Gabriel Brown: Collection of Short Alaskan Bush People Fan Fics

The Crib

Gabe turned his body in a circle and scratched at his curly hair, wondering where you had gotten to.

"I'm here! I'm here!" You ran to him from the outhouse as you reached into your pocket for your hand sanitizer.

"Are you ready to go?" He grinned and held his hands out for a squirt of your disinfectant. He rubbed his hands together and then pantomimed rubbing the cold gel on his cheeks. "Ah...bracing!"

"Hey! Stop that! I don't want to taste that the next time I kiss your cheek!"

You and Gabe had been married for several years and you still loved his crazy sense of humor. But there was nothing funny in the way he suddenly grabbed you around the waist and pulled you to him.

"Then don't kiss my cheek." He said as he pressed his soft lips to yours.

Keeping your eyes open, you were a little shocked by the suddenness of the kiss but you were definitely pleased with it. Your hands slid around his neck as you took in the details of his temple and his soft dark eyelashes. His eyes were closed and his forehead was smooth and unlined. He was relaxed and enjoying his mouth on yours.

"We should get going now." Gabe released you reluctantly and began to gather up all the tools the two of you would need to begin work on the new crib.

When you and Gabe started to have children, he decided that each child would have their own newly made crib. As the child would outgrow the baby crib, he would break it down and add pieces to it to make their new larger bed. And when the new baby would come, Gabe would bring in the freshly made crib, smelling strongly of cut wood. Over the years, you had come to associate the smell of a new baby not with the traditional scents of milk and talc, but of cedar and moss.

"I feel like I'm about to pop with this one." You patted your large round stomach and let Gabe take your hand.

"Don't pop just yet. We've still got to finish the crib."

He had waited later than usual this time. After three children, you were only days away from your due date with baby number four. Normally, the crib was ready before this time, but so much was taking up his time that he hadn't gotten around to it.

"At this rate, you'll have barely finished the crib before the baby comes so I'll just have to straddle it and..."

"Ewwww!" Gabe scrunched up his face in a frown.

"Sorry, Gabey." You laughed as he shook his head at you. He still sometimes didn't appreciate your special brand of humor.

"I found the perfect tree for our first little girl." He was so excited. He loved his three boys but was glad to be finally having a little girl to spoil.

"What makes this tree so special?" To you they all looked alike, but Gabe walked straight up to it and placed a large hand on the trunk and turned back to you with a big smile.

"Look." He pulled you up as close to the tree as your bulging tummy would allow and pointed.

At first you didn't see it, but as he traced the small knot in the tree with his finger, you saw it and your hands flew to cover your mouth. The gasp that came out was followed closely by hot wet tears. You blinked rapidly; trying to make sure you didn't lose sight of the whorl of wood and bark that seemed to spell out the name, 'Sarah.'

When you told Gabe you wanted to name your first daughter Sarah Elizabeth after your grandmother, you thought he might be unhappy. He had mentioned a few times that he would like to name your daughter after his mother or one of his sisters. But you had come up with a plan that you thought might make him see things your way. It had a little to do with a large 'everything' pizza and a tiny see-through nightie. Between nibbles of pizza and nibbles of you, he said he understood and whatever you wanted to name her was fine with him.

"This is the perfect tree." You smiled as Gabe picked up a large knife and began carefully removing the design from the tall tree.

"You have a seat over there and I'll have this part done in no time." He was right. In just a few minutes, Gabe had removed the 'name' from the tree and handed you the thick slice of wood. You ran your fingers over the markings in the wood and practiced how you would tell this story to your baby girl. A sudden sharp pinch low in your belly made you pull in a breath and hold it.

"Are you ok?" Gabe dropped to his knees in front of you and the concern was clear all over his face.

"Yes." You nodded and placed a hand on his cheek. "But you'd better start chopping that tree down now."

As Gabe chopped furiously at the thick trunk of the tree, you sat and patted your stomach and whispered to your baby girl. "We're almost ready for you Sarah. We just need a few more days until your crib is finished. Hang in there, OK?"