Summary – This short story is a sequel to From This Day Forward, where Adam brings his Australian bride, Bronwen, back to the Ponderosa. It begins in late April 1878; Adam and Bronwen’s oldest daughter, Betsy, is now three and their second daughter, Miranda, is about two and a half. And their little family recently increased with the addition of their third daughter, Gwyneth.
Rating: K WC 4300
Bronwen in Nevada Series:
From This Day Forward
Blessed are the Children
Angelic Affection
Over the Hill and Through the Woods
Precious Ties
As always, I want to thank my beta reader, Lis, for all her help, and especially for the story’s title.
Finally, I want to remind everyone that all the characters, with the exception of Bronwen and the girls, are not my creations and I intend no copyright infringement by making use of them.
Blessed are the Children
Chapter 1
“Dadburnit! I forgot how much fun decoratin’ Easter eggs is!” Hoss Cartwright exclaimed as he dipped half an egg in the red dye Hop Sing had prepared before dipping the other half in the blue.
“Adam and Bronwen are sure gonna be surprised when they come for dinner tomorrow and see Betsy and Miranda are gonna have their very first Easter egg hunt,” Joe said with a big grin as he dropped his egg in the bowl of bright saffron yellow dye.
“It’s too bad Gwyneth can’t hunt too,” Hoss commented then.
“Aw, c’mon, Hoss,” Joe said, rolling his eyes. “Gwyneth is only a couple of weeks old.”
“She’ll be three weeks old on Easter Monday,” Ben said. He and Hop Sing sat at the other end of the kitchen table, decorating the hardboiled eggs with wax before handing them to Hoss and Joe to dye. “But that’s definitely too little to hunt for Easter eggs,” he added, smiling broadly. “This year, she’ll have to let her big sisters do the hunting.”
“Are you sure a dozen eggs are enough, Pa?” Joe asked as he dunked the last egg in the indigo blue dye.
“Yes, for two little girls, a dozen is plenty,” Ben stated firmly and Hop Sing nodded his agreement. “Don’t forget, you and Hoss are going to have to get up extra early to hide the eggs before we leave for church tomorrow morning.”
“And I’m not waitin’ fer you, Shortshanks,” Hoss said, playfully cuffing his brother’s shoulder. “If you don’t get up in time, I’m just gonna hide all the eggs myself.”
“There,” Bronwen said, sticking her needle in her pincushion and then wriggling her fingers. “My new wrapper is hemmed and ready for me to wear to church tomorrow.” She put her pincushion and thimble away in her sewing basket and Adam smiled as he returned to his perusal of the Territorial Enterprise. “I am so thankful that Mam made Easter dresses for Betsy and Miranda. They are lovely and our little girls are going to be beautiful,” she added with a proud smile. “Kerra said she’d press my wrapper for me so I’d better take it to her now,” Bronwen added as she stood up, carefully draping the pale green taffeta over one arm. Adam nodded, not looking up from the newspaper, and Maegan, Bronwen’s black and orange tortoiseshell cat who’d been curled up in front of the fireplace, uncurled gracefully and trotted after her mistress.
Just as Bronwen reached the doorway, Adam looked up from his paper and said with a smile, “I think this item might interest you. It says here that since the law forbidding the Capital grounds be used as a playground for children is going to be strictly enforced this Easter Monday, President and Mrs. Hayes are inviting children to roll their Easter eggs on the South Lawn of the White House.”
“Good for President and Mrs. Hayes!” Bronwen said with a grin. “I remember rolling Easter eggs when I was a little girl.”
“We dyed eggs and then Pa would hide them and we’d hunt for them on Easter morning,” Adam said. “Next year we’ll have to have an Easter egg hunt for Betsy and Miranda.”
“Hunting for the eggs sounds like as much fun as rolling them,” Bronwen said, “and I always enjoyed decorating and dying the eggs.” Then she hurried to take her wrapper to Kerra with Maegan walking beside her.
