by Price, Sarah
Señora Perez hurried over to Amanda and took her arm. “Walk, Miss Amanda,” she insisted. Without questioning her, Amanda did as her housekeeper instructed, well aware that Isadora was following her.
“Mammi!” Isadora cried out as if something had finally dawned on her. “You can’t have my sister without Papi here.”
Amanda wanted to respond that Alejandro would return the following day, but another pain took her breath away. The baby wasn’t due for another two weeks, and after much discussion, Amanda and Alejandro had agreed that it was safe for him to take this one last trip. But life happened and the baby did not want to wait for his return.
It was Alecia who arrived to take her to the hospital. Without Alejandro to support her in the labor room, Amanda insisted that her mother-in-law stay with her for the delivery. Five hours later, a healthy baby girl had been born.
From the look on his face, Amanda knew Alejandro felt guilty about not being there. In hindsight, Amanda suspected that there were benefits to him not being with her. While the actual delivery had not been long and drawn-out, she doubted Alejandro could have handled watching her suffer when the labor pains came closer together, never mind when the time had come for her to push.
“You should call the nurse,” Amanda said. “They’ll bring her to us.”
For a moment Alejandro looked terrified at the thought, but then nodded in agreement. “I’ll go tell them,” he said. He returned to the room almost immediately, but rather than sit back on the bed, he pulled over a chair.
“Do you remember the first time I met you?” she asked.
He leaned over and brushed her hair from her cheeks. “You were lying on the street just outside of Times Square,” he answered. “How could I forget, no?”
She tried not to laugh. “Nee, Alejandro. Not when you met me, but when I met you.”
At first, he didn’t respond. She watched him, waiting for the moment that he remembered. “Ah! ¡Sí! The hospital!” He smiled at the memory. “You were so beautiful lying in the bed with your braid hanging over your shoulder.”
Amanda could see him relaxing. “You never should have seen me with my hair down, Alejandro!” she teased. “You know that only a husband should see an Amish woman with an uncovered head.”
“You are not Amish.”
“No,” she said. “I am not, not anymore.”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the edge of the bed so that he could hold her hands. “Tell me, Amanda. Are you doing as well as you look?”
She nodded. “Yes, Alejandro. I am.”
“I was so scared.” He lowered his head and kissed both of her hands. “So worried about you.”
“Your mother was a wonderful help,” she said. “And she is bringing Izzie later.”
He rolled his eyes. “¡Ay, mi madre! She must have sent me a hundred messages!”
This time, Amanda laughed. “She’s so excited! It’s a good thing, yes?”
He didn’t have time to answer for the door opened up. Alejandro jumped to his feet, inadvertently pushing back the chair, the four legs scraping against the floor. While he watched the door, Amanda looked at him. She felt a familiar burning at the corner of her eyes, emotion beginning to well up inside her as she heard the nurse rolling the bassinet into the room. Alejandro’s face changed from a look of panic to curiosity, and then, when his eyes fell upon the bundled baby, her cherubic face turned to one side and her mouth puckering as she slept, it changed to awe.
The nurse reached into the bassinet and lifted the baby. She started to hand her to Alejandro, but he immediately took a step backward, shaking his hands in front of him.
Amanda raised her arms and took the baby, holding her protectively against her chest and gazing with adoration into her face. She waited until she felt Alejandro move to her side before she looked up and said, “Meet your daughter, Alejandro. Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Dios mío,” he murmured, cautiously reaching out to tuck the blanket under the baby’s chin. “She is . . .” He stopped talking, just for a moment, and Amanda knew that he was overcome with emotion. Always the one to try to remain stoic and in control, Alejandro could not avoid being affected by meeting his new daughter. “She is perfect.”
“You can hold her,” Amanda prodded gently. “She won’t break.”
He didn’t look convinced. “She’s so small.”
But Amanda insisted, and never one to say no to her, Alejandro took a deep breath, pulled the chair back over to her bedside, and accepted the infant into his arms.
“I am holding her correctly, sí?” he whispered.
Amanda leaned over to peer into the baby’s face. “She is perfect, isn’t she?”
“She is perfect, sí. A perfect princesa,” Alejandro breathed the words and then, glancing up at Amanda, added, “like her mother.”
For several minutes, they sat there, staring at the baby in Alejandro’s arms. When her mouth made nursing motions, he smiled and laughed to himself. Amanda couldn’t help watching Alejandro.
