Read Online The Longing by Beverly Lewis - Free Book Online

you.
    First of all, we’ve built a new, smaller Dawdi Haus onto ours, and my great-grandparents are moving in. I couldn’t help but think of your grandparents this week, with all the hustle and bustle of getting my elderly relatives settled there. We do see Noah and Hannah every other Sunday at Preaching, and Mamma invites your grandmother to quilting frolics, too.
    But I have something else even more important to share. Mamma’s told me of three expectant women— two in our Old Order church district, one New Order— who’ve heard the sad story of your dear friend, Rosanna King, and been moved to act. Each of them is offering to give her baby to your childless friend. Can you believe it? It does seem odd for me to be the one passing this news along, but Mamma assures me it’s all right to mention. In fact, she’d like for you to tell Rosanna yourself, close as you two are.
    None of the women knows yet about the others, so I would think Rosanna could talk to each of them individually and then decide without anyone else ever needing to know. Mamma and I will keep this news quiet here.
    Oh, I do hope it is right for me to tell you this, Nellie. See what your mamma says, though. There’s always safety in wise counsel.
    Nellie groaned. If Treva had a mind to talk with Rosanna herself about this, Nellie would want to protect Rosanna, not sure her friend was ready to attempt to adopt another baby. She sighed, considering the amazing news. To think three mothers-to-be felt enough compassion for heartbroken Rosanna to bear a child for her and Elias!
    Same as her cousin Kate Beiler . . .
    Nan came over and stood nearby. “You feelin’ all right?”
    She hated the thought of Rosanna’s going through what she had with her cousin again—first being promised a baby, then having the twins taken away. “Did I make a sound?”
    “Jah, like you might be sick.”
    Nellie smiled. “Well, I didn’t mean to.” She folded up the letter. No sense bringing Nan into this yet. “Is Mamma goin’ to eat supper with us?”
    Nan turned. “I’ll check on her.”
    Nellie resumed her reading, finishing her cousin’s remarkable letter. But the rest of the news—the division of a nearby church district due to growth, and farmers already seeding the oat crop—couldn’t compare to the notion of the Bird-in-Hand women wanting to give Rosanna a baby. And two of them were members of the old church. What on earth?
    Do I dare tell Rosanna?
    Long after dishes were done and Dat had read the Scriptures and led them in prayer, Nellie waited for a private moment with Mamma in the kitchen. At last Dat obliged by making himself scarce, going upstairs to retire for the night. Nan had already gone up.
    “I’d like to ask you somethin’,” Nellie said before her mother could follow the others.
    Mamma motioned for her to sit at the table.
    After relating the contents of the letter, Nellie asked, “What should I do? I mean, think of it: This puts poor Rosanna in an awful place . . . you know, if something should happen and things fall through.”
    “And things just might.” Mamma’s face was serious. “Sometimes the answer to our prayers isn’t always clear. Sometimes it’s ‘no,’ or ‘just trust.’ ”
    Nellie smiled. Naturally her mother would think this. And the more Nellie learned from Manny’s sermons and her own Bible reading, the more she, too, would approach things similarly. “I’m most concerned for Rosanna’s frail state right now. She still cries, missing Eli and Rosie.”
    “Well, it’s prob’ly too soon, then.”
    “So I best keep mum on it?”
    Mamma sighed, rubbing her neck as she thought it over. “You’d just hate to see her get thrown more sorrow on top of what she’s already suffered. Maybe just wait a bit . . . see if these women are truly serious.”
    Nellie Mae fiddled with her cousin’s letter, considering Rosanna’s fragile heart. “If Treva and any of her sisters accept my invitation, they’ll be