West For Love (A Mail Order Romance Novel) by Karolyn James, Claire Charlins Page B

Thomas had someone like Jo willing to go beyond the
job of wet nurse when needed.
    Once Thomas Jr. finished, Thomas
took the infant and turned, cradling his son as Jo properly dressed herself.
    “Can we?” Anna asked Thomas.
“Together? Put him down?”
    Thomas looked at Anna. His lip was
slightly curled. “Not tonight. I’ll join you in the bedroom in a little while.”
    Thomas was short and rushed from
the room. Anna gasped, but Jo quickly reached for her.
    “Don’t worry,” Jo said. “It’s just
part of this...”
    “It’s okay,” Anna said. “It was
just such a good day. He seemed so happy and so alive. I feel as though it’s
been stolen from him.”
    Jo stood from the bed and put a
hand to Anna’s shoulder. “Sweet Anna, just think about what he had to watch.
I’ve told him so many times not to be here when I feed Thomas Jr. but it’s
something that he forces himself to endure. I know it shouldn’t be my breast
the baby nourishes from. It should be his mother’s. Up until today, that was
impossible because his mother was gone. But now, Thomas Jr. does have a
mother.”
    “But that’s still impossible,” Anna
whispered. “Right?”
    “I’ve never conceived a child in my
life,” Jo said.
    “So how did...” Anna’s eyes looked
down to Jo’s ample chest and back to Jo’s eyes.
    “It just did,” Jo said. “I thank
God for it. He blessed me with a big heart and a big chest!”
    Anna giggled and blushed.
    “But he also blessed me with the
milk I can provide to those who need it,” Jo continued. “Some families are
wealthy enough that they just pay a wet nurse to nurture their child. Even
families with mother and father in good health, and mother with capability.
Other families have suffered. Some mothers can’t nourish their babies and in
the worst of them of all...”
    Jo opened her hands as if to say, right here, with Thomas and Thomas
Jr. .
    “When did it first happen?” Anna
asked. “I’m sorry if I’m being intrusive.”
    “Not at all,” Jo said. “I see what
you’re thinking.”
    Before Anna could ask Jo what she
meant, Jo started to speak again.
    “It was just after becoming a
woman, you know? I was bathing myself one evening and I just noticed something.
That’s really how it happened. When I touched it, my nipple, I mean, I noticed
liquid coming out. Just small droplets at first, but enough to scare me. After
bathing, I dried myself but couldn’t help but try it again. It happened again.
I slept that night and when I was able to do it again the next morning, I told
my mother about it. She ran to my father and I was instantly accused of being
with child. I had never been touched by a man, sweet Anna, ever. But they said
it was the only way possible. I assured them otherwise, but the relationship
started to crack that fast.”
    Anna felt the strings of her heart
pull. How sad. To be accused and treated poorly for something that came as no
fault to Jo. As Anna thought it, she touched her own stomach, understanding the
feeling.
    “I was not with child,” Jo said,
“and as months passed, it was proven. The doctors couldn’t find a baby and I
knew there wasn’t one inside me. But that didn’t stop my breasts from providing
milk. Each month it happened more and more. My parents couldn’t accept what was
happening and I soon had to leave home. To make my long story shorter, I found
work as a wet nurse thanks to a kind woman who gave me a chance to open up and
explain what was happening to my body. I thank God every night for that woman
and all she did.”
    “Sounds like the woman who helped
me get here,” Anna said. “She was so kind and honest, willing to accept me -
and my divorce - and she waited for someone like me before showing your letter,
Jo.”
    “I’d like to hug that woman,” Jo
said. “You know, Thomas wanted to get rid of me after I admitted what I had
done. But Thomas Jr. did have anyone else to bond with.  I knew Thomas didn’t
mean harm by his