Da-da. Miranda already seems to understand that I’m Da-da and Bronwen is Ma-ma. She loves to play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo. Beth wasn’t doing that until she was much older. On the other hand, Beth was already pulling herself up to a standing position when she was Miranda’s age and she was better at crawling. Bronwen says each baby is different and I shouldn’t be comparing our girls.

“I hope Adam listens to Bronwen,” Paul interjected and Ben nodded his agreement before continuing.

Beth turned a year and a half two days ago. She talks much more clearly now than she did just a month or so back and her vocabulary is growing every day. She is asserting her independence more and seems to want to do the opposite of what she is told. She’s also beginning to have occasional tantrums. Bronwen says she is more likely to have one if she’s too tired. She hasn’t had any really bad ones and usually if we just ignore her, she’ll calm down on her own. However, we have had to punish her for slapping or shoving Miranda if she tries to play with one of her toys. All the mothers here in Cloncurry assure Bronwen that’s all part of growing up. I am happy to report that most of the time Beth is a very sweet little girl.

Now, some of our best news concerns Rhys and Matilda. I am very pleased to report that Matilda is expecting a baby sometime in the middle of December.

“I’m shore glad to hear that!” Hoss exclaimed and they all smiled their agreement before Ben continued.

That is my good news, and now for the bad. I’m sure you’re aware that the price of copper has dropped drastically. Many of the mines in the area have folded. Rhys and I have had to let some of our men go, but so far we are still able to operate at a small profit. Things might be worse except we got a very good price for our cattle. We know the market for copper will improve again and our mine still has rich deposits. We will just have to get through this borrasca.

Rhys and I don’t want to worry Matilda and Bronwen. Luckily, no one in Cloncurry lives an extravagant lifestyle and our garden provides all the vegetables we need and we also supply our own eggs and milk. I just feel so bad for the men we had to lay off, knowing how difficult it will be for them to find work anywhere else.

“Dadburnit!” Hoss interrupted. “Why don’t Adam bring Bronwen and them two little girls here to the Ponderosa where they belong! I don’t know why he wants to get involved in minin’ anyhow.”

“Bronwen told me if Adam had asked her to come live here, she would’ve,” Joe added. “He said he stayed so she wouldn’t have to leave her family, but then he dragged her off to the middle of nowhere and her parents don’t see anymore of them than we do.”

“You’re forgetting her brother and sister-in-law,” Ben said quietly. “I hope he decides to return just as much as you do, but your brother is a very independent man. Now he owns his own mining company and his own ranch, and I’m not sure if he’d be willing to give that up.” He glanced at the paper and said, “There’s a P.S.”

Hoss and Joe exchanged gloomy looks as Ben prepared to read.

P.S. Our little family has increased. Last week Belle gave birth to a litter of four puppies—three females and one male. Belle’s used to sleeping in the library so Bronwen overrode my suggestion that she and the puppies should stay on the verandah and decided we must put their pen in the library. The trick is to keep Beth and Miranda away from the puppies. Beth knows how to open the door to the library so we have to barricade the door with one of the chairs from the dining room.

Paul began to laugh. “Two children under age two weren’t enough. Now Adam and Bronwen have puppies to deal with as well,” he got out between guffaws. And the others all joined in.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adam listened to the rain as it lashed against the shutters and beat against the roof. I am forty years old today. Two score of my three score years and ten are gone. These last two years, though, have been the best of my life. He smiled in the dark. If anyone had told me that I could be so happy living with such an impetuous and disorganized woman, I never would have believed them. It’s frightening to think that if I hadn’t made the impulsive decision to visit Sydney, I never would have met my true-love. And she does indeed have my heart.

He felt Bronwen begin to stir and dropped light kisses on her eyelids. She smiled and said, “Happy birthday, Cariad,” before kissing him. After they made love, they lay snuggled together while he played with strands of her hair. It wasn’t long before they heard Miranda calling, “Mama! Dad-dy!”

“She’s an early bird, just like her daddy,” Bronwen said with a giggle as she reached for her discarded nightgown.

“I’m certainly glad I made the doorknobs in this room and the nursery too high for little hands to reach,” he replied with a wink, before slipping on his nightshirt.

