Momentary Marriage(74)

After traversing a number of carpeted hallways, they found his sister’s room, the door open wide.

“Come in,” Mary welcomed them, coming forward to hug them both. “Come see our new little bundle.”

The small room at first seemed crammed with people, but Kelsey soon recognized it was only close family. Jared’s brother and wife, their children and Carla’s husband all stood and sat around the hospital bed. The largest chair on the far side of the bed was occupied by Jared’s father. Tom Barrett held a small, quiet bundle in his steady arms, a beaming smile on his face.

Jared made his way to the hospital bed, bending down to hug his sister carefully before reaching out to playfully spar with her husband. Mike feinted in response, both men laughing in the way of male bonding.

“She’s beautiful, Kelsey,” Jared’s mother said, drawing her forward to stand next to Tom and peer down at the swaddled baby.

Her breath feeling like a swelling balloon inside her, Kelsey looked down at the tiny pink face, the steady dark eyes startlingly like Jared.

“She is beautiful.” There was no keeping the husky tone out of her voice. Glancing at Carla, Kelsey asked, “What are you naming her?”

Carla’s face took on a comical expression. “We’re not sure yet! We have several names we like, but I think we’ve narrowed it down to Amelia or Nellie, after one of our grandmothers. We just can’t decide which grandmother!”

“They’re both wonderful names,” Kelsey said, kneeling next to Tom and reaching out to stroke one finger over the back of the baby’s small hand. The long, slender fingers curled against the blanket, the baby’s skin soft as rose petals.

“Well, Sis,” Brian teased, his own toddler daughter wiggling in his arms, “this is just the first of many difficult parenting decisions. Get used to it.”

“She certainly is a peaceful little thing,” Mary commented, brushing her fingers over the child’s dark hair. “She must like being held by her Grandpa.”

Tom smiled down at Amelia/Nellie. “The first of many occasions together, I’m sure.”

He looked up then, exchanging a quick, intimate glance with his wife.

“We’re holding you to that,” Mike said, laughing as he stood beside his wife’s hospital bed, her hand caught in his.

Still kneeling at Tom’s feet, Kelsey was quiet, half-choked on the warmth and laughter in the room. She’d seen her own mother marry and live with six different men. Even though she couldn’t remember her own parents together, she knew they hadn’t shared an ounce of Tom and Mary Barrett’s love for each other.

Why couldn’t this happen for Amy? For herself?

Here, surrounded by what felt like genuine affection and love, Kelsey struggled with widely divergent emotions. This felt so good, so happy and grounded. She loved being with this group of people…and she found herself filled with longing to really belong with them.

At the same time, it seemed so incredibly unfair that they had this kind of life together when so many families were filled with hatred and anger.

“Here, Dad,” Jared said, coming around the bed. He reached down for the baby. “Let me have a turn.”

Scooping the now-sleeping Amelia/Nellie up, he balanced the small bundle in his hands as easily as a football.

“You can take the chair,” Tom said, getting up and moving to slide an arm around his wife. They stood together, smiling fondly at the baby in their son’s arms.

Jared sat down, cradling the infant close, completely at ease. Next to him, Kelsey wondered when she’d get over the astonishment she felt seeing him this way. More and more men were connected with their children these days. It wasn’t such an unusual thing in a man anymore. But seeing Jared holding the baby so comfortably, his fingers brushing first over her cheek, then stroking her elegant long fingers, made Kelsey go warm inside.

Still standing next to his wife’s bed, Mike bent down and kissed her. “We’ve done a pretty good job, sweetie. Don’t you think?”

Carla glanced fondly at her new daughter. “Pretty good.”

A shaft of intense longing pierced Kelsey. She wanted this, wanted it to be as real for her as it seemed now to be for Carla and Mike.

But was it real? Was this kind of picture perfect moment ever real?

How long would it be before dirty diapers and a wailing baby built resentment between them? How long before one or the other of them grew bored with playing family?

Kelsey had friends with children. As sweet and lovely as babies were, they brought strain to a marriage, further weakening the fragile, temporary bonds of love.

Had her own father stood beside his wife’s hospital bed on the occasion of her birth, Kelsey wondered. Had they projected this same loving, blissful unity? How long had it taken for the moment to wear off? Not two years later, they’d split up and her father had disappeared from her life.