Will leaned over the casket. Cady looked so peaceful. A tear dropped from his eye and landed on her face.
  “Daddy?” Belle said softly from behind him.
  “I’m not ready, Belles.” Will sniffed and wiped his nose.
  Belle said, her voice a little shaky, “They said they wanted to move her out to the cemetery.”
  “I said I’m not ready yet, damn it!” Will brushed his fingers down Cady’s cheek. “I was gone. And every day I did what I could to come back to you and now I’m without you again.”
  Belle put her head on her father’s shoulder and wrapped her arm around his back. She said nothing.
  Will leaned over the casket. Cady looked so peaceful. A tear dropped from his eye and landed on her face.
  “Daddy?” Belle said softly from behind him.
  “I’m not ready, Belles.” Will sniffed and wiped his nose.
  Belle said, her voice a little shaky, “They said they wanted to move her out to the cemetery.”
  “I said I’m not ready yet, damn it!” Will brushed his fingers down Cady’s cheek. “I was gone. And every day I did what I could to come back to you and now I’m without you again.”
  Belle put her head on her father’s shoulder and wrapped her arm around his back. She said nothing.
  After a while, the preacher came into the church. “It’s time, Will.” He put a hand on Will’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “It’s time to let her go.”
  Will nodded. He stepped back and walked away with his daughter trailing behind a few steps.
****
  Nic stood off to the side. He had liked Mrs. Blanchard a great deal. She’d given him a job and a place to stay. Food. And he had worked even harder to show that he truly deserved it.
  She’d listened as he told her an edited version of the reason he had found himself there, replacing the man he’d been found with to a woman whose family was far below them. He’d been disowned.
  Mrs. Blanchard, she told him several times for him to call her Cady, had held his hand and listened to the story and told him all would be well. The Blanchards would be his family, even though he was an employee otherwise.
  Mr. Blanchard held the newborn baby, who still didn’t have a name, in his one arm close to his body. He cried silently, but the baby didn’t. He wailed loud enough that it reached across to where Nic stood.
  The other three children huddled close. Maribelle pressed her eyes into her father’s shoulder, Billy held her hand. John held onto the other side of his father and sobbed hard into his arm.
  The preacher finished the service and Mr. Blanchard’s mother took the baby from his arm. He took a handful of dirt and sprinkled it into the grave. The children followed suit from oldest to youngest. Once John’s handful of dirt was in the ground, the group broke apart and the cemetery workers started shoveling the rest of the soil in.
  Nic followed the crowd back to the carriages and cars parked in front of the church. He helped Maribelle and John into the carriage and then climbed into the seat to drive them home while Mr. Blanchard held the baby. He was still screaming his head off.
  “I think he’s hungry.” Will’s voice barely made it above the infant’s screams.
  “I’ll get him a bottle when we get home,” Maribelle said.
  “No, I will.” Mr. Blanchard said. “I’m his parent. You’re his sister. Be his sister.”
  “Yes, sir.” Maribelle didn’t say anything else the rest of the ride.
****
  The baby was asleep in the bassinet beside the bed. Will stared at him sleeping soundly. Will was wide awake. He tried to sleep, but every time he started to doze off he saw Cady there beside him. Her eyes were wide in death.
  He heard Belle in the kitchen starting breakfast. She was so busy trying to take over for her mother. She was just nineteen. And in the time he’d been back, no young man had come calling. He wondered if she had told them not to come calling.
  The baby started crying and Will gave up sleeping.
  “Diaper? Or milk? Or both?” Will was struggling with the diaper when there was a tap on the door.
  “Daddy?” Belle said softly.
  “I need another hand,” Will said hopelessly.
  Belle walked over and stood beside him, placing a hand on the cloth so Will could pin it. She did the same for the other side.
  “Thanks, girly.” Will gave her a smile and then straightened up. “Need help with breakfast?”
  “No, I’ll do it. You feed the baby.” She picked him up out of the bassinet and kissed his little face. “After Sister gets some cuddles, of course.” She carried him out of the room. “You need a name, Baby Brother. Tell Daddy to get on with choosing one.”
  Will followed, pulling the bassinet behind him. “Your Mama and I discuss quite a few, but none of them seem right.”
