One Special Night (by BluewindFarm)

Summary: The Cartwrights await a VERY special delivery, leaving one of them to wonder what their future will hold.  Inspired by Rider’s Christmas Challenge, but not a Christmas time story.

Rating:  K (1,705 words)

The final page contains the reviews/comments from the old BonanzaBrand Library.

 

One Special Night…

Said the night wind to the little Hoss,
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little Hoss,
Do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

“Adam?  How much longer?” Hoss asked as he looked out the window behind the dining room table.

“I don’t know, Hoss.  The good news is the doctor’s here,” answered Adam.

Staring out into the increasingly darkening sky, Hoss stilled when he finally saw the object of his search.  “Hey Adam?  Does that star shine when all babies are born?”

“What star?” Adam asked as he came to stand behind his younger brother, placing his hands upon the boy’s shoulders.

“That star, like in the bible.”  Hoss pointed to the star that shone brighter than any other star in the night time sky.

“No, that star only shone once,” Adam replied.  “That star is the North Star, it’s always bright.”

“But it just seems so much brighter, almost like it’s got a tail.”

“The storms earlier today cleared the skies, that’s why it looks so much brighter.  Besides, you’re never up this late at night to see it.”

“How much longer?” Hoss again inquired as he looked from the window to the staircase.

 

Said the little Hoss to his brother dear,
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, uh, Adam,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

“He’s here!” exclaimed Hoss as he raced for the staircase.

“Whoa there, buddy.  Pa told us we have to wait down here,” advised Adam as he reached to stop his brother from running through the house and up the stairs.

“But only ‘til the baby came.  He’s here, cain’t ya hear ‘im?”

“Who could miss hearing that cry,” Adam stated.  “And, to correct you, you don’t know that the baby’s a ‘he’,  we could have a baby sister.”

“Now why would we have a sister?  So far we’re jest brothers.”

“Because Marie is his mother.  She could have given birth to a baby girl.”

“What’ll we do with a sister?  Is she gonna cry like that all the time while she’s grownin’ up?”

“Only when she needs fed or her diaper changed.”

“Ugh.  I ain’t gonna change her,” Hoss announced as he pinched his nose closed.

“Why, I changed your diaper when you were a baby.”

“That was only ‘cause my ma died,” Hoss sorrowfully stated.

“That wasn’t the only reason.  I did it because I loved you Hoss.  And you’ll love our sister.”

 

Said the oldest son to his rancher pa,
Do you know what I know?
In your homestead warm, full of love,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child lying in her arms,
Is Marie fine, and the baby too?
Is Marie fine, and the baby too?

Quietly the two brothers made it to the top of the staircase and waited for someone to come out from their parents’ bedroom.  Adam grew more pensive at the baby’s insistent crying and that no adult had yet stepped from the room.  Adam remembered what his father had told him about his own birth and how his mother had died a few hours afterwards.  It should have been a day of celebration, but instead, the day of his birth had turned into a day of mourning.

“Pa?” Adam quietly spoke as the door opened.  ‘Oh, God, please let them be okay.’ Adam prayed.

“Boys?” Ben startled, not knowing his two sons had made their way upstairs.  “What…”

“We heard the baby cryin’, Pa,” Hoss stated as he looked up to his father.

Ben stood between his two sons, placing a hand on each of his son’s shoulders.

“Pa, Marie?  The baby?” inquired Adam.

“Do we have a sister?” Hoss hesitantly asked.

“Do you want a sister?” Ben answered, he hadn’t really addressed the issue with his sons.

“Not really, but Adam said with Ma bein’ the baby’s ma, she might have a girl.”

“So you want a brother?” Ben asked with a knowing smile.

“Yeah,” answered Hoss with excitement.

“And what about you, Adam?”

“I want Marie and the baby to be healthy.  I want to love them Pa,” Adam answered with sincerity, he knew it had been a long time coming, but he was growing to love Marie as a mother figure.

“They’re both fine,” Ben breathed out, he was finally accepting the fact that Paul Martin stated they both were healthy.  “Marie and your brother are both fine.”

“YEEHAW!  We got a brother!” Hoss declared as he jumped up and down.

“Pa, they’re really going to be okay?” asked Adam as his fears began to evaporate.

“Yes, Paul said the baby was about a month early, but as you can hear, he has a set of lungs on him,” laughed Ben.

 

Said the Pa in his quiet prayer of thanks,
Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace or should I pray for patience?
Listen to what I say!
A child, my child, sleeping in the night

He will bring me gray hair and grief.
Yet I will love him and guide him in life.

Ben Cartwright had shown his two sons into the bedroom once Paul Martin said it was okay.  Adam and Hoss had held their new brother in awe, with Adam giving Marie a kiss on the cheek before accepting the precious bundle into his arms.

With the lateness of the hour, Ben escorted his sons to their bedrooms and tucked them in.  He wondered what his newest son would bring; how would the newest Cartwright compliment the intelligence of Adam and the nature loving boy in Hoss?

Ben sat in front of the fire, the sleeping child bundled in a blanket in his arms, he wondered about the life that was before them.  He smiled at this miracle of life and remembered his father warning him that one day, he hoped that Ben would have a son who was just as curious and rambunctious as Ben had been in his younger days.

“Regardless of what you bring to this family, silver and gold or goodness and light or gray hair and grief… Joseph Francis Cartwright, I will love you for the rest of my life.”

 

~The End

 

Chapter End Notes:

I was already writing this story as a second submission for Rider’s 2013 Christmas Challenge before I saw Joanie Paiute’s Weekly Seedlings Challenge for December 16th and was able to complete both challenges within one story.  Though my story was inspired by a Christmas song, it is not Christmas related.

Originally this story was posted under the Seedlings Challenge, but JoaniePaiute suggested I post this story in the library as well.

The Christmas Challenge was to write a Bonanza story using a Christmas song title or the premise of the song as the basis for the story.

The Weekly Seedlings Challenge was to incorporate the words Silver and/or Gold into a Bonanza story.

I chose to base my story on the Christmas Song, “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

 

Story Tags: Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Christmas Challenge (Rider’s), Hoss Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright

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Author: BluewindFarm

A dressage rider who's a cowgirl at heart. Though I wasn't old enough during the heyday of Westerns on TV, with the introduction of cable and satellite services in the 1980's, I fell in love with Bonanza, Lancer, The Big Valley, The Rifleman, and The Wild, Wild West, among others. Through syndication and fanfiction; our heroes will live on forever. I hope you enjoy reading the stories I've written, and look forward to reading your comments.

5 thoughts on “One Special Night (by BluewindFarm)

  1. That was really lovely. I could sense Adam’s fears and Hoss’s eagerness. I wonder what they would have thought of a sister?

    1. Questfan, hmmm… Little Josephine? I don’t think so! 😆

      Thank you for reading and for taking a moment to leave a comment. It is appreciated.

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