BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
by
Heidi

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors…Enter and tell us your story…
Well, here is mine.

It was Auguts 11 when Betsy Kent arrived at the Ponderosa. With a bag with
just the most necessary things in it she walked careful to the porch. With
each step she made the young woman noticed how big she was.

Arrived at the porch Betsy leaned at the table. ‘Please wait a just a while
with coming’, she thought looking at her belly. Betsy put a hand on her
belly and felt that it was time. This gave her courage to knock at the door.

It took a while before there was an answer. Till that time Betsy waited near
the table. Hoss Cartwright answered the door and loked around the corner to
see who had knocked.
“Hello Hoss”, Betsy said a bit shy.
“Betsy, sweetheart”, he said excited.
Hoss walked straight to his big love.
“What are you doing here?”, he asked amazed after he had kissed her.
“Do you know that you stayed with me and my sister Majorie about 9 months
ago? Well, this is the result. My sister wanted that she was going to raise
the child so I left for here. Will you look after me and our child?”, asked
Betsy.
“Of course I look after the both of you. Come inside fast”, Hoss said
smiling.
Betsy got up and walked with her beloved inside. The door got shut right
away again.

In the living room Betsy saw her father-in-law Ben and brother-in-law Little
Joe Cartwright.
“Pa and Joe, is it alright if het goed als Betsy stays here forgood. She is
expecting our child and her sister wants to raise the child”, said Hoss.
“Of course she is welcome and your child too. Betsy, welcome to the
Ponderosa”, Ben said pleased.
“Thank you Mr Cartwright”, Betsy said clearly relieved.
Hoss helped her on the settee and went to sit next to her.
“When does the little one come?”, asked Little Joe.
“It can happen any moment”, replied Betsy.
“Betsy, will you marry me?”, Hoss asked then.
“Yes, I love to but not the way I look now. I know that you are found of a
wedding in June so then we will get married. If your father agrees with it”,
said Betsy.
“I see nothing better than my children happy. Then we have plenty of time to
arrange everything”, replied the rancher.
Hoss and Betsy kissed each other of happiness.
“Hoss, I want to rest a while before supper”, said Betsy.
They got up and went upstairs together.

In their bedroom Betsy went to sit on the bed and she put a hand on her
belly.
“Hoss, I shouldn’t had come much later here”, she said.
“How do you mean?”, Hoss asked amazed.
“The baby is coming”, his financee said.
“You go to bed and I let Mrs. Shaughnessy and the doctor come”, Hoss said
excited.
Betsy got changed and said inbetween the contractions, “I do want that you
remain by me during the delivery.”
“I promise that. I just go downstairs to let the mentioned people to be
fetched”, said Hoss.
He ran downstairs and called at the landing, “Little Joe, go and get the
doctor and Mrs Shaughnessy at once!. Our baby is on its way.”
Little Joe left right away. Hoss went back upstairs where Betsy laid in bed
with heavy contractions.
“Hoss, it won’t be long much longer now. On the way to here I got belly ache
all the time. So now I know why”, Betsy said gasping.
Hoss went to sit by her and grabbed her hand.
“You concentrate on what will be happening now and I am by you”, he said
calm.
Betsy nodded and looked at her enormous belly.
“I need to push”, she said a moment later.
Hoss looked how far she was and saw that their child was on its way.
“Just start. I will help you”, said Hoss.
Betsy took a breath and began to push along.

In the living room Ben was pacing up and down. It was deadly quiet in the
house because his eldest son Adam was away with his wife Sally and their
children, the twins Mitch and Pam and the youngest offspring Rose. Only the
screaming of Betsy was to be heard. Hop Sing, the loyal cook of the
Cartwrights, came out of the kitchen and saw Ben pacing up and down.
“Mr Cartwright nervous?”, asked the cook.
“Hoss and Betsy are having their baby”, said the rancher.
“Delivery wil go alright”, replied Hop Sing.
“I hope so too”, reacted Ben.
Both looked to upstairs where the newest Cartwright was about to be born.

Betsy worked hard to become a mother and that had effect.
“Hoss, I feel the head”, the mother-to-be said.
“I see it already. You do it excellent. Just a while and then it si born”,
Hoss said to encouraging.
Betsy took again a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. With a loud
scream she gave birth to a daughter. Hoss received his daughter and began to
smile.
“We have a girl”, he said laughing.
He put the baby by the mother who was dead tired but delirously happy. The
baby began to cry out loud right away.
“Our daughter”, Betsy said whispering.
Hoss kissed her of happiness.

Not much later Doc Paul Martin and Mrs Shaughnessy came into the bedroomd.
“The baby came a bit faster than we had thought and expected”, said Hoss.
Betsy and the baby got examined and declared healthy a moment later.
“How will the little gal be called?”, asked Mrs Shaughnessy.
The quite new parents looked at each other and Betsy said, “After her
granmother, Inger.”
“She is called Inger Cartwright. Even though we are not married yet”, said
Hoss.
“Congratulations with your new asset”, said Paul.
“I stay here to look after mother and child”, said Mrs Shaughnessy.
Paul left the bedroom and went downstairs again.

There waited Ben and Little Joe for news.
“Ben, you have another grandchild.And I think there will come even more”,
said Paul.
He left right away. Ben and Little Joe looked at each other and went then
upstairs.

In the bedroom of Hoss and Betsy they found the young family.
“Pa, meet your your granddaughter Inger”, said Hoss smiling.
Ben got the baby handed over and was right away thrilled with her. But that
also went for Little Joe.
His reaction was. “It is good that Mitch isn’t here. He would say about his
little cousin: Another gal along. Soon the women take over the ranch!”
Everybody laughed.
“They will see Inger as soon as they are back from holiday”, said Ben.
“Mother and daughter need rest so if the gentlemen would like to go
downstairs”, said Mrs Shaughnessy.
That happened and Betsy and Inger fell asleep.

From that day one a lot would happen behind closed doors but what that would
be was for the inhabitants a know and for the other a question.

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