34

ELLA WAS IN LOVE. It was March again, and she gave herself a moment to think over the past few months as she pulled on her boots and a jacket before heading out to the pasture with Dad to check on Will’s cows. Will, for his part, preferred to stay close to home as Laura’s due date drew nearer.

Zipping up her windbreaker, Ella stood and considered that while she was pretty sure she was in love with Seth, she wasn’t quite so sure about what he felt for her. Sometimes, when he spent time with her family, she got the feeling that maybe the Phillips clan was as much a draw for him as she was.

Something Seth said once niggled at her. It was when he first told her he was adopted. He’d said something like, “You’re lucky you know your family.” Or maybe it was “history.” As Ella got to know Seth better, he shared more about his family and the way they’d moved around from ministry to ministry. He longed for roots, and she wondered if deep down he was more attracted to what she represented than to her.

Ella walked with Dad to the gentle pasture on the Rexroad Place. They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the burgeoning warmth of the sun and listening to the symphony of birds welcoming the turn of the season. Ella breathed deeply, loving the smell of moist earth and fresh air. She glanced at her father, who winked at her.

“You’re quiet this morning,” he said.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh-ho. I learned a long time ago to clear out when your mother gets to thinking, but I guess I’ll bite today. What have you been thinking about?”

“I really like Seth. Maybe more than like. I’m just . . . well, I wonder if he likes me for my family and for my history as much as anything else.” Ella paused and grabbed a fallen branch, the perfect size for a walking stick. She jabbed it in the mud as they strolled along. “And the funny thing is, he’s exactly the sort of man I imagined when I used to dream about living on the farm and being an artist. He’d totally embrace all our traditions, but somehow . . .”

Dad waited a few beats. “But somehow you’ve realized you want an equal partner—someone who complements you rather than following your lead. Someone who brings his own history and preferences to the equation. Someone who can maybe challenge you and help you grow.”

Ella looked at her father wide-eyed. “Well, yeah. I hadn’t quite put it into words, but yeah. I think that’s it.”

Dad threw his head back and laughed. “Favorite daughter, I think you just might be ready to take the next step.”

“What’s that?” Ella wasn’t sure why her father was so amused.

“Oh now, just because I think you’re ready, doesn’t mean I am.” He gave Ella a quick side hug. “Suffice it to say, I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Seth. He’s enamored of the Phillips clan in general, but as he continues to make our closer acquaintance I have every confidence he’ll find his feet. And if I didn’t think he was crazy about you in particular, I would have let you know long before this.”

Warming to the subject, Ella started to ask another question when her father laid a hand on her arm and pointed to a spot where the dirt road curved behind them. Mom came puffing around the turn like the little engine that could. As soon as she saw them, she waved her arms and tried to speak. Dad reversed directions, stretching his long legs to pick up speed. Ella trotted along behind, worried about what could be wrong.

“They’ve gone to the hospital,” Mom said when they were close enough to hear. “My grandchild is on the way!”

Ella thought if her mother had ever looked happy before, she was ecstatic now.

“We have to hurry,” Mom gasped out, turning back toward the house. Dad caught up to her and took her elbow.

“Slow down, woman. You know how long these things can take, and I don’t want to have to haul you to the hospital for any reason other than to see our grandbaby.”

Soon Ella and her parents were seated in the maternity waiting room at the hospital. It was certainly a cheerier place than the waiting room they sat in when Gran was being treated. There were cartoon characters painted on the walls, toys set up in a corner, and more parenting magazines than Ella knew existed. The other inhabitants of the room ranged from perfectly calm to tense, but even those who seemed anxious had a positive energy about them—a feeling of bursting into song rather than tears. A grandmotherly woman was even knitting tiny pink booties. Ella smiled and admired the fine work.

“This will be my sixth grandchild,” she said. “Two by my son and now four by my daughter. It’s gotten to the point no one even gets much excited anymore, but I say every child needs some special things of their own. So these”—she indicated the booties—“will go with a baby afghan and the purtiest little sweater and bonnet set I’ve made yet.”

“I take it you know it will be a girl,” Ella said, touching the soft yarn. Maybe she could incorporate some knitted pieces into her quilts.

“Yes, I always thought it was kind of nice to be surprised, but you can’t tell parents these days anything. My daughter said she needed to know so she could decide which things of the older kids to keep and which things to send to Goodwill. I guess that’s practical, though I’d just as soon be surprised.”

“My sister-in-law is having her first, and they decided not to find out ahead of time,” Ella said. “I’m kind of glad—it adds to the suspense. Although I’m not sure Mom can take much more suspense at this point.”

Ella glanced at her mother, who had picked up and discarded four magazines and was now tidying the room—stacking magazines, putting toys back into a box in the corner, and turning tissue boxes so their edges were equidistant from the sides of the tables they sat on.

“Hon, tell your momma to come sit by me,” said the woman. Ella gladly did so, and in short order the two women were talking like best friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. Ella plopped down next to Dad.

“That was a good idea,” he said, looking at the pair with their heads together. “I thought I might have to get her sedated.”

