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Caitlyn
Zoe’s contractions came harder and with less time between them. Her parents had come up, but only her mother had ventured into the room. After her last contraction, Zoe sent Caitlyn to check the waiting room, as if she sensed that Jarret had arrived.
And there he was! He stood near the elevator, Roland and Peter on either side, Mr. McGowan in front of him.
It sounded like Mr. McGowan said, “I warned you that I’d kill you if you came near my daughter.” But Zoe had told her parents that Jarret was going to be here, so Mr. McGowan shouldn’t have had a problem.
Jarret’s eyelids fluttered and his face turned a shade paler. He turned away from Mr. McGowan and toward the elevator as if he were just going to leave. Then Roland grabbed his shoulder and turned him back.
Keefe approached Jarret, smiling. “Hey, you’re here.”
Caitlyn sprinted to him. “Zoe’s been asking for you.” Trying not to let her anxiety show, she smiled and reached out to welcome him.
Mr. McGowan jerked his face to her and gave her a hard stare. “Jarret will not be going to her room.”
“What?” Caitlyn’s hope deflated. “But Mr. McGowan, sir, your daughter, she—”
“He is not her husband,” Mr. McGowan boomed. “He has no right—”
“Arthur.” Mrs. McGowan came up behind Caitlyn using a stern voice that didn’t fit her petite stature. “Your daughter is in pain right now. If she wants to see this boy, she’s going to see him.” She pushed through the group and latched onto Jarret’s arm.
Jarret’s mouth fell open. He glanced up at Mr. McGowan.
Mr. McGowan growled and stepped aside.
Mrs. McGowan yanked Jarret forward. “You’ll say hello, tell her everything will be okay, and return to the waiting room.”
Jarret dragged his feet at first but soon kept step with Zoe’s mom. Caitlyn trailed behind.
The instant they reached the doorway, Jarret stopped dead.
Zoe spun to face him. The contraction monitor went wild and Zoe looked at him with fire in her eyes. “Where have you been, you pig? I hate you!”
A nurse said something about getting the doctor and ran for the door.
Jarret backed up. When he turned to make a break for it, he smacked into Caitlyn, panic in his eyes.
“It’s okay. It’s the contractions making Zoe talk that way. Really, she wants you here. She’s been asking for you.” Caitlyn grabbed his arms to keep him from escaping. But she hadn’t needed to.
His eyes rolled up, and his face went white. A nurse bolted for him as he fell to the floor like an abandoned marionette.
~ ~ ~
ZOE HAD ASKED CAITLYN to stay, so she’d watched the miracle through watery eyes and with a heart elevated to God the Creator. She would never take the gift of life for granted. The agony of the labor gave way to the birth of a healthy and beautiful little girl, all nineteen inches and seven pounds of her.
Hair disheveled, skin glistening with sweat, Zoe lay back on her pillow and laughed for joy.
Caitlyn pressed a damp washcloth to Zoe’s forehead, squeezed her hand, and laughed with her. “You did it.”
The message of love shined so clearly to Caitlyn. Love is about sacrifice, about laying your life down for another. In married love, a man and woman forsake all others and cling to one another. Then their love bears fruit which a woman brings forth through travail and sorrow. But which fills her heart with inexpressible joy.
Caitlyn couldn’t wait for the day she would know such love and bring children of her own into the world. Well, no . . . that wasn’t true. She could wait. First, she would have to find the man God had prepared for her, her future husband. But she wasn’t ready for that either. God would send him in due time.
A few minutes later, a peaceful joy filled the room. The baby had been cleaned, wrapped in a pink blanket, and placed in Zoe’s arms. Mr. and Mrs. McGowan hovered over their daughter and granddaughter, teary eyed and humbled. Jarret, who had recovered at the nurses’ station, had been allowed back in. He sat in a chair by the window, watching Zoe and the baby at a distance.
Caitlyn couldn’t stop smiling. She gazed out the window, hoping this moment would never fade from her memory.
When Mr. and Mrs. McGowan finally left the room, Jarret whispered to Caitlyn, “Hey.”
She looked at him, blinking away green afterimages from having stared outside for so long.
With a shy look in his eyes, he nodded in the direction of Zoe and the baby.
Caitlyn smiled. It struck her as funny how this vain, confident, even arrogant boy was, in this situation, as uncertain as a child. “Why don’t you go over there? Hold your little girl.”
With a deep breath, Jarret got up. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he took his daughter in his arms. “I don’t . . . want to give her away,” he said to Zoe between sniffles.
Zoe scooted over, making room for him on the bed. She smiled as she watched him, her tranquil and self-possessed demeanor having returned.
Caitlyn tiptoed from the room, leaving the couple some privacy on this, their first and last night with their little girl.