Push, Anna,” Nurse Edna Cummins encouraged. “Come on! One more good push and your baby will be here.” The nurse was confident that Anna Horton was near the end of her labor and travail.
Steely-gray hair twisted in a severe bun with twinkling hazel eyes, Nurse Edna smiled as she considered the young woman on the table. This was the third birth she had attended with Anna Mae Horton. Edna felt sorry for the young colored woman. For all three births, there had never been a father present, only her younger sister Evelyn. She wanted to talk to the young woman, perhaps give her some counsel. Unfortunately, all she could do was her job in helping her birth this newest baby.
Anna had been in labor since the early morning hours. It was now after nine at night. Finally, after nine months of waiting, she was about to bear the child she knew would cause Leon to marry her—after she got a divorce, that is. Even though her sister Evelyn had warned her about Leon—that he played with her emotions and was not faithful—Anna knew this baby was what she needed to stabilize their relationship.
Anna believed if she married Leon, she wouldn’t have the problems she had faced before. Poor, colored, and with two other children already, Anna knew she wasn’t in an ideal situation. She knew she was wrong for having children by one man when she was already married to another.
But she wanted the perfect family. The perfect husband, perfect children, and the perfect little family home with a white picket fence.
And Leon was the husband she wanted. She had left her home in Virginia to follow her dream in New York. Even though she had already made the mistake of marrying someone who would never be good for her, she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Now her dream was about to come true.
“Push,” Nurse Cummins urged. “Come on, Anna, we’re almost there,” she said excitedly.
Nurse Cummins loved seeing new life come into the world. Working in labor and delivery for twenty years, she knew how to help a baby be born. This one was no exception.
Anna strained with all the power she could muster. OB/GYN Dr. Everett Strong reiterated the call to push as he peered under the sheet. Bearing down, Anna clenched her teeth and pressed in. She was eager to see who this person was that had grown inside her body for the past nine months.
Sensing in her heart that it was another girl, Anna nevertheless prayed for a boy. Leon desired a son. She prayed she would be the one to give him a son.
Lord, if You hear me, please let it be a boy. God, I’ll do anything … Anna silently prayed as she forced herself to push for what seemed like the thousandth time on this day, the longest of her life. And then …
“Uumph,” Anna grunted and knew she had done it. The baby whooshed out of her body with a loud resounding thoomp. Exhausted, Anna lay back, thankful her job was done for the moment.
Both doctor and nurse gasped as they looked at the newborn little girl. The newborn’s skin was alabaster!
“Oh my,” exclaimed Dr. Strong. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say we have the wrong baby for this mother. But I saw her being born with my own eyes,” he whispered to Nurse Cummins, his dark gray eyes blinking in surprise. They were both baffled by the spectacle before them.
“Oh, what a pretty little thing,” Nurse Cummins cried out. “But how can she be white, Doctor? What happened?” she questioned Dr. Strong, confused. In all her years in labor and delivery, Edna had never seen anything like this.
The baby was the prettiest little thing they had ever seen with the creamiest white skin one could imagine. The thick covering of slick black hair on her delicate scalp stood out in sharp contrast to her lily-white skin. In all their years working together in labor and delivery, neither Nurse Cummins nor Dr. Strong had ever witnessed such a thing.
Dr. Strong continued gazing at the baby, trying to make sense of what he saw. And then …
“Just a second, Edna. Look at the tips of her ears,” responded Dr. Strong, immediately at ease after this discovery. “No, this baby will be about the same complexion as her mother. This is only her first color. Thank God,” he breathed, exhaling a sigh of relief.
As tenuous as times were right now in New York with racial riots and general unpleasantness between the poor and the more well-to-do, Dr. Strong was glad to find an explanation for the color of the baby’s skin. He would hate to have a press-fest going on in the hospital right now.
Anna tuned out once she heard the gender of the baby. She had hoped and prayed hard for a boy child. Maybe God couldn’t hear her. She was extremely disappointed, with God and with her situation.
After a few minutes, Nurse Cummins handed Anna the small, just-cleaned-up eight-pound bundle. “Anna, here’s your baby girl. She is gorgeous! But she gave us quite a scare. Look at how fair she is,” explained Nurse Cummins, laughter in her voice.
Anna gasped in surprise and awe. Her daughter appeared to be just like the little china dolls her employer’s daughters played with. This little girl, her little girl, was the prettiest little porcelain doll she had ever seen. And she was her daughter?
Anna pondered the color of the child’s skin. Leon’s mother, Mother Scott, though married to a darker-skinned man, preferred her children marry lighter-skinned people. She wanted her grandchildren to have a better chance in the world.
Not considering the baby’s ears, Anna was ecstatic. This might be better than the baby being a boy! This little girl would give her exactly what she wanted, Anna thought, tears of happiness rolling down her face. Dreams really could come true!
“Ah, yes,” said Angel Karno. “You are a beautiful one, Beverley,” he said to the child he would oversee during her sojourn on the Earth. “No worries, little one. God is with you and so am I,” he cooed as he stroked her brow, causing her first infant smile. He laughed to himself as he thought back to her battle to stay in Heaven. This was going to be an interesting assignment.