  He went over to the ice box and took out the bottle of milk. He poured a little into the prepared bottle and stuck it into a pan of water on the stove.
  Belle put the baby in the bassinet and went back to making biscuits. “I’ll go out and start the milking as soon as these are in the oven.”
  “Wake John and Billy. We need the eggs gathered, too.” Will hovered over the pan. The baby was still crying, but not as loudly.
  Belle finished the dough and went to wake her brothers.
  The pan finally started to simmer. And then boil. Will took the bottle out and shook it. He tested it on his tongue and it was perfect. He sat down on the chair closest to the bassinet and coaxed the baby to start eating.
  “Cody. Is that your name, Little Boy? It’ll remind us of your mama every day. And I’ll tell you everything about her. So will your brothers and sister. And we’ll all remember the great woman she was. And talk about how it wasn’t fair.”
  The back door opened slowly and Nic poked his head in. “I saw the light on. And I heard the baby. Is everything okay?” Will noted the thickness of Nic’s accent. It was always a little more pronounced first thing in the morning.
  “Just getting the day started,” Will said. “Belle’s getting the boys up to do the morning chores.”
  Nic came into the house and sat down. Will noticed he had his boots in his hand. Nic started putting the boots on his feet. “I came quickly. Things happen fast here.” He smiled sadly.
  Will nodded toward the baby. “He look like a Cody to you?”
  Nic leaned over the bassinet and nodded. “Sure.”
  Will sighed. “She wanted him to be named Stephen. For her father. But I don’t like it. Her father never much cared for me anyway. And this little man doesn’t look like a Stephen to me. Cody. It’s like Cady. It’ll be good for him. For us.”
  Nic nodded. Will could sense he was uncomfortable.
  “We need to check the fence and get it repaired before we go to the cattle drive.”
  “Okay.” Nic sat down again. “Do you think you will go? I can manage the sale. Unless you don’t trust me with your cattle.”
  “I don’t know, Nic.” Will took the now empty bottle away from the baby and picked him up. “Cody.” He kissed Cody softly on the face. “You look so much like her. All of you do.”
  “She was quite a woman, Mrs. Blanchard. Very kind. Helpful. Made sure I was comfortable and content.” Nic smiled again. “She told me all about you.”
  Will grinned. “I’m sure she did. We were head over heels for each other. I courted her for a month before I asked for her hand. She said she would have married me the first day I made a call.” He chuckled.
  “She told me she wanted to marry you the moment she saw you at church.”
  Will nodded. “I would have done it sooner, but her daddy made us wait.”
  Belle came back into the room and went back to breakfast. Billy and John went out the back door and into the yard.
  “I think your baby brother is going to be named Cody,” Will said. “What do you think, Belles?”
  Belle considered it a moment and then nodded. “I like it.”
  “Cody Stephen. For your grandfather.”
  “You never liked Graddad Willows.” Belle pointed out as she started placing biscuits on a baking sheet.
  “That was because he never liked me taking your Mama out here to the middle of nowhere.” Will laughed. “But I never disliked him, he just disliked me. Wanted his little girl happy, though.” Will looked up to Belle. “Like I want you happy. When’s a boy going to come calling on you?”
  “Some came while you were off. But most of the boys my age are still off fighting or not healthy enough to fight. Why would I want an unhealthy boy to marry and then leave me just like Mama did?” She slid the sheet of biscuits into the oven and took out a pan.
  “It’ll be over soon.” Nic said. “And then maybe all the healthy boys will come back and sweep you off your feet.”
  Will smiled. “Hopefully that’s true. Even if a few of them come home looking like me.” He indicated his arm where it was missing from just above where his elbow would have been.
  “You’re still capable and handsome, Daddy.” Belle informed him.
  Billy came in with a basket of eggs and handed them to Belle. “They’re laying really good right now. Should I leave some for the hens, Daddy?”
  Will thought about it a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, tomorrow let about half of them keep an egg or two.” He put the baby back into the bassinet and scooted it across the room beside the wall. “Johnny still out there with the cows?”
  “Yeah, I’ll go help him.” Billy started out the door, but Nic stopped him. “I will go take over.”
