proud?”
Nana put her arm around my shoulders and hugged me to her side. “Poppet, she would have cried until her tear ducts dried out. You’re doing everything your mother wanted to do. You know she was premed too when she got pregnant. And even though pregnant and only twenty years old, she told me she was going to make sure you had everything the world could offer. Sadly, the good Lord took my sweet angel and left us with another gift. When the nurse put you into my Kate’s arms, she looked down, kissed every inch of your pink face and said, ‘You are a gift from God, Amber, and I’ll love you even beyond this world.’ And well, you know the rest.” Nana sniffed and kissed my temple several times.
I did know the rest. The placenta didn’t separate properly from the uterine wall and my mother hemorrhaged, losing more blood than the doctors could pump into her. She bled to death minutes after I was born, taking with her the secret of who my real father was.
“Thanks, Nana. I wish I could have known her.”
My grandmother pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and stared deeply into my eyes. “Just look in the mirror, poppet. I see her in you each and every day. In the way you walk, talk, and your beaming smile. The unbelievable intellect, your tenacity with your studies, and your humble faith in our Lord and Savior. Those are all gifts given to you by my Kate. She’s always with you, honey. I believe she’s your guardian angel, leading you through your life and watching over you. She’d be so very proud. As proud as your grandfather and I are.”
I nodded and pushed back my hair and dabbed at my eyes. I may have attempted to put on a front with Dash when it came to my parents and never having known them, but my grandmother made sure I knew as much about my mother as possible. Pictures of her were all over the house, including a large eight-by-ten of her pregnant with me. We did look a lot alike.
God, please tell my mother I love her and miss her. That I didn’t mean what I said to Dash before. He was right. You can miss something you’ve never had.
I cleared my throat and waved at my wet eyes, trying to dry them. “Nana, you always get to me!”
She chuckled sweetly as the back door opened and my grandfather entered.
“Hi, Papa, did you have good day?” I asked.
He came over to give me a hug, his rounded belly bumping me the same way Vivvie’s did, but his was all grandma’s cooking and too many late-night cookies. Nana always joked that he’d eat his weight in cookies if the stash was available. What she didn’t know was Papa bought his own stash and hid them. I found his hiding spot by accident one night when I was a kid. We’d made a promise that night that he’d always share with me if I didn’t tattle on him to grandma. I knew I’d struck gold, and ever since, we’d share cookies and milk in the wee hours of the morning—mostly when I was still up and studying for finals through college. During those times, he’d set a plate of cookies and a tall glass of milk on the table and pet my hair in passing on his way to his easy chair in his den.
“Hey, pumpkin. I did. A rowdy bunch of teens today. Woo boy. They can be a handful.”
Nana shook her head. “You need to retire, Harold. The house is paid off, the cars are paid, Amber’s school is on a full scholarship now. You’ve got your government and school pensions. Take a load off.”
Papa groaned. “Woman, would you stop pestering an old man? I’ll quit when I’m dead. You see, pumpkin, an old man like me can’t just retire. That’s when you die.”
“Oh pishposh! Such dramatics,” Nana tsk-tsked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, Nana. I read a study recently that shows that blue-collar workers have a higher mortality rate. Basically, the study showed that for every year of early retirement, those people on average lost two months of life expectancy. I believe the end of the study gave some suggestions for retiring but still
Nana put her arm around my shoulders and hugged me to her side. “Poppet, she would have cried until her tear ducts dried out. You’re doing everything your mother wanted to do. You know she was premed too when she got pregnant. And even though pregnant and only twenty years old, she told me she was going to make sure you had everything the world could offer. Sadly, the good Lord took my sweet angel and left us with another gift. When the nurse put you into my Kate’s arms, she looked down, kissed every inch of your pink face and said, ‘You are a gift from God, Amber, and I’ll love you even beyond this world.’ And well, you know the rest.” Nana sniffed and kissed my temple several times.
I did know the rest. The placenta didn’t separate properly from the uterine wall and my mother hemorrhaged, losing more blood than the doctors could pump into her. She bled to death minutes after I was born, taking with her the secret of who my real father was.
“Thanks, Nana. I wish I could have known her.”
My grandmother pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and stared deeply into my eyes. “Just look in the mirror, poppet. I see her in you each and every day. In the way you walk, talk, and your beaming smile. The unbelievable intellect, your tenacity with your studies, and your humble faith in our Lord and Savior. Those are all gifts given to you by my Kate. She’s always with you, honey. I believe she’s your guardian angel, leading you through your life and watching over you. She’d be so very proud. As proud as your grandfather and I are.”
I nodded and pushed back my hair and dabbed at my eyes. I may have attempted to put on a front with Dash when it came to my parents and never having known them, but my grandmother made sure I knew as much about my mother as possible. Pictures of her were all over the house, including a large eight-by-ten of her pregnant with me. We did look a lot alike.
God, please tell my mother I love her and miss her. That I didn’t mean what I said to Dash before. He was right. You can miss something you’ve never had.
I cleared my throat and waved at my wet eyes, trying to dry them. “Nana, you always get to me!”
She chuckled sweetly as the back door opened and my grandfather entered.
“Hi, Papa, did you have good day?” I asked.
He came over to give me a hug, his rounded belly bumping me the same way Vivvie’s did, but his was all grandma’s cooking and too many late-night cookies. Nana always joked that he’d eat his weight in cookies if the stash was available. What she didn’t know was Papa bought his own stash and hid them. I found his hiding spot by accident one night when I was a kid. We’d made a promise that night that he’d always share with me if I didn’t tattle on him to grandma. I knew I’d struck gold, and ever since, we’d share cookies and milk in the wee hours of the morning—mostly when I was still up and studying for finals through college. During those times, he’d set a plate of cookies and a tall glass of milk on the table and pet my hair in passing on his way to his easy chair in his den.
“Hey, pumpkin. I did. A rowdy bunch of teens today. Woo boy. They can be a handful.”
Nana shook her head. “You need to retire, Harold. The house is paid off, the cars are paid, Amber’s school is on a full scholarship now. You’ve got your government and school pensions. Take a load off.”
Papa groaned. “Woman, would you stop pestering an old man? I’ll quit when I’m dead. You see, pumpkin, an old man like me can’t just retire. That’s when you die.”
“Oh pishposh! Such dramatics,” Nana tsk-tsked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, Nana. I read a study recently that shows that blue-collar workers have a higher mortality rate. Basically, the study showed that for every year of early retirement, those people on average lost two months of life expectancy. I believe the end of the study gave some suggestions for retiring but still
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