His Mistletoe Family

by Ruth Logan Herne

  Old news. Move on.

  The boys’ combined laughter reminded him he’d been moving on, albeit slowly. Until Thanksgiving, that is, when change careened full steam ahead.

  They carefully placed the bags of ornaments alongside the lights in the back of the SUV. “And now—” Brett aimed his gaze down “—we get the tree.”

  “Yes!” Tyler fist-pumped the air.

  Todd hugged Brett’s leg. “I promise I will l-l-love this tree, Brett!”

  Tyler’s eyes went wide at the sight of the Greens and Gardens Christmas tree farm a quarter-hour later. Big, beautiful, sprawling spruces and firs filled the grassy lot. A barn wall was hung with wreaths of all styles, from simple to elaborate. Red ribbons danced in the cold wind, a sign that the steady rain might finally turn into snow. Brett and his mother made sure the boys’ boots, mittens and hats were fastened snugly before they moved into the forest of pre-cut trees.

  The boys stared, round-eyed. “What if we like them all?” Tyler wondered out loud.

  Brett grinned, grasped his hand and leaned down. “One will stand out. Talk to us. We’ll know for certain that it’s the right one because we’ll feel so good inside.”

  “Really?” Tyler turned wide eyes to Brett’s.

  “I promise.”

  “Okay.” Tyler wriggled his hand free and strode down the rows, a hand cupped to his ear, pausing now and again. He paused before a monster tree and tipped his gaze up, up, up.

  “I love it, too, Ty, but it won’t fit in Aunt Haley’s living room.”

  “I know.” Tyler’s eyes swept the massive tree. “But someday I would like to live in a house and have a big ol’ tree like this to decorate.”

  Joanna’s winsome smile said she understood the little boy’s dream, and their combined looks had Brett imagining all kinds of things. A big living room overlooking the woods. A huge tree, decked out for Christmas. Two little boys playing with model trains and dinosaurs, wearing camouflage clothes and rolling around a soft, thick carpet.

  “‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on...’” Shakespeare’s quote embodied the moment, the look in a little boy’s eyes as he allowed himself to dream once more. One way or another, Brett was determined not to let him down.

  They found a smaller version of the huge tree, strapped it to the top of the SUV, stopped for chicken nuggets along the way and got home with plenty of time for naps while Brett and Joanna struggled the tree into its holder and applied the lights. By the time the boys woke up, the tree was ready to decorate.

  “But we don’t have time to decorate and make the handmade ornaments you suggested,” Brett noted to his mother. He lifted the bag of supplies she had him buy.

  Joanna attached the bag to the handle of her purse. “We’ll make the ornaments another day soon, when Haley’s working. Then the boys can wrap them and give them to her for Christmas.”

  “That’s perfect, Mom.” Brett smiled down at her, then gave her an impromptu hug, a hug that surprised them both but felt good. Real good. “I couldn’t have gotten all this done without your help.”

  “And the ten strings of lights?” she noted, smiling.

  He couldn’t deny it. “The tree looks happy.”

  “Indeed it does. ‘I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree.’” Joanna smiled as she quoted Joyce Kilmer. Her phrasing resurrected something else. Her love of reading had instilled a similar quality in Brett. He’d forgotten that, but seeing her sober, quoting old poems and wiping little boys’ faces made him remember the mother she could have been. And maybe could be again.

  “Would you like to stay for supper, Mom?”

  She turned, faltered, then shook her head. “Not this time, but thank you. Sue is going to the seven o’clock meeting at the old Oddfellows Lodge hall, so I’m going to tag along. If you can get me home, that is.”

  “Glad to.” He corralled the two excited boys, took his mother back to Wellsville, grabbed bologna for supper and got the boys back to the apartment just before Haley was due to close up the co-op. If everything worked out well, Haley Jennings was about to get the surprise of a lifetime.

  * * *

  Plumbing fixed: Check! And in time for not too much inconvenience. And at no cost because the system was under warranty.

  Haley glanced at her watch, saw it was midafternoon and was tempted to run next door to visit Brett and the boys, but the volume of shoppers advised against it.

  Moments later, Mrs. Foster sidled up alongside her and touched Haley’s arm. “Don’t get nervous,” she whispered.

  Haley’s alarm buttons spiked instantaneously.

  “And don’t look behind you.”

  Of course she did. And saw nothing.

  Mrs. Foster leaned closer. “The other way. To my right. A young woman with a big coat.”

  Big coats on small people equated shoplifting in a retail establishment, and busy co-ops were easy targets because of the tight exhibit areas, large numbers of small, pocketable display items and throngs of people at holiday time.

  Haley swept the row of miniature shops a casual look. A young woman in a too-big coat stood off to the side of a jewelry display. One hand reached out to stroke the handmade jewelry. Her face softened in appreciation. She lifted the piece, considered it, then set it back down as a look of pain contorted her expression.