  Billy dropped down on the floor beside the bassinet and rested his head on his hands. “I remember when Johnny was this small. Mama had him strapped to her back in that sling all the time.”
  “She did that for all of you.” Will walked over and squeezed Billy’s shoulder. “I guess I’ll have to do that for Cody.”
  John slammed into the room with a pail of milk. “Who’s Cody?”
  “Your baby brother. I decided to name him for your Mama. Y’all like it?”
  Billy nodded and then stood. “I’ll go wash the bird crap off of me.”
  Nic came back just as Belle piled the table with biscuits, bacon, and eggs. They all got a glass of milk.
  Will made a list aloud of all the things that needed to get done that day. He pointed at John. “You’re going to school today.”
  “But Mama—”
  Will cut him off. “Mama would want you to go to school. She wanted all of us to go on.”
  Cody let out a little coo across the room and Will smiled.
  “Even the baby thinks so. Finish eating. We have stuff to do.” Will shoveled the last of the food into his mouth and stood. “Belle, can you help me get Cody strapped to me? And we’ll take a couple bottles of milk out with us to get him all he needs.”
  “I can take care of him while you work. I’ve got to tend the chickens and the garden. He can lay in the bassinet.”
  Will smiled. “What if I bring him with me while we walk the fence and then I’ll bring him back to you once we find where it needs mending?”
  Belle nodded. “Okay. It’s a deal.” She got up and started clearing the table. “I’ll bring lunch out to you if you tell me where you’re going to be.”
  “No, I think we’ll just come in whenever you have it ready. I’ll need a break.” He walked into the bedroom and found the sling pushed into the bottom of an old trunk. He remembered Cady getting it all ready a few weeks before.
  Will walked back into the kitchen holding the sling out to Belle. “Help me with this thing, kiddo?”
  Belle helped her father tie the sling around his body and then adjust Cody in it. He fussed a moment until Belle helped secure him tightly against their father’s chest.
  Will nodded and then turned to Nic. “Let’s go, Nic.”
  Out in the warm morning, Will sighed. “This time last year I was in the hospital. And they told me the arm would have to go. And it was cold. Really fucking cold.”
  He headed off without another word to Nic and started surveying the fence line.
****
  Working with one arm was difficult enough. Trying to feed a baby was a whole different challenge. Thank goodness for the sling. Nic offered to help, but Will was determined to get this right on his own.
  He pointed with his head toward the loose wires and the post that looked like a battering ram had hit it. “That’ll take no time to fix.”
  Nic nodded. “Yes. I will go get the shovel.”
  Will watched Nic walk away and then leaned against a shady tree with Cody. He looked down at the baby. “We just buried your Mama yesterday. I keep thinking about what she’s doing. And then I remember that she’s not at home. Your sister is, though. And your oldest brother. They’re working on the garden that sits behind the house. We should have some good vegetables very soon. Your mama planted all of them while you were still growing in her belly. Her, Belle, and John. Billy helped a little too, but he was mostly helping me and Nic.”
  Will continued to ramble on to the baby strapped to his chest. The bottle was almost empty. He hoped this one didn’t start vomiting after every meal like John used to.
****
  Nic walked slowly back to the spot where Will sat with the baby. In all the months he had been working there before Will was sent back home with his injury, Mrs. Blanchard told Nic all about the man she married. All the jokes he told. How good he was at the harmonica. How much he helped her with the children, unlike a lot of men she knew.
  Nic was smitten with Will through all his wife’s stories. She read aloud parts of his letters to the children. She blushed a little when she got to a part that was meant only for her eyes as she skipped over it.
  And in those words, Nic’s feelings slowly shifted from smitten to completely and utterly infatuated. And as soon as Will returned and was healed enough to move about the house, Nic soon discovered it was far more than infatuation. He was in love.
  He would never really admit this to himself or anyone else. Loving men is what got him here hundreds of miles from his home and cut off from his family. He wrote home every few months, sending some of the money he earned to hopefully pay back a debt he didn’t think he would ever fully repay.
  The letters always returned unopened.
  But still, he wrote and sent the money.