He walked over and opened the nursery door, revealing his youngest daughter standing in her crib. Her curly black hair formed a nimbus about her oval face. Her large eyes were now hazel, but not dark hazel as his and Beth’s. Miranda’s eyes were so light they were almost golden. Her lower lip was more full than the upper, just as he remembered his mother’s was in the daguerreotype that he’d left in his old room at the Ponderosa before he’d set out on his travels.

“Happy birthday, Angel,” he said with a dimpled grin and she grinned back, showing her four teeth.

“Dad-dy,” she said then, holding up her arms, but he felt her nappy first.

“No, Angel, Daddy has to change your nappy first.”

“I’ll do it,” Bronwen said from the doorway. “You need to go milk Buttercup.”

When he got back from caring for the animals and headed upstairs to change, leaving his wet mackintosh on the verandah, he discovered Beth and Miranda rolling Beth’s cloth ball while Bronwen was on her hands and knees by the bed, obviously searching for something.

“If you’re looking for your shoes,” he smirked, “I see them under the chaise lounge.”

Her cheeks reddened, but she stuck her tongue out at him before standing up and retrieving her shoes.

“You know,” he called out from the nursery where he was changing, “I have a feeling it’s almost always going to be raining on Miranda’s and my birthday.” As he walked into the bedroom, he added, “It always seemed to rain that day in Boston, but that was a cold rain. In fact, it was sleet one year. At least it’s not cold here.”

“Piggy, Daddy,” Beth said, holding up her arms but her sister held hers up as well saying, “Pig-gy, Dad-dy.”

“Sorry, Princess, but since it’s your sister’s birthday, she gets the piggyback ride,” he said gently before placing Miranda on his shoulders.

“No!” Beth screamed and Bronwen said quickly, “Go on down so you won’t be late.”

“C’mon, Angel,” he said as he strode quickly from the room and closed the door behind him. Even though Pa and Mam had both written that tantrums were perfectly normal in a little girl Beth’s age, it always upset Adam to see her having one.

“Happy birthday!” Nell said when they entered the dining room. “I made flapjacks for your birthday breakfast. Mrs. Cartwright made some orange marmalade yesterday and I thought you might want to try it on the flapjacks.”

“Sounds like a wonderful idea,” he replied with a smile as he sat Miranda in her highchair. That was an early birthday present she’d gotten when she turned eleven months and made it clear she wanted to eat with the rest of the family. “I think you’d better go ahead and bring our food in. I’m not sure when Bronwen and Beth will be down.”

Nell nodded, guessing the reason, and returned a few minutes latter with flapjacks, a soft-boiled egg, bacon and the teapot. Adam blessed the food and buttered a flapjack for Miranda, adding a little of Bronwen’s orange marmalade before cutting it into tiny pieces.

“You know, Angel,” he said as they ate, “your Uncle Hoss loves flapjacks. He actually won a flapjack eating contest once.” He chuckled when his little girl grinned just as though she understood every word.

He was eating his last bite of flapjack when Bronwen and Beth entered the room, hand in hand. Miranda, her face smeared with butter and marmalade, grinned at them and waved her arms.

“Fapjacks!” Beth exclaimed happily as Adam put her in the other highchair.

“Did you like the marmalade?” Bronwen asked a little anxiously.

“Best I’ve ever had,” he replied with a grin, which broadened when he saw her cheeks grow pink with pleasure. “I’m sorry, but I have to be on my way,” he said before kissing her. Then he kissed Beth’s cheek but decided to drop a kiss on Miranda’s curls since her face was so sticky.

A damp Belle was scratching at the backdoor and snuck in the minute Adam opened it. (Adam was thankful they’d found homes for all the puppies before the rainy season. One wet dog was enough.)

Since Bronwen couldn’t take the girls walking in the rain, she kept them occupied in the library while Nell cleaned and dusted the dining and drawing rooms. Then Bronwen put the girls in their highchairs so they could watch her make the birthday cake and she made sure each girl had a batter-covered spoon to lick. She decided there was time before lunch for her to bathe the girls.

Now that Miranda took baths together with her sister in one of the wooden wash tubs she liked them better. Bronwen’s dress was soaked by the time the girls were done splashing. Nell came and carried the girls, wrapped in towels, upstairs to dress them while Bronwen took her own bath.

