Summary: It’s love that makes a family.
Written for day 14 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G
Word Count: 2217

Bonanza
~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
* Day 14 *

Unto Us a Child is Given

Hoss stepped out of the stifling town hall and breathed deep of the crisp night air.  He titled his head back and squinted up at the twinkling stars and sliver of moon.  One corner of his mouth turned down as the sounds of merriment behind him ended in a hearty round of applause for the musicians.  He’d danced a couple of turns round the room but each gal had had eyes for someone else while in his arms.

He took another deep breath and gave his ribs a slap.  The cheery glow of the livery stable beckoned him to the warmth of critters that didn’t judge a man on his looks.  As he ambled towards the stable, he figured he wouldn’t be missed.  A few lamps glowed within buildings, including the doctor’s office down at the end of the street.  He realized he hadn’t seen Doc Martin among the merrymakers but figured the doctor was in his office in case someone needed tending.

Reaching the livery, Hoss inhaled the aromas of hay and horses.  Lafe sat on a barrel outside of the livery, swinging his feet against the stout wood.  A mewling carried from within.

“Howdy,” said Hoss.

“Why ain’t you dancin’ with everyone else?”

“Oh, I figured I’d let the other fellahs have a chance with the gals.”

Lafe chuckled.  “These here hayburners don’t compare to a two-legged filly.  ‘Sides, it’s about time I got busy mucking the stable.”

“Why don’t you go on to the dance?  I’ll muck the stable for you.”  Lafe opened his mouth to protest but Hoss cut him off with, “It’s my Christmas present to you.”

Lafe’s eyes twinkled like the stars and he shoved off the barrel.  At the sound of the mewling, he said, “You watch out for that cat.  I figure she’s either hungry or birthin’ some kittens.”

Hoss slapped Lafe’s belly.  “Don’t you worry ‘bout me.  You go on and have some fun.”  He watched the other man trot up the street as if the dancing would be over before he got there.

Stepping inside, Hoss removed his hat and hung it from a nearby nail.  The warmth of the barn seemed far different than the heat of the crowded town hall.  He set to work, making his way down the stalls on one side of the stable, giving each horse a pat and soft words.

The mewling was near-constant and seemed to come from a small pile of straw at the back of the livery stable just outside the last stall.  Hoss, working in the next-to-last stall, caught some movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see if the cat was crawling from her hiding place.

Curiosity got the better of him and Hoss leaned the rake against the wall and squatted down to check on the critter in the straw. He carefully pulled straw away, as if expecting some kind of supernatural creature to leap out.  His fingers made contact with a warm bundle that was soft but not furry. Pulling away more straw revealed a baby swaddled in a thin blanket.

“Where’s your mama, little bit?”

He scooped the baby so its head was supported in the crook of his arm.  Stroking the baby’s cheek with a large finger, he said, “You feel a might chilled.  We need to get you someplace warm.”

Remembering he’d seen light coming from the doctor’s office, he headed down the street, speaking in a soft, low voice as the baby continued mewling.  “You’re gonna be all right.  Ol’ doc will know to do.  We’ll get somethin’ in your belly.”

Hoss rapped against the door but hadn’t expected the doctor to answer quickly.  He didn’t know what to say, expecting the mewling bundle in his arms spoke for itself.

“Come on in,” Dr. Martin said, opening the door wider to accommodate Hoss. “Bring the baby over here,” he said, clearing newspapers, his spectacles, and other times from a side table underneath a lamp.

Hoss set his precious burden down then stepped back, hands jammed in his pockets.

The doctor carefully separated the blanket from the baby. Wisps of black hair stuck up like downy feathers on the the little head.

“Where’d you find her?  She feels chilled.”

“Her?  It’s a gal?”

“Yes, unless my medical texts are wrong,” said the doctor with a look over his shoulder.

“She was in the livery, under some straw.  Lafe figured she was a cat.”

The doctor shook his head and muttered under his breath.  “The mother must have slipped in while Lafe was away.  If she’d wanted her child found she could have left the baby at the orphanage or on a doorstep.”

Dr. Martin made a few sounds Hoss associated with the doctor’s observations when looking over an injured man.

“Keep an eye on her.  I need my stethoscope.”

Hoss ran a finger over the fine hairs on the baby’s head. “Don’t you worry none, little bit.  You’ll be right as rain.”

The doctor returned, stethoscope already in his ears.  He listened to the baby’s heart and was satisfied with what he heard.

“She looks and sounds healthy.  Just needs something in her belly.”

Hoss paced across the room and scratched at his cheek.  “I don’t know what to do with her.  Can’t take her home.”  Noting the doctor’s raised eyebrow, Hoss quickly added, “It ain’t that she wouldn’t be welcome.  It’s been a long time since Pa and Adam and me had to change diapers and Hop Sing’ll be right put out if he’s got to juggle fixing Christmas dinner with mother hennin’ a baby.”

Dr. Martin wrapped the blanket around the baby and picked her up.  “I’ve got an idea.  Mr. and Mrs. Riechert might take her in. Their son died a week ago, barely two months old. Mr. Riechert, Jacob, came to see me yesterday, afraid his wife might do something. . . rash.”

“What’d her boy die of?” asked Hoss.

“I don’t know, he didn’t have any obvious signs of illness.” The doctor put his pinky against the little mouth and the baby suckled then cried.  “This baby and Mrs. Riechert need each other to go on living.  Come with me and let’s see if we can persuade her.”

Hoss opened the door for the doctor and they headed out into the night, their path lit by the lantern Hoss carried.  Music drifted down from the town hall and the two men set pace with the fiddle.

They reached the Riechert house, silent as a tomb, weak light leaking through the curtain on the front window.  Hoss tapped against the door then tapped again a few moments later. Shuffling feet made their way to the door, which opened a crack.

