A Christmas Haven Read online

  Mamm came to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. “A Christmastime baby is meant to be on our farm, ya?” She must’ve noticed that Holly was staring at the carriage house.

  “Seems so, doesn’t it? You delivered each of your three babies at Christmastime. Should we go to the carriage house? Just to check on Magda?”

  Mamm nodded, a tender smile glowing on her face. “Ya.”

  As they walked toward the back door to grab their coats, Josh’s bishop, Stephan, came toward them with his wife at his side.

  “Denki for everything, Betty, Holly. It’s been a day filled with God’s glory, but it’s time for us to go.”

  “Denki.” Holly slid into her coat. “We’re going to check on Magda, so we’ll walk out with you.” She peered through the glass on the back door, seeing a figure walking toward the farmhouse.

  Holly opened the door, and Esther stepped inside. “Before anyone asks, it’s a healthy boy. He’s breathing well and is already nursing. My helper is sitting with Magda.”

  Esther paused, and Holly’s heart skipped a beat. “Is everything okay?”

  Esther glanced at the numerous guests beyond this small gathering at the back door. She leaned in. “I don’t want to alarm anyone.”

  Holly’s chest tightened. In the last few months, she’d had more than one nightmare about a teen delivering a baby during a snowstorm, and that had prompted her to talk to Jules and Lyle and Brandon about her concerns about Magda’s labor and delivery.

  “What’s going on?” Stephan asked while putting on his coat, looking as if he was ready to dash to the phone shanty and call for an ambulance.

  Esther pursed her lips. “Magda delivered the placenta about half an hour after the babe was born, but she’s been bleeding more than I like to see. If it doesn’t stop soon, we’ll need to call an ambulance.”

  “With these road conditions I’m not sure an ambulance could get through, and if it does, a ride would be a risk for Magda and her new baby,” Holly said. “I talked with Lyle, Brandon, and Jules a few weeks ago about what might happen at the birth and what we needed to have on hand in case something went wrong. We might need the ambulance, but before we call them, I have a medicine they recommended that I’d like to try.”

  The midwife looked at the bishop as if waiting for permission.

  “Ya, of course.” His eyes held concern. “Although this isn’t my district, you do what needs to be done and waste no time.” He seemed like a different man as he gestured for Holly to go. He turned to his wife.

  She nodded and looped her arm through Mamm’s. “How about we go mingle and do what we can to keep everyone distracted and thinking everything is just fine?”

  Mamm nodded. “Ya. Good thinking.”

  When Holly turned to go after the needed items, Josh was there. She squeezed his hand before hurrying through the house, up the stairs, and to her room. She grabbed her prepared birth bag and opened it to double-check its contents. Inside was her stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, two large bottles of an electrolyte drink, a large plastic cup with a straw, nonprescription Tylenol and Motrin tablets, and a white prescription bag that held six tablets of Methergine, a medicine to stimulate the uterus to contract—and hopefully stop excess bleeding after childbirth without a trip to the hospital.

  She slung the bag over her shoulder and flew down the stairs and out the door. Esther was going toward the carriage house, and Holly quickly caught up to her. Esther had been a young woman of twenty-eight when she delivered Holly. The two trudged across the snowy yard, and Holly glanced behind her, noticing a coatless Josh and his bishop following them.

  Esther looked at the men behind her. “I’ve set up a curtain to divide the room, and I’ve put chairs in place. Magda said any visitors are welcome to that area.”

  They went up the stairs to the carriage house and Holly hurried inside. “Magda?” Holly paused outside the curtain Esther had hung. “May I come in?”

  “Ya, Holly. That’s fine.”

  Joshua and Bishop Stephan took a seat outside the curtained-off area.

  Holly entered Magda’s half of the room. Esther’s helper, an Amish girl named Rose, who was a few years younger than Holly, was in a chair near the window.