After lunch, Bronwen put the girls down for their nap. (When Miranda outgrew her cradle, they’d moved Beth into her own room, where Adam had made some little railings for her bed to ensure she couldn’t fall out. She was so proud of having a big girl’s bed that she settled into her own room nicely. However, Bronwen soon discovered the girls fussed less about taking a nap if she put them both in Beth’s bed.) While they were sleeping, she decorated the cake with yellow marzipan roses, deciding pink was too feminine for a cake that was for her husband as well as her daughter.

As soon as she finished, she hurried upstairs to check on the girls. They were still sleeping, and she paused to gaze lovingly at them. You appear to be little cherubs now, she thought, looking at their long dark lashes resting on their chubby cheeks and their rosebud mouths. Beth’s dark hair was now shoulder length while Miranda’s curls fluffed around her face. Yes, you look like cherubs now, Bronwen thought with a grin, but soon you’ll wake up and be my little imps.

As if responding to her thought, Miranda’s eyelashes fluttered and then she opened her eyes. “Wet, Mama,” she announced, sitting up. That movement woke her big sister, who announced she was also wet.

“In two more months, Beth fach,” Bronwen said as she pinned a clean nappy on her firstborn, “Mama is going to teach you how to use the chamber pot. I will be so happy when both my girls no longer wear nappies.” As soon as her nappy was pinned, Beth ran over to the door where her sister was already trying to reach the doorknob. Bronwen grinned at them. “No, you may not run around the house wearing nothing but a nappy. The rain has stopped for now so we can go for our walk, but first you have to put some clothes on.”

It wasn’t too much longer before Bronwen was wheeling the baby carriage down the street with Belle frisking along at her heels. Beth was sulking because her mama made her ride in the carriage, but Bronwen knew from experience that Beth was drawn to mud the same way a magnet is drawn to metal and there wasn’t time to give her two baths in one day. Bronwen was wearing her oldest shoes, knowing they would be spattered with mud as would her skirt and petticoat. They were halfway home when the skies opened up and the rain began to fall in sheets. She pushed the carriage as fast as she could while the girls laughed and squealed as the rain soaked their clothes and their mama’s and Belle ran back and forth barking excitedly.

When they reached the house, Nell ran out and snatched up the two girls while Bronwen struggled to haul the baby carriage onto the verandah. Once that was accomplished, she took off her muddy shoes and left them on the verandah, and then squeezed the excess water from her skirt and petticoats. She went inside and down the hall to the bathhouse, not noticing that Belle had snuck in right behind her and shook herself dry, splattering the walls with muddy water and tracking muddy paw prints all down the hallway to the library, where she curled up in her basket.

Nell had almost finished removing Miranda’s wet clothes so Bronwen began to do the same to a squirming Beth. When both girls were out of their wet things, the women wrapped them in towels, and then Nell picked up a girl in each arm and headed up the backstairs.

“Just keep them upstairs and let them play in their nappies,” Bronwen called after her. “It’s still too early to put on their party dresses.” Then she grabbed a towel and headed after Nell.

She quickly stripped off her wet clothing and put on the silk negligee Adam had given her for Christmas. Her hair was so wet that she unpinned the chignon and combed it out, hoping it would dry quickly. She suddenly realized that she hadn’t wrapped her gifts for Adam and Miranda. She’d hidden Adam’s at the back of the top shelf of her wardrobe. She stood on tiptoe and reached back as far as she could. Her fingertips just brushed the book she’d had Tad buy for her to give Adam, but she couldn’t reach quite far enough to grasp it. She jumped up and reached in but she missed it, so she tried again. This time she was caught in mid-air. She gave a little squeal of surprise and craned her head around to see her husband’s dimpled grin.

“Put me down!” she commanded.

“Why? I like holding you,” he replied with a wink.

“Oh! Tall people are so smug!” she sputtered, pushing futilely at the hands clasping her waist.

“And short people are so feisty,” he said, grinning at her. “And so adorable,” he added, setting her on her feet. He brushed back her long, damp hair and bent down so he could nuzzle her neck.

She found herself melting at his touch as always, but she tried to sound unaffected. “Why are you home now? Is anything wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just decided to come home early for my birthday,” he replied, and then began to nibble on one of her earlobes. “What on earth were you doing?” he asked between nibbles.

“I was trying to get your birthday present,” she said, feigning exasperation.

“Do you know what I really want for my birthday?” he asked in a husky tone, turning her to face him and deftly untying the sash that held her negligee closed. He saw that he’d been right and she wasn’t wearing anything else.

