Chapter Thirty-five
June, 1934
One year later
Annette wiped Annie’s brow with a soft cloth. “Everything is going so well, Annie. You’re almost there.”
Annie stared up at her mother with pain-filled eyes. “I can’t do it anymore, Mama. I can’t. It hurts too much.”
“Every woman who ever gave birth said the same thing. You can do it. That baby will be here in a few minutes at this rate.”
Annie looked at Coren, sitting at the end of the bed. She could tell he was fighting bad memories and his own personal fears. She didn’t have the strength to be strong for both of them. She watched him swallow down his fear and give her a reassuring smile.
Coren reached for her hand and interlocked his fingers with hers. “Your mother is correct, Annie. I can see the head. Our baby has a headful of hair already.”
Those words were all the motivation Annie needed. A few minutes later, Annie’s son entered the world, and let everyone know he’d arrived with loud, lusty cries.
Annie fell back against the pillows, laughing and crying. Coren wiped the baby down, wrapped him in a towel, and handed him to his mother. The past, painful hours were forgotten as Annie saw her son for the first time. Everything else faded into the background.
“He looks like Papa,” said Annie, taking in her son’s dark hair and broad face that tapered into a pointy chin.
“That he does,” said Annette. She sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.
“I think we should call him Jean, after Papa,” said Annie.
Coren washed his hands and climbed onto the bed to sit next to Annie and examine his son. “We did talk about naming him after our fathers. I like Jean. It fits him.”
Annette bustled from the room on the pretense of putting in a load of laundry. Coren wrapped his arm around Annie and kissed her on her temple. Annie lifted her face to his and he kissed her on the lips.
“You were amazing, Annie. He’s here with all his fingers and toes. You’re doing fine. I have to admit, I’m more relieved than I wanted to let on earlier.”
Annie passed the baby to her husband and rested her head on his shoulder. “I could tell you were worried.”
“I probably always will from now on.”
“You’re already planning the next baby?” Annie chuckled. “Don’t get ahead of yourself there, mister. We already have six children.”
“Yes we do. The other five are going to want to see this one. You should try feeding him, then we’ll get you both cleaned up and you can rest for a while before they come home.”
Annie took baby Jean from his father. “Do you remember a long time ago when we were talking about dreams? This is my dream come true. You. Jean. Ava, Danny, Ezra, Vivian, and Darren. You are all my dream.”
“You’re my dream, too,” said Coren. “I love you, Annie.” He tightened his arms around his wife and newborn son and thanked God for the gifts he’d been given.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my beta readers, Rachel Miller, Suzy Oakley, Kris Loomis, and Judy Sutton. Your suggestions were invaluable and I took every one of them to heart.
Thank you to every one of my ARC readers. You guys are a huge help getting this book out there, into the wild, where people can read and enjoy it.
Thank you James, investing in my goals and ambitions. I love that you are holding out for that Hallmark movie deal, even when I stubbornly refuse to consider it an option. Maybe one of these days we’ll reach a compromise on this issue. I love you! <3
Thank you, Indestructible Author accountability group. You guys are a constant motivation and help.
Thanks to the Create If group and our fearless leader, Kirsten. You all inspire me to try things I wouldn’t otherwise attempt.
Finally, I’m so thankful to God for giving me six healthy children, born during a time when diseases like measles, polio, and scarlet fever are a thing of the past. I can’t imagine living under the threat of those diseases.
About the Author
Anna grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. She started writing when she was in kindergarten. She wrote her first novel when she was nine years old. Her dream was to grow up to be a "real" writer. In 2011, she participated in her first NaNoWriMo and finished her first “real” novel and the dream became a reality. She has participated every year since.
Today, Anna lives with her husband and six children in Uganda, East Africa. They teach and help refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo and have four churches in the refugee camp. She and her family visit the United States from time to time, but her heart is in Africa. However, she loves St. Louis so much aspects of the city figure in many of her books. She writes when she can steal a minute - primarily during NaNoWriMo every November and any other time she can fit it into her schedule.
Anna blogs at www.annahuckabee.com, where you can find stories of her life in Africa and the books she’s written.
Other Books by the Author
Lincoln Square Series:
Talents
Door of Hope
Love In Time Series:
Promising Meg (set in post-WW1 America)
Choosing Nellie (set in the Roaring 20s)
Admiring Emily (set in the Great Depression)
All these can be found on Anna’s Website or on amazon.com.
Loving Annie Page 18