My wife was so incredibly pregnant. We doubted our child could have grown faster than it had in her belly. Her back ached, her feet ached, her legs, hands and feet swelled each day, she had shooting pains down her sides, breasts growing and beginning to create milk, had to nap twice a day because the baby exhausted her and was eating most definitely for two.
She was in massive amounts of pain and drastically changing hormones yet was the happiest she had ever been.
Well, that was until her father took Margaret and her little siblings to visit their grandmother Gene that was three days straight of ride away just before the snowstorm that would bring in winter that year. It was November. We had hung into our crops for quite some time since the weather was temperate enough. It had been a warm October, allowing the veggies more time to grow even though we harvested the grains.
This meant we only had one day to harvest all of the vegetables, and I only had three sets of hands for help.
William, Bob and I each knew that even if their father tried to get back to help us, he would be three days too late.
Charlotte was far too pregnant to even attempt to reach down to put her own socks on now let alone collect crops.
But I saw my parents walking down the driveway with my siblings as the brutal icy wind whipped at us in the field.
They came on over, and my mother hugged me tightly, catching me off guard.
She held my cheeks and looked as if she was about to cry. "We just couldn't stand to watch you grow up. I'm so sorry."
My dad jumped right into helping us. My siblings dragged bags of veggies to the house and my mother offered to help pull veggies as well.
"Charlotte inside?" My mother asked as I was kneeling in the cold hard dirt, yanking carrots from their holes before shoving them into a sack.
"Yeah. She's due to have the baby in about two weeks or so. She's too big to be doing much."
But I was startled by my wife's voice. "Better not be me you're talking about."
She was bundled, but obviously very pregnant with my child. Her belly had quite dropped down in the past week, making her back hurt more and looking even rounder.
She managed to get herself on her knees and start pull vegetables as my mother asked her how she was doing, obviously not having looked up and seen her yet.
"You must be getting tired. Head inside and we can help these boys. You need your rest."
Charlotte smiled though, stroking her stomach and holding it as she leaned over to pull out another radish.
"If we would like to feed our child this year, we need this done. I don't mind helping as long as Tom puts up with my complaining about my back."
Charlotte stood with my help. She never could get up otherwise.
My mother stared in shock at how pregnant she was. She was quite round with our child but beaming too me and thanking me for switching with her since she hated to pull radishes and would rather carrots.
My father had wide eyes at her too.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to rest? You'll be having your baby soon and you have got to be exhausted." My mother said to her as I helped Charlotte to her knees, knowing I shouldn't protest her help if she was willing.
"I'm so uncomfortable sitting right now. The baby moves too much for me to get comfortable and the pressure on my back is painful most of the time until I really do just lay for bed or a nap. And they have finally not pressed against my ribs in a day, so I can finally breathe."