“I gave you that gift this morning,” she said, trying to sound indignant, but not succeeding very well. “Remember?”

“I certainly do remember,” he said before capturing her mouth in a kiss. “It was a very memorable gift,” he added as he gently pushed the negligee down her arms so it slithered to the floor. “Have I told you lately how lovely you are, Mrs. Cartwright?”

“No, I don’t believe you have, Mr. Cartwright,” she replied, twining her arms around his neck and pulling his mouth to hers. He scooped her up in his arms and then walked over and locked their door with his free hand.

A little later as they lay curled together, listening to the rain beating against the windows, they heard a faint knocking on their door and Nell called, “Do you want me to dress the girls now, Mrs. Cartwright?”

Bronwen sat straight up. “Yes, thank you, Nell.” She turned to Adam. “I still have to wrap your presents!”

“Don’t worry, Sweetheart,” he said soothingly. “As soon as I get dressed, I’ll go down to the library and wrap Miranda’s gift there.”

“Oh, I need you to help me with my corset first,” Bronwen said, and he grinned and nodded.

As soon as he’d dressed, Adam went down the backstairs (thankful that Nell had closed the door to the girls’ room so they couldn’t see their daddy was home), and then slipped into the library to wrap the little rag doll Bronwen had made for Miranda. This little doll had hair made of black yarn just like Beth’s. However, Beth’s doll had a red calico dress and red flannel stockings while Miranda’s doll was dressed in blue calico and her stockings were made of white flannel. Adam had drawn the faces that Bronwen had embroidered on the dolls, and he’d been careful to give each doll a unique expression.

He’d barely finished wrapping the doll when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and two little voices squealed, “Dad-dy!”

Both his girls toddled over as fast as they could (although Miranda was still a bit unsteady). He caught one in each arm and then gently twirled around while they giggled.

“Could you watch them while I set the table?” Nell asked from the doorway and he nodded. He had just started to play horsy with a girl on each knee when he heard Nell shriek.

“What’s wrong, Nell?” he called, getting to his feet with a little girl in each arm.

“Oh, that Belle!” Nell exclaimed, pointing to the muddy tracks in the hallway and the muddy splatters on the wall. “The Davies will be here in a few minutes; there’s no time to scrub the floor and wall.”

“No, there’s not,” Adam said replied.

“Where is that bad dog?” Nell asked, looking around.

“She ran out the back door when I came in,” Adam replied, sounding calmer than he actually felt. “Since the Davies have Pip, I think they’ll be understanding.” He added with a sigh, “We can’t really blame Belle for behaving like a dog.”

“Want Belle,” Beth said then. “Belle!” she called.

“I’m sorry, Princess, but Belle has to stay outside until bedtime,” Adam replied. Then he startled Nell and Beth by saying, “Ow!” He pulled his baby girl away from his shoulder. “Angel, you mustn’t bite Daddy,” he scolded while Miranda grinned, unrepentant.

“Manda bad,” Beth said while Nell said, “Oh, she didn’t bite you.”

“She certainly did,” Adam replied. “She bit my neck.” Miranda continued to grin. Just then they heard a knock at the front door and knew Rhys and Matilda had arrived. While Nell scurried off to set the table in the dining room, Adam set the girls on their feet and opened the door to welcome his brother- and sister-in-law.

Matilda was in her eighth month and moved with the distinctive waddle of women in the last stages of pregnancy. She smiled at her brother-in-law and nieces, although it became fixed when she saw the muddy footprints on the floor and the muddy splashes on the wall.

Adam scratched the back of his head as he said, “Uh, sorry about the mess. We just now discovered it.”

“Pip has made his share of messes in our house,” Rhys said with a broad smile. “Shall I put this in the drawing room?” he asked, gesturing with the large box in his arms.

“Sure,” Adam replied. “I’ll take your umbrellas,” he added, putting them in the umbrella stand in the entry. He smiled when he saw Matilda chose one of the side chairs just as Bronwen had always done in the last months of her pregnancies.

“Now, how are my two favorite nieces?” Rhys asked, squatting so he was at Beth’s and Miranda’s eye level. “Do I get a kiss?”

Both girls placed loud smacking kisses on his cheek and when he sat down on the settee, they ran over and climbed on his lap.

“My little sister’s not ready yet?” Rhys asked, winking at Adam. “I don’t think she’s ever been on time in her entire life.”

