by Dee Lorraine
It’s early Saturday morning, Trisha’s 35th birthday. She’s in the bathroom, reading the instructions on the box as if she did not know them by heart.
“Two pink lines mean you are pregnant. One pink line means you are not pregnant.”
Holding her breath, she checks her test stick.
One pink line, again. The same result as in the previous 11 months.
“Trish, are you all right in there?”
Bob knows what his wife’s silence means.
When Trisha returns to their bed, Bob hugs her and wipes her tears with a tissue. He kisses her gently on the lips, knowing it’s not enough to erase the ring of disappointment surrounding her heart.
“I’ve been praying and doing everything the doctor said. And everywhere I look, I see pregnant women. Why not me?”
“Everything in its season, Trish. God’s timing is perfect. We’ll keep trying. Maybe it’ll happen next month. I love you.”
She nods and sighs. “I love you, too. I’ll get our coffee and fix breakfast.”
“It’s your birthday. I’ll do it. You relax.”
“No, I’ll feel better getting up and on with the day.”
“Do you want your gift now?”
“No thanks, Hon. I’ll wait until later if you don’t mind.”
Trisha heads to the kitchen in her bathrobe and slippers. Bob lingers to pray alone.
“Dear God, I believe my wife will be a great mother. If it is Your Will, allow her to prove it. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”
Bob heads downstairs as the doorbell rings.
“Hon, can you get the door? I don’t want to go in my robe.”
“I’m coming down now.”
Bob looks through the peephole, but no one is there. He opens the door, glances down at the steps, and sees a hand-printed note with a big blue bow pinned to a diaper bag. Next to it, a carrier car seat cradles a wide-eyed infant wrapped in a blue blanket.
He reads the note.
“I didn’t want an abortion, but I’m not ready to be a mother. Please take my baby. God bless you. Happy Birthday.”
“Trisha, you need to see this.”
Dee Lorraine writes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and is drafting her first novel. Her work appears in Agape Review, Friday Flash Fiction, Midwest Book Review, The Birdseed, and 101 Words. Dee’s YouTube channel “Superfast Stories” features her videos of writers’ 100-word stories; “Provoke Unto Love” promotes a Christ-centered permanent solution to homelessness in the USA.
Agape Review 
This time the cradle is a car seat, but a blessing, nevertheless. It is certainly the greatest gift that Trisha could have asked for. A beautiful reminder of the Christ child.
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