Ohio doesn’t seem to be ready to give you a proper license. Let the registered nurse-midwives do the delivering around here.”
Abby stopped in midstride. “We’ve discussed this, Daniel. The nurse-midwives work at the birthing center where they make more money and have far more control over the situation. None of them want to follow Dr. Weller around on his rounds to homes and farms. Yet you know yourself many Amish women refuse to have babies anywhere but at home. At least our community is fortunate to have a physician still willing to make house calls.”
“Jah, but for how much longer? Weller is getting up there in years.”
“We must take life one day at a time. I’ve been praying for another licensed midwife to come to Shreve, one who is comfortable with Amish ways, and I’ve been praying some young doctor will find our part of the world simply irresistible and move here.” Abby buzzed a kiss across his cheek and marched down the stairs. She was eager to stretch her rubbery legs and even more eager to rest the tired topic. Even though he was Amish, Daniel didn’t understand. And surely no one outside their community understood why so many Plain women chose to give birth at home. Debate continued in the legislatures of Ohio and Pennsylvania to license trained midwives who weren’t RNs, but resistance remained among other medical professionals. And yesterday’s outcome would only increase the opposition. An Amish man or woman would conclude that the Lord chose to call Ruth Fisher home last night, but an Englischer might see her death as an avoidable and needless tragedy.
By the time she reached her neighbor’s tidy yard, she forced thoughts of last night from her mind. Her children ran toward her from the garden with arms open wide. If she hadn’t been ready for their embrace, they would have knocked her down.
“Mamm, come look in the barn!” cried Laura.
“New pups,” added Jake as Abby lifted him off the ground and settled him against her hip.
“Let’s hurry,” said Laura, dragging her by the hand.
Her neighbor grinned and waved as she hung laundry on the line. Abby waved back and then followed her daughter into the dimly lit barn, smelling sweet from fresh-cut hay. The newborn spaniel pups tumbled and jostled as they vied for position to nurse from their mother. The cocker mom napped on a blanket-lined bed of straw in one corner of an empty stall. The pups, with eyes barely open, were heartbreakingly adorable.
“Miz Amy says we can look but not touch,” whispered Laura. “We’re not allowed to pick them up yet.”
“That’s right,” agreed Abby, “they’re still too little to be handled much.” She knelt down in the stall for a closer look. The new mom seemed sound asleep until Jake bumped the stall wall. Then she eyed him suspiciously. Laura leaned close enough to be counted among the pups.
“Easy, Jake. Back up, Laura,” cautioned Abby. “Let’s not make the dog nervous by crowding too close.” The children scooted back and crossed their legs Indian-style to watch the pups’ antics with utter fascination.
“Could we ask Miz Amy if we can have one? They are so cute.” Laura’s face filled with joy.
“Jah, mamm, a pup! A pup!” Jake’s enthusiasm managed to surpass his sister’s.
“What about Boots? I thought you were fond of her.”
“She always stays in the cabin in the woods, and it’s been a very long time since old Betsy died,” reasoned Laura. “We could use a new watchdog. I just know these will be good ones.” Her grin made her dark eyes sparkle.
Abby chuckled at the idea of six months being a very long time in a child’s perspective, and also about the idea of a floppy-eared spaniel being a watchdog. But the pups were quickly worming their way into her heart too. “We’ll ask your daed during dinner, but don’t badger him the moment he comes in from the fields. Let him wash up and eat his supper. Then he might be persuaded to take a cocker spaniel, even though he had his heart set on a springer.”
“We’ll just have to get two kinds of dogs,” Laura said with the wisdom of a six-year-old. She gently scratched the dog behind the ears and was rewarded with a lick of her hand.
Abby loved watching the pups clamber over each other and could have stayed all afternoon, but her stomach growled loud enough to be heard. Standing, she brushed straw from her dress and pulled her children to