heart to hear.
“I don’t know if I’m equipped to be a mother, and I’m too old besides,” Abby had declared this past Christmas, though Gretchen had told her that was utter hogwash. The girl wasn’t yet forty, and plenty of women had babies at that age and beyond. As for feeling equipped to be a parent—ha!—no one ever was. It wasn’t as though you were magically handed all the tools to get it right once the baby emerged. When it happened, you figured it out, day by day, just like everything else. Children were a lesson to which “live and learn” perfectly applied. The most important thing was to love them wholeheartedly. If you did that, the rest would fall into place.
“She’s having a baby,” Trudy breathed, and a slender hand clasped at her gingham-smocked breast. “Did you hear that, sister?”
“You bet I did,” Bennie said, reaching for her twin’s arm as the two of them turned downright giddy. “You’ll have to start knitting the child a hat and booties.”
“We can bring Abby’s bassinet down from the attic,” Trudy suggested.
“And dig the baby quilt out of mothballs!”
Gretchen ignored the buzz of her sisters’ voices, her own head suddenly filled with a noisy hum all its own. “Are you positive?” she asked. “There’s no question?”
“None.” Abby bit her lip, looking for all the world like the sky had fallen.
“Oh, my,” Gretchen said, barely able to breathe. She had one hand at her throat and the other settled on her own abdomen.
A tiny thrill wiggled through her at the knowledge that her flesh and blood would beget a new life, that fragments of herself—and even honest-to-a-fault Annika—would trickle down to another generation. Abby seemed far less certain, wearing a shell-shocked expression, as though the concept of carrying a child at this stage of her life was too enormous to grasp. Gretchen had no doubts her sensible daughter was already pondering how exactly she’d nurture a tiny being inside herself, watching her skin stretch and her belly expand, all the while understanding that giving birth meant someone else would depend on you wholly for years and years and years to come. Everything changed the moment you brought a baby into the world. Everything.
My God. Abs was pregnant!
As tickled as Gretchen was, she figured it would take a few days before it had sunk in with her as well. It seemed only yesterday that she’d found herself in the same pickle, although she’d been barely seventeen, with a furious mother and the baby’s father out of the picture.
“What about Nate?” she asked abruptly, wondering how he could have walked out on Abby under these circumstances. Unless he didn’t want children and that was what had caused their split. “How does he feel about this? Is he unhappy? Doesn’t he want to be a dad?”
“I couldn’t say,” Abby told her quietly, “considering he doesn’t know.”
“He doesn’t know?” Gretchen’s voice rose, though she fought to keep the disappointment from her tone. She had so little right to judge anyone else.
“Nate’s in the dark?” Trudy and Bennie echoed, and their happy chatter ceased. They, too, stood stock-still, awaiting Abby’s response.
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.” Abby sucked in her cheeks. “The timing’s rotten.”
“Oh, Abs, there’s no such thing as good timing when it comes to babies,” Gretchen said, not intending to chastise. But she’d chatted with Nathan March on the phone and been around him enough holidays these past six years to be certain he loved Abigail as much as he possibly could. He certainly wasn’t perfect—he worked too much, didn’t share in chores, had all the same bad habits inherent in nearly every straight man on the planet—but she couldn’t imagine he’d walk out on Abby when she needed him most. If she had one criticism of Nate, it would be that he wasn’t serious enough; but she would never have said that he wasn’t
“I don’t know if I’m equipped to be a mother, and I’m too old besides,” Abby had declared this past Christmas, though Gretchen had told her that was utter hogwash. The girl wasn’t yet forty, and plenty of women had babies at that age and beyond. As for feeling equipped to be a parent—ha!—no one ever was. It wasn’t as though you were magically handed all the tools to get it right once the baby emerged. When it happened, you figured it out, day by day, just like everything else. Children were a lesson to which “live and learn” perfectly applied. The most important thing was to love them wholeheartedly. If you did that, the rest would fall into place.
“She’s having a baby,” Trudy breathed, and a slender hand clasped at her gingham-smocked breast. “Did you hear that, sister?”
“You bet I did,” Bennie said, reaching for her twin’s arm as the two of them turned downright giddy. “You’ll have to start knitting the child a hat and booties.”
“We can bring Abby’s bassinet down from the attic,” Trudy suggested.
“And dig the baby quilt out of mothballs!”
Gretchen ignored the buzz of her sisters’ voices, her own head suddenly filled with a noisy hum all its own. “Are you positive?” she asked. “There’s no question?”
“None.” Abby bit her lip, looking for all the world like the sky had fallen.
“Oh, my,” Gretchen said, barely able to breathe. She had one hand at her throat and the other settled on her own abdomen.
A tiny thrill wiggled through her at the knowledge that her flesh and blood would beget a new life, that fragments of herself—and even honest-to-a-fault Annika—would trickle down to another generation. Abby seemed far less certain, wearing a shell-shocked expression, as though the concept of carrying a child at this stage of her life was too enormous to grasp. Gretchen had no doubts her sensible daughter was already pondering how exactly she’d nurture a tiny being inside herself, watching her skin stretch and her belly expand, all the while understanding that giving birth meant someone else would depend on you wholly for years and years and years to come. Everything changed the moment you brought a baby into the world. Everything.
My God. Abs was pregnant!
As tickled as Gretchen was, she figured it would take a few days before it had sunk in with her as well. It seemed only yesterday that she’d found herself in the same pickle, although she’d been barely seventeen, with a furious mother and the baby’s father out of the picture.
“What about Nate?” she asked abruptly, wondering how he could have walked out on Abby under these circumstances. Unless he didn’t want children and that was what had caused their split. “How does he feel about this? Is he unhappy? Doesn’t he want to be a dad?”
“I couldn’t say,” Abby told her quietly, “considering he doesn’t know.”
“He doesn’t know?” Gretchen’s voice rose, though she fought to keep the disappointment from her tone. She had so little right to judge anyone else.
“Nate’s in the dark?” Trudy and Bennie echoed, and their happy chatter ceased. They, too, stood stock-still, awaiting Abby’s response.
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell him.” Abby sucked in her cheeks. “The timing’s rotten.”
“Oh, Abs, there’s no such thing as good timing when it comes to babies,” Gretchen said, not intending to chastise. But she’d chatted with Nathan March on the phone and been around him enough holidays these past six years to be certain he loved Abigail as much as he possibly could. He certainly wasn’t perfect—he worked too much, didn’t share in chores, had all the same bad habits inherent in nearly every straight man on the planet—but she couldn’t imagine he’d walk out on Abby when she needed him most. If she had one criticism of Nate, it would be that he wasn’t serious enough; but she would never have said that he wasn’t
Similar Books
