Chapter Twelve
Despite the fact that it was Christmas morning and we were expected at my grandmother’s house for turkey dinner at 4:00, my mother hung up the phone and told me to get dressed.
“Why?” I asked, feeling almost afraid to hope.
“Because we’re driving into the city to see Riley and Leah.” Her whole face lit up with a smile. “And their new baby sister!”
My eyes opened wide. “Really?”
“Yes!” She moved closer to hug me. “Mrs. James had the baby at daybreak this morning and she’s doing very well. The kids are with her now and she said they miss you, especially today. They practically begged her to call us.”
I missed them, too, because Riley, Leah and I had known each other since we were toddlers. We always got together every Christmas morning to play with our new toys.
“When can we go?” I asked.
“Right now,” she replied. “But we’ll need to leave soon if we’re going to make it back in time for dinner.”
I immediately went to my room to get dressed.
* * *
Because it was Christmas, there was no traffic on the roads, which enabled us to reach the hospital in record time. According to my new stopwatch—a special gift from my grandmother—it took us exactly forty-three minutes to travel from door to door.
“What a perfect Christmas Day,” Mom said as we got out of the car and looked up at the sky. Fat snowflakes had begun to fall again and everything in the city was covered in white. I felt like I was standing inside a snow globe.
“I can’t wait to see Riley,” I said as I reached for the gift bag in the back seat. The gift, however, was not for him, but for the new baby. Since there were no stores open to purchase anything, I’d suggested that we re-wrap the soft green bunny I’d received from my aunt that morning.
Not that I didn’t appreciate the gift. It was cute and cuddly with floppy ears, but weren’t bunnies meant for girls?
My mom felt it would be a nice gesture, so I called my aunt and explained the circumstances. She agreed it was a nice idea.
A short while later, we stepped off the elevator on the neo-natal floor and asked to see Mrs. James. Before the nurse had a chance to reply, I heard the familiar sound of Leah’s voice, calling to me.
“Josh!”
I turned, and there she stood at the end of the long corridor wearing a white sweater-dress that sparkled under the florescent hospital lights. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she’d sprouted a few inches. I was stunned by how grown up she appeared.
How was it possible that this girl I’d known since I was in diapers could be so unrecognizable to me?
She looked like an angel. I couldn’t seem to make my mouth work.
Then she began to run the length of the corridor, and when she reached me, she threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“Me, too,” I managed to reply. “Merry Christmas.”
She drew back and regarded me joyfully. “Merry Christmas to you, too. Hi, Mrs. Wallace. We’re glad you could come. My mom can’t wait to see you.” Leah backed away and beckoned to us with a hand. She seemed to move in slow motion. “Follow me. It’s this way, just at the end of the hall. Wait until you see the baby. She’s the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world. Josh, you’re going to love her.”
Mom and I followed her into a private room where Mrs. James was sitting up on a bed, smiling. I’d never seen her look so happy.
My mom immediately rushed to her side and hugged her. While they gushed and cried over seeing each other again and talked animatedly about the labor and delivery, I spotted Riley, lounging at his ease against the window sill.
“Hi,” I said with a casual wave of my hand.
“Hi back,” he replied, flipping his hair out of his eyes.
“How’s it going?”
He shrugged. “All right I guess. How’s school?”
“Same as always. Mr. Gillespie is still talking about bugs in bio class, and Joanie Carruthers is still chasing after Nick Saunders.”
Looking bored, Riley slowly nodded, then turned his eyes toward the window again.
I felt Leah touch my arm. “Want to hold the baby?” she asked.
A shiver of elation moved through me as I turned to face her. There in her arms was her newborn baby sister, bundled up in white flannel. Leah regarded me with excitement.
“I don’t know,” I replied, taking a clumsy step back.
My mother quickly took notice of my unease. “Go ahead, Josh. There’s a chair behind you. You can hold her on your lap.”
I glanced down at a sturdy oak rocker with a yellow flowered cushion. “All right.”
Setting the gift bag on the floor, I sat down and held my arms out to Leah. Her green eyes held me entranced. There was something wise and all-knowing about the way she looked at me. I felt suddenly weightless, like those snowflakes floating in the air outside the window.
Then slowly…carefully…she laid the sleeping infant in my arms.
The baby was tightly swaddled and I found it surprisingly easy to cradle her. I shifted a bit to find a more comfortable position, then began to rock back and forth in the chair.
“What’s her name?”
“We don’t know yet,” Leah replied. “Mom was thinking about calling her Amy, but now that we’ve met her, we don’t think that’s the right name.” Leah pointed at the gift bag on the floor. “Is this for her?”
I nodded.
Leah turned to her mother. “Can we open it?”
“Of course,” Mrs. James replied.
Leah bent to pick it up and removed the pink tissue paper. “It’s a bunny,” she said, lifting the toy out of the bag. “Look, Mom.” She carried it to her mother so she could feel how soft it was, then she returned to my side. “She’s going to love it.”
My eyes lifted to meet Leah’s, and my pulse slowed to a calm and steady pace. A deep feeling of peace settled over me, as if all was now right with the world.
Leah smiled. I was immensely grateful to be with her again. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to stay right there in that perfect place.
Forever.
“Open your eyes, Josh,” she whispered.
My forehead crinkled in a frown. I didn’t understand why she would say that to me. What did she mean?
“Can you hear me?”
A light flashed, just like the flashlight beam across the ceiling in the hotel stairwell.
Then the room began to spin.