The Wishing Jar by Penelope J. Stokes

Author:Penelope J. Stokes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

Once the child arrived, Gracie’s exhaustion immediately transformed itself into energy. She changed the linens, dressed Abigail in a fresh gown, brought a new, hand-embroidered blanket to wrap the baby in. When all was in order to her satisfaction, she opened the door and called down the stairs.

“James! Come up and see your baby girl!”

Edith heard her father take the steps two at a time with a bouncing, eager gait. He burst into the room and went straight to Abigail’s side. “Are you all right, darling?”

“I’m fine,” she murmured. “Just tired.” She pulled the blanket away from the tiny, wrinkled face. “Meet your new daughter.”

James Nelson gently reached out to stroke his daughter’s downy head. The baby’s hand flailed out, grabbed his forefinger, and held on. A light came on in his face—an expression of complete enchantment and utter tenderness. “Well,” he whispered, “how’s my little beauty?”

Tears sprang to Edith’s eyes. She couldn’t hold them back. She had always idolized her father, but when she was a girl, he invariably spent more time with her brothers—taking them to ball games, working in the wood shop, fixing things. And after Jay’s death at Normandy, all the life seemed to drain out of him. She never doubted that he cared for her, but at this moment, for the first time, she understood how deep his love went.

He leaned down and kissed Abigail. “I’ll go get our son. He should meet his new baby sister.”

In a minute or two he returned with Jay-Jay, half-asleep and a little grumpy, dragging his teddy bear by the ear. The boy rubbed his eyes and squinted at the squirming bundle in his mother’s arms.

“Here’s our new baby,” James said.

“Where’d it come from?” Jay-Jay demanded.

James and Abigail exchanged a wry glance. James chuckled. “From our love, Son—just the way you did.”

“What’s his name?”

“It’s not a he. It’s a she. A girl. A sister for you. Her name is Edith Quinn Nelson.”

Jay-Jay threw his bear on the floor and twisted his face into a grimace. “A girl? A sister? Don’t want a sister. Can we send it back and get a brother?”

James laughed. “No, Son, we can’t send her back. But you’ll like her. She’s pretty small right now, but she’ll grow up and be lots of fun.”

“Can I touch her?”

“Yes, but very gently.” James lifted the lad and settled him on the bed next to his mother.

The boy extended one finger, gingerly touched the baby’s hand, then pulled back as if he’d been burned.

“It’s all right,” his dad assured him.

He reached out again. This time, the infant grabbed his finger, just as she had done with James a few minutes before. “Whoa!” Jay-Jay breathed, awe-struck. “She’s real!”

“Yes, honey,” said Abigail, stroking his hair with her free hand. “She’s very real.”

“OK.” He scrambled off the bed and retrieved his bear. “I guess we can keep her. If I go back to bed now, will she be big enough to play with when I wake up?”

“Not quite,” his dad said. “But soon.

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