by Sarah Pawley
When he wasn’t fussing and clucking over his wife, he was busy buying toys and setting up the nursery. There was much arguing back and forth over whether to paint it pink or blue, but they finally settled on more neutral shades of white and soft yellow. It was all done just before the holidays, and all that was left now was for the baby to make its entrance into the world.
* * * * *
A soft snow fell a week before Christmas, coating everything in a glistening white blanket. Everyone was in the holiday spirit, but as Grace helped Alice decorate the tree, Jack was rattling on about slippery sidewalks and icicles that kept forming on the edge of the roof. As she and Alice hung ornaments, he and Henry were sitting nearby and they were supposed to be playing chess, but Jack wasn’t concentrating on anything except his worries.
“What if one of those icicles fall on someone’s head? A person could really get hurt. And honey, what if you step out on the sidewalk and hit a patch of ice?” He looked panicked, but it wasn’t a new thing. Grace couldn’t help but be tickled by him. Lately, he’d been worse than she’d ever seen him. Every time Alice made a noise, he was convinced it was time to go to the hospital. And by now Alice had gotten so use to it, her reply was a familiar phrase. “False alarm, Jack. Go back to what you were doing.” She spoke it quite calmly, for it was pointless getting upset anymore or arguing with him. It was easier just to make her remark, and then ignore him.
He rose from his chair with a determined look. “I’m going out to salt the sidewalk again and clear the overhangs. They’re driving me crazy.” He threw on his coat and went out, and Grace looked at Alice, who sighed but was smiling.
“I hope he’s not like this with all of our babies. I might end up in a rubber room by the time the next one’s born.”
Grace chuckled. She glanced out the window and saw Jack knocking ice off the roof with a broom, and it made her smile all the more. Then she looked over at Henry, who was moving Jack’s chess pieces.
“What are you doing?” she asked. He didn’t look up as he replied.
“Cheating. He’s not paying attention anyway.”
She started to laugh. But then she heard Alice make a noise, and a moment later…
“Oh my.”
Grace turned her head quickly. “Oh my what?”
“Oh my, oh my,” Alice replied, and she gave a knowing look as she rested her hands on her belly. But neither of the women panicked. Grace was calm as she turned to Henry, who was still concentrating on the game board.
“Henry, will you go start the car so it will be warm?”
“Start the car for what?”
After a moment he looked up, and seeing Alice’s state, his eyes grew wide with understanding. He rose quickly, moved quickly, but was quite relaxed. It wasn’t until he stepped outside and spoke to Jack that any kind of pandemonium ensued, and all on Jack’s part. He came running into the house and to his wife, but Grace pushed him away.
“Go get her suitcase, dodo bird. Make yourself useful.”
He ran off to fetch the bag, while Henry came hurrying back to help get Alice into the car. A few minutes later Jack came rushing out the front door, and promptly he slipped on the sidewalk and fell backwards into the snow. Grace called out to him as she turned and saw what had happened.
“What are you trying to do? Put the both of you in the hospital? Come on, you bug dumb-bell. We have to get going.”
He managed to get to his feet, and after he got in the back seat with Alice, she closed the door on him and grumbled. “He’s a bigger baby than the one that’s coming.” She got in the front seat beside Henry, and they were off to the hospital.
* * * * *
"He's the most beautiful baby I think I've ever seen in my life."
Grace looked down at her nephew, so small and delicate in her arms, wrapped in a blanket with only his tiny hands and pink face showing. His eyes were closed now, and his hands were clenched close to his face as he slept. But just moments before, she’d seen his beautiful eyes, and they were big and brown just like his father's. Thinking of that, Grace looked up at Jack, who was standing close by, and she seemed to sense that he was eager to have his child in his arms again. He'd been fascinated with his son from the moment he’d seen him, and she couldn't remember ever seeing such a look of love on her brother’s face. She smiled, gently handing the baby back to him, and she watched with joy as he walked about the room, unable to take his eyes off of his boy.
They’d decided to call him Toby, for as Alice explained, she wanted the name to be associated with joy and not sadness.
“Besides,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s only right to name him after a good man.”
Grace couldn’t find a reason to argue with that. And as she stood with Henry at her side, watching Jack, she could not help but imagine that one day, her husband would be holding a child in the same loving way.
It was on her mind later that night, as she and Henry lay together. He was nearly asleep, and though she was quite exhausted from the events of the day, her thoughts kept her from closing her eyes. She looked upon her husband, admiring the rugged beauty of his face, so peaceful in repose. She did not want to disturb him, but her curiosity overwhelmed her, and she gave his shoulder a gentle shake.
"Henry?"
"Hmm?" was all he said.
"When we have children someday, do you want a boy first, like most men do?"
"I think I'd prefer girls to boys," he replied, his voice mumbled with sleepiness.
She smiled, curious. "Really? Why is that?"
"Boys are nothing but trouble," he said. "Don't you think I'm proof of that?"
Even as his voice grew softer, the corner of his mouth turned up a bit in that way she loved so much. She smiled, bringing herself up close to him and kissing him softly on the lips.
"I love you.”
"I love you too," he replied, and a moment later, she knew he was asleep from the sound of his deep and even breathing. She smiled again, resting her head against his shoulder, her heart full of contentment and hope for the future.
Just before she drifted off, she heard the sound of Jane's voice in her head, and it was her own voice as well.
I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blessed - blessed beyond what language can express, because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine.
She could not forget where such blessings came from, and she sent up a silent prayer to heaven, thanking the maker for all she had been given. Her eyes grew heavy, and soon they closed, and her breathing soon fell into rhythm with his…deep, even, and peaceful.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
