“Haley, can you do me a favor?”
“Sure, Ab, anything.”
“Go into my duffel bag. It’s on the floor in the closet right over there.” Abby pointed to a small gray metal closet located right across from the bed. “On the bottom of the bag is a small box. Can you bring it to me please?”
Haley nodded. She got up and looked inside Abby’s bag where she found the box. She handed it to Abby.
For a moment, Abby held the white cardboard box in her hand. Just then the nurse came in with a bundle in her arms.
“Your son is here, all clean and ready to be with his mommy,” she said, smiling at Abby. “And what a handsome boy he is.” The nurse carefully passed the baby to Abby.
Abby looked down into the tiny face and was overcome with love. She opened Donavon’s blanket to look at his tiny hand.
“He’s amazing, isn’t he?” she said.
“Yeah, he sure is.” Haley touched the baby’s head.
Abby held Donovan with one arm and with the other hand she shook the contents out of the box. Eidel gasped as the tiny Star of David necklace fell onto the blanket of Abby’s bed.
“This is for you, my son,” Abby said, holding the Star of David high in the air. “When you are older, you will wear this. It was my mother’s and my grandmother’s. In fact, it belonged to both of my grandmothers.”
A tear trickled down Eidel’s face.
“You will not only wear this Star of David but you will live your life proud to be a Jew. I will teach you about how our ancestors suffered so that you might have the privilege of living openly and safely as a Jew. I will tell you about the pogroms and the concentration camps. When you are older, we will go to Israel and I will show you the land of your people. You, Donovan, will be my father’s namesake; I named you for him. But not only that . . . you will carry on the Levi name. There will be another generation of Levis because of you.
“Abby that was beautiful,” Eidel said.
“And one more thing. Donovan, I will teach you never to hate anyone because of their race or religion. Your father was a Muslim but he was a good man with a heart of gold. People were too filled with fear and hate to separate the terrorists from the Muslims and so your father had to leave us. But he loved you . . . he really loved you,” Abby said softly into the baby’s tiny face.
“He loved you too, Abby. I miss him. He was a part of our family,” Haley said.
“I know. I miss him too. Every day. I really wish Rashad were here to see his son. He would be so proud. God, how did things go so wrong?” Abby’s tears threatened to fall down her cheeks as she cupped Donovan’s tiny face.
Then a familiar voice came from the doorway. “You said you wished I were here? Your wish has been granted, my love.” It was Rashad.
“You’re here?” Abby’s heart was racing. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She thought she’d never see him again. If she weren’t holding the baby she would have gotten out of the bed and jumped into his arms.
“Yes. I couldn’t stay in Egypt without you. I flew in today. It was hard for me to get back into the states. But as soon as I got here, I went to your mother’s house looking for you. Ida answered the door. She was with Julie. She sent me here to the hospital. She said you were in labor.”
“You have a son,” Abby said. “But we are divorced so I gave him the name of Levi . . . ”
A look of awe came over Rashad’s face. “You can give him the name of Levi if you want. I don’t care. All I care about is you and him. He is my son. Can I see him?”
Abby nodded. “You didn’t even know I was pregnant. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would force you to come back out of responsibility. And I didn’t want you to come for that reason alone. What brought you back?”
“Haley called me three nights ago. She told me you were ready to give birth. I couldn’t believe you were having a baby. I couldn’t wait to get here. It was hell to get through security but I am so glad I came.”
“Haley?”
“Sorry, Ab. I thought he deserved to know.”
“So you came back out of a need to fulfill your responsibility?”
Rashad took the baby into his arms. Abby saw the love in his eyes. “No, Abby. I came back out of love. All of you, and I mean all of you, are my family.” He indicated the Levi clan. Then he went on. “You are my wife and this . . . this wonderful precious child is our son. I am here at your side and this is where I belong.”
Meanwhile, Eidel motioned to Warren and Haley to follow her outside the room. “Let’s leave Rashad and Abby alone for a while,” she whispered.
“What about what you said about raising a child here in America? You were so adamant about our not being able to do that safely.”
“You were going to raise him here without me. If it happens that he has to face a lot of hostility it will be better for him if his father is here and not far away in Egypt. And it is probably better for him if he carries the name of Levi. People will think he is Israeli. They won’t hate him.”
“You think there is no anti-Semitism? Think again. There is. There has always been and probably always will be.”
“Yes, you’re right. All we can do is try and make others see that we mean them no harm. The only way we can even hope to make all of this hatred disappear is through love. Only light can eliminate darkness. We might not be able to change things in our lifetime but we must try so that our son and our grandchildren might live in peace.”
“I missed you terribly,” Abby said.
“Not as badly as I missed you. I can’t be without you, Abby. I will stay here with you in the U.S. no matter how many times I get threatened or beaten. I’ll stand up to whoever thinks I am a terrorist. I’ll do whatever I have to do to prove to them all that I am an American. I am a Muslim, but I am not and have never been a terrorist. They can do what they want with me. I’ll work at any job I can find. I’ll clean toilets if I have to. People can hate me, they can ostracize me, but I’ll stay here in America because you’re here and I don’t want to live another day without you.”
