Mail Order Maternity (Brides of Beckham Book 6) by Kirsten Osbourne Read Free Book Online

looked at her stomach, finding it hard to believe she was actually carrying a child.  She looked thin, much too thin to have another person inside her.
    “Two months and three weeks.  Should be better in another week according to my mother.  I can’t take much more of this.”  She shook her head as she said the last words.  What if the morning sickness didn’t stop?
    “Were you sick before you left home?”
    Esther nodded.  “I’d been throwing up for weeks before I left.  It never occurred to me the train ride would make it so much worse.”  She laughed shortly.  “I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to get any worse.”
    “I bet it was hard to get to a chamber pot on the train.”  Now that he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself, he was able to think about what she must have gone through on the train, not being able to keep any food down, but still knowing she needed to eat for the sake of the baby.
    Esther sighed.  “The porter brought me my own to hold.  No one would sit next to me or across from me.  I felt bad for anyone who had to get within five feet of me.”  She didn’t mention how badly she’d smelled, because she knew he had smelled her as soon as she’d gotten off the train.
    He sighed, feeling badly for her, but just as badly for himself.  He’d hoped for a wedding night tonight, but there was no way anything could happen with as bad as she was feeling.  Hopefully she was right and she’d do better after her third month.
    They talked very little on the way to his homestead, and he wondered over and over if he’d made a mistake accepting a woman who was pregnant.  What was he thinking?
    They made stops every quarter hour along the way for her to vomit, so they were much later getting home than he’d planned.  He pulled up in front of the house and helped her down.  “I need to milk the cow.  If you feel up to it, I’d be grateful if you could have dinner fixed when I get back.”  He watched her as she headed toward the house, wondering if he should show her around.  He’d planned to, but he really needed to get the cows milked before it was dark out.
    She nodded, her stomach still rolling, but she didn’t say a word.  It was her job to fix his dinner no matter how she felt.  It was after seven already, so the light wasn’t as bright in the house.  She lit some lanterns and found the trap door in the floor of the kitchen that led down to the cellar.  She found some bacon, eggs and potatoes, and decided they’d do for a quick meal.  She carried them up the stairs in her skirt and built a fire in the stove.
    While the stove was heating up, she washed her face in the pail of water on the counter, and poured it out.  She pulled her hair down from its knot on the back of her head and re-fixed it, knowing it had fallen all over her face during her frequent sick bouts on the way to the homestead from the city.
    She went outside to find more water, and carried the bucket into the house for her washing after the meal.
    She chopped up the potatoes and fried them with the bacon, and then added the eggs, mixing them all together for a quick meal.  Looking around, she saw there was milk to use, but no bread.  She’d make fresh bread the next day.  Toast was the only thing she could eat in the mornings just now, so it would be best if she had some bread made up for that as well as other meals.
    When Thomas came back in from milking, he was relieved to see Esther had washed up again.  Her skin was losing the green tint now that she wasn’t being bounced around on the seat of the wagon. 
    They sat across from one another at the small table, and he said a quiet prayer for them before they ate.  “Supper smells good.”
    She smiled tiredly.  “I hope it tastes good, too.”  She was always nervous when she cooked for someone new, knowing she wasn’t as good at cooking as some women were.  She enjoyed it, though, and planned to keep getting better. 
    He noticed