Free Home Fires by Jana Richards Page B

made it back safely? Had Julia and the baby survived?
    He dropped the doctor off at the house, then drove the horses to the barn, unhitched them from the sleigh, and led them inside where it was marginally warmer. Once they were safely ensconced in a stall with some hay, he grabbed his cane and made his way to the house, his stomach in knots.
    The first thing he saw when he opened the door was Anne standing at the woodstove, frying bacon. She looked up, their gazes met, and he saw relief and then joy in her eyes.
    “Erik.”
    She pushed the frying pan to the back of the stove and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and resting her head against his chest. “I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you.”
    He kissed her hair, grateful to have her in his arms again. “I missed you, too. Is everything all right? What about the baby?”
    “She’s fine. The baby is fine. Julia too.” She burst into tears, her body shaking, though she made almost no sound. Alarmed, Erik held her at arm’s length to look into her face.
    “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? I thought you said Julia and the baby were fine.”
    She wiped at her eyes and gave him a lopsided smile. “I’m sorry, I’m just being silly. I delivered her, Erik. She’s tiny and pink, and she cried like a banshee when she came out. It was so beautiful. After all the death and destruction of the war, it was so wonderful to bring a new life into the world.”
    He pulled her against him once more and held her tight. “That’s all right, sweetheart. Cry all you want.”
    She laughed at that. For several moments they stood quietly holding each other. A feeling of peace came over Erik. This is the way it should always be. The two of us together, facing the world.
    “Erik, do you want children?”
    An image of dark-haired children with Anne’s beautiful brown eyes jumped into his mind’s eye. More than anything he wanted Anne to have his child.
    “Yes, very much.”
    She looked up and smiled. “Would you like to meet little Wendy Anne?”
    “Sure. They named her for you, after all.”
    “Well, her second name, at least. But I’m thrilled. I’ll bring her out.”
    She disappeared into a bedroom at the back of the house, emerging a few moments later with a small bundle in her arms.
    “Here she is. Isn’t she beautiful?”
    Wendy Anne Bjornson’s shock of dark hair flew in wispy curls around her tiny head in every possible direction. Her scrunched up face resembled that of the dried apple doll Ingrid had once owned. But the look of awe on Anne’s face as she stared down at the baby in her arms told him she thought Wendy Anne was the most beautiful baby in the world.
    He could hardly wait to see her hold their own child in her arms.
    ****
    By the time they took Dr. Brown home to Poplar River and got back to the farm, the cows were ready to be milked and the other evening chores needed to be done. Anne helped with the milking and separating before sitting down to dinner with the rest of the family. Fatigue overtook her. She’d been running on adrenalin to this point, but now her well of energy had run dry.
    “You look exhausted, dear,” Astrid said. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?”
    “Not much,” Anne admitted. “Julia’s labor lasted until four in the morning.”
    “Sounds like you had the same kind of night Erik did. I heard him prowling around the house at all hours.”
    “I don’t think he went to bed at all last night,” Ingrid observed. “His bed—your bed—wasn’t slept in this morning.”
    Anne turned to Erik, surprised. “You couldn’t sleep? Was your leg giving you trouble?”
    Erik drank his tea, avoiding her eyes. “My leg is fine. I was concerned about the Bjornsons.”
    Anne nodded. “I know. I was concerned, too. But in the end, Julia did all the work. I only held her hand.”
    “You did a lot more than that,” Erik said, his eyes flashing. “Doc Brown said you did everything he would have