Over the past few months, he had stayed true to his word. He’d cut back on scheduling new obligations while fulfilling those he already had been committed to. Both Amanda and Isadora had traveled alongside him until the autumn, when he traveled to Israel and the Far East. He hadn’t wanted her to travel so far into her pregnancy. While Amanda did not want to be separated from him, she’d felt relief that she could relax in Miami with Isadora for the final weeks of her pregnancy.
Now, as she watched him falling in love with their daughter, she realized that she was also witnessing the final evolution of her husband. Viper had completely disappeared, leaving all of Alejandro in her care. Gone was the man who constantly considered what he could get rather than what he could give. He had finally learned how to love someone—other than Amanda and, within the past few months, even Isadora—with complete adoration and selfless abandon.
“What are we going to name her?” Amanda asked.
He looked up as if surprised by her question. “We never settled on names for a girl.”
Amanda glanced down at the baby. “You once mentioned a name that we both liked,” she said. “It was a name that you said meant wisdom. That is something we have learned to respect since we have met. And it’s something I hope we continue to acquire as we raise both of our daughters.”
Before he could respond, someone knocked at the door. Without waiting to be invited into the room, Alecia opened the door and walked in with Isadora by her side. The little girl was dressed in a brand-new white dress with ruffles and a pink ribbon tied around her waist, clearly the doing of Alecia. Amanda greeted her daughter with a big smile and open arms, which only incited Isadora to break free from her grandmother and run across the room to lean against the bed for a hug.
“Oh, Izzie!” Amanda said, wrapping her arms around Isadora. “You look beautiful!”
“Now, now,” Alejandro warned. “Be careful with Mammi, sí?”
Isadora stepped away from the bed, staring at her father. “Abuela told me that I have a sister.”
Alecia stepped forward and placed a hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder. “Papi is holding your sister.” Then, with a gentle push, Alecia urged her forward to see the baby.
Cautiously, she stepped forward, pausing to look at Amanda as if seeking permission. Amanda knew that it took a lot of control on Isadora’s part to not rush forward and see the baby. After Elias had passed away, Amanda and Alejandro agreed that Isadora needed to be with them full-time. Shortly after that, Amanda told Isadora that she was going to have a baby brother or sister before Christmas. Since then, not one day had passed that Isadora didn’t talk about her future sibling.
Now the moment was here.
Alejandro held the baby in his arms but shifted his weight in the chair so that Isadora could lean against his knee to see.
“Isadora,” he said, “I am honored to introduce you to your sister, Sofia Diaz.”
She stood on her tippy-t
oes to see better. Her dark eyes sparkled as she looked at baby Sofia, a hint of a smile crossing her lips. “My sister?” she asked, looking up at Alejandro as if questioning him.
“Sí, Princesita. Your sister.”
Alecia stood behind Alejandro, her hand proudly resting on his shoulder, and Isadora returned her gaze to Sofia.
Amanda watched them, emotion welling up in her throat. My family, she thought.
And she knew that, no matter what lay ahead in their lives, God would provide for them. He had brought them this far, had shown them the final destination, even if the journey was far from being over.
Together, she thought, we will get through anything as long as we have each other.
Glossary
Pennsylvania Dutch
ach vell an expression similar to oh well
boppli baby
Daed, or her daed Father, or her father
danke thank you
dochder daughter
Englische non-Amish people
Englischer a non-Amish person
fraa wife
g’may church district
grossdaadihaus small house attached to the main dwelling
gut mariye good morning
gut nochmidawk good afternoon
ja yes
kapp cap
kinner children
kum come
Mamm, or her mamm Mother, or her mother
nee no
schwester sister
vell well
wunderbar wonderful
Spanish
ay, mi madre an expression; literally oh, my mother
buenísimo excellent
bueno good
buenos días a greeting; good day
claro of course
dígame talk to me
Dios mío my God
gracias thank you
linda pretty
listo ready
mamacita little mama
mi amor my love
mi hija my daughter
mi querida my dear
pobrecita, probrecito an insult, literally “little poor one” or “poor baby”
qué what
sí yes
vamos let’s go
ven conmiga come with me
About the Author
The Preiss family emigrated from Europe in 1705, settling in Pennsylvania as part of the area’s first wave of Mennonite families. Sarah Price has always respected and honored her ancestors through exploration and research about her family’s Anabaptist history and their religion. For over twenty-five years, she has been actively involved in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. The author of over thirty novels, Sarah is finally doing what she always wanted to do: write about the religion and culture that she loves so dearly. For more information, visit her blog at www.sarahpriceauthor.com.