Almost as soon as Bronwen left the library, high-pitched cries began to issue from the cradle at the foot of the chair she had just vacated. Adam put down his newspaper and picked up the tiny baby.
“Your diaper is clean so you must be hungry,” he said soothingly as he paced the room, holding his youngest against his shoulder while gently patting her back. “I’m sorry but Daddy can’t help with that, Punkin.”
Bronwen came hurrying in and took the baby and sat down to nurse her. Adam sat down and watched, a tender smile on his lips.
“You’re a hungry little girl, aren’t you, Gwyneth fach,” Bronwen crooned, gently stroking the dark fuzz on her baby’s head. She turned toward Adam and said with a grin, “I can’t get over how much she looks like you, Cariad. I wonder if her hair will be curly like yours.”
“She may take after me, but I hope her eyes turn violet like yours,” he said. Then he asked, “Was she colicky this afternoon?”
“A bit,” Bronwen replied as she shifted Gwyneth to her other breast. “I tried following your example and holding her on her stomach across my knees while I rocked her. It helped, but I just don’t have your magic touch.” He grinned smugly.
Adam’s expression grew more serious as he asked, “You’re sure it’s not too early for you and Gwyneth to make the trip into Virginia City?”
“Too right I’m sure,” Bronwen replied emphatically. “This past week the weather has been glorious and Easter Sunday is the perfect time for Gwyneth to make her debut in Virginia City.” She smiled down at her baby girl, adding, “And Gwyneth wants to wear the beautiful Easter bonnet Kerra made for her.”
After Bronwen finished nursing Gwyneth and burping her, she said to Adam, “We have a big day ahead of us, so Gwyneth and I are going up to bed.”
“I want to finish the paper, and then I’ll be up,” Adam said.
“Would you mind letting Maegan in?” Bronwen asked as she stood up.
“It wouldn’t hurt her to spend the night outside,” Adam commented dryly.
“But she would rather sleep in her basket,” Bronwen said firmly and then grinned as her husband rolled his eyes.
“I’ll let Maegan in,” he said and then stood up so he could kiss her. “Goodnight, Punkin,” he added before dropping a kiss on Gwyneth’s forehead.
When he finished the newspaper, he banked the fire in the library’s inglenook fireplace and then locked the backdoor. As he walked to the front door, he noted there was no lamplight showing under Kerra’s bedroom door so she must have retired. He opened the front door and stepped onto the porch, holding up his oil lamp.
“Here, Maegan. Here, kitty.” When he saw no sign of his wife’s pet, he called a little more loudly, “Here, kitty, kitty. Here, Maegan.” He waited a minute or two before saying in a disgusted tone, “Well, I tried. Bronwen can’t blame me if you refuse to come when you’re called.” He started to turn toward the doorway when he heard a meow and Maegan leaped fluidly onto the porch and then rubbed against his legs. Adam chuckled as he leaned over and scooped up the small cat in his free hand.
“You were toying with me the same way you would with a mouse,” he commented before walking through the doorway. He set Maegan down and closed the door behind them and locked it. Then he headed up the stairs, Maegan running ahead of him. When he reached the top of the stairs, he headed for Betsy and Miranda’s room.
He opened the door carefully so he wouldn’t awaken the room’s occupants. He smiled as he gazed down at his sleeping daughters, thinking how angelic they looked with their rosy cheeks and rosebud mouths. Betsy’s silky, shoulder-length dark hair was spread on her pillow while Miranda’s soft dark curls formed a nimbus about her face. He carefully tucked their covers in since the nights were still chilly, and then, picking up Maegan who’d jumped on the foot of Betsy’s bed, he silently exited the room.
He opened the door to the master bedroom, then set Maegan down and hurriedly closed the door. She scratched and mewed plaintively for a few minutes before giving up. Luckily, Bronwen was a sound sleeper but Adam heard little whimpers coming from the nursery. He hurried in and lifted Gwyneth from her cradle and rocked her gently in his arms until she fell back to sleep. He placed her back in the cradle very carefully and covered her with the lamb’s wool blanket Bronwen’s oldest brother had sent Betsy when she was a baby.
