November 1873
Michaela stood in the dorrway of the homestead waiting for Sully to come home. He said he would be home by supper. Wher her husband didn't arrive by the time she put Katie to bed, Michaela began to worry. She had been standing at the door for fifteen minutes, knowing or at least hoping that nay second, Sully would be riding down the road.
Michaela was beginning to feel tired, so she went inside to get a blanket. She planted herself on the new swing Sully had built for the porch. She had left the door open in case Katie woke up, but Michaela was soon drifting off to sleep. She woke a short time later to the sound of horses approaching the homestead. She quickly saw that Sully was home and Cloud Dancing was with him. She went to meet her husband and friend in the barn. Instead of rushing to his wife, Sully quickly went into the barn, closing the door behind him. Michaela was worried that something was wrong, but before she could get into the barn, Cloud Dancing covered her eyes and led her back to the house. Michaela was at loss for why her Indian friend would do something like this, but he insisted that it was for the best.
"Would you like some tea?" Sine he wasn't about to let her out of the house or tell her why, she figured he was staying. After Cloud Dancing agreed to tea, Micaela went to the kitchen to fix it.
"Isn't Sully coming in?" she asked when she returned to the living room.
"He will be in shortly." was all he would say.
When Sully finally stepped through the dorr, Cloud Dancing stood to leave. Michaela inssisted he stay the night, after all it was very late by then, but he claimed to have something very important to take care of. 'Like it couldn't wait until morning' Michaela thought.
Once they had seen their friend off, Sully embraced his wife and kissed her. "What were you doing out there?" she asked as they broke apart.
"I brought ya a surprise." he said.
She smiled at her husband, he loved to surprise her. "Do I get to see it?" she asked.
"You really want to know right now?" he asked.
Michaela could not contain her curiosity, so he took her out to the barn for her surprise. When Sully opened the barn dorr, sitting in the hay, Michaela saw the cradle that he made before they had katie. Michaela felt the tears well up in her eyes. They had just discovered that she was pregnant a few weeks before. She was three months pregnant, and was overjoyed that she was finally expecting again. Afer the miscarriage, she had serious doubts of her ability to have more chilldren. Now it was really happening.
Michaela went over to the cradle and ran her hand over the smooth wood. It had been sanded and refinished in a darker stain. Michaela was so moved that Sully had thought to surprise her like this. She was even more moved by the hand-carved bird that hung above the cradle. It was just like the one he had thrown into the fire all those years ago. Michaela knew what it meant that he had carved another.
"Sully...it's so beautiful. I can't believe you did this." She went into his arms and kissed him.
"Figured we'd need a cradle for the new baby." he said "And this was lookina bit worn, so I fixed it up."
Michaela stood in his arms as he ran his hands over her belly. They stood like that for awhile, rrelishing the thought of their new child, growing safely inside its mother. When they finally went inside, Michaela went straight to bed. It was past midnight, and she was exhausted After locking up, Sullu came to bed and wrapped his arms around his already sleeping wife.
The next day, Michaela did now have to wake early. Dr. Mason was covering the clinic htis morning and they didn't have any scheduled patients until 10:00. Michaela hired Dr. Tim Mason after Colleen and Andrew left for Philadelphia. In addition to her clinic, she was left in charge of the chateau clinic. Shortly after michaela hired Dr. Mason, the chateau clinic was closed. It wasn't her choice, but the Senator decided there were not enough patients to allow a clinic. Since then, the two doctors worked together at Michaela's clinic.
After dropping Michaela off at the clinic, Sully and Brian headed to the Red Rocks. Brian was writing a paper for school on the unique aspects of nature in Colorado. Mrs. Morales had given him permission to skip school that day to do his research. They were about to break for lunch when they saw a rider quickly approaching. Brian noticed that it was Matthew. "Sully, it's Dr. Mike. Somethin's wrong with the baby. Mr Mason said ta come quick." Sully was on his horse before Matthew could finish. He took off for town as fast as he could. Matthew and Brian followed closely behind.
When Sully arrived at the clinic, Dr. mason came outside to meet him. "She has a miscarriage." He told Sully. "She's upstairs and asking for you."
"Is she gonna be ok?" Sully asked.
"Physically, she will be find. I'm worried about her emotional state. It was really hard on her. I think she needs you now."
Sully headed upstairs to his wife. He found her curled in a ball on the bed, fighting the tears that couldn't stop flowing down her face. Sully wen to her and pulled her into his embrace. "It's ok Michaela. Everything's gonna be alright." He tried to reassure her, yet at the same time, he was feeling her pain.
"Its not..ok Sully.." Michaela said through her tears "I lost..our..baby!"
"It's alright. We can try again."
"No, Sully, I will not.. do this again. I can't..lose..another child..it's just too hard..I'm sorry..I just can't.."
"Shh..you don't gotta do anything you don't want. Now lets just get you feeling better ok?"
Michaela snuggled in her husband's arms and they cried together. Michaela finally drifted off to sleep, but Sully continued to hold her
Tears of Doubt Continued......