  Magda looked up at Holly, radiant despite her slightly pale face and her mussed hair under her prayer Kapp. Her body was covered from the chest down in blankets, and her tiny newborn was wrapped in a swaddle and asleep in her arms. She grinned. “Holly, look at him. Last night I had a dream of God’s hands touching my baby’s chest with a blessing of gold before He placed this little one in my arms. And here he is.”

  Holly’s eyes misted as she leaned in. “He’s beautiful, Magda. Now I need you to take some medicine for me, okay? For your bleeding.”

  “Okay.”

  Holly opened her bag and quickly set up everything as Jules had taught her.

  She motioned to Esther’s helper. “Would you hold this cup for her, please.” Rose did as Holly asked. Holly smiled, trying not to sound or look too businesslike. “Magda, I’d like you to drink as much of this as you can to replenish your body. You may have a few more pills to take, one every four hours.” She looked up at the midwife. “Esther, I know you have a stopwatch in your supplies. Set it for ten minutes, then for thirty. Let’s put fresh padding under her so we’ll have an idea whether the bleeding has slowed in ten minutes. We’ll do the same for the thirty-minute mark. The medicine will need an hour for full effect, but we should notice some improvement before then. Magda, you’re likely to feel more afterbirth pains because of the medication, so let’s give you some Tylenol.”

  Magda smiled, staring at her baby’s sleeping face. “I don’t mind the pain. He’s worth it.”

  Holly gave Magda the two Tylenol tablets, and the helper held the drink. Lyle had said to give Magda Tylenol instead of Motrin if she was having more-than-normal bleeding. Please, God, let these things I have for her be enough. They could still call an ambulance, but what if the weather became worse?

  Holly checked the new mother’s blood pressure. Thank goodness the numbers were good. If Magda’s blood pressure was dropping, they’d need to call an ambulance for sure. Holly listened to her heartbeat while assuring her of how wonderful she’d done and was doing, how beautiful her baby was, and how everything was fine. She could hear Josh and his bishop talking softly on the other side of the curtain.

  Esther checked Magda at ten minutes, but she was unsure if the bleeding had slowed. That wasn’t a good sign.

  Holly sat beside Magda, encouraging her to continue sipping on the electrolyte solution as they oohed over the baby. Magda was a trooper. If the amount of liquid Holly was pushing had her queasy, she didn’t mention it. She drank three cups as the minutes ticked by.

  Esther stood from her chair in the corner. “It’s been thirty minutes.” The midwife walked to Magda’s bed and lifted the blanket.

  Holly couldn’t see everything, but she saw the midwife slide a new pad under Magda and press on Magda’s lower stomach.

  “Gut, gut.” Esther let out a sigh. “The bleeding has slowed significantly.”

  Relief eased through Holly, relaxing her aching shoulders. Her prayers had been answered. “Let’s give her at least one more dose in three and a half hours.” She smiled at Magda. “I’ll ask my husband to bring you some wedding food. Something with iron and protein would be perfect.”

  “Denki, Holly.” Magda looked and sounded better too. The little one was nursing again. How great to see a healthy mother and baby.

  Holly stepped around the curtain. “They’re doing well.”

  Josh nodded. “Gut. And I heard what you wanted.” He stood and moved in close. “I like the sound of you calling me ‘husband.’ Ya, wife?”

  “Suits us already.” She waved as he went down the stairs.

  Bishop Stephan
remained sitting, seeming reluctant to leave. “No ambulance needed?”

  Holly shook her head. “Not today, thanks to God’s mercy.”

  Stephan grimaced and nodded. “Let’s go to the downstairs carriage house and finish talking about this.”

  “Okay.” Holly put on her coat and stepped outside onto the landing. The wind blew powdery snow across the lawn. What did Stephan need to say to her? Did he disapprove of something she had done to help Magda?

  After they were on the ground, he opened the door to the downstairs part of the carriage house where they sometimes stored carriages and where Ivy held caroling practices.

  He struck a match and lit a lantern. “It seems God used some sort of medicine to make a difference today for Magda.”

  Holly closed the door, blocking out the cold wind. “Ya. It’s called Methergine.”

