Chapter 8

It was late in the day before Beth was rested enough for the family to come visit with her and the baby. She was as pleased as she could be to have them all around her as she cuddled her son and watched him sleep. Seeing them all here, she knew her son would have all the love he would ever need, and he'd never be alone.

"All right, Tenderhorn, we have to know," Nick finally asked. "What's Dubhe for?"

Beth laughed. "When Jarrod and I were traveling here on the train, I told him that my star was the North Star, Polaris. Since my family farm was on the Underground Railroad, and my father used to tell the slaves who were escaping to follow that star, I just decided it was my star too. Jarrod told me that he had decided when he was young that his star was the one on the lip of the Big Dipper, because it poured all the other stars out into the sky." Beth choked up a little, but kept going. "That star is called Dubhe, from the Arabic word for 'bear.' The star below it, on the bottom of the front of the Big Dipper is called Merak, and when you draw a line from Merak straight to Dubhe and keep going, you come to Polaris. Jarrod's star leads to my star. So we decided that when we had our third and fourth children, their middle names would be Polaris and Dubhe." She laughed through tears. "It was really only a joke – we laughed a lot about it – but when this little Jarrod of mine was put into my arms, I could see that he had to have Dubhe as part of his middle name. I hope it doesn't sound too silly."

"Not when you explain it like that," Audra said.

"And I'll explain it to him like that someday," Beth said. "Oh," she sighed and smiled. "Isn't he one handsome little man?"

Victoria leaned over and kissed the baby on his forehead. "As beautiful as his father. But if it's all right with you, I won't be calling him Dubhe. I'll call him Jarrod."

Beth nodded, smiled, and kissed her son. "Jarrod."

XXXXXXX

Only a couple weeks later, on December 17, the family gathered everyone up, including the baby, and went out together to the place where Tom Barkley and Jarrod Barkley lay together. It was a fairly warm day, sunny and comfortable, so no one worried about the baby getting a chill. They were both happy and sad today, because it would have been Jarrod's 35th birthday. It was impossible to think of it as a day to celebrate, but as a day to remember, a day to share each other and a day to introduce little Jarrod to the rest of his family, it was perfect.

It was difficult to come close to that grave, but at the same time, they were all eager to be there. Audra kept hold of Beth's shoulders as she carried the baby toward the graves. Nick and Heath held Victoria's hands. Nobody worried about tears or memories.

Beth spoke first, looking down at the stone.

Jarrod Thomas Barkley

Beloved Husband

Beloved Brother

Beloved Son

1843-1878

But she spoke to her son first, moving the blanket back from his face. "Jarrod – these are your father and your grandfather. You're named for both of them – your father was Jarrod, your grandfather was Thomas."

Little Jarrod wriggled a bit.

Beth spoke to her husband then. "Jarrod – I know you'd have been surprised that you left me with this beautiful little bundle here. I know I was. He's healthy and he's strong, and he has your dark hair and your blue eyes. And he's surrounded by love and will be for all of his life, and beyond, just as you have been and still are."

All was quiet then, until Victoria said, "Jarrod – it was 35 years ago that you came into this world. Oh, I was so frightened. I was afraid I was going to do everything wrong. Since you were my first, you were the one who got the benefit of my biggest and best mistakes. Thirty-five years went by so fast. You were the best first son I could have ever had." She lost her words in her tears for a moment, but Nick leaned over and kissed her. She laughed a little. "Now we have your son with us, and his mother, and while we will always love you and miss you, we are comforted by their presence in this family, and we always will be."

Heath found words he was compelled to say, to the man who had welcomed him into this family and given him that cigar at Sample's farm not quite three short years ago. "Happy Birthday, Big Brother."

Victoria spoke to her husband then. "Tom, this is your first grandchild, and we'll tell him all about you, too. This little Jarrod is going to grow up a true Barkley, every step of the way."

And baby Jarrod gave a loud, lusty, "Eh!" to make sure everybody knew that he knew it, too.

XXXXXXX

That night, under a clear, warm sky over San Francisco, a young couple sat on a bench in a park on one of the bigger hills there and looked up at the stars. Above the city lights like this, you could see them all – or at least more of them than you could see from down below. The young wife rested her head against her husband's shoulder. She pointed. "Which star is that?"

Her husband was a scientist and thought he knew every star in the sky. His wife was still trying to catch one he didn't know, but he said, "You mean that one on the lip of the Big Dipper?"

"Uh-huh," she said.

"That's Dubhe."

"Doo-bee? What a strange name."

"Arabic," he said. "The one below it is Merak, and if you draw a line from Merak to Dubhe and just keep drawing it straight out, it leads you right to Polaris, the North Star."

"Huh," she said.

Her husband's face screwed up a bit. "Funny, though. It looks a bit brighter tonight than it usually does."

"Maybe the sky is just clearer," she said.

"Or maybe it's just me," he said. "But it does look a bit brighter – a bit happier."

She laughed. "You're a scientist. You don't believe stars have emotions."

"No, but sometimes it's nice to imagine they do - "

"Oh!" she said suddenly and put her hand on her large abdomen.

"Did the baby kick?" he asked.

"No, I don't think this was a kick!" she said. "I think we'd better get back to town!"

"Do you think the baby's coming?"

"I think so!"

He helped her up. "Maybe that's why the star is brighter tonight. We're having a baby!"

"Oh," she said and struggled to their buggy with his help. "We'll name him Dubhe," she said.

"What kind of name is that for a little girl?" he asked as he helped her into the buggy.

"You really want a girl, don't you?" she asked.

"I really do," he said and got in beside her.

"All right," she said. "We'll just see if when the time comes, we can find her a husband whose name is Dubhe."

He laughed. "That'll be all right with me – as long as he's rich and comes from a good family."

"We'll work on that," she said.

The End