It happened in the stage which went to Rockdale. The carriage was already late when it arrived in Rockville. But people were used to this in the years to come. At the ticket-office the extremely pregnant Julia Johnson was waiting to buy a ticket to Rockdale. Due to her big belly she hardly could get to the ticket-office.
“A single ticket to Rockdale please”, she said to the man behind the ticket-office.
“That is then four dollars”, said the man.
Julia paid and got her ticket. She walked to the bench and sat down. She felt her baby kicking again. As reply she put her hand on her belly and thought:’ We go home now and see your father again. stay until then in my nicely warm big belly.’ The man next to her was reverend Livingstone who went along with the stage as well. Other passengers were the young gunslinger William Cunningham and the couple Dr and Alice Daglish.
When the stage had finally come they could leave the waiting room. One by one gave their ticket and entered the stage. Julia came to sit next to a window and hoped that she might reach Rockdale with the baby inside her. But that wouldn't be the case anymore. She slept bad the last couple of weeks and her belly had become very big the last few weeks. William sat opposite her and looked at her with his dark eyes.
"How do you feel?", he asked Julia.
"Tired and big", said the mother-to-be.
"You must stay at home and wait there for the baby", Alice said wisely.
"I happen to be going home. The father of my baby lives and works in Rockdale. Besides, the baby will only comes when he or she wants to", was the comment of Julia.
Slowly her hand slipped at her belly where her child was living. It was kicking quite a lot which Julia felt. She was extremely pregnant. the trip was in fact a bit too heavy for her but it didn't stop her. She got talking again to Alice who sat next to her.
"Isn't it irresponsible to make such a journey in your position?", asked Alice.
"I feel good. The baby will not come soon anyway", Julia said calm.
"If it is time, my husband is doctor", said Alice.
"I will remember", was the answer of Julia.
Her thoughts went back to the night in which the baby got conceived. She was madly in love with Morris Dale and he with her. Morris worked as a deputy in Rockdale and she as a saloon girl. On an evening off they were together in the house of Morris.
"Darling, I want that you fill my belly with your love seed. Then I will add some eggs and so I expect our lovechild", Julia said at a certain moment.
The deputy did look up from this request but knew that it would come one day. He lifted her up and put the young woman on his bed. Slowly they undressed each other made love very heavily.
By morning Julia said, "Now wait and see if I am pregnant."
"Probably yes. I have given you all my seeds. You will look great the next coming nine months", said her boyfriend.
A hard kick made Julia return to the present. She had the feeling that she would have the baby soon.
By evening time the stage reached a way station. They decided to spend the night there. After supper Julia sat outside with William.
"I am called Julia", she said a bit shy.
"I am William Cunningham. You have a beautiful name for a beautiful lady", the young gunslinger said.
"With that big belly? Get out of here", Julia said laughing.
Her shyness had disappeared at once. They sat outside for another while when Julia suddenly got heavily pains.
She grabbed her belly tight and said, "William, it is time. The baby is coming. Stay with me."
"I surely will do that. Just get up", he said slowly.
He helped her to get up and supported her when going inside.
"The baby is coming", said Julia.
"Come along to bed", Mary Clapton, the lady of the house, said.
When Julia was in bed she felt the contractions coming sooner after each other. She knew that she would give birth to her baby but never thought that it would be at a way station of the stagecoach.
Dr Daglish was with her and said, "It is going really well. Just relax. That is good for you and the baby."
"I can't keep it anymore. I feel the baby coming", she said gasping.
"Just start to push", said the doctor.
The young woman did that and she screamed it out with every push contraction. William remained sitting by Julia and was a great support for her.
When the heal master examined Julia once again to see how it was with the baby he said, "The little child is very low."
During a push break Julia looked at William.
"I thought it would be easy. The baby was made very fast but now he doesn't want to come out", she said slowly.
"You are doing it very well. Soon the baby is here and then you have forgotten all the pain", said the doctor.
"There comes another contraction", the mother-to-be said.
She started to push and screamed it due to the pain. She looked at her big belly and hoped that Morris would come soon. Suddenly the door went open and who came in? Right Morris Dale.
Julia saw him and said, "The baby is on the way."
"I already had that idea. You weren't coming with the stage so I went ahead to meet it. How do you feel?", the replacing authority carrier asked.
"Now that you are here good. The baby won't come despite that I must push all the time", Julia said relieved.
Morris put his hand on her belly and went to sit by her. William stood off his place but did remain with the delivering woman. Now Julia had more support to have the baby and that stimulated the young woman very much to push heavier.
A good hour later the heal master said, "Push one more good and then the baby is here."
"Come on honey. You can do it", said Morris.
Julia took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. She felt somehow the baby coming out of her. The new arrival started to cry out at once and got laid by the mother.
"It is a girl. Congratulated Julia", said the doctor.
Morris kissed his girlfriend out of happiness.
"She is called Rosaline", said the young mother.
A big burden had fallen from her shoulders and was now lying sweet in her arms.
After a while Mary came into the room and saw the young family.
“Just stay here until you can travel again. It is always hard to have a child and we always can use some company”, she said.
Julia looked at Morris and this one said, “Alright, we stay a while.”
The other travelers left the next morning again but Morris, Julia and the baby stayed behind. Julia was still very tired of the heavy delivery and could come to rest now completely. Meanwhile Morris helped Mary with running the way station. He discovered that she was a widow and frequently got threatened by outlaws.
He said one evening, "What would you say if we stayed living here with Rosaline? Mary has it very tough and she isn't one of the young ones anymore too. She can use our support very much."
"I don't mind. By her I got our daughter so I think that we can do something back by staying here", said Julia.
When they suggested it to
Mary she said, "I accept your offer and I will help you with the baby."
Morris and Julia didn't refuse that offer.
Rosaline grew up happy living at a way station and got there more brothers and sisters to play with. But her parents would never forget her unexpected birth.