  “Why did you have to get it from your room? Why didn’t Esther have it?”

  “Esther is a fantastic midwife, but legally, because of her limited education and because she doesn’t have the covering of a medical group, she can’t get access to modern medicine for such situations. I’m sure she could get her hands on it, but if she was caught with it, she’d face serious legal trouble. But Julie, as Magda’s health-care provider, prescribed the Methergine, Brandon filled it at Greene’s, and I picked it up, which was perfectly legal.”

  He jammed his hands into his coat pockets. “Years ago when I was a teen and living in my parents’ home, my older sister and her husband had their first child. I wasn’t in the room, but I still remember my Mamm’s panic when her bleeding didn’t stop after the delivery. Mamm sent me to the phone shanty to call an ambulance.” He drew a ragged breath. “But we lived far away from everything, so it took a really long time for the ambulance to reach us. My sister could’ve died that day. As it was, she came close. Too close, and she was weak for a couple of months.” He stared at the wall for a moment. “If you had been in our community that day with your knowledge, you would’ve made sure my sister had the medicines she needed. Just like you’ve been doing for Joshua’s Mamm with her diabetes. I can tell she’s better since you’ve been instructing her about medicines and a healthy diet.”

  “Denki.” Holly tried to follow what he was saying, but her mind and emotions had absorbed so much today his point seemed blurry. “She’ll never be cured, but we can control it, and she could live to be ninety.”

  Was he just reminiscing? Maybe releasing pent-up concerns about Magda?

  The bishop closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. “I’m sorry, Holly. I was blind to your value, but as I sat in that room upstairs, listening and praying, God opened my eyes. I want you to stay on your health-care mission. Our people can rely on you.”

  Was this real? Holly couldn’t get her mouth to form words. She blinked back tears.

  “You have to promise me, though, that your own babies and husband will always come first.”

  The door opened, and Josh stepped in. “I took Magda her food.” He closed the door. “Everything okay?”

  Her eyes locked on Josh’s. “More than okay.” As tired as her body was, her heart was overflowing with joy, and she smiled. “Bishop, my husband and babies will always come first. I promise they will.”

  Twenty-One

  The town twinkled with electric Christmas lights reflecting on the powdery snow as Arlan drove toward Greene’s Pharmacy. It was closed and locked tight, as was every other store in downtown Raysburg on the evening of Christmas Day. But she and Arlan were just out and about to enjoy the night.

  “You’re in the middle of the road.” Ivy laughed. “The town may be empty, but you should still pick a lane, Arlan.”

  “Why?” He chuckled as he steered the horse to one lane. “I was having fun.”

  “It’s just the way things are done. Deal with it,” she teased.

  He brought the carriage to a stop in front of Greene’s Pharmacy. While Arlan hitched the horse to a post, Ivy stepped up to Greene’s storefront window. She touched the cold plate glass. It was smooth, completely free of scratches, and was even more beautiful than the previous glass. Some snow flurries swirled around her as she stood admiring her many decorations.

  She looked over her shoulder. “What do you think, Arlan? You haven’t had a chance to see the full setup since things have been so busy at the farm.”

  Inside the pharmacy the blue spruce that Ivy had selected from a local grower was adorned with a wide red-and-white ribbon that wrapped the entire tree. Strands of white Christmas lights were tucked into the blue-green branches so that the tree emitted a twinkling glow, and they illuminated the many handmade ornaments, mostly gifts from Greene’s patients.

  Arlan studied the window. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s beautiful.”

  A golden star glimmered from its top perch. Next to the tree an animatronic snowman held up a stick hand in a wave, although its movement was turned off while the store was closed. A handcrafted Nativity scene was positioned under a wood shelter. She and Red had made the figurines’ shelter when they were teens. And one of Ivy’s favorite additions to the decorations—a miniaturized scene of Raysburg with a few tiny horses and buggies and a replica of downtown, complete with Greene’s—sat in a bed of puffy snow in the bay window. More lights, tinsel, and faux snow touched every visible corner of the front part of the pharmacy.