After gently closing the nursery door, Adam stripped down to his drawers before sliding into bed beside his sleeping wife. As she snuggled next to him, he thought with a sigh that it was three more weeks before they could make love. However, he was more tired than he realized, thanks to Gwyneth’s nightly feedings, and fell asleep almost immediately.
As Hop Sing served the scrambled eggs and the three Cartwrights helped themselves to biscuits and sausage gravy, Ben asked his sons, “The eggs are all hidden?” Hoss nodded since his mouth was full. “And you didn’t hide them so well the girls won’t see them?”
Joe swallowed quickly and said, “Don’t worry, Pa. We hid ‘em in plain sight.”
Hoss stopped eating long enough to say, “You sure did a fine job with our old baskets, Hop Sing. They’re pretty as a picture with all them ribbons and bows.” Hop Sing beamed at the compliment.
“We’ve got to hurry, boys. We don’t want to be late to church on Easter Sunday,” Ben admonished.
They were all ready in plenty of time. Ben was attired in his best frock coat of black broadcloth and embroidered silk waistcoat. Hoss and Joe were wearing the more modern lounge suits where the jacket, waistcoat and trousers were all of the same material. Joe’s suit was dark grey broadcloth and Hoss’s was fawn. All three men wore black silk neckties, although Hoss complained, as always, that he felt as though he were being choked.
They arrived at the church about the same time as their friends and neighbors, Todd and Virginia McKaren and their three children.
After exchanging greetings, Ben smiled down at the McKarens’ little girl and said, “You look very pretty, Susan,” and she smiled up at him.
“When are we gonna get a chance to see this newest granddaughter of yours?” Todd asked Ben.
“In just a few minutes,” Ben replied. “Bronwen and Gwyneth are both coming to church this morning.”
“Gwyneth. That’s a lovely name, but unusual,” Virginia remarked.
“She’s named for one of Bronwen’s grandmothers,” Joe explained.
“I think she said it was the name of her pa’s mother,” Hoss added. Then he said with a big grin, “Look, there they are!”
He hurried over to the surrey as Adam drew up in front of the church. Hoss smiled at his little nieces, who sat with Kerra on the surrey’s second seat. “Howdy, Sweet peas,” he said. “Howdy, Kerra. Howdy, Bronwen. And howdy, Little-bitty Sweet pea. Look at your pretty bonnet,” he said, smiling at his baby niece.
“Hello to you, too, Younger Brother,” Adam said dryly.
Hoss’s grin grew wider as he said, “Howdy, Adam.”
“I’ll help you down, Bronwen,” Joe said as Adam tied his team’s reins to the hitching post by the horse trough.
“Thank you, Joe,” Bronwen said with a smile. “G’day, Virginia and Todd,” she added as the McKarens approached. Seeing Virginia’s stylish princess sheath dress of pale pink and white striped poplin, Bronwen was glad that even if she had to wear a wrapper, her hat of camel silk trimmed lavishly with ivory feathers and silk roses was à la page.
“May I hold the baby?” Virginia asked and, with a smile, Bronwen carefully placed Gwyneth in Virginia’s arms. Joe helped Bronwen down from the surrey and Hoss held out his arms to Betsy, saying, “Uncle Hoss’ll help you down.” Ben said to Miranda, “Grandpa will help you,” and Adam assisted Kerra. She would be spending the rest of Sunday with her daughter Loveday’s family.
“Oh my goodness!” Virginia exclaimed. “Gwyneth looks just like you, Adam.”
“She sure does,” Todd said with a chuckle as he looked over his wife’s shoulder.
“See my pitty dress, Unca Hoss,” Betsy said as she pirouetted.
“It sure is pretty,” Hoss said with a smile, “and so’s yer hat.” Betsy and Miranda both wore straw hats decorated with ribbons and silk flowers that matched their dresses—pink for Betsy and primrose yellow for Miranda.
