Summary:  Second in the Adam and Selina series, this is a short story about love and expectations that features  conversations among brothers especially one between Adam and Hoss.

Rating = T  Word Count = 2106

Selina Series

Fighting his Demons
Revelations and Revolutions
Birthright
A Promise Kept

Revelation and Resolution

After almost being drawn into a gunfight in town, Adam was reluctant to return there for some time. However, his wife Selina was with child, and when his brothers got that news, there was no holding them back in their determination to get Adam to town to celebrate the way men celebrate such news.

“It’s all fine and good, older brother, for you to have a little brandy with Pa and watch him smile when you gave him the news. That isn’t enough of a celebration for us though.”

“Yeah, and I bet you was all sorts of smiley lovey with your purty wife when you found out too. But we got to tell you, that ain’t how men celebrate, in case you forgot how things are around here. You owe all of us and all your friends a round of drinks and a stack of cigars at our favorite drinking es-stab-blish-ment in town. Now, you gonna set a time and place or we gotta hog-tie you and bring you to town to do your duty?”

Joe stood to one side of Adam, but more importantly, Hoss stood to the other with a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. There was no way for Adam to get out of this without answering his brothers. Watching with a broad grin as Hoss and Joe accosted their older brother, Jamie could only wait to see how Adam would respond. Adam looked at his youngest brother and pointed at him as if to ask if he had anything to add.

“No, sir, I think they’ve said it all.”

“Well, at least you have some proper respect for your elder brother. That’s something these two never had. Did I ever tell you about the time they tried to toss me in the horse trough for complaining about a hot and dusty wind?”

“Hey, that’s not fair. You pushed me in then when Pa stopped us from putting you in there. It was only fair that I made you go in too.” Jamie was laughing making Hoss turn toward him. “It’s a real good story. You should hear the whole of it.”

“Hoss, Hoss, stop! He’s doing it again. You know, he’s getting us off the reason we came in here. Remember why we came to talk to him?”

“Oh, yeah. So what is it, Adam? You pick a date or we do?”

Joe did his best to look fierce, and Hoss tried his best to give that look their father had when he wasn’t going to give up until he had an answer scrunching up his eyebrows as much as possible.

“All right. I pick April 16.”

“Good. We’ll put that on the calendar and tell everyone.”

Although Joe did avoid sounding smug, he was looking satisfied with his plan while Hoss was looking very pleased with himself. It wasn’t often they got their older brother to agree to anything. Jamie rushed over to them and whispered though making their happy looks change into angry frowns. Hoss sputtered with indignation.

“Now you wait a minute there. April 16 was yesterday. That would mean we gotta wait a whole year.”

“Hoss, you told me to pick a day.”

Then it was Joe’s turn to complain. “We wanted you to pick a reasonable day.”

“Joe, you didn’t require that I pick a reasonable day only that I pick a day. I did.”

“All right, older brother, I got another choice for ya. Pick a reasonable day instead or get reacquainted with that horse trough.”

“Hoss, you wouldn’t dare!”

Looking from Joe to Jamie both of whom nodded and grinned, Hoss looked back at Adam. “Oh, yeah, I would.”

It was time to concede, and Adam did. “All right. Saturday. Selina and Linda have invited some ladies here for a sewing bee so it would be a good time not to be home anyway.”

Then Hoss did look smug. “I hope you got enough money left in your pockets after buying that house and all that other stuff you been buying for your wife and your office in town and such.”

“I’ve got enough, but remember, you said one round and cigars. That’s it.”

“Oh, Hoss forgot to mention dinner for your brothers first, I think. Isn’t that right, Hoss?”

“Yeah, Joe, that’s right especially after all the trouble he gave us about doing the right thing.”

“You boys better remember that payback is satisfying. When your time is here, I am going to enjoy making each of you pay up.”

Looking at Jamie, Joe was ready for that one. “Oh, Jamie and I aren’t really worried. You’re so old already, by the time we have to pay, you’ll be so old you won’t remember this.”

Taking off running, the two youngest left Hoss and Adam alone.

“It don’t really bother you none, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t, but I would never admit that to those scamps. Who knows what they would come up with next.”

“All right, I’ll keep your secret.”

“I suppose we’ll have to chaperone Jamie or Pa will have our hides.”

“Yeah, that’s about the whole of it. I don’t think he’s ever had a smoke. Could be an unpleasant evening for him.”

Both remembered their first episodes with both whisky and tobacco and grimaced slightly. Then they smiled. They had been there for Joe’s first experience too. It was going to be fun reminding him of all the details.

That went about as expected on Saturday. Selina kissed Adam goodbye even though the ladies were peeking out the window.