  She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I agree.” She pointed at the Nativity scene that was front and center in the window. “Christmas means so much to me. God sent His Son for us. We should be celebrating every day, shouting it clearly like these decorations do from the window.”

  Arlan took one of her gloved hands into his. “I know.”

  Ivy’s heartbeat sped up, and she squeezed his hand.

  He drew a deep breath. “I have one more gift to share with you.”

  “What? The whole family exchanged gifts this morning. Why now?”

  “Because I wanted us to be alone, and we’re never alone on the farm.”

  “This is true, especially since you became an uncle five days ago.”

  He smiled. “On the day before Christmas Eve, I had a long talk with Benuel.”

  “The bishop.” Her heart turned a flip. “Ya?” She liked this—standing here holding hands with him under the twinkling Christmas lights.

  “I’m officially joining the Old Order church. I start instruction in the spring.”

  Wow. So he’d really followed through on this. “That’s great, Arlan.”

  “And you’re staying Amish for good?”

  She nodded. “I am. And I’ll go through instruction this spring too. It was difficult to let go of that Englisch dream, but I can’t change the person I am on the inside, and that person is Amish. I once told Mamm I was tulle and lace and twinkly lights, and that is a part of me, but it’s not who I am. Who I am can’t be defined by breaking bonds with my family. It can only be defined by blooming right where He planted me.”

  “As true as that is for you, it’s not true for me.”

  She tugged on his coat collar. “I’m grateful He directed each of us according to His wisdom.”

  Arlan gently squeezed her hand. “During my conversation with the bishop, we talked about this.” He gave a nod at the store, and she knew he meant the decorations.

  “You did?” She tried to catch his eye. She wasn’t sure if that was good news or not.

  Arlan smiled at her. “He sees your heart, Ivy. And so do I. You carry joy wherever you go, and you want to shine that joy into the world. That’s why you love throwing parties. Benuel said he sees nothing wrong with you continuing that work under the right circumstances.”

  Ivy looked at a little sparrow ornament that she’d perched on a Christmas tree branch. “I think that bird has already flown away. Tegan was really disappointed in me about the
apartment and about all the things I can’t do that she can regarding the parties. She’s gotten a full-time job and found a new roommate. She and Clara have forgiven me, but they’re moving on without me.” As wonderful as Tegan was when it came to running events, she couldn’t do the main organizing. Her gifting was helper, not leader.

  “But do you have to give up all of it just because you won’t be Englisch?”

  “The bookings have to be internet based. Without the internet and social media, I can’t get the word out or provide a way for people to contact me. The events themselves require me to store and work with mounds of fancy things. None of that can come into an Amish home.”

  “True. But if you narrowed the types of parties to ones the bishop would approve and if you had a small shop built on a far corner of the land, a place with internet and computers and storage for all the fancy party stuff, what would you think of that?”

  “It’s a wonderful idea. I guess I was thinking all or nothing when it came to planning Englisch events.”

  “I think the bishop had that same mind-set, but it’s a funny thing about giving people time while you pray. Miracles happen, especially around Christmastime, when people focus on love and grace more than rules and religious expectations.”

  “So he’s on board with a modified version of event planning?”

  “He is. Specifics to be worked out between the two of you.”

  “Wow.” She looked heavenward, seeing the North Star. She turned to Arlan. “Denki.”

  He lifted her gloved hand and rubbed it with his thumb. “The bishop and I talked about one other thing.”

  “Must’ve been quite the conversation.”

  “It has to do with me living at the farm.” He looked her in the eyes. “Ivy, when we met, we were on opposite sides of the world. I was so mired in the rules of everything. You vexed and confused me.”

  “Well, probably because at the time I was too focused on breaking free of all the rules to see the value of our way of life.”

  “But somehow we’ve crossed all that distance and met in the middle. And I like you. A lot. Would”—he paused as if searching for words—“it be possible for us to court?”