Just then they heard Bronwen exclaim, “Stone the crows!” and Adam said to the others, “I think she’s just discovered Belle’s mess.”

“Mama,” Miranda said, and wriggled off her uncle’s lap and ran for the doorway.

Bronwen appeared a moment later, looking embarrassed, but Matilda said, “Don’t worry. Pip has done the same thing at our house and Adam explained that no one discovered the mess until just now.

Bronwen’s cheeks were very pink as she came and sat between her husband and her brother. “When it stopped raining, I decided to take the girls for our walk, but then it started pouring before we made it home. I was just thinking about getting the girls and myself out of our wet clothes and I forgot about Belle.”

“A little soap and water will clean it up,” Adam said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “So Daddy’s girls got caught out in the rain?”

“They thought it was great fun,” Bronwen said. “Didn’t you like the rain?”

“Rain,” Miranda said with a big grin.

“She’s learned a new word!” Bronwen exclaimed in delight.

“Rain wet,” Beth declared and the adults all smiled at her.

“We have two very bright little girls,” Adam said proudly.

Nell appeared in the doorway then to announce that dinner was ready.

After everyone finished dinner and a slice of birthday cake, they all adjourned to the drawing room. Adam sat in one of the armchairs with Miranda on his lap. Beth ran over and tried to climb up on his lap but Rhys said, “Won’t you come sit with me, Beth?” Beth’s lower lip stuck out in a pout so Rhys held out his arms invitingly and added, “Please.” Reluctantly, Beth walked over to her uncle and let him pick her up and place her on his lap.

Once everyone was settled, Adam turned to Miranda. “Well, Angel, ladies go first, so we’ll open your presents now. Why don’t we start with the one from Aunt Matilda?”

“Here you go, Miranda fach,” Bronwen said, handing her little girl the gift. Miranda wasn’t sure what to do with it, so her daddy helped her unwrap it, revealing a red jumper.

“I know it’s hot now, but in a few months it will be chilly and I thought she could use a jumper,” Matilda said.

“Oh, she can,” Bronwen said with a smile. “Beth wore hers often last winter.”

“I knitted a hat that ties under her chin to keep her ears warm,” Matilda added, and Adam held it up.

“Pretty!” Beth said, clapping her hands.

“Aunt Matilda will knit one for you, too, Precious,” Matilda said, smiling at her older niece.

“Now, here’s the gift from Tad-cu and Mam-gu,” Bronwen said, handing Adam the next gift.

He opened it and held up a pretty muslin frock, perfect for the Outback’s blazing hot summers. “Great minds,” he remarked with a crooked grin when he opened the gift from Nevada and discovered another frock.

“A girl can never have too many dresses,” Bronwen said and winked at her husband.

They all laughed when he opened the package from Bronwen and Rhys’ older brother and his family, revealing a third frock.

“With all those little boys, I know Victoria must be delighted to have nieces she can sew dresses for,” Bronwen said, sharing a grin with Matilda as she handed Adam their gift.

As soon as he unwrapped the little doll, Miranda snatched it from his hand.

“Dolly,” she said, patting the braided yarn hair.

“Mine!” Beth exclaimed, trying to wriggle off her uncle’s lap.

“It’s your sister’s dolly,” Bronwen said firmly. “You have a dolly of your own.”

“Mine,” Beth repeated loudly, continuing to try and wriggle away from Rhys.

“I made something I thought the girls could play with together,” Rhys said quickly. “Open the big box, Bronwen fach.”

Bronwen tore off the wrapping paper and then set the box on the floor. “Look, girls! Uncle Rhys made you blocks to play with.” She began building a tower of blocks. Beth forgot about the doll and ran over to knock the blocks down. Adam set Miranda down and she toddled over, clutching her dolly in one hand, and began to pile blocks on top of one another until they toppled over. Both children screamed with delight at the new toy.

“Here, Cariad,” Bronwen said, “you’d best open your gifts while they’re occupied.”

In addition to Bronwen’s gift of the novel, Far From the Madding Crowd, Adam received handkerchiefs embroidered with his initials from Rhys and Matilda, a new watch fob from Pa, fancy new spurs from Joe and Hoss and a new wallet from Tad and Mam. Once his gifts were opened, he and Rhys got down on the floor to play with the girls.