  Haley rushed forward.

  So did Mrs. Foster.

  “Come with me,” Haley told the young woman. She took her arm and led her to the first-floor office as Mrs. Foster flanked the young woman’s other side. “Sit down.” Haley bent low, concerned and uncertain. She’d dealt with older folks having spells in Lewisburg, and she’d called the ambulance more than once while working there, but this was a young woman, barely out of her teens. What could possibly be wrong with—

  The coat gaped, revealing a very pregnant belly.

  Mrs. Foster sighed in commiseration.

  Haley drew up a chair alongside the girl. “Honey, are you in labor?”

  The girl sighed and gulped. Then she nodded. Fear and despair marked her young features, and Haley had the strongest urge to hug her.

  She didn’t. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

  The girl shrank back. “I can’t.”

  “Of course you can,” Mrs. Foster announced. “Because that baby’s ready to be born.”

  “No, I can’t.” The girl put emphasis on the last word. “I have no money, no insurance. I thought it would be all right, but then—” Another wave of pain stopped her, midsentence. Mrs. Foster counted softly as the young woman puffed air, and at that moment Haley would forever count Tina Foster as a new BFF. Left on her own with a young woman in labor, she’d have caved. Tina’s presence bolstered her.

  “But then?” Haley asked when the pain diminished. By a rough estimate it had been about eight minutes since the last one.

  “I tried calling you.”

  Haley sat back, puzzled. “Me?”

  “Yes.” The girl nodded, one hand mindlessly twisting a hank of the large coat. “I thought maybe...”

  Haley leaned closer. “Do I know you?”

  Tears glistened in the girl’s dark brown eyes, eyes that reminded Haley of...

  “I’m Fiona.”

  Her father. Their father, she corrected herself. Anthony had gotten those dark brown eyes, too. Haley’s brain tripped, sighed and dived back into gear as she grasped Fiona’s hands. “This is a crazy way to meet, sis.”

  The tears Fiona had held at bay started flowing. Mrs. Foster cradled an arm around her and handed her a clutch of tissues. “There, there. It will all be fine, just fine. We just need to get you to the hospital, honey, then we’ll figure everything out from there.”

  “But—”

  “No buts.” Haley
gripped her younger sister’s hands and stood. “Tina, I’m going to drive her myself. Care to come?” She hoped her eyes showed how much she desperately wanted the older woman’s wealth of experience alongside.

  “Glad to.” Tina flipped open her cell phone. “I’ll let Stan and Lisa know where we’re off to.”

  Fiona.

  Pregnant.

  Here.

  Haley was having trouble wrapping her brain around those simple facts. Any help Tina could give was a wonderful blessing.

  As they reached the parking lot, indecision paused Haley’s steps. Neither Tina nor Fiona would have an easy time crawling into the backseat of her convertible.

  “My car.” Tina pointed left and jangled a set of keys in her pocket. She hadn’t bothered going downstairs for a coat, and the temperature had dropped significantly.

  Haley led Fiona across the slick lot, tucked her into the backseat and squeezed her hand as she slid in next to her. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Surreal. That’s how Haley felt as a medical team took turns buzzing in and out of the labor room.

  “This is all normal, honey.” Tina clasped Haley’s hand as Fiona’s contractions grew closer, sharper and stronger. “We’ll just pray this baby into a safe delivery, you and me.”

  “Luckily I can pray while Fiona has a death grip on my arm,” Haley joked weakly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Fiona released her hold. Dismay colored an already-blotched face, the efforts of labor making themselves known. “I didn’t mean to grip so tight, Haley. Honest.”

  “She was kidding, dearie.” Tina sponged Fiona’s face with a cool cloth. “You grab on as tight as you need, but don’t tense up. Just relax and breathe. Remember, each contraction brings you a few minutes closer to holding that baby.”

  Baby.

  Reality blindsided Haley. In a few minutes, another life would join the planet. A new life, tiny. Untarnished. A sweet baby boy or girl, niece or nephew. Unfortunately in their family, messing kids up had become the norm, not the exception.

  “Fiona, do we know what the baby is? A boy or a girl?”

  She shook her head. Shame clouded her tired eyes. “I went to the clinic early on, but...” She frowned and sighed. “My mother kicked me out. Said I was a disgrace and there wasn’t room for me in her new place. That if I was going to make it, I’d have to make it on my own.”

  Haley’s heart went wide. What was it with parents disowning their children? First her father... Then Angi’s parents, splitting up and going their own separate ways, leaving Angi with no help following Anthony’s death. Her own mother, more concerned with appearance than with substance. Wasn’t anything real anymore? Substantial? Grounded in love, rooted in faith?

  Brett’s face came to her. The gentle, tough, rugged countenance a perfect blend.