“We have the shop. We won’t be rich, but we’ll manage. You can work with me at the shop.”
“Oh, Abby,” he sighed. “I so wanted to give you the world. I had worked so hard to get out of the poverty I grew up with in Egypt. I studied day and night until I got a scholarship. Then I was very diligent at my job; put in plenty of extra, unpaid hours just to prove my loyalty. And then I met you and I knew what all of it was for. It was for you, my wife. God, I hoped I would be able to give you the life of a princess. That’s what you deserve. It hurts me to be dependent on you. I left because you were working very hard every day, and I was earning nothing. I am the man of the house. I should be supporting you. But, being away from you is impossible, so I will keep trying. It is inevitable that eventually, I will find work. I will try forever if need be. Unfortunately, it might be a job that is less than I am qualified for, but I won’t quit. I will do whatever I have to do in order to be a good husband to you. ”
“Rashad . . . I love you.”
“I love you too, Abby. Remember when you told me about that Yiddish word bershart?”
“Of course.”
“I believe with my whole heart that you are my true bershart,” he said. Then he smiled and gently kissed the baby’s forehead. “A Jew and a Muslim,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “So? Why not? Crazier things have happened and worked out . . . right?”
“Absolutely right,” she said. Then she added, “Hey you?”
“Yes?” Rashad asked.
“Kiss me . . .”
I Am Proud To Be A Jew Series
Book One: And . . . Who Is the Real Mother?
Book Two: Secrets Revealed
Book Three: New Life, New Land
AUTHORS NOTE
First and foremost, I want to thank you for reading my novel and for your continued interest in my work. From time to time, I receive emails from my readers that contest the a
ccuracy of my events. When you pick up a novel you are entering the authors’ world where sometimes we take artistic license and ask you to suspend your disbelief. I always try to keep as true to history as possible, however, sometimes there are discrepancies within my novels. This happens sometimes to keep the drama of the story. Thank you for indulging me.
Many Blessings,
Roberta
Thank you for taking the time to read my novel. I always enjoy hearing from my readers. Your feelings about my work are very important to me. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review on Amazon. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend. Also, please feel free to contact me via Facebook or at www.RobertaKagan.com. All emails are answered personally, and I would love to hear from you.
MORE BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
And . . . Who Is The Real Mother?
Book One in the I Am Proud to be A Jew series.
A young Jewish child is smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto. She is sent to live with a dear friend of her mother's, Helen Dobinsky. Helen is a Catholic woman living in Warsaw who is willing to risk the safety of her own family in order to provide a home for this precious little girl. However, no one must find out that the Dobinsky family is harboring a Jewish child or they could face severe punishment, even death. Keeping such a dangerous secret is treacherous, like walking a tightrope. There are spies everywhere, and it is impossible to know who can be trusted.
Just how much fear and pain will one woman endure in order to save the life of an innocent child who is not her blood? And so, we must ask the question: “Who is the real mother? Is it the mother who gave birth to the child, or the mother who risked everything to raise her?”
Secrets Revealed
Book Two in the I am Proud To Be A Jew series.
Hitler has surrendered. The Nazi flags, which once hung throughout the city striking terror in the hearts of Polish citizens, have been torn down. It seems that Warsaw should be rejoicing in its newly-found freedom, but Warsaw is not free. Instead, it is occupied by the Soviet Union, held tight in Stalin’s iron grip. Communist soldiers, in uniform, now control the city. Where once people feared the dreaded swastika, now they tremble at the sight of the hammer and sickle. It is a treacherous time. And, in the midst of all of this danger, Ela Dobinski, a girl with a secret that could change her life, is coming of age.
New Life, New Land
Book Three in the I Am Proud To Be A Jew series.
Michal’s Destiny
Book One in the Michal’s Destiny series
Siberia 1919.
In a Jewish settlement, a young woman is about to embark upon her destiny. Her father has arranged a marriage for her and she must comply with his wishes. She has never seen her future husband and she knows nothing about him. Michal’s destiny lies in the hands of fate. On the night of her wedding, she is terrified, but her mother assures her that she will be all right. Her mother explains that it is her duty to be a good wife, to give her husband children, and always to obey him. However, although her mother and her mother’s mother before her had lived this way, this was not to be Michal’s destiny. Terrible circumstances would force Michal to leave her home and travel to the city of Berlin during the Weimar period, where she would see and experience things she could never have imagined. Having been a sheltered, religious girl, she found herself lost and afraid, trying to survive in a world filled with contrasts. Weimar Berlin was a time in history when art and culture were exploding, but it was also a period of depravity and perversion. Fourteen tumultuous years passed before the tide began to turn for the young girl who had stood under the canopy and said “I do” to a perfect stranger. Michal was finally beginning to establish her life. However, the year was 1933, and Michal was still living in Berlin. Little did she know that Adolf Hitler was about to be appointed Chancellor of Germany, and that would change everything forever.
A Family Shattered
Book Two in the Michal’s Destiny Series.
