Against the Odds (Fighting to Survive #2)(34)

She opens a few gifts before she opens a gift from Mason and Angel. It’s larger and heavier than the other gifts. She carefully opens the envelope and it’s a small handwritten letter. She reads it out loud.

Leah and Robert,

A birth of a child is nothing short of a miracle. We don’t know another couple more deserving of this miracle than you two. Mason and I wanted to get you something special for this special gift from God, but we couldn’t find anything that we thought was unique enough, so we made you something instead. You can thank your mothers for their contribution. We hope you love it as much as we loved making it.

Love,


Mason, Angel, Alex, and Ana

xoxoxo

“A handmade gift from Mason and Angel. I didn’t know the doctor had any talent,” I joke.

“What could it be?” Leah asks. I watch as she removes the bow and the wrapping paper. I help her to remove the large lid off of the box. We both remove the top layer of tissue paper and Leah gasps when she sees the handmade baby quilt.

I throw the bow and wrapping paper away as she lifts the quilt from the box. When I turn back around, Leah is in tears. She’s holding the quilt up to her cheek and is crying. I look at the quilt, then I look at Leah, and then I look back at the quilt. I walk over to her and gently touch the handmade baby blanket. Some of the material used to make it looks familiar. I feel a few squares of fabric before I realize the quilt is made up of clothing, blankets, shirts and dresses from Jamie’s, Leah’s, and my clothing. I also recognize that a few pieces of material are from our parents’ wardrobe. “Is this made from our clothes?”

She nods and continues to cry. “Is this from Jamie’s baby blanket?” I ask.

She wipes away her tears and to look at the square patch I am talking about. “It is, and this is your dad’s shirt.” I help her to spread the blanket out across her lap for a better view. “And this is my church dress,” she says pointing to different squares. “Your mom’s dress, my mom’s shirt, and this is from your shirt,” she adds.

“I liked that shirt, too,” I say. I look at the quilt more closely and see a few squares with a bunny on it. “I don’t remember this from anyone.”

Leah picks it up to look at it more closely. “It’s supposed to resemble Jack,” she says with tear-filled eyes and a quivering lip. I hug her and she continues to cry. All I can do is let her cry. I never would have expected anyone to take the time to make such a sentimental gift.

After several minutes, Leah asks if we can walk down and see Gracie.

Once the nurse examines Leah, I enter the code and push Leah into the N.I.C.U. She doesn’t look around like she did the last time; she focuses solely on where Gracie’s incubator was the last time we were here. Gracie is crying as the nurse is assessing her. Leah laughs when she hears that the crying is coming from our daughter.

I have seen Gracie enough that I can identify her without seeing the marking I put on her right foot. The nurse sees us coming and smiles. “Grace, look, your Momma and Daddy are here to see you. How are you feeling?” she asks.

“I feel wonderful, How is she?”

“Giving her lungs a workout,” she teases. “I don’t think she likes me much.”

She puts her hand in the large glove attached to the incubator and touches Grace softly. She pulls the blanket up and covers her to her chin. Our daughter snuggles into the blanket and drifts off to sleep. “I think she likes you,” I say. I put my hand in the other glove and also touch our baby. Leah looks up at me and smiles. I wrap my other arm around her and kiss the top of her head. “You did it again, Leah.”

“Did what?” she asks unknowingly.

“Gave me another beautiful daughter.”

“We did it, and she is beautiful.”





Chapter Four: Two Weeks Later

Leah

Robert and I try to get into a regular routine. Well, normal for us. I called Angel and thanked her for the amazing quilt she and Mason made for Grace. She tells me she hasn’t quilted in years and she was excited to actually have a reason to make one. I also learned that Mason did have a hand in its creation. Actually, two hands. He applauded when she was done.

Grace is still in the hospital and is going very well. Her only setback so far is she was jaundiced for a short time. They used the ultraviolet lights on her to help bring up her bilirubin blood count. Our daughter is a Florida girl, she loved soaking up the rays from the light.

I go to visit her and I can spot my daughter from across the nursery. The heart the Robert drew on her foot is no longer visible. She has a look that I can never confuse with another child. She has thick black spiky hair and dark eyes. She looks just like a combination of Robert and me.

While I was in the hospital, I had Mom and Margie bring some things from home for Gracie. I look in her incubator and Jamie’s stuffed animal Jack is sitting near the bottom of the bed. I also had them bring up Jamie’s musical ballerina music box that plays “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The nurse has it playing as she rocks Gracie. The cards we got while I was in the hospital are now taped to Gracie’s bed. The Happy Birthday and Congrats balloons are now deflating on top of the incubator. Her small bed looks like a welcoming party and I love it.


The nurse sees Robert and me and smiles immediately.