Two Weeks (The Baxter Family #5)(43)

Lucy looked at the sick infant in the bassinet and then lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

You want me to believe You’re there? That You see our pain and keep allowing these situations? She could actually feel her heart breaking, see the faces of all three babies that had almost belonged to them. Did we do something wrong, God? And what about this lawyer Aaron’s excited about?

The idea of contacting the man made Lucy feel nervous and sick, exhausted and jaded. God hadn’t helped them before. Why would He step in now? She sighed and the sound lasted a long time. She needed to check on the other infants. As she stood up, she heard something like a voice.

I have loved you with an everlasting love, my daughter. Trust Me. Trust My timing.

Lucy gasped. She looked over one shoulder, then the other. She grabbed hold of the chair and looked around the room. No one else was around. Who could’ve said that? Her breathing was faster than usual, her heart pounding. Was she losing her mind? After so long without a single answer to her prayers?

She waited for the voice to say something else, to confirm what she’d already heard. But other than the whooshing and whirring of the machines, the room was silent.

Lucy moved on from there, ready to do her job. She still had no hope of having a baby, no desire to get back into the everyday conversations about what to do next.

But what did the voice mean? Love and trust?

Lucy shook off the thought of it and began making her rounds. Still she couldn’t quite get over the realness of the spoken words, or how they had made her feel. Even for just an instant.

What if Aaron was right? Yes, they’d had far too many disappointments. But that didn’t mean the next opportunity wouldn’t pan out. Maybe . . . if she held out hope just a little longer, a baby would finally be theirs.

Maybe not.

She waffled back and forth all day. If she did this, if she was really willing to consider adoption again after all they’d been through, she would do it for Aaron. Her amazing husband.

And possibly because of the voice. In case it had actually come from heaven . . . or even God.

And so by the end of her shift, Lucy had made a decision. If Aaron wanted to follow up with the adoption attorney, he could.

Even if the only thing that came from it was more heartbreak.





13




There was a reason Ashley was picking the petals off a hundred roses. The only reason that made any sense. She was a mother, and her son needed her. This time because Cole was trying to pull off a surprise for Elise, a special way to ask her to the prom.

Otherwise, Ashley would’ve loved to have been out on the houseboat with Landon and the kids. For early March, it was an unusually warm Saturday. But Cole had asked for her help, and she wasn’t going to miss the chance to be there for him. He’d be away at college before she knew it.

The basket at the middle of the table was beginning to fill up. “How is this going down again?”

Cole laughed. “I’m going to pick up Elise and tell her I’m taking her to dinner.”

“But you’re not going to dinner?” Ashley was halfway teasing. She had heard the plans. She just couldn’t believe how elaborate they were. Also, Cole kept changing them.

“Yes. But not till after the surprise.” He kept plucking. “I added one thing. I’m going to bring her half a dozen roses.”

Ashley smiled. “Half a dozen?”

“Right, and when I give them to her in my car I’m going to act like it’s a mistake.” He looked around the kitchen table and under it, acting out the moment yet to come. “?‘Where are the rest of your roses?’ I’ll ask her.”

“Hmmm.” Ashley grabbed another rose and pulled the petals one at a time. “And then you’ll bring her here.”

“Exactly.” Cole looked giddy at the prospect. “It’ll be perfect. She’ll think I’m a little crazy, but we’ll laugh about it and then when we get here my question will be written in rose pedals across the front porch.”

“P-R-O-M?” Ashley raised her brow at him. “Right?”

“I thought about writing the whole thing. ‘Elise, will you please go to the prom with me?’?” He chuckled. “But I couldn’t afford a thousand roses.”

“Thankfully!”

“Plus, I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes.” He smiled and kept working.

Ashley looked up at him, her firstborn son. He was so handsome, so mature. Between his height and his confidence, no one would’ve known he wasn’t Landon’s son. But times like this she could still see the little towhead he’d been when he was three years old.

And now here they were, two months till graduation.

Her heart ached at the thought. Before they knew it he’d be driving off to Liberty University and days like this would be gone forever. She took another flower from the bundle. “What’s Elise thinking these days? About the baby?”

Cole nodded. “We talk about it all the time. She’s four months along now.”

That’s about what Ashley had figured. Ashley still remembered the moment when Cole had burst through the door and run to her with the news. Elise had decided against abortion. Ashley and Cole had prayed right there in the foyer, thanking God for her change of mind.

Ever since then Ashley had felt a special bond with the girl. But they rarely talked about what Elise was going to do once the baby was born.