  Will was speaking softly to the infant as Nic approached as quietly as he was able. Will was a compassionate man. He was kind and loyal and loving. He was a protective father. And it hurt Nic’s heart to see a man like that losing so much. It also hurt knowing that his own father was never this way toward him and he would never be able to see him again to apologize.
  Will looked up when Nic was just a few steps away. There were tears streaked down his face and he hastily wiped them away.
  “I can fix this myself,” Nic said softly. “I know you said your wife wants you to continue on with life, but you don’t have to right away. I will fix this.”
  Oh, how he longed to pull Will into his arms and hold him until all the tears were gone.
  Will looked down at the baby and then back at Nic. “You sure?”
  “I fixed plenty on my own while you were gone. If I need help, I will come get you.”
  Will nodded and tried to stand. He swore as every attempt almost toppled the baby to the ground.
  Nic held out his hand. After a moment, Will grasped his forearm and allowed the other man to help him up. He checked on the baby and then nodded to Nic again. “I’ll come back later to check if you need help.”
  “And I assure you that I will not need any.” Nic picked up the shovel and started digging.
I am still going to be writing this story. I'll start posting chapters here on this blog at least once a month. Maybe more if I can get some motivation.
Thanks for everyone that supported me so far and I look forward to sharing this story with you all.
I didn't write as much as I planned this weekend, but I did make it to 11,288 words. So I am just a little over a day behind. But I feel good about the direction things are going. It's a book about a secret affair, so I can pad the thing with sex scenes as much as I need to get me to 50,000 words and then fix it all in editing. Lol
  There was a woman ready to marry him before that. Maria and her family lived on the neighboring land and had been friendly for a long time. As the oldest of each family, it was arranged from the time they were young as long as neither of them had fallen for another person of similar or better prospects.
  But then there was Jose, Maria’s brother. He was handsome and sweet and just a year younger than Nic. He flirted constantly when no one else was around. He was very excited about the prospect of Nic marrying his sister.
  When Jose first kissed Nic, it made his whole body shake. It was wrong, but it felt nice.
Decided to go ahead and stop earlier than my original plan. I have written 6,183 words today. Total is currently at 9,709 words. I am now only a little over one day behind. I have some things to do tomorrow, so I'm not sure how writing will go.
Now it is time to watch some more Grey's Anatomy and relax for a while.
  There was a woman ready to marry him before that. Maria and her family lived on the neighboring land and had been friendly for a long time. As the oldest of each family, it was arranged from the time they were young as long as neither of them had fallen for another person of similar or better prospects.
  But then there was Jose, Maria’s brother. He was handsome and sweet and just a year younger than Nic. He flirted constantly when no one else was around. He was very excited about the prospect of Nic marrying his sister.
  When Jose first kissed Nic, it made his whole body shake. It was wrong, but it felt nice.
  Before long, they were meeting after dark for kisses and then more. The night they both decided to go to bed together had been the night after the Dia de Muertos festival. Everyone was still giddy with the celebration and the air was thin.
  And Jose’s hands were all over Nic. They were warm and so was every inch of Nic’s body. There was no urgency.
  The next morning, Nic awoke with a start as the door slammed. His father and Jose’s were screaming. Maria was sobbing in the hallway.
  Jose’s father was sending him to a convent to pray for the forgiveness and healing of their son’s illness. He would be able to return as soon as the nuns helped him heal.
  Nic got no such promise. He was told to leave and never come back. All he was able to take was a small bag with some clothes. His guitar was strapped to his back.
  His mother sobbed and pressed a Bible to his chest. “Stay safe, by son.” She begged softly before his father took her away without a backward glance at Nic.
  It had been several weeks of wandering until he found the Blanchard farm. Mrs. Blanchard was leaning against the barn. She was covered in sweat and blood and she was crying softly.
  “Pardon me?” Nic said softly.
  She jumped and wiped hastily at her tears, smearing more blood across her face.
  “Hello, my name is Nicolas. Could I have some water?”
  She smiled and nodded. “The pump is over there. Have you eaten today?”
  He shook his head.
  “Get some water and I’ll have one of my kids bring you something. We just lost a calf and a mother, so it’s a little crazy around here.”
  Nic looked around. He could see the little garden was struggling. Chickens pecked at the ground. They looked fat, but there weren’t a lot of them. He could hear a cow moo in the barn.