Taavi Margolis is arrested on Kristallnacht when he races out of his apartment to protect his daughter’s fiancée, Benny, who is being attacked and killed by a gang of Nazi thugs as they pillage and destroy the streets of a little Jewish neighborhood in Berlin. Taavi’s wife, Michal, and their two daughters stare in horror through the window as Benny is savagely murdered. Then they watch helplessly as the gang turns their attention to Taavi. They beat him with clubs until he is on his knees, bleeding on the pavement. When the police arrive, instead of arresting the perpetrators, they force Taavi into the back of a black automobile and take him away. Michal pulls her daughters close. No one speaks but all three of them have the same unspoken questions. Will they ever see their beloved husband and Papa again? They realize that, after tonight, the anti-Semitism growing like a cancer all around them can no longer be ignored. Their future is uncertain. What will become of this family, what will become of the Jews? This is the story of the struggle of one Jewish family to survive against the unfathomable threat of the Third Reich
Watch Over My Child
Book Three in the Michal’s Destiny Series.
After her parents are arrested by the Nazis, twelve-year-old Gilde Margolis is sent away from her home, her sister, and everyone she knows and loves. Alone and afraid, Gilde boards a Kinder-transport train bound for Britain where she will stay with strangers in London. Over the next seven years as Gilde is coming of age, the Nazis will grow in power and London will be thrust into a brutal war against Hitler. Severe rationing will be imposed upon the British while air raids will instill terror, and bombs will all but destroy the city. Against all odds and with no knowledge of what has happened to her family in Germany, Gilde keeps a tiny flicker of hope buried deep in her heart, that someday she will be reunited with her loved ones.
Another Breath, Another Sunrise
Book Four, the final book in the Michal’s Destiny Series.
1945. The Nazis have surrendered and Hitler is dead but the Third Reich has already left a bloody footprint on the soul of the world.
The Margolis family and their friends, Lotti and Lev Glassman, were torn apart by Hitler’s hatred of the Jewish people. Now that the Reich has fallen, the survivors of the Margolis and Glassman families find themselves searching to reconnect with those they love.
Lotti Strombeck Glassman was a German woman living in Berlin and a good friend to the Margolis family. Lotti was married to Lev, a Jewish man who was taken away by the Gestapo and never seen again. In 1945, the curtain came down on Hitler. Meanwhile, Stalin was pushing his army toward Germany’s capital city. They were an angry mob of Russian soldiers on their way to punish the Aryan race. They would take out all of their hatred for the Third Reich on the terrified women left behind in Berlin.
Alina Margolis escaped to America with her lover at the beginning of the war. Although she was not in Germany, she did not have an easy life. Alina struggled to make her way in a foreign land that did not welcome Jews or Jews of German descent.
At ten years old, Gilde Margolis, along with a group of other children, boarded a train out of Germany. They were headed for Britain on the Kindertransport. Alone and frightened, Gilde left everyone and everything she knew behind. Thankfully, she was taken in by a family in London, but London was in the throes of war. Bombs rained down on the city. Food, clothing, even bath water was rationed. As air raid sirens blared and buildings were turned to rubble, Gilde Margolis came of age. She learned to love, to sacrifice, but most of all to survive.
This is a story of ordinary people whose lives were shattered by the terrifying ambitions of Adolf Hitler . . . a madman.
All My Love, Detrick
Book One in the All My Love, Detrick series.
Detrick, a German boy, was born with every quality that the Nazis considered superior. This would ensure his future as a leader of Adolf Hitler’s coveted Aryan race. But on his seventh birthday, an unexpected event changed the course of his destiny forever. As the Nazis rose to
power, Detrick was swept into a life filled with secrets, enemies, betrayals, alliances, and danger at every turn. However, in spite of the horrors and the terror surrounding him, Detrick would find a single flicker of light. He would discover the greatest gift of all, the gift of everlasting love.
You Are My Sunshine
Book Two in the All My Love, Detrick series.
Munich, Germany, 1941
A golden child is genetically engineered in the Nazis’ home for the Lebensborn. She is the daughter of a pure German mother and a member of Hitler’s SS elite. With those bloodlines, she is expected to become a perfect specimen of Hitler’s master race. But, as Germany begins to lose the war and the Third Reich begins to crumble, the plans for the children of the Lebensborn must drastically change. Alliances will be broken. Love and trust will be destroyed in an instant, secrets will rise to the surface, and people will prove that they are not what they seem to be. In a time when the dark evil forces of the Third Reich hung like a black umbrella of doom over Europe, a little girl will be forced into a world spiraling out of control, a world where the very people sworn to protect her cannot be trusted.
The Promised Land:
From Nazi Germany to Israel
Book Three in the All My Love, Detrick Series
The Holocaust robbed Zofia Weiss of all she held dear. The Secret State Police confiscated her home, killed her friends, and imprisoned the man she loves. After searching through displaced persons camps and finding nothing, Zofia is sure that her lover is dead. With only her life, a dream, and a terrifying secret, Zofia illegally boards the SS Exodus, bound for Eretz, Israel.
Another Generation Page 22