“I gots new shoes,” Betsy said then, holding out one foot so her uncle could admire her shiny little black boots.
“See new shoes, Pa-pa,” Miranda said to Ben. She tried to hold out one foot like her sister but almost lost her balance.
“So, you have new shoes, too,” Ben said with a fond smile.
“New to her,” Adam inserted with a wink.
Ben turned to Bronwen and said with a warm smile, “Your mother did a beautiful job with the girls’ dresses.”
“I’ll tell her you said so,” Bronwen responded, returning his smile.
Other members of the congregation arrived and the women all gathered around Bronwen and Gwyneth while Adam patiently endured the jokes about having better luck next time and getting a boy.
After a bit, Rev. Jordan appeared at the church door, and everyone hurried inside. Betsy walked between her two uncles, holding their hands while Miranda held one of her grandpa’s hands and her parents and baby sister followed. The Cartwrights filled the front pew, and when Betsy became fidgety, Adam amused her by pulling a piece of paper and a pencil from the pocket of his jacket and drawing pictures. Ben picked Miranda up and sat her on his lap and gave her his watch to play with. The girls listened raptly as the congregation sang the hymns. That was their favorite part of the service.
“An excellent sermon, Reverend,” Ben said as he shook Rev. Jordan’s hand while holding Miranda’s hand in his left.
“It was good to hear your lovely voice again, Mrs. Cartwright,” Rev. Jordan said to Bronwen, and her cheeks grew pink. “This must be the newest member of the family,” he said, smiling at the baby in her arms. “My word, she certainly takes after her father,” he added with a grin.
“Uh, Bronwen, did you make us any of them hot cross buns?” Hoss asked as they walked toward their surreys.
“I wanna hot coss bun,” Betsy said. “Please, Mama.”
“I wanna bun,” Miranda began to chant.
“Thanks a lot, Younger Brother,” Adam said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“All right, girls, you may share a hot cross bun on the way to Grandpa’s house,” Bronwen said as she shifted the sleeping Gwyneth to her other arm. “Yes, Hoss,” she said with a grin, “you may have one.” Seeing the other men’s faces she said with a giggle, “Everyone may have a bun.”
“Try not to let them get the icing on their clothes,” Bronwen admonished as the two little girls walked off with their uncles and grandpa, each holding half a bun in one hand. Then she said with a sigh, “I know they’re going to get icing on their dresses.”
“I expect so,” Adam said, not quite able to hide his grin before taking a bite of his bun.
“Betsy, you and me are gonna drive the surrey,” Hoss said after swallowing the last bite of his bun. Betsy had been licking the cross off her bun and had sticky icing smeared on her mouth and chin. “Uh-oh, better let Uncle Hoss clean your face off,” he said as he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and wet it in the horse trough. Betsy didn’t want to stop eating to have her face washed and as Joe lifted Miranda onto the second seat, Ben suggested they wait until the girls were done and then wash their faces and hands.
“Your mama sure is a good baker, Betsy,” Hoss commented as they drove behind Adam’s surrey.
“She sure is,” Joe agreed. “I really like these hot cross buns.”
“Do you girls know the rhyme about hot cross buns?” Ben asked, knowing the answer.
“I know, Pa-pa!” Betsy said excitedly, starting to turn around.
Hoss took one hand off the reins and put it on Betsy’s shoulder, saying, “Sweet pea, you gotta sit still.”
Betsy’s lower lip came out in a big pout but Ben said quickly, “Go ahead and say the rhyme for Grandpa, Betsy.”
The three-year-old smiled and recited:
Hot coss buns
Hot coss buns,
One penny
Two penny
Hot coss buns
Miranda joined in on the ‘hot coss buns’. When Betsy stopped, Ben added:
If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons
And the girls joined him in reciting:
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns.
“Very good,” Hoss said and Joe added with a chuckle, “Ol’ Adam’s got plenty of daughters.”
