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Colorado Springs, Colorado – October 1863

Walking around the kitchen Colleen waited anxiously for her husband to get home. She had spent all afternoon making an extravagant dinner and could only expect him to be excited for the news she had planned on giving him. Hearing his horse on the trail she quickly set the table and went outside to welcome him home.

The minute she saw him though Colleen could tell something was wrong. "Welcome home Matthew. How was your day?" She asked. She had stayed home most of the day having only taken the carriage into town for a few hours to visit the general store for supplies for dinner and a quick appointment at the doctor.

Matthew smiled up at her, but his wasn't the normal radiant smile he normally gave upon seeing his new wife for the first time. Having been married just under a year Matthew was excited that they had finally been able to move into their new house. He had been in the process of building the beautifully spacious log cabin when the house they had been living in was burnt down by an Indian raid forcing the newlyweds to take up residence at the local boarding house.

Now, only six weeks after moving into the house and having a true wedding bed to call their own Colleen was pregnant and he was about to find out. And not a moment too soon as the approaching winter was expected to be quite cold and she was glad to know Matthew wouldn't be working on the house any longer. Leading her husband into the house she smiled, "Supper is ready and I've prepared for us to have a bath together later." She told him happily. Pressing a gentle kiss to his lips she smiled, "Come. Let's eat, I have news."

"News? What kind of news my love?" He asked hanging up his hat and slipping out of his coat. Matthew took a deep breath and smiled, "Supper smells amazing. I actually have some news as well."

Colleen nodded and sat down at the table dishing up two plates of the food she had laboriously prepared. She slipped her long brunette braid over her shoulder and smiled at her husband. "I took a trip into town today. I had to stop and see the doctor."

"The doctor?" Matthew asked looking up from his meal with a worried look on his face, "Is everything okay? You aren't ill are you?"

A smile spread over his wife's face, "Not exactly. Actually I have been feeling rather ill the last few weeks, just on and off for a few hours a day. I had my suspicions and today the doctor confirmed it. I'm pregnant." She said happily looking up at him. "We are finally going to have our family." Colleen told him.

Matthew's jaw dropped and a huge smile spread over his face, "Pregnant? We are going to have a baby?" He couldn't believe it. He had secretly been hoping for a child since their wedding and now that she had finally conceived it was a dream come true, till he remembered his news. "Colleen. I found out today that many of the men in town have been 'suggested' to sign up with the army. Suggested is their word. I would call it forced. The general had said that if 100 men don't sign up they will put treason charges on the remaining men." He sighed feeling like a terrible husband, "I signed up for a 10 month duty. It was the least I could sign up for."

Colleen sat back in her chair, a little floored by the idea of him leaving. "But that means you will miss my entire pregnancy." Her stomach churned at the thought of her body swelling with the child of a man who would not be present to witness the sight, who might not even meet the child at all. "Matthew you can't. What am I to do? I would be able to run the farm by myself if it were just me. But I don't know if I'll be able to handle the chores while pregnant."

His heart sank lower into his chest seeing the pain on her face. He had known his wife was a strong woman but he had never wanted her to have to deal with this kind of a stress alone. "I am so sorry Colleen." Matthew rose to his feet and went to kneel beside her, clasping her small tender hands in his own he kissed them, "I love you and I don't have to leave for a month, and I will return as soon as I possibly can." He promised her.

Getting up Matthew went to the fireplace and began to warm the water for the bath his wife had prepared for them. He filled the tub and put some of the bubbles he had bought from the general store for special occasions into the water knowing how much Colleen loved to soak in them. He went back to his shell shocked wife, helping her to his feet he began to carefully remove her clothing and his own, leaving them draped over the seat of the chair. Pushing the water a little closer to the fire so it would stay warm longer, Matthew helped his beautiful wife sink down into the water with him sitting just behind her.

Over the next month while Colleen battled terrible morning sickness, Matthew was preparing for war and settling affairs for someone in town to watch over the beautiful house he had built while setting his wife up in the boarding house room they thought they had escaped for the duration of her pregnancy and until he returned.

Colleen knew that watching Matthew leave was going to be the single hardest thing she had done in her life thus far and it terrified. She spent as much time as possible with him and her heart broke at the thought that she wouldn't see him any time she wanted anymore.

Finally came the day that he had to leave. It was a tearful goodbye and Colleen's heart shattered when he knelt before her and pressed a gentle kiss to her still flat abdomen, while it was flat there was a definite firmness to it already. Colleen watched Matthew board the train and with that he was gone with just a wave and a blown kiss.

As Colleen walked back to her room at the boarding house it was all she could do not to break down in the middle of the snowy streets and sob. Her shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders kept her grounded and gave her something to focus on. However the moment the door closed behind her she collapsed onto the bed and sobbed herself to sleep.