Father and daughter sat quietly, waiting. Ella said a silent prayer for the safety of Laura and her child as well as for the sanity of Will.

Richard walked in then and sat down facing Ella and her dad. “What’s the word, Henry?”

“She’s moving along according to the nurses, but it could be quite a while yet. Fortunately, Margaret made a friend over there, so she’s occupied for the time being.”

“Would it help if we all prayed together?” asked Richard.

“Probably, but let’s leave her be until she notices you’re here. Maybe they’ll let you go see Laura and Will, and you can bring us back word.”

Richard nodded and headed for the nurses’ station. He was gone maybe fifteen minutes before returning through another door. This time Mom spotted him immediately.

“Oh, Richard, you didn’t have to come, but it certainly is good to see you.” She rushed over to embrace him.

“And it’s good to see you,” Richard said. “They let me go in and pray with Will and Laura. She’s having contractions every two minutes now, so it was a fast prayer.”

“Oh, that poor girl,” Mom said, tears in her eyes. “And with her parents not able to get here until this evening. A girl wants her mother at a time like this.”

“Will seemed to be offering plenty of comfort,” Richard said. “And the nurse is great—she joined us in prayer.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Have you spoken to Henry and Ella?”

“Yes, I have,” Richard said and moved to bring the three family members together. “And if it’s all right with you, I thought we’d pray right here.”

After the prayer, Ella raised her head, feeling emotional, and noticed her mother crying and her dad surreptitiously swiping at a few tears of his own. They all sat back down, and Richard moved to the chair beside Ella.

“Excited?” he asked.

“Of course,” Ella said. Then she worried she’d sounded curt. “I still can’t quite get my head around the idea of Will as a father, but I think he may actually be pretty good at it.” She smiled, and Richard smiled back.

It was at that moment Ella realized Richard was just a man who had opted to become a pastor. She’d been holding him up as holier, more special than the rest of them in some way. But really, there wasn’t anything more innately religious or godly about him than there was about anyone else. He’d just followed a call that put his faith on display. Maybe she’d do well to be a little more obvious about demonstrating her faith rather than leaving it up to the pastors of the world.

Ella patted Richard on the arm. “Thanks for coming. I think Mom really needed that prayer.” She smiled at her mother, who was sitting in a more relaxed posture now, talking to Dad about how they could babyproof the farmhouse. Dad wisely confined himself to nodding and smiling.

“I, uh, I’ve been seeing a good bit of Tara lately,” Richard said. “Could be serious.” He shuffled his feet and rubbed his hands down his thighs.

“Tara seems like a great girl. I hope things work out between you.” And she did. It would be nice for Richard to have someone. Especially since she had someone as wonderful as Seth.

After a while, they convinced Mom to go down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. They even poked around the gift shop and bought an overpriced bouquet of daisies for the new parents.

“If it were the right time of year, I could pick twice this many for nothing,” Mom scoffed. “But Laura needs something to brighten her room.”

They returned to the waiting room, where Dad promptly dozed off. Ella was getting desperate enough to consider reading a magazine article, “Sleeping Through the Night: Tips and Techniques,” when a nurse swung the door open.

“Phillips family,” she called. “Baby Phillips is available for viewing in the nursery.”

All three scrambled to their feet, and Dad, though dead asleep as far as Ella could see, beat his wife and daughter to the door. He stopped there and caught himself. Straightening his rumpled shirt, he motioned for the ladies to precede him. Ella poked him in the ribs on the way through, and they shared a smile.

Will met them in the hallway leading to the nursery. “It’s a girl! And she’s stunning. She’s as beautiful as her mother, but with hair so dark it’s nearly black. Come see.”

Ella hadn’t seen Will smile this big since he got his driver’s license, and that smile paled in comparison. He trotted to the nursery window and looked frantic for a moment, until he spotted the nurse wheeling his daughter toward the window in her bassinet. Then his earlier smile became like the moon next to the sun. Ella almost couldn’t take her eyes off her brother long enough to look at her niece. But she did, joining her parents in beholding the beauty and wonder of this child who was part of them all.

The nurse weighed and measured the baby, who seemed to be peacefully sleeping through it all. Suddenly her dark eyes flew open, and Ella would have sworn the baby looked right at her before her little face scrunched up and she wailed mightily.

Will laughed with delight. “That’s my girl! She’ll be able to call the cows of an evening.”

They all laughed as the nurse swaddled the baby girl, who appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep with her little bow of a mouth making sucking motions. Will turned to wrap his mother in a bear hug. Dad thumped him on the back and blew his nose loudly into his ever-present handkerchief.

“What’s her name?” asked Ella, still gazing at the tiny form. Will and Laura had remained tight-lipped about names no matter how much pressure was applied.

“Virginia Anne,” Will said. “Virginia after Laura’s grandmother, and Anne since that’s yours and Mom’s middle names.”

Ella, who hadn’t really cried yet, couldn’t stop herself.

Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned his head over to touch hers. “You see, I don’t think you’re such a horrible sister after all.” They laughed again, and Ella felt as though her insides had been scrubbed clean, like the world was a wonderful place full of love and light, and nothing would ever be really wrong again.