Free From – Chapter 14 – July 14th

I hope you will join me this month as we JOURNEY each day through our short story. It is about finding FREEDOM in the midst of all the captivating pieces in life that steal our peace which we need FREE FROM!

FREE FROM
July 14, 2021

1 Corinthians 13:13, ‘Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.’ (TPT)

Chapter 14

Life was good. Breize eventually mellowed out and became a delight. She was a breathtaking little girl who didn’t like the cold or surprises or her daddy to leave for work. He was smitten with her, and he didn’t like to have to leave his girls at home to go to work either. Sooner or later, Annie would return to her nursing, but Legend’s boss gave him more responsibility and authority and steady pay increases which allowed her to stay home for now.
Breize was a joy. No one could help but notice her for her piercing blue eyes, so inevitably, everyone she met became enchanted by her quirky little personality. Her favorite overture was how she would twist her hands and fold them, then refold them in her lap, followed with a really deep sigh or several, and she’d say ‘Ummmm,’ as if she had a lot on her mind to decide. She did have a temper when things didn’t go just as she planned, and for such a tiny little thing, she sure had lots of plans developing in that head of hers.
Just when they settled into family and figured life out as ‘We Are Three’, a twinge sent Annie running to the bathroom several mornings in a row. It didn’t take her long to formulate the calendar and figure out the nasty film on her tongue and green sheen on her face; not to mention the tenderness in her breasts when Breize nursed or how she felt she was dragging herself down an exhausted dirt road on a kid’s scooter and not making it anywhere no matter how hard her feet pumped.
The day she succumbed and took the pregnancy test, she crumpled in a heap and cried steady the entire time Breize napped. When she described it to Legend later in the evening, after they both had stared at one another, shell-shocked and suspended between joy and trepidation, excitement and disbelief, she painted a pretty vivid picture for him. He hadn’t quite understood her upsetedness. He had to admit, once he got over the surprise, he was pretty stoked.
But she reminded him they had never planned one kid let alone two! Quietly, she murmured, feeling so selfish, her fear that she’d never make it back to her career. Shyly, she added that she was good at nursing by the way, and she already felt like she had been lost a little in the monotony of baby bottles and diapers and six o’clock dinners on the table; her life tumbling endlessly like the gazillion loads of laundry in the dryer. She had just been dreaming of dry-cleaned uniforms and a schedule she could keep and cushioned shoes that matched. Now this! Legend nodded sympathetically.
Could they juggle two kids? What about Breize who was the love of their existence…where in the world were they to find enough love for another baby? Wouldn’t one or the other suffer from lack of attention, and speaking of that, how could they ever have enough attention and patience and ability to spread between two when they consistently worried they were failing just one bright blue-eyed little girl who wore her daddy on her wrist like a bracelet.
Just then Breize toddled into the living room where Annie lay on Legend’s lap, a tear drying on her cheek. “I ‘ove ‘ou, Mummy and Daddy.” Breize had just mastered blowing and catching kisses, so she blew a juicy one smack on Annie’s face, erupting in giggles. She braced herself, then kissing her fingers in grand foray, she flung her hand in the air, and Annie reached out and snatched the magic kiss, blowing one back.
Finally, “Well, I guess if I am going to change someone’s diapers, it might as well be my own kid’s, right? And if I must bandage someone’s owies and wait on someone’s needs, it should be for my own family.” And just like that, the thrill began and the exultation for Baby Number Two grew.

To Be Continued…