That night as Adam and Bronwen lay curled like two spoons, he said softly, “Thank you for a wonderful birthday.”

“Not as memorable as last year’s,” she said, giggling slightly.

“I don’t think you’ll ever be able to top last year’s,” he agreed with a chuckle.

It was a scorching hot day in mid-December. After a succession of several rainy days, the sun was shining brightly in the brilliant blue sky. Bronwen decided she and Nell would do the washing and hang it up to dry in the yard and let the girls play outside. They dragged the wooden washtubs outside and then Nell carried water out while Bronwen watched the girls and Belle play. (She’d dressed them in their oldest clothes and let them play in the mud to their hearts’ content.) Bronwen scrubbed the clothes on the washboard, and Nell wrung them out and then hung them up to dry. Both women kept an eye on the girls, who played catch with Belle when they tired of mud pies. Two yards down, Mrs. Greene and her daughter were doing their washing and it wasn’t long before Daisy, the Davies’ Aboriginal servant, carried a large wicker basket full of laundry out to the backyard. Matilda waddled behind her and they began hanging the laundry to dry. Suddenly, Matilda called, “Bronwen! Come here, please!”

Bronwen exchanged a quick look with Nell before running over to Matilda.

“Are you all right?” she called as she drew closer.

Matilda waited until Bronwen was standing in front of her before saying nervously, “I can feel water gushing. Dr. Brooke said that was a sign the baby was coming.”

“Are you having any contractions?” Bronwen asked.

“Yes, but they’re very mild,” Matilda answered, looking at her sister-in-law anxiously.

“If your water broke, the baby is coming,” Bronwen said with a reassuring smile, “but probably not for a while yet. We should let Dr. Brooke know that you’re going to need him later.” She called, “Alice!” and the neighbor ran over, followed by her daughter. “Please send one of your children to tell Dr. Brooke that Matilda is going need him later today.”

“Right,” Alice replied and then turned to her daughter. “Edith, you go right now.” Just then Matilda grimaced and the other two women exchanged knowing looks.

“That one was a little stronger,” Matilda said, sounding surprised.

“They’ll get worse,” Alice replied, patting Matilda’s shoulder before returning to her own yard.

“Will- will you stay with me,” Matilda asked Bronwen.

“Of course,” she replied, putting her arm around Matilda’s shoulders comfortingly. “But the baby isn’t going to arrive for some time, so we might as well finish hanging the laundry up to dry.”

When Adam and Rhys returned from mine, Nell and the girls were waiting at the Cartwrights’ gate.

“Mrs. Davies is in labor. Dr. Brooke and Mrs. Cartwright are both with her,” Nell said in a rush as the men drew up their horses in front of the gate.

“Is she all right?” Rhys asked with mixture of joy and nervousness while the two little girls clamored for their daddy’s attention.

“She’s fine. She’s been having contractions since this morning but they weren’t that strong until about an hour ago,” Nell replied. “Mrs. Cartwright asked me to fix you both supper.”

“I’m not hungry,” Rhys said.

“Nonsense,” Nell said firmly, “the baby may not be born for hours yet. As soon as you take care of your horses, come and eat some supper.”

“She’s right, Rhys,” Adam stated. “Remember your advice to me when Miranda was born last year.”

“Hoist by my own petard,” Rhys said, but managed a faint grin.

A short while later, the two men gathered in the Cartwrights’ dining room for supper with Beth and Miranda. Nell had fixed sandwiches of smoked meat and put out some of the pickles she and Bronwen had made from last year’s cucumbers. The girls had mashed carrots and peas along with mashed potatoes and little bread and butter sandwiches. As soon as he’d finished eating, Rhys threw down his napkin and jumped to his feet.

“Would you like some company?” Adam asked.

Rhys hesitated. “I’d love the company, but you need to be here with the girls.”

Adam knew his girls would be upset if neither of their parents were there to tuck them in, so he said slowly, “They go to bed in an hour. I’ll come over as soon as they’re asleep.” He managed a small grin. “Who knows, the baby might be born by then.”

Rhys nodded and then hurried back home while Adam turned to his daughters, who were still eating. Beth, who was now a month short of her second birthday, had mastered the art of using her little spoon to feed herself. (Bronwen and Adam had decided there was no rush to teach her how to use a knife and fork since they didn’t come in smaller versions for little fingers and hands.) Miranda was still at the stage where much of the food seemed to end up on her face and bib rather than in her mouth. He swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and watched his daughters finish their supper, working to master his impatience to be with his friend.