  “I can help in exchange,” Nic offered.
  Mrs. Blanchard looked uncertain.
  Nic held up his hands. “I just want to help. It looks like this place could use an extra set of hands.”
  “Let me think about it.” She went into the house.
  Nic drank greedily from the well pump and scrubbed his face. It had actually been a few days since his last meal. He’d managed to procure some jerky from his last stop in exchange for helping to pull a calf. But he’d eaten the last of that the previous day.
  She came back out in a fresh dress with a clean face and a young man that looked just like her. “This is my son Billy.” She handed over a plate that held a few slices of bacon, some scrambled eggs, and a biscuit. “We could use some help. My husband is gone fighting the war and his father and brothers have their hands full with their own places. They help when they can.” She nodded to Billy. “He’ll show you to the loft in the barn. You can fix it up however you like.”
  “I don’t need much. But I appreciate it.”
  “I’m offering you a job, Mr…?”
  “Cuevas,” he finished for her.
  “And I am Catherine Blanchard. It is lovely to meet you and I would appreciate any help you can give even if it’s a few days. In exchange, I will feed you and mend any clothes you need mended. And I will pay you a small sum as we are able. It’s almost time for the cattle drive and I wasn’t sure how my father-in-law would manage it with him lot and ours, but if you would help there, I would gladly pay you a bit more upon a successful return.”
  Nic swallowed the bacon and nodded. “Thank you very much, Mrs. Blanchard.”
I have written about 2000 words today. I'm am now at 6006 words. I'm planning on 15,000 words today, but will be glad to get to the 11,000 that is projected for today.
I’m still going to keep writing, but I am breaking now to share with you a bit.
____
  Will leaned over the casket. Cady looked so peaceful. A tear dropped from his eye and landed on her face.
  “Daddy?” Belle said softly from behind him.
  “I’m not ready, Belles.” Will sniffed and wiped his nose. “Who has the baby?”
  “Grandma,” Belle said, her voice a little shaky. “They said they wanted to move her out to the cemetery.”
  “I said I’m not ready yet, damn it!” Will brushed his fingers down Cady’s cheek. “I was gone. And every day I did what I could to come back to you and now I’m without you again.”
  Belle put her head on her father’s shoulder and wrapped her arm around his back. She said nothing.
  After a while, the preacher came into the church. “It’s time, Will.” He put a hand on Will’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “It’s time to let her go.”
  Will nodded. He stepped back and walked away with his daughter trailing behind a few steps.
****
  Nic stood off to the side. He had liked Mrs. Blanchard a great deal. She’d given him a job and a place to stay. Food. And he had worked even harder to show that he truly deserved it.
  She’d listened as he told her an edited version of the reason he had found himself there, replacing the man he’d been found with to a woman whose family was far below them. He’d been disowned.
  Mrs. Blanchard, she told him several times for him to call her Cady, had held his hand and listened to the story and told him all would be well. The Blanchards would be his family, even though he was an employee otherwise.
  Mr. Blanchard held the newborn baby, who still didn’t have a name, in his one arm close to his body. He cried silently, but the baby didn’t. He wailed loud enough that it reached across the cemetery.
  The other three children huddled close. Maribelle pressed her eyes into her father’s shoulder, Billy held her hand. John held onto the other side of his father and sobbed hard into his arm.
  The preacher finished the service and Mr. Blanchard’s mother took the baby from his arm. He took a handful of dirt and sprinkled it into the grave. The children followed suit from oldest to youngest. Once John’s handful of dirt was in the ground, the group broke apart and the cemetery workers started shoveling the rest of the soil in.
  Nic followed the crowd back to the carriages and cars parked in front of the church. He helped Maribelle and John into the carriage and then climbed into the seat to drive them home while Mr. Blanchard held the baby in his arms. He was still screaming his head off.
  “I think he’s hungry.” Will’s voice barely made it above the infant’s screams.
  “I’ll get him a bottle when we get home,” Maribelle said.
  “No, I will.” Mr. Blanchard said. “I’m his parent. You’re his sister. Be his sister.”
  “Yes, sir.” Maribelle didn’t say anything else the rest of the ride.
