Historical Setting, 629 C.E. Vosges Mts.
I’m glad I came. God answered my casual prayer that I may love my enemy, Will, with this obligation to persist in unearthing his kindness.
Dear God, may Layla and the baby find his huge hands gentle.
I can, in a strange way of empathy, understand Layla’s dream for this man as a husband and a father for her children. I only hope he, too, can see that man in himself. Could anyone ever trust him with gentleness for the needs of an infant? That is yet to be learned.
Today I return the empty donkey cart to the farm shed at home, and walk on to that little thatched house of secrets behind the church in the woods. Gaia has no idea there is a house for her. And now Ana and her daughters have brought all the things of home into this place. Brandell comes up every chance he gets, always imagining Gaia’s surprise when she follows the yarn that she herself strung through the wood to border the dancing space. And when her fingers lead her to this place where she will expect her guests to be waiting for her, instead, here will be a house, now with a proper table, and a bed and a bench.
Here, Layla and I sit down to talk at this table about Layla’s own needs and plans. Hannah insists Layla stay here until the baby is born, which is the same expectation I left with Will. It is the safest way for this baby to be born in a proper house with two midwives right here. But now, I am starting to see the important part for including Will in this, and not simply thinking of him a distant fearsome monster. So, I think we need to take Layla to the creek cottage for this birth. We are not only keeping this house a secret from Gaia for a surprise, but also from Will in case it will be needed again for safety’s sake.
What I am demanding of Will may be unfathomable, but I know with the help of God, it is possible. Yet Layla has to be prepared for his attempts at gentleness to fail.
I told Layla not to wait for his angry fists, simply to leave if he gets drunk. She has a way to leave now, and we will come for her.
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 