“Have a good time, but not too good a time. I don’t want to have to be nursing you in bed for the next week or two. Hoss has told me stories of what the three of you have gotten into on some Saturday nights in town. Somehow, your father doesn’t seem to be aware of most of those incidents.”

“Woman, don’t even think about telling him either. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him at all. Besides, we have Jamie along so we have to keep it tame for his sake.”

“I wish I could count on that to reassure me.”

Smiling, Adam told her to trust him and then mounted up to ride to town with his brothers where things went pretty much as he and Hoss had foretold. Jamie wasn’t too fond of the experience of his first taste of whisky especially with his first taste of a cigar, and Joe was embarrassed to be reminded by his older brothers of how he had reacted when confronted with whisky and tobacco for the first time. Poor Jamie looked a bit green and settled for sarsaparilla the rest of the evening even as the men took pity on him and stopped the teasing and taught him the rudiments of faro. They all knew Ben Cartwright wouldn’t approve of that either, but the boy knew enough to stay quiet about that part. Joe got into a friendly game of poker which left Hoss and Adam to sit at a table together to sip beer and talk quietly. After several of those, Hoss got quiet and serious.

“Adam, I know you and Selina are real happy to be having a baby. I see how the two of you smile every time you talk about it even a little bit. I got to tell you something. Me and Linda was going to have one too ‘cept she lost ours.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Hoss. When did that happen?”

“Well, it’s really the reason we’re married. See, I went to see her cause she told me she was with child. I said she had to come back here with me, and I married her. I was gonna tell Pa and not anyone else. Then we was gonna have a wedding real quick. Well, on the way back, she lost the baby. It happened real sudden like at that way station on the South Road. We had to stay there a few days. When we got here, I told Pa she was my fiancé and left it at that. We got married at Christmas even though we was already married. You’re the only one who knows now ‘cept for the two of us of course.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, but is there a reason you’re telling me this now?”

“Yeah, you see, I know you love your wife a lot. I mean you shaved your beard off cause it bothered her some. What it is that bothers me so much is I don’t know if I love Linda, I mean really love her like you love your wife. I married her cause she was gonna have my baby. Now, I don’t know if I want to have a baby with her cause I don’t know if I love her enough or at all really. I mean we first got together cause she was willing and so was I. It had nothing to do with love.”

Pausing in thought about what his brother had told him, Adam responded with a question surprising Hoss who had expected some advice. “Do you remember the toast you gave at my wedding?”

“Sure do. I worked real hard on that. Why you bringing that up?”

“You said I taught you a lot. You said you learned from me to let your heart be your teacher and to remember we are known by the tracks we leave so learn from the knowledge we get but seek wisdom too. Knowledge is the history of the past, but wisdom guides our future. So no one should let the past take up too much of today. Everyone has to grab hold of the future and do the best they can with their mind and with their heart.”

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“Well, I have a question or two for you. I want you to answer with the first thing that comes into your mind. Don’t think about it too much. Just answer with whatever your first thought is. Now, how did you feel when Linda lost your baby? How did you feel when you were sitting there knowing she might die too?”

“I was sick to my gut like I hardly never was ‘cept when one of the family was sick or hurting.”

“All right, next question: How would you feel if you went home tonight and you found your bedroom empty because Linda had left?”

“I’d be mad. Damn, she’s got no right to leave without talking to me and breaking my heart that way.”

Leaning back in his chair, Adam cocked his head to one side. “Seems to me you have answered yourself as far as whether you want to have a baby with the woman you love.”

Leaning forward and slapping Adam on the shoulder with one of his bone jarring taps, Hoss let out a big sigh. “Yeah, I guess I have. Damn, Adam, it sure is good to have you back home again. Let me buy you a beer.”

“I’ve had my limit, but you can buy me one the next time we’re in town.”

Looking over at their younger brothers, Hoss lifted his glass and drained it. “Yeah, probably time to get the youngsters home anyway.”

“I have a feeling you have another reason for going home a little early.”

Hoss couldn’t help the sly smile. Nor could he help it the next morning when Ben asked if he had a good reason for being in such a fine mood.

“Pa, it’s just a wonderful thing having Adam home. That’s all I got to say.”

It was the weekend, so Adam and Selina were on the Ponderosa. When Adam came down the stairs with Selina on his arm, Linda stood from the table and walked over to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek. Luckily he had mentioned to Selina that he had a revelation from Hoss the previous evening and had talked about it briefly with her. Selina told him of a similar conversation she had with Linda with a similar result so Selina smiled at Linda and at Hoss. Jamie looked a bit pale, and Joe looked tired, but the other four were all smiling at each other. Ben knew there was a lot more to what was going on, but assumed that like always, it would be quite a while before anyone told him.

Tags:  Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Family, Hoss Cartwright, Jamie Hunter Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright