Marianne laid her head in her hands. The real estate office was empty of employees. It was past time to go home. “But what’s at home? I’ve spent my life building this company. I’ve got nobody. No one cares about me as me. I’m just the old mean boss aka slave driver. I’ve sacrificed love and family for this and where has it got me?”
A still small voice seemed to speak to her with words she couldn’t deny. “It’s not too late.”
“But it is Lord. The doctor says a few more months at most before this cancer takes me.”
“It’s not too late.”
Marianne shook her head. I wish I knew where my daughter was. I could leave her something of material value. I’ve got more money than I could ever use. The daughter she gave birth to when she was seventeen had been given up for adoption the day she was born. Marianne had not spent one day since where she did not wish she had made a different decision. As hard as it would have been to raise that little girl when she was so young herself and so alone, at least now, when she needed it most, she would have someone to love.
It was only a week until Christmas. It didn’t matter though. There was no one to buy gifts for. She hosted the annual office party every year but her salespeople came for the bonus checks she handed out, not to enjoy the holiday with her. She worked them hard, expected much and paid them well for their efforts. She was their boss, not their friend.
Later that evening a knock sounded on her door. Her house was located outside of town. Not many folks came by this way. She swung open the door to see thick snow swirling about a tall thin man whose coat didn’t look thick enough to keep out the intense cold.
“Sorry to bother you ma’am. My car broke down not far from here. Might I use your phone?”
Marianne was a little afraid to ask him into the house but she couldn’t leave him standing in the cold. “Of course.” She stood aside
She watched as the man punched in the number and waited then hung up in obvious frustration. “Just the answering machine.”
“Perhaps you could call a tow service.”
“Thank you, but I can’t wait that long.’
“A taxi then.”
“No, I can’t afford it.” The man looked as if he were close to panic. He closed his eyes for a moment and Marianne had the distinct impression that he was praying. He opened them again and looked around nervously. “Thank you for your kindness. I’ll just go back to the car and hope someone happens by soon to give us a lift into town.”
Us? Was someone waiting in the car on this cold night? “Oh my goodness. Go get whoever you’ve got with you and bring them in here where it’s warm.”
The man shook his head. “Once again, thank you, but you don’t understand. My wife, she… we’re on our way to the hospital. She thinks it’s time for the baby to arrive.”
Marianne gasped. The words came with no thought behind them. “Get your wife and I’ll go get my car started. I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
The man looked embarrassed but relieved. “Thank you.” He did not hesitate but hurried back out the front door.
Marianne grabbed her purse and car keys, meeting the man and his wife at the foot of her long driveway. The snow was coming down harder but she couldn’t think of that now. The woman moaned softly as she slid into the backseat followed by her husband. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Marianne could hear the man comforting his wife as best he could but she did not try to talk to them. It took all her concentration to drive through the snow and remain on the road. Nearly 30 minutes later she pulled under the cement canopy where the red neon sign flashed the word “EMERGENCY.”
She followed them inside and stood with them while the man answered the inevitable questions.
“Name?”
“Angel Neufeld.”
“Age?”
“26.”
“Birth date?”
“December 24th, 1985.”
Marianne gasped.
“Address?”
“1216 Martin Street.”
“Health insurance?”
“None.”
The woman behind the computer looked up. “Medical card?”
“No. I lost my job and insurance a month ago. We haven’t had time to qualify for assistance yet.”
“I see.”
Marianne couldn’t bear to hear any more. She put an arm around Angel and moved her gently to the waiting room chairs. The younger woman continued to moan, her hands pressed against her swollen belly. “It’ll be all right. Someone will be here soon to help. I’m Marianne. I’ll stay with you until your husband is done registering.”
Angel only nodded.
It seemed a long while until the man finished at the desk. “Oh, Carl,” Angel breathed. “It hurts.”
“I know honey. They’re getting a wheelchair for you to take us up to labor and delivery. It won’t be long now.”
“Will it be OK? About the insurance, I mean.”
Marianne watched as a tight look crossed his face. “Of course it will. Don’t worry about a thing but getting our baby here. God is with us.”
Angel nodded but bent in pain as another contraction must have grabbed her. Marianne wanted badly to ask more questions.
“Is there anything else I can do? What about your parents? Can I call someone?”
“We have no family near here. I…I can’t pay you for your trouble but my wife and I thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“I’m glad to do it.” A nurse arrived with the wheelchair.
“All right Mrs. Neufeld. Let’s get you upstairs.”
Marianne wondered if she was the only one who thought the nurse’s tone was a bit terse. She watched mutely as Angel was wheeled away followed closely by her husband. Perhaps she should stay, make sure everything went OK. But the Neufeld’s hadn’t asked her to. How would Mr. Neufeld get home? Perhaps he would be here all night waiting for the baby to be born.
Angel was born the very day she gave birth to the daughter that had gone up for adoption. Angel had the same color hair and eyes as Mark Kendrick, the boy she had thought herself in love with all those years ago. No. It wasn’t possible and she wouldn’t let herself think about that day. She would never know her daughter this side of heaven.
Marianne thought about the address the Neufelds had given. 1216 Martin. She’d sold a house in that neighborhood not long ago. Old stately homes but most of them had become rundown and rather shabby looking. What were they doing out by my house when they live here in town?
I planned it that way.
Who said that? Marianne almost turned around but she knew no one was there. All at once she knew what she had to do. She found her credit card and approached the registration desk.
Two days later Carl Neufeld watched his wife as she held their newborn daughter in her arms. Odd how the kind lady who had given them a ride had the same off center bend to the upper lip when she smiled. He wished he’d remembered to get her name before she left. “I’ll be right back, Sweetheart. I have to pay the bill and call a cab.”
Angel’s smile faded. “But how…?”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.”
Carl trudged down the white tiled hallway. Somehow he would have to arrange with the billing office for a payment plan. He had less than $20 in his pocket and the bank account was overdrawn. He’d been praying all morning that he had enough to pay for the taxi. “Oh God, please help me,” he whispered pleadingly.
He approached the payment window. “Uh, I’m Carl Neufeld. My wife is Angel Neufeld. Maternity floor. She’s been released.”
He waited for the smile on the woman’s face to fade as she punched the keys on her computer. “Oh yes, Mr. Neufeld. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. I see your account has been paid in full.”
Carl’s mouth fell open but before he could protest the woman continued. “Here you’ll need this.” She tore a perforated form from her clipboard. “Just hand this to the dismissal nurse. Oh, and I have something else for you.”
She reached into her desk drawer and handed him an envelope. “It’s in the east parking lot. Good luck with that new baby. Thank you Mr. Neufeld.”
In a daze, Carl accepted the items she handed him and slowly turned away. Paid in full? East parking lot? There had to be some mistake. He clutched the envelope. Something hard was inside. He tore off the edge causing keys to fall out and jingle as they hit the floor. He bent to retrieve them. Car keys. His car keys and the extra house key. His key ring with the onyx inset his father gave him before he died. He must have left them in the ignition the night the car stalled.
How…? He turned back to look at the pay window but the cashier was now busy with someone else. He shrugged tossed the keys into the air, caught them in his fist and placed them in his pocket. No way would he find his car in the east parking lot but he had to look. He opened the glass doors on the east side of the hospital and his gaze traveled around the parking lot. Yes, right there in the third row set his blue Chevy, freshly washed and waxed if he wasn’t mistaken.
He loped to the driver’s door, unlocked it and crawled in. Hardly daring to breathe he turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life. Now why couldn’t it do that two days ago when he was trying to get Angel to the hospital in the snowstorm? Caught out in the country like that, delivering the pine cone wreath to the cemetery where Angel’s adoptive parents were buried. “Thank you, God.” He didn’t understand any of this but he did believe in answered prayer.
An hour later he pulled into their driveway. Home looked wonderful. He hadn’t left the hospital since the night little Michelle was born. He’d slept on a cot in Angel’s room. He had the same clothes on he was wearing the night of the storm. He’d eaten only what Angel didn’t eat from her hospital meals. He’d saved every cent he could just to get his wife and daughter home. He hoped they had enough food to get them through the next few days.
“Stay here, honey. I’ll get her in the house then come help you.”
He got out of the car and unstrapped the baby from her hospital issued car seat. Holding her carefully, wrapped in blankets against the cold, he opened the front door and flipped on the light. Then he simply stared. The walls were freshly painted. New carpeting had been laid and new furniture filled the rooms. A huge decorated Christmas tree stood in the corner, piles of wrapped packages beneath it.
Maybe I have the wrong house. But no, there was their wedding picture on the end table and the books lining the new bookshelves were the ones that belonged to him and Angel. As if seeing it all for the first time, Carl walked through each room of the house and stared. Everything was changed. Everything that had been old and shabby was now new and fresh. When he came to the room they prepared for the baby he stood stock still, his mouth gaping. The plain white walls had been papered in light pink with frills, ruffles, lace and baby dolls. New white carpeting felt soft and spongy under his feet. The old baby crib they found at the Goodwill store had been replaced by a beautiful new crib with new pink bedding and bumper pads. A mobile hung from the ceiling. A changing table against the wall was stacked with diapers, baby powder and other supplies. The closet door stood ajar revealing tiny outfits of various colors and sizes. A shelf full of stuffed animals ran the length of the wall and a brand new walnut rocking chair sat near the crib.
Feeling himself go weak in the knees, Carl laid the sleeping Michelle in the new crib and then wiped the tears from his eyes. He heard a slight sound from the doorway and turned to see Angel staring at him. Oh no! I left her sitting in the car. How long ago was that?
She came to him and stood staring at him, tears coursing down her cheeks. He stared blankly back at her. He had no explanations for the questions in her eyes.
At that moment the phone rang. Carl hurried to the kitchen to answer it. As he spoke on the phone, Angel joined him in the kitchen and he watched her opening cupboards and the new refrigerator, revealing fully stocked shelves and cases of baby formula piled in the laundry room beside the new washer and dryer. She thumbed through the contents of a thick folder lying on the new counter top, her eyes wide.
“Yes. Thank you, sir. I’ll see you then.” He hung up the phone and pulled his wife into his arms. “I start work at the Larsen Construction Company day after New Years. I’ll be making more money than I ever did at Crandall’s. Family health insurance is provided.”
“Did you apply there?”
“Yes, a couple weeks ago. They said they had no openings.”
She motioned to the folder. “Contracts, all marked paid. New siding, new windows, new roof, landscaping, all scheduled for next spring. Carl, how did all this happen?”
“I don’t know.” He sank into one of the chairs around the new kitchen table. For the first time he noticed a small white envelope propped against the wooden napkin holder. With shaking fingers he reached for it.
Making your lives a little brighter has brightened mine more than you’ll ever know. Thanking you from the bottom of my heart.
“It’s not signed?”
“No.”
“Carl, we have an angel. Our very own angel.”
Carl looked into the eyes of his wife, still full of glistening tears. “I already have an Angel. And a Michelle. And an incredibly awesome God.”
