Her sister relaxed against her. “She’s all right?”
The baby let out a lustful cry.
With a laugh, Peter nodded. “I’ll say. She’s healthy and breathing well ... and she’s abigbaby.”
“Look at those chubby cheeks!” Whitney watched as Peter passed the baby to Havyn. “And she has red hair!” Her squeal couldn’t be contained.
Havyn’s face showed her pure awe. “I told John that if it was a girl, I wanted to name her after Mama.” She looked up at Whitney.
Whitney’s eyes watered. “Melissa. Mama would be so honored.”
“Melissa Joy,” Havyn said. “To remind us to grab onto God’s joy each and every day.”
“I love it.” Sweet tears rolled down her cheeks.Oh, Mama, can you see this? You would be so proud.
“Would you go get John for me so he can meet his daughter?”
She nodded.
Peter’s smile stretched across his face as he beamed at Havyn. “Good job, Mama. Looks like we were a bit off on the due date, but she’s healthy.” He wiped his hands on a towel and gave Whitney a long look.
So much passed between them without a word spoken. The blessing and miracle of birth. The relief that both mama and baby were well. The joy of getting married tomorrow. The hope for their own future.
They’d come a long way together. And she wouldn’t change a thing. Even the hard lessons learned. Because she’d found this man and for the first time understood unconditional love.
Whitney walked through the double doors of the brand-new church building. Even though the furnishings hadn’t been built yet, the crowd didn’t seem to mind standing. They split down the middle to allow her passage.
Today she would marry the man she loved.
Then they would take the dogs out into the wilds and camp under the stars for several days. It was the perfect honeymoon.
As she stared at him, she loved the way he smiled at her.
A small cry drew her attention away.
The congregation laughed at the newest member of the family making her presence known.
Up at the front of the room stood her family.
John and Havyn with baby Melissa. Daniel and Madysen. Ruth with her kids who’d arrived from Colorado. Eli and Bethany. She could almost picture Granddad and Mama looking down from heaven and smiling.
Their family was growing. The farm was thriving. The future would certainly hold trials, but she wouldn’t want to face it with anyone else.
“I’m so proud of you. Thank you for asking me to walk you down the aisle.” Dad leaned in and smiled down at her.
“Thanks, Dad. I know I haven’t been the easiest to get along with, but thank you for forgiving me and showing me what true grace really means. If you hadn’t come back, I don’t know how I would have made it.”
Tears gathered in his eyes, and he blinked several times. “Oh, you would have done fine. You always have.”
Whitney turned to him. Even though her sisters were playing the piece she was supposed to be walking down to, this was important. “No, Dad.Ihaven’t. I know I made you think that I didn’t need you—that I didn’t need anyone. But that was a sham. Remember when I was little and one of the mines collapsed? It shook the ground like a huge earthquake. You used to always talk about how unshakable I was because I stood in the middle of the street with my hands fisted at my sides and didn’t fall down like the rest of the town. From that moment on, I took it on as my job to be strong for everyone else. To take care of others. To be ever constant, in case anyone needed me. But if I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that the only One who is ever constant is God. That means I need to rely on Him and not myself. For too long, I did it my way. But not anymore.”
He wrapped her in a big hug. “You’re right, sweetheart. Thank you for the reminder.”
Turning back to the front, she gave Peter a smile. They had wanted to inaugurate the church with their wedding. After everything the town had been through the past few months, they needed something positive.
“Let’s get you down to your groom.”
She nodded and walked in step with her dad.