Finally, the girls finished and, lifting them out of their highchairs, he asked, “Would you like to play with the blocks?”

“Bocks!” they chorused, grinning at their daddy.

They emptied the box of blocks out on the floor of Beth’s room. As he played with his little daughters, he marveled again at how unique and well-defined their characters were even at this age. Beth was so impatient to knock down the towers that he built that he was lucky to be able to stack four blocks on top of each other before she lunged forward to topple them. Miranda, on the other hand, ignored her sister and daddy and worked with great concentration, piling one block on top of another. For a long time, she hadn’t been able to build a tower of more that three blocks, but just the other day she’d managed to pile a fourth block on before it collapsed.

“If she weren’t a little girl,” Rhys had remarked when Adam proudly told him of Miranda’s feat, “I’d say you had a future engineer there.”

As Adam headed upstairs, carrying a girl in each arm, he remembered that usually he would put Beth to bed and Bronwen would put Miranda down to sleep. Since that wasn’t possible, he needed to come up with an alternative. Then he remembered Bronwen telling him that she put both girls in Beth’s bed for their nap and he decided that was the perfect solution.

“How would you girls like to sleep together tonight?” he asked. “Won’t that be fun!” He was relieved to see them smile and nod. “We’ll just get Miranda’s nightgown from the nursery and then we’ll be all set,” he added, sounding as cheerful as possible.

At first, everything went well. He unbuttoned Beth’s frock first and removed it. The she held her arms up and he slipped them in the sleeves of her nightgown and she finished pulling it down herself. Miranda watched the proceeding, clutching her dolly in one hand. When Adam began to unbutton her frock, her lower lip came out and her chin began to quiver.

“Mama home,” she said and two fat tears welled up in her eyes.

“Mama will be home soon, Angel,” Adam replied, picking her up and gently patting her back.

“Beth want Mama home,” his first-born said, sticking her bottom lip out in a big pout.

“Mama is with Aunt Matilda, but she’ll be home soon. And when she comes home, she can tell you all about your new baby cousin,” he promised, continuing to pat Miranda’s back.

“Baby?” Beth repeated.

“Yes, Aunt Matilda is having a baby. Tomorrow, Mama will take you to see the new baby, but now you need to go to bed.”

“See baby,” she announced firmly.

Adam replied in an equally firm tone, “You may see the baby tomorrow. Right now, Daddy has to get your sister ready for bed.” He sat in the rocking chair and, holding Miranda on his lap, he managed to get her frock off. He discovered her nappy was wet so he changed it, remembering to use two nappies for bedtime. All the while Miranda was sobbing for her mama. By the time he’d gotten her little nightgown on, Beth announced that she was wet. He had to put Miranda down to change Beth’s nappy, which made her cry even harder for her mama. Once the nappy was changed, he picked up both girls and sat in the rocking chair, holding each girl in the crook of an arm. He started to sing Hush, Little Baby, but Miranda put her little hand over his mouth and shook her head. Adam was confused until Beth said, “Sing Ar Hyd, Daddy.”

He smiled and said, “Daddy doesn’t know the Welsh words, but he can sing it in English.” Then he softly sang:

Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping
Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,
I my loving vigil keeping
All through the night.

The girls were content with the familiar melody and by the third time he’d sung it, both were asleep. He managed to lay them on the bed without waking them and carefully tucked them in. He paused just before closing the door to look at them, marveling that these two precious little lives were the product of the love he and Bronwen shared. And now, Matilda was laboring to bring a new life into the world. He knew how much the child already meant to both his friends, and said a silent prayer for the safety of Matilda and her baby as he hurried to the Davies house.

Rhys was restlessly pacing the drawing room when Daisy answered Adam’s light knock.

“No news?” Adam asked.

“Bronwen came down about thirty minutes ago to tell me Matilda was all right. Dr. Brooke said it could be another hour or two.” He took a deep breath before adding, “I’m trying to be calm, but this is longer than Bronwen’s labor.” He rubbed the heels of his hands across his eyes then. “I hate to think of her suffering up there all this time.”

“Yes,” Adam said quietly, “but Bronwen told me that John 16:21 is true. When her babies were born and she held them for the first time, she forgot the anguish of giving birth.”

