An Amish Christmas With the Bontrager Sisters by Hannah Schrock

CHAPTER ONE
The Joys Of Kinder  
    Emma Bontrager Williams had a secret. She felt it pulsing like a glowing candle in her belly till she was sure everyone could see the light illuminated on her face. Christmas was only a week away now and by that time Emma would know for sure.  
    She pressed the heel of her palm into the dough on her worktable, sprinkling a frugal amount of flour so it wouldn’t stick to the surface. The smell of freshly baked buns filled the room and she felt her stomach rumble. Emma had been on her feet since dawn, baking bread and sweet buns for the Christmas feast.
    It had been three years since she had married Jarron Williams, an Englischer , who had baptized into the Amish faith. It was like something out of a story, her first meeting with Jarron at Emile Smith’s house, her marriage to Eli, her childhood beau and Jarron’s best friend, Eli’s eventual demise after a long illness, and Jarron’s divorce.  
    Even though it felt that they had spent most of their lives apart the truth was that they had been courting each other in their heart’s deepest desires. It was Gott’s will that they had come together in body and spirit after their individual paths of hardship.
    Emma and Jarron had spent the last three years celebrating their union by filling Eli’s barn with pigs and goats and filling his home with their laughter. Emma no longer felt the guilt that was such a vital part of her when Eli had died. She knew that her Eli, her kind, generous, compassionate Eli, would be glad to look down at her and see her happy with a wonderful, good man like Jarron.
    “You’re smiling like the cat that ate all the cream and a nest full of canaries to boot,” Jarron said. He slipped a currant bun off the large pile on the table and bit into it before Emma could protest. He closed his eyes in appreciation and Emma felt elated for this simple joy. If Gott willed it she would have a much greater joy to share with Jarron soon.
    “ Ja ,” she said going back to kneading the dough, trying hard not to smile. “It’s nearly Christmas and all my family is happy and in good health, what more could I ask for?”
    “A good birth,” Jarron said, wiping his hands on his trousers. “One of the goats is about ready but this is the first kid she’s taken to term. She lost the rest, poor thing.”
    Emma felt her stomach tighten with fright. Jarron must have heard the sudden hitch in her breath because he put an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder to provide her comfort.  
    “If it is in our destiny to have kinder we will have them Em,” he said, using his special endearment for her. “Don’t fret over something you have no control over. Let Gott sort it out for us.”  
    He kissed her temple where powdered sugar had settled and licked his lips, his long beard trickled Emma’s nose and she giggled.  
    “Stay sweet,” he whispered in her ear and left through the back door. He had long replaced the baseball cap with his straw hat. Jammed over his auburn curls it looked fitting and not at all out of place.
    Emma spent the morning baking some more buns and loaves of bread. Around midmorning she felt the low rumbling pinches in her abdomen turn into urgent stabbings. Disheartened, her brow stained with sugary sweat, she left the kitchen to give her attention to the inevitable disappointment.  
    The stain of bright red was the murder of her dream and the death of her secret. Three years and she had not given a single boppli to Jarron. Emma had hoped as the ten days had progressed that this time she might have the seed of joy growing in her but it was not to be.
    Emma had hoped to give Jarron the good news for Christmas but it looked like she would have to be content with the new material she had bought him for a sturdy new jacket. His old one had worn out at the elbows and was unsalvageable. Emma intended to use the old one for a pair of vests for Isaac.
    Just the thought of her nephew brought a smile back to