Stars

Chapter 42

Peggy had been pushing for what seemed like hours, though Isabella had no real concept of time at the moment. Peggy was becoming exhausted and her pulse was still much too quick. Isabella feared what may happen if the doctor didn't get here quickly. With her legs up on the bed, and with the help of Alice and Isabella, the baby's head was now visible. "Peggy, I can see the head, you're almost there." Isabella coached her. 

She cried out as she pushed harder. Alice placed a fresh linen underneath Peggy in preparation for the baby. "A couple more pushes and we should be able to guide the baby out." She whispered to Isabella. 

"Did you hear that, Peggy? Just a couple more pushes." Isabella announced. 

Peggy nodded weakly and began to push again. A few more moments went band soon Alice and Isabella were able to guide the baby through the birthing canal and into the world. It was a boy and he immediately came out crying. A sign of a healthy baby. "Peggy, your son is here." 

Her blue eyes lit up and she weakly held out her arms to hold him. His mother's embrace made him stop crying but Isabella noticed something worrisome. Peggy was still bleeding way too much. Alice noticed too because she tried to stop the blood flow with a fresh rag. 

"He's beautiful," Peggy whispered. It was all she could manage. 

At the sound of a crying baby, Ben and the young private made their way upstairs. He knocked on the half open door again before coming in. Isabella turned to him as he came to stand by her side. "It's a boy," She whispered. He smiled before noticing the blood that stained the bed. 

"Is that normal?" He asked her quietly. 

Isabella only shook her head. "Is the doctor on his way?" 

"Last I knew, he was removing a few bullets from an injured man." Ben stated. 

"What will you name him?" Ben asked. 

Peggy smiled at her son, "John." 

Ben and Isabella shared a knowing look. That was not Arnold's child. 

Somebody was heard clamoring up the stairs and in walked the doctor they had been waiting on. He took one look at Peggy's condition and he gave a grim look to the nurses. He opened his bag and grabbed a tool to cut the cord. He examined the baby quickly and handed him back to his mother. He felt Peggy's pulse and looked at her ghostly complexion. "She won't last much longer," He said quietly. 

He wasn't quiet enough, though. Peggy heard him. Even though, she knew in the back of her mind that was going to be the outcome. Tears fell from her eyes and Isabella rushed to her side to comfort her. 

"Make sure she is comfortable and let the father know of his misfortune. His son, however, is perfectly healthy." The doctor stated. 

Ben left to see the doctor out, leaving only the women. Soon, Alice went to get more cool water and it was just Peggy, Isabella, and baby John. "Bella?" Peggy asked quietly. 

"Yes, how can I help you?" She answered. 

"Could you please get me something to write with and a piece of parchment?" Peggy asked. 

Isabella turned to the desk in the room and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and brought it to Peggy. While holding her newborn child with one hand and writing a message with the other, she shivered and shook. When she was done, she handed the note to Isabella and laid back down on her pile of pillows, her son resting on her chest. 

the note only said:

I, Margaret Shippen, leave my son John in the care of Isabella Washington.

Isabella looked at the note and then to Peggy, who's breathing was now shallow and labored. 

Quietly, Ben came back into the room with another blanket for Peggy. He put it over her legs and she gave him a small smile. He went to stand next to Isabella. 

"P-please do n-not let Benedict find him. Belle, I-I know y-you will l-love him as I w-would have." She managed to say. A single tear rolled from her eye. 

"Peggy..." Isabella was shocked that Peggy would do this. After all, she had sisters she could give John to. But she couldn't deny her friend her last dying wish. "I will keep him safe and tell him what a brave woman his mother was. He will know nothing but love and happiness."

Peggy smiled and drew a shallow, shaky breath. From the look on Ben's face, Isabella knew he was confused. But her attention was on Peggy in her last moments. "Peggy Shippen, I will make sure your son, and the entire world, knows what a wonderful woman you are. I am so thankful to have met you. And Arnold will not lay a hand on his son." 

Peggy only smiled and gently squeezed Isabella's hand. She looked to John and kissed his head. "M-mommy loves you, my s-sweet b-boy." With her dying breath, Peggy held tighter to her son, closed her eyes, and smiled. A few moments later, she was limp. 

Isabella felt for a pulse, tears beginning to fall from her eyes when she did not find one. She turned to Ben who was reading the letter Peggy had left. "She left him to you?" He asked quietly. 

Isabella only nodded. When John began to cry in his dead mother's arms, Isabella reached down and scooped him up. She held him close and smiled at the newest addition to the world. She turned to Ben, "He's perfect."

He looked at the young boy and smiled. "And he's in your care now." 

Isabella turned back to Peggy with a small smile, "I won't let her down."

~~~

Hours had passed since Peggy's passing and John's birth. Ben had arranged for two of his men to take Peggy's body back to her family's estate in Philadelphia. Isabella had written a letter to General Arnold telling him that his wife and unborn child had died in child birth. That way he wouldn't come looking for his son. Isabella had cleaned little John up and swaddled him so he was nice and warm. Now, she was sitting on the chaise in the great room of the manor house with Ben. 

"Do you wish to hold him?" She asked him. 

"I-I um..." He trailed off. 

"You've never held a baby?" She asked in disbelief. 

He shook his head and looked at John. 

"Then I'll teach you." Isabella said. She gently placed John into his arms and showed him how to cradle the head and support his neck. Within moments, Ben was comfortable and beaming with the child in his arms. "You're a natural." She said. 

Ben looked at her with admiration. This woman just delivered a baby, watched her close friend die in front of her, and was now caring for this infant with so much love and adoration that you would think she was his real mother. Ben wanted to be with her forever. He wanted to be a part of John's life as a father figure. He wanted them to be their own little family. "No, you're the natural." 

He needed to write a letter to Isabella's father.