“I hope it’s true for Matilda as well,” Rhys said.

Adam wanted to take his friend’s mind off his worry so he said, “So if it’s a boy, he’ll be Llywelyn Morgan, and if it’s a girl she’ll be Martha Grace?”

“Yes,” Rhys replied, understanding why Adam was asking. “You know Llywelyn is for Tad and Tad’s father was named Morgan.”

“So are Martha and Grace names of Matilda’s relatives?” Adam asked next.

“Her mother was named Martha and we both like the name Grace,” Rhys replied. “Oh, how much longer can it take?”

Adam continued to try to keep Rhys’ mind off his worries and about an hour after his arrival, Bronwen appeared in the doorway, her face lit up by a joyous smile.

“Rhys, Matilda and your son are waiting to see you.”

As her brother rushed past her, Bronwen walked into Adam’s open arms. He held her close, tucking her head underneath his chin as she wrapped her arms around him. After a moment, he said, “So Llywelyn Morgan arrived safely.”

“Yes. Poor Matilda had a harder time of it than I did with Beth or Miranda,” she replied. “But I’ll never forget her face when she saw her baby for the first time.” She paused and then said, “Did you have any problems putting the girls to bed on your own?”

“They missed their mama, but I told them you’d be back after Aunt Matilda had her baby. They want to see their cousin and I said they probably could tomorrow.”

“Yes, I’ll bring them by for a quick look. We’re going to have to get by without Nell for a few days. Daisy is young and inexperienced and I can’t leave the girls so we’d already decided that Nell would look after Matilda until she’s able to be up and about.”

Just then Rhys came into the room, carefully holding his son.

“Adam, I’d like to introduce you to your nephew, Llywelyn,” he said proudly.

Adam looked at the red, swollen face of his nephew and said with a broad smile, “Hello there, Llywelyn.” Then he held one finger close to the baby’s hand and felt the fingers curl around his. “He has a good strong grip,” he commented with a smile for the proud father. Just then the baby’s mouth opened, his face scrunched up and he emitted an earsplitting wail.

“I expect he’s hungry,” Bronwen said, a tiny grin turning up one corner of her mouth at her brother’s expression of extreme consternation.

“Yes, it’s a sound you’ll grow very familiar with over the next several months,” Adam said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, Rhys; we’ll see ourselves out.”

As Adam and Bronwen walked home, hand in hand, she said thoughtfully, “I confess to feeling a little envious of Matilda.”

“Envious?” he repeated, one eyebrow raised in the expression she knew so well.

“I was just thinking how nice it would be to have a little boy. One who looked just like his daddy,” she said with a soft, dreamy smile.

“I’d like a son,” he replied, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “What man wouldn’t? But I’d prefer that Beth and Miranda no longer need nappies before the next baby comes along.”

“Too right!” she said so emphatically that he threw his head back and laughed. His laughter was so infectious that she had to join in.

When they stopped, her mood changed and she said earnestly, “I do still miss seeing Tad and Mam, but now that we have Beth and Miranda and Rhys and Matilda have Llywelyn, Cloncurry is really beginning to seem like home.”

“Yes,” he answered quietly as he held her close, “it truly is.”

References:

For information on infant and child development I used The First 12 Months of Life by The Princeton Center for Infancy and Early Childhood and Your Child: Birth to Age 6 by Fitzhugh Dodson, Ph.D. and Ann Alexander, M.D.

A little late into this series, but I finally found an excellent resource on mining in Australia. (It even mentioned Cloncurry in particular!) The Rush That Never Ended: A History of Australian Mining by Geoffrey Blainey.

If you don’t know what Fairy Bread is, check this website: http://www.answers.com/topic/fairy-bread

I used the English words to Ar Hyd y Nos found at http://www.contemplator.com/

For general information on clothing and fabrics in the era I used Fashion in Costume: 1200-1980 by Joan Nunn.

Glossary of Welsh and Australian Words and Phrases:
Welsh
Bach and fach – adding bach after a man’s name or fach after a woman’s is a form of endearment. Beth fach would translate as Beth dear or Beth dearest
Cariad – dear or darling
Mam – mother
Mam-gu – grandmother
Tad – father
Tad-cu – grandfather

Australian
Jumper – a sweater
Right - Okay
Too right – definitely or absolutely

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