More than Five Years Later
Capital City, Kashien
For the first time Owen did not meet Gabe and Lily as they came out of customs. Another first for the adopting couple was that they didn’t come alone. Six-and-a-half-year-old Jasmine was old enough to understand about keeping her eyes down, and five-year-old Cathleen was doing very well too. But three-year-old Alison had no such qualms. Having slept on the plane, she was now ready to take in everything and smile at whoever looked her way. Her parents had nowhere near as much energy, but they knew the routine, and it wasn’t long before they were walking into the hotel.
Gabe handled all arrangements and ushered his family to the room, hoping their plan would come together as neatly as it had in the letters to his father-in-law. He opened the door and smiled when he saw him. Owen Walsh had just stood up from his place in the chair, a smile coming to his face as both Jasmine and Cathleen ran to him.
This was the reason they didn’t meet in the airport. Lily had done nothing but talk about her father for months, and the children would not have understood why they couldn’t hug him and greet him the moment he came into view. The hotel allowed them the privacy needed to do this.
Lily came next, Alison in her arms, and the reunion was complete. For a time Owen gave all his attention to the little girls. He looked at their new shoes and told them about the country they had been born in and what an honor it was to have them back. They showed him the drawings they had done, the ones their mother had tucked into a side pocket in the suitcase, and generally had a wonderful time.
As they had in the past, Owen and Gabe went for food and brought it back to the hotel so they could relax in this foreign culture. Once the girls were busy with their meal, the adults had time to talk.
“How are Jefferson, Annika, Jenna, and Gregory?”
“Doing great. Annika is still a little queasy with her latest pregnancy, but she sent new pictures for you.”
“I’ll look forward to seeing them.”
“Jeff wants to know if you have electricity in the village yet,” Gabe put in. “He wants to set you up with e-mail.”
Owen only smiled and asked about the church family. Gabe explained the changes they’d gone through, some painful, but that many people had grown stronger.
“How is Ana?” Owen wished to know next. The two had never met, but Lily had written of her often.
“Out of my life at the moment,” Lily said with regret. “Not too long ago I was thinking about how long ago we’d met, before Jazz was born. She still comes in and out of my life, desperately seeking but not wanting the answers I give her. I think I told you that she and Nick got married last summer.”
“Yes, you wrote of that.”
“We went to the wedding, and they seemed genuinely pleased to have us there,” Gabe put in. “But Ana doesn’t return Lily’s calls very often. They still go to lunch once in a while, but there’s a part of Ana that still holds us all at arm’s length.”
“Maybe they will have children,” Owen commented.
“Maybe.”
“If they do,” he continued, “it will be hard for them, but it might help. Often having children causes one to face his own mortality.”
The children had needs that interrupted the adults, so for a time conversation stopped, but soon after dinner, Lily had a surprise for her father.
“Okay, girls, line up for me.”
Gabe and Owen both smiled as Alison lined up very proudly, her dark eyes filled with delight. Her older sisters exchanged a smile as they watched her and then looked to their mother.
“Go ahead.”
The girls looked at their grandfather and recited the Twenty-Third Psalm in Kashienese. Owen, now more than 80 years old, sat with tears in his eyes as he listened to them.
The verses were said word perfectly, but Lily wasn’t through with her surprise.
“Go ahead, Papa, talk to them in Kashi. Ask them anything.”
To his utter amazement, the girls understood him and answered him in beautifully accented Kashienese. Lily had said that she would be keeping on top of their Kashienese studies, but he had no idea. And since this was the first time for any of them to return to the land of their birth, Owen was amazed.
But as special as the evening was, Lily and Gabe needed sleep. They would be headed to the public minister’s office in the morning, and it was time to make an early night of it.
“It’s going to be much the same,” Owen said, having forgotten that he’d already told them. “But there will be a few extra papers.”
Gabe and Lily took this all in, keeping the girls very quiet, and for the fourth time they were shown to a small room, and a baby was handed to Owen. The moment the door was shut, the baby— a boy this time—was given into Lily’s arms.
“A boy,” she said in quiet wonder and turned to see Gabe’s face. He didn’t speak. At the moment he was only capable of staring at the fourth miraculous child God had given into their care.
What followed was a repeat of many years past, only this time it was made with three other children in tow. Gabe had no choice but to be seen attending the children when their needs arose while Lily held the new baby. When Lhasa came into view, the adults knew complete relief.
The girls were all put to bed, and Owen gave little Brandon Chen a bottle. Tired as Gabe and Lily were, they both decided to take a short walk. Lily took Gabe to her favorite tree, and the two watched the sun fall from the sky.
When it was dark enough not to be seen, Gabe put his arms around his wife from the back. Her waist was still small, and her stomach flat. With his palm he covered it.
“Do you ever ache to have a baby here?” Gabe whispered in her ear.
Lily laughed. “Gabriel, we got Jazz when we’d been married three months. When would I have time to ache for that?”
Gabe laughed with her and hugged her close.
“How many more do you think, Lily? How many more children will God give us from this village?”
“I don’t know, but I want to be ready, Gabe. I didn’t know what a mother’s heart could experience. Jasmine was so special, but you know I had my doubts about coming for Cathleen. Now I can’t imagine life without any of them, even this tiny baby boy whom I just met.”
Gabe turned Lily in his embrace, his back to the tree and Lily close against him.
“We’ll keep praying, Lil. We’ll pray for the people of this village, that they would all turn to Him. But we’ll still keep asking God to strengthen us for each new little person He sends our way.”
“And for each other,” Lily added, “for our marriage, so that when they’re all gone, we’ll still be strong in Him.”
“Either way I win,” Gabe said, looking down into her face.
“How’s that?”
“Whether or not the children are home, or grown and gone, you’ll still be mine.”
A soft laugh filled with utter contentment escaped Lily, just before Gabe’s lips came down to meet hers.