Hoss took in Jacob’s haggard appearance, bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for days.

“Can I help?” Jacob asked.

The baby kicked her feet then resumed mewling.

“May we speak with your wife?” asked the doctor.

Jacob opened the door a bit more then called for his wife. “Magda, please come.”

Magda shuffled into the room, the cheery floral pattern of her robe a stark contrast to her red-rimmed eyes and world-weary face.  She was not yet twenty-two but she looked to have aged at least a decade.

“What you want?” Magda asked.

Jacob tried to shush his wife but he was ignored.

Magda’s eyes were drawn to the bundle in the doctor’s arms.  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  “You pay, I watch.”

“No, ma’am,” said Hoss.  “Me and the doc are hopin’ you and your husband’ll take this little gal in.  She ain’t got no one.”

“Where her mother?”

Hoss shrugged a shoulder.  “I found her in the livery stable, under some straw.  Her mother don’t want her.”

Magda bit her lower lip but shook her head. Jacob rested a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. She shook her head and turned her face away to not look at their guests.

“Please,” said the doctor.  “This baby needs a woman.  Someone who can feed and tend to her.”  The baby yawned and resumed its mewling.

Jacob steered his wife to the settee and got her seated in the corner. “Come in,” he said as he made an expansive motion with his arm.

Hoss set the lantern on an upended crate that served as table beside a worn cane seat chair.  The doctor sat on the other corner of the settee and carefully pulled the blanket back to reveal the baby’s face and fuzzed head.

Other than a few noises from the baby, an uncomfortable silence enveloped the room.

After several minutes of studying the baby through narrowed eyes, Magda asked, “You think baby replace my Janos?”

Dr. Martin shook his head.  “No child can replace your son, Mrs. Riechert.  As I said, this baby needs a mother.”

“No, you said child needs a woman.”

Hoss muttered, “She got you there.”  At a look from both the doctor and Magda, Hoss cleared his throat.  “Ma’am, sometimes a mare loses her foal for no reason I can think of.  That mare’ll grieve for her baby, look for it, call for it.  As time goes on, she’ll stop lookin’ and callin’ but I don’t think she ever forgets.”  He knew he had to win the woman over to the idea.  “Sometimes a foal loses its mama.  Little critter is lost without its mama’s love.  But if we put that foal with a grievin’ mare, why God takes over and you’d never know by lookin’ at them that that mare and foal didn’t start off together.”

Magda arched an eyebrow. “You think I’m horse?”

Jacob laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“No, ma’am.  I think your heart needs a reason to keep on goin’ and this little gal’s heart is gonna stop without a mama.”

The doctor glanced at the cross over the mantle. “The Lord works in mysterious ways.  Maybe God brought Hoss and this baby together because He knew He could trust Hoss to save this precious life.”

Magda rubbed her hands together, callouses chafing the dry skin.  “I pray without answers since Janos died.  Why my boy?” She choked back a sob.

Jacob wiped an eye and gently rubbed his wife’s back.

Hoss crouched down in front of Magda and put a hand on hers, stilling her.  “My pa done asked himself that each time he lost a wife.  He says that God answers in whispers, not thunderclaps.  Maybe this little gal is a whisper.”

The woman looked over at the baby.  The infant was trying, unsuccessfully, to jam its fist into its mouth.

“Will you help?” asked the doctor.

Hoss gave the woman’s hands a gentle squeeze and looked up at Jacob.  Hoss stood and took a step back as Jacob leaned over to discuss with his wife.

Magda reached for the baby and Dr. Martin transferred the little girl into the woman’s arms.  She traced the hand with her forefinger and the baby clutched it in its fist then yawned and settled in with a sigh.

“My Janos do this,” she said through a sad smile.  She nuzzled the soft head and whispered, “You are Natalya.”

Jacob laid a hand on the baby’s head and whispered a prayer.

“That’s a right pretty name,” said Hoss.

“Thank you,” said the doctor.  He shook Jacob’s hand and the two men exchanged a smile.

“Out with you,” said Magda.  “Baby hungry.”

Hoss picked up the lantern and he and the doctor left the newly formed family. He smiled when the doctor placed a hand against the back of his shoulder.

“I think those two will help each other make it,” said the doctor when they reached his office.

“I figure you’re right,” said Hoss.

The town was quiet under the blanket of stars.  “Dance must be over,” said Hoss.  “Figure I oughta catch up to my pa and brothers.”

“Merry Christmas,” said the doctor, extending his hand.

Hoss gave the other man a hearty shake.  “Merry Christmas.”

People trickled out of the town hall as Hoss made his way up the street.  He heard his father before he saw him.

“I don’t need any help.  I’m not so old I can’t climb into a buggy.”

Joe and Adam each had an arm and Hoss noticed his pa’s foot kept sliding off the step.

“Let me, Pa,” said Hoss as he boosted his father with a well-placed knee.  The smell of “special” punch wafted from his father like cheap cologne.  Hoss looked over to Little Joe, who just raised his eyebrows and shrugged.  Hoss looked to Adam who only said, “Ducky,” in a stage whisper.

The coyotes sang along as their father bellowed Christmas carols as they made their way home.

Hoss hoped the Lord heard his silent prayer for the Riecherts and Natalya over what passed for Pa’s singing.  And Hoss asked for forgiveness as he clamped a large hand over his father’s nose and mouth, holding long enough for his pa to slump into unconsciousness.

Adam flicked the reins and launched into a soft rendition of “Silent Night” punctuated by his father’s snores.

The End

Character: Hoss

Prompt: Mucking the stable

Link to Day 15 of the Bonanza Brand 2021 Advent Calendar:  The Boy Who Kept Christmas Alive by Sierra Girl