Miranda tugged on Ben’s hand and said, “Again.”
When they were still about five miles from the ranch house, they could hear the sounds of a baby crying coming from Adam’s surrey just ahead of them.
“Gwyth cry,” Miranda announced, and her older sister added, “Gwyth cries lots.”
Hoss drove the surrey so it came abreast of Adam’s and called over, “Everything all right?” while the two little girls began to wave and shout excitedly, “Daddy! Mama!”
“Gwyneth is just a little colicky,” Adam replied, and Ben noted Bronwen was holding the baby so she was lying on her stomach across Bronwen’s knees. He remembered holding Joe that same way when he was an infant. Adam smiled at his two older girls and called, “Hello, Princess. Hello Angel.” Then he encouraged the horses to trot while Gwyneth continued to cry.
“Gwyneth sure has a set of lungs,” Joe remarked, wincing slightly.
“You were a colicky baby, Joseph,” Ben said, “and you outgrew it. I’m sure Gwyneth will as well.”
Miranda tugged on Ben’s sleeve. “Say hot coss buns,” she requested, dimpling.
“Oh, I think we’ve done that one enough,” Ben said. “How about ‘Mary, Mary, quite contrary’?”
“No!” Miranda shouted, her smile replaced by a scowl. “Hot coss buns!”
From the front seat, Betsy began to recite the rhyme and with a shrug, Joe joined in.
By the time the two surreys reached the ranch house, Gwyneth had cried herself into an exhausted sleep. Adam pulled up on the reins and then jumped down from the surrey. Letting the thirsty team drink from the horse trough, he walked to the other side of the surrey and carefully took the baby from Bronwen and headed inside the house as the other surrey pulled into the yard.
“Mama! Mama!” the two little girls squealed as Hoss drew up alongside his brother’s surrey. Joe jumped down immediately and walked over to Bronwen.
“Did Older Brother abandon you?” he asked in a teasing tone as he helped her down while Hoss swung Betsy out of the surrey and then tossed her up in the air and caught her.
“No, he just wanted to get the baby inside before her sisters woke her up,” Bronwen replied with a little grin.
“Yeah, I never realized how much noise two little girls could make,” Joe said with a lopsided grin as Betsy shrieked with laughter and Miranda squealed, “Me, Unca Hoss! Me!”
Adam came out then, quickly closing the door behind him before joining Joe, Bronwen and Ben.
“I got Gwyneth settled without her waking up,” he said with a smile of relief. Betsy, who was waiting for Uncle Hoss to toss her again, saw him and ran over yelling, “Daddy! Throw me, Daddy!”
Adam grinned as he picked her up, tossed her in the air and caught her while Hoss did the same with the giggling Miranda.
Ben cleared his throat and his sons set the girls down. “Betsy and Miranda,” he said, “how would you like to have an Easter egg hunt?” The girls looked puzzled so he said, “Your uncles and Hop Sing and I decorated Easter eggs for you, and your uncles hid them.”
Hop Sing appeared on the porch then, holding the two beribboned baskets. “One for Betsy and one for Miranda,” he said, holding out a basket in each hand.
“I want that one,” Betsy said, starting to grab the one in his right hand, but he held it out of reach.
“Must say ‘please’,” he said firmly, but with a smile.
“Please,” the three-year-old said and he started to hand it to her, but Miranda reached out to grab it, shouting, “Mine!”
“No, that basket is your sister’s,” Adam said firmly, holding onto her hands.
“Mine!” Miranda hollered, stamping her foot and scowling at her daddy.
“I think this is a beautiful basket,” Bronwen said, taking the other basket from Hop Sing. “Don’t you think so?” she asked the men.
“Purtiest basket I ever saw,” Hoss agreed with a big grin.
“I’d sure like a basket like that one,” Joe said with a wink.
“Well, since Miranda doesn’t want it, maybe Hop Sing will give it to Uncle Joe, and he can go on the Easter egg hunt,” Ben suggest, struggling to keep a straight face.
“I want,” Miranda said then, starting to reach for the basket.
“Say ‘please’,” Bronwen said.
“Please!” Miranda said loudly, dimpling when her mama handed her the basket.
“I’ll be your partner, Angel, and Mama can be Betsy’s,” Adam announced then. “And I see an egg right now.” He pointed to the egg sitting on the windowsill by one of the flowerpots.
“Egg!” Miranda squealed excitedly, clapping her hands before running over and trying to jump up and reach the egg. Grinning, Adam picked her up so she could reach the egg.
“Now put it in your basket,” he said to the excited two-and-a-half-year-old.
“I see an egg, too,” Bronwen said to Betsy. “Look underneath the table.”
“I see it!” Betsy shrieked, running to pick the egg and put it in her basket.
“We hid a dozen,” Ben said with a huge grin as he watched the hunt.
Hoss said quietly, “I was hopin’ I’d be Betsy’s partner.”
“Yeah, and I thought I’d be Miranda’s,” Joe added, his disappointment obvious.
“I understand, boys,” Ben said gently, “but this is a big day for Adam and Bronwen—their little girls’ first Easter egg hunt. At least we get to be part of it.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Hoss said, his expression brightening.
“And it was lots of fun decorating the eggs,” Joe said with a big grin.
They found eleven eggs.
“Dadburnit! Some critter musta run off with the one over by the barn door,” Hoss said in a disgusted tone.
“Don’t worry, Hoss,” Bronwen said with a grin. “Eleven eggs are plenty for two little girls and six grownups, especially since we have Hop Sing’s delicious dinner to eat and more hot cross buns.”
Adam put Miranda in Hoss and Joe’s old high chair while Hoss helped Betsy into the little wooden booster Adam had made for Joe so he could sit at the table when he was three. Joe carefully moved Gwyneth’s cradle by Ben’s leather chair so she would be part of the family feast.
As the family members, including Betsy and Miranda, bowed their heads and folded their hands prayerfully, Ben’s heart overflowed with love and gratitude. Lord, he prayed silently before blessing the food, I am so thankful for the gift of each of my three sons. They are precious beyond measure. And I am equally thankful for Bronwen, who has become like a daughter to me and who has brought the gifts of love and happiness to my first-born. And, Lord, my heart is filled with thankfulness for my three precious granddaughters. It is such a blessing to me to watch them grow up here on the land you’ve given me.
After the meal was finished, Bronwen insisted on helping Hop Sing with the dishes so the men took the girls outside and took turns playing horsy with them until Bronwen was finished.
When she walked onto the porch, Adam checked the position of sun and said regretfully, “If we’re going to get home before dark, we have to go now.”
“Tell your grandpa and Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe goodbye,” Bronwen said to her girls. They went around to each man and said, “Bye-bye,” and then dropped smacking kisses on each man’s cheek.
“Say bye-bye Hop Sing,” Miranda said after kissing Joe’s cheek and the grownups all smiled
“Hop Sing,” Adam called, “could you come here for a minute.”
Hop Sing hurried out, his expression curious.
“Miranda and Betsy want to tell you goodbye,” Adam said, smiling crookedly.
“Bye-bye, Hop Sing,” the girls chorused, and then they each tugged on his hand until he bent down and they could kiss his cheek. His face lit up and he gently caressed their chubby cheeks.
“And Adam and I want to thank you all for arranging the Easter egg hunt,” Bronwen said, smiling radiantly at her in-laws and Hop Sing.
“It was our pleasure,” Ben said, and the others nodded.
As the three Cartwrights and Hop Sing watched Adam and his family drive off, Hoss said quietly, “Adam sure is a lucky man.”
Ben put his hands on his sons’ shoulders and said softly, “That he is, Hoss. That he is.”
Next in the Bronwen in Nevada Series:
Angelic Affection
Over the Hill and Through the Woods
Precious Ties
