On Saturday everyone, except Ma, went into the woods to pick butternuts. When they returned with the nuts, Pa nailed a board to the edge of the corncrib roof and the butternuts were spread out on the roof of the crib to dry. They would be good to crack in the winter. Ma liked them for baking and for fudge.

The heater stove was moved back into the living room and lit as it was chilly these days.

Grandpa’s things had been moved out, and Berdina and Lydia’s bed was moved back into the big bedroom. Now, Pauline was over three years old and started sleeping with Berdina and Lydia. She had been sleeping in a crib in Ma and Pa’s room.

Berdina woke one morning as she heard a strange noise. It sounded something like a cat, but still different.

She ran downstairs and there in a pillow in the big rocking chair lay a baby, all wrapped in a blanket. The baby was so tiny.

A neighbor lady was there but Ma was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s going on and where did this baby come from?” Berdina asked.

Mrs. Ormond said, “Berdina, this is your new baby brother. He was born during the night.”

Berdina wanted to see Ma.

“You can go in the bedroom to see your Ma,” said Mrs. Ormond.

Ma was in bed but looked alright to Berdina.

“How do you like your new baby brother?” Ma asked.

Berdina said, “He sure is small. He is sleeping now but I heard him cry. He woke me up.”

“I must rest now,” said Ma. “Mrs. Ormond will give you all your breakfast, then you must go to school.”

Mrs. Ormond was a midwife; she had helped deliver some of Ma’s other babies and had been called during the night. She would stay a couple weeks as Ma had to stay in bed that long.

It was hard for Berdina to go to school. She wished she could stay home, but it was exciting to go and tell the teacher and her classmates all about her new baby brother.

As they walked home for dinner, Berdina said, “I wonder what Ma and Pa will name the baby.”

It was different to eat dinner without Ma. Mrs. Ormond had made tomato soup. Ma never made tomato soup. Berdina didn’t like it much, but she knew she had better eat it.

After eating, Berdina went in to see Ma and the baby, who was snuggled in bed with her.

“What are you going to name the baby, Ma?” Berdina asked.

“His name will be Erich after your Pa. Our last baby, Pauline, was named after me.”

Berdina really didn’t know Ma’s name was Pauline. Everyone called her Lena.

The big black apron Ma had worn everyday the last few weeks lay on the chair by Ma’s bed.

Now Berdina remembered when Aunt Theresa was visiting this summer and Ma and her were talking. Berdina had wondered what Ma meant when she said she was “in the family way”. No one really told Berdina where babies came from but she had figured it out pretty well by now. Being around farm animals, she had seen where their babies came from.

Berdina liked her baby brother a lot and was real happy when Ma was out of bed again and Mrs. Ormond went home.

When it was time for Erich to be baptized it was very cold, so the minister came and baptized him at home. The minister and his family and some of Berdina’s relatives all had dinner with them.
Erich filled the gap left in Berdina’s life when Grandpa died.

Now Pa was repairing shoes for the family and relatives in the little room off from the kitchen that held Grandpa’s cobbler equipment.

As Erich grew, he was a good playmate for Berdina and her sisters. They helped care for him.

Baby Erich made nine children for Pa and Ma and was the last child born in the Schoenherr family.