“He'll wake hungry.”
Caleb nodded.
So he stayed too.
Two infants.
One exhausted woman.
One exhausted father.
The arrangement would have horrified polite society.
Neither cared.
Around midnight, Ruth woke.
Then Samuel.
At exactly the same time.
Eliza stared at both.
Caleb almost laughed.
“This seems unfair.”
“You wanted children.”
“I wanted one.”
“Well.”
She looked between the two screaming babies.
“Apparently the universe disagrees.”
Caleb lifted Samuel.
Eliza took Ruth.
For several minutes, chaos filled the room.
Then quiet.
Ruth fed.
Samuel waited impatiently in Caleb’s arms.
“You explain patience to him,” Caleb whispered.
“He's three weeks old.”
“So unreasonable.”
Eliza laughed.
Ruth finished first.
Caleb handed Samuel over.
Their hands touched.
Eliza looked up.
Caleb looked at her.
Something warm passed between them.
Then Eliza said quietly:
“You don't have to stay.”
Caleb frowned.
“Where would I go?”
“To your room.”
“I know.”
“I mean after this.”
He understood.
Fort Collins.
Then his ranch.
Eliza and Ruth perhaps Denver.
Separate lives.
Caleb looked toward the babies.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Both froze.
Eliza looked down.
“I mean tonight.”
“Right.”
Caleb sat.
Silence.
Then:
“Eliza.”
“Yes?”
“I don't know what happens after.”
“Neither do I.”
“But I don't want gratitude making decisions for either of us.”
She looked up.
Caleb continued.
“You saved Samuel.”
“That doesn't mean I get to ask anything from you.”
Her eyes softened.
“And you helped me find Ruth.”
“That doesn't mean I get to ask anything from you either.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Eliza smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Another silence.
Then she whispered:
“But perhaps one day we might ask something because we want to.”
Caleb’s breathing changed.
“What kind of something?”
Eliza looked at him.
“You are not subtle.”
“I've been told.”
She smiled.
“Not tonight.”
Caleb nodded.
“Not tonight.”
But neither slept for a long time.
The legal proceedings kept them in Denver for three weeks.
Samuel grew stronger.
Ruth gained weight.
Eliza regained something too.
Not what had existed before.
Something new.
Caleb watched her transform from the quiet woman trying to disappear inside a stagecoach into a mother willing to stand in a courtroom and describe exactly what had been done to her.
Doctor Harrow’s attorney attempted to portray her as unstable.
Eliza did not flinch.
“Were you distressed after childbirth?”
“Yes.”
“Did you suffer grief?”
“Yes.”
“Were you financially insecure?”
“Yes.”