The Amish Midwife - By Mindy Starns Clark Page 0,132

for the poor, pregnant Giselle. She had made some very bad decisions, yes, but I just kept remembering that at the time she had only been all of nineteen. Who at nineteen hadn’t done some stupid things? All of that scrutiny must have served to only magnify the problems.

“Of course, the bigger Giselle’s stomach grew,” Marta continued, “the more insanely jealous Klara became.” Looking at her sister, Marta added, “I was never quite sure if Klara was really angry because she suspected Alex was the father or simply because her sister had gotten pregnant even though she herself hadn’t.”

I glanced at Klara, surprised to see that her cheeks were wet with tears. So the woman had a soul after all. James seemed to notice the tears as well, because he held out a hand to Marta and addressed Klara instead.

“I have a question for you. Would you say that your father was a good man?”

Klara sat up, looking uncomfortable, but at least she answered.

“No. Not by anyone’s definition.”

“Have you known many good men in your life?”

She squinted at James, silently asking what he was getting at.

“Just go with me for a minute. Have you known many good men? And by good, I mean men who are kind, dependable, trustworthy…”

Klara shrugged.

“There are some in the church like that, I suppose. The bishop. A few of the deacons.”

“How about at home? Are there any good men in your home?”

Klara stared at James for a long moment before understanding slowly began to creep across her face.

“Why, Alexander, of course,” she whispered. “He is good, through and through. He is very, very good. To me. To everyone. He is the most gut man of all!” At that, much to my amazement, Klara burst into tears.

To his credit, her husband didn’t even hesitate in his response. Instead, he simply slipped from his chair to his knees and took Klara in his arms, holding her tightly and patting her back as she wept.

“I think sometimes when we grow up with a parent who is deeply flawed,” James explained to us as Alexander and Klara remained locked in their tearful embrace, “we learn, subconsciously at least, to expect the worst from everyone else as well. Given the kind of man her father was, no doubt at some level Klara believed that all men were bad. Even with Alexander, whom she loved, she would have had trouble accepting that his goodness was genuine, or at least that it would last. When Giselle started spewing her lies, Klara’s natural suspicions were confirmed, and she was more than ready to believe them. It’s sad, and it’s wrong, but it’s certainly understandable.” After a moment, he added, “Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way forever. We can all learn to see with new eyes if we try.”

I was dumbfounded at what had just happened, and I looked at James with respect. Though this certainly wasn’t the most pressing issue of the day, he had spotted an opportunity for healing and had gone with it.

Seeing with new eyes, indeed.

“So who can tell us why Lexie was born in Norristown rather than here?” James asked, taking the conversation back to the next logical question.

No one spoke, so after a moment, Ella shyly raised her hand.

“Yes, Ella?” James said.

“I wasn’t there, obviously, but I bet I can guess. Lexie probably can too.”

At the moment I wasn’t interested in hearing theories, but James regarded her with interest.

“With all of these people ragging on her all the time, Giselle probably just had enough one day and took off out of here.” Glancing at her mother, she added, “Sometimes we all need space, to catch our breath and maybe calm down and get some perspective.”

“You are partly correct,” Mammi interjected, and I was relieved to hear her finally rejoin the discussion. “She did take off after a particularly bad argument with Klara, but Giselle did not just need some air. She was leaving for good. Like many of the youngie on rumschpringe, Giselle had purchased a car. Once she drove off in it, I thought she was long gone and I might never see her again.”

“What happened to her?” I whispered, leaning forward to take in every word.

“We learned later that she headed east, but she only made it as far as Exton before she felt a contraction. Determined to press onward, she drove for another half hour before she finally had to admit to herself that she was in labor and needed to get to