I look around my little house for the last time of it just being mine. When I come home, I’m going to have a baby with me. Margie is going to stay here with us until she leaves for school. This way, she can nurse the baby and have some nice bonding time with her. After all, she will be an important part of our daughter’s life.
After getting into the car, I attach my phone to Bluetooth and call Noah. He’s at the gym with one of his camps. When he doesn’t answer, I leave a message. It’s nearly impossible to hear a phone ring with all those balls bouncing.
I pull up to my parents’ house in less than a minute and Margie is already waiting at the curb with my parents. My dad helps her into the passenger side, and my mom tells her, “We’ll be right behind you, honey! You’re going to do great!”
Once my dad closes her door, I ask, “You ready?”
“Oh, yeah. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks and I’m sick of peeing every thirty minutes. Let’s get this baby out of me already!” She groans loudly, so I know she’s been hit with a contraction.
I put the pedal to the metal and get us to the hospital in two minutes flat. Pulling up to the front door, I find a wheelchair forMargie and push her inside to register. Jordan is already there, waiting for her.
He kneels down next to her and asks, “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m good,” she tells him with more stoicism than any eighteen-year-old girl should have to possess.
“I’ll be right here if you need me,” he says. Poor Jordan knows he really dropped the ball with Margie, but I’m proud of him that he didn’t desert her during this pregnancy like we all thought he was going to at the beginning.
The nurse calls Margie’s name right away. “You ready to have a baby?” she asks Margie.
“I really am.” Another contraction hits which makes me wonder if she isn’t farther into her labor than I thought.
Looking at me, the nurse asks, “Are you Margie’s sister?”
Margie reaches back and puts her hand on mine. “She’s the baby’s mother.”
Tears immediately spring to my eyes. I’m about to become a mom. My biggest dream in life is about to come true. It’s more emotion than I can contain and I let out a loud sob of joy.
“Okay, moms,” the nurse says. “Let’s go take you to have a baby.”
By the time Margie is settled in her room and has been examined, it’s already time for her to start pushing. No one else is allowed into the room, although every time the door opens for medical staff to come and go, I can hear my mom. The first time, she yelled, “But I’m the grandmother! Of course I should be in there!”
As time progressed, she settled down a bit and would call out, “I love you, girls! You’ve got this!”
Ninety-two minutes after we arrived, Margie gave birth to our daughter. Hope Faith Rogers. Hope as a reminder to never give up hope. Faith, for my old boss at Rosemary’s, and because no matter what, you should never lose faith.
After cleaning up Hope, the nurse brings her back. She looksbetween me and Margie, uncertain who to hand her to. I reach out for her and once I have her, I hand her to Margie. “Are you sure?” she asks, sounding uncertain.
“Margie,” I tell her, “we’ve already decided that you’re more than Hope’s birth mother. You are her family, and you will always have a place in her life.”
Margie takes our daughter in her arms like she’s delicate porcelain. “She’s so pretty.” Studying her, she adds, “She has Jordan’s chin. Stubborn.”
Sitting down on the mattress next to her, I tell her, “Yes, but she has your eyes and lips. She’s perfect.”
We stare at our miracle for long minutes, when another nurse comes in and declares, “There are three women out there who claim to be the baby’s grandmother. Who do you want me to send in?”
Margie and I share a meaningful look, and I tell the nurse, “Let them all come.”
The room is full for the next hour with Jordan, assorted grandparents, along with Decan and Leah. Everyone who sees Hope falls in immediate love with her. So much so that both Margie and Jordan’s parents ask if they will be allowed to get to know the baby.
I assure them they are all our family, and as such, they are all welcome in Hope’s life. This baby has worked magic by bringing all of these people together, and her reward will be having a veritable village who loves her.
Margie starts to get very tired, so the nurse takes the baby to the nursery. I tell our assorted guests, “Okay, family, let’s give Margie a chance to get some sleep.”
I’ve barely scooted them all out of the room when Noah shows up. He’s sweaty and looks like he’s run here all the way from the gym. In a panic, he asks, “Did I miss it?”
I nod my head. “Hope Faith Rogers is in the house. She’s amazing.”
Noah leans in and gives me the sweetest kiss before saying, “I think you should change her name.”