  But he’d had a child he didn’t see, too. A boy who grew up with an absentee father. Did it make a difference that he was serving his country and couldn’t see Joe on a regular basis? Or was that a convenient excuse?

  A strong contraction twisted Fiona’s features. Haley held her hand while Tina called the nurse. From their expression, Haley figured the moment had arrived.

  She was right. Within ten minutes a tiny, wriggling, yowling baby girl was delivered into the waiting arms of a nice medical crew and a very unlikely family.

  “Oh.” Fiona’s eyes filled again as she grasped the baby girl. “Oh, she’s so beautiful.”

  “She is.” Haley bent and touched a finger to the softest skin she’d ever known. “Oh, she is, Fiona.”

  “Does she have a name?” wondered Tina.

  Fiona frowned. “No.”

  “You haven’t decided on a name?” Haley asked. “I could get you one of those baby books that list all the names. Would you like one?”

  “No.” Fiona breathed softly, traced the baby’s face with one finger and shook her head. “I can’t keep her.”

  Tina’s gaze flew to Haley’s. Both women swallowed hard. “You mean, you’re giving her up?” Tina sat down with a plunk alongside the bed. “For adoption?”

  “Yes.”

  Haley’s brain had misfired at the thought of having her sister suddenly appear and give birth, but to wrap her mind around this new train of thought...

  “Fiona, have you thought about this?” She sat opposite Tina and put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Have you examined all the options?”

  “They’re precious and few when you’re nineteen years old, unmarried and your greatest claim to fame is a cosmetology license from the state of Arizona.”

  Arizona. The phone calls.

  “You were the one who called me with that Arizona number.”

  Fiona nodded. “I was too afraid to tell you who it was. Why I was calling. And then this morning I didn’t feel well and I was afraid, so I came to Bennington Station, hoping to meet you.”

  “Well, you accomplished your goal.” Haley bent forward and gave Fiona a hug. “Fiona, you and I don’t know each other. We may or may not have anything in common, but we are sisters. Being family makes us a unit. And I don’t know about you, but all I want now is a normal family experience. Does that make sense to you?”

  “Perfectly.” Fiona settled a calm gaze on Haley. “Which is why I decided to give the baby up. I’ve got no one to help me. Her father took off the minute he realized I was pregnant.”

  Haley winced. So did Tina.

  “My mother is busy with her new life in a hippie settlement in Arizona and has no place in her communal life for a daughter and granddaughter.” She puffed out a breath. “And I’ve got no job and no place to stay.”

  “So you came here.”

  “Not to beg.” Fiona sat up straighter. “I didn’t come to mooch off others. I’m not like that, but I couldn’t imagine having this baby.” She smiled down at the tiny girl in her arms. “Going through labor and delivery.” She angled a smile of gratitude toward Tina and Haley. “Alone. And I thought, well...” She paused and shrugged. “You and I had never met. I figured that’s just wrong, that two sisters never got a chance to know one another. And Anthony died before I got to meet him and I thought, what if...” She aimed a gaze down to the baby. “If something went wrong, I wanted to at least meet you. See you. It’s wrong for family to be kept apart.”

  Haley’s heart warmed to the words, but a niggle of concern urged caution. Fiona had nailed Haley’s quandary with her words: They didn’t know each other. And she had the boys to consider. Maybe Fiona was the sweet, impetuous young woman she made herself out to be. But what if she wasn’t? Could she put the boys at any kind of risk?

  No.

  But could she stand by and let her sister give up her child without offering to help?

  No.

  “All right!” A nurse bustled in, smiling, her broad face bright with warmth. “I’m sending this little one down to the nursery to get cleaned up, I’m going to check our young mother here, and then—” she aimed a firm look at Fiona “—you’re going to rest, dearie. We’ll bring the baby back in a little while, but rest while you can. You’re going to need it.”

  “That’s our cue.” Tina stood, bent over Fiona and held the younger woman’s gaze. “Listen, you aren’t the first to have a baby on your own, and you won’t be the last, but we’ve got a nice town here. A great place to settle in and raise this baby. I ain’t sayin’ it will be easy.” She straightened somewhat but kept her eyes on Fiona’s. “But it’s doable. If you do choose to give this baby up?” Tina let out a sigh. “There’s not a thing wrong with that decision either. Lots of parents out there wishing they could hold a miracle like this in their arms.” She stroked a finger to the baby’s cheek. “Whatever you decide, I want you to know that the folks around here like new blood. Young folks, just startin’ out.
So you think about that while you pray over this decision, okay?”

  “Okay.” Fiona’s gaze met Tina’s and Haley read the longing there, the wish for a gentle, wise mother like Tina. The kind that hangs in for the long haul.

  Could she be that kind of mother to Todd and Tyler? Could Fiona do that for this precious baby? Did they dare risk the children’s emotional well-being if they were this unsure?

  “I’ll be back tomorrow,” Haley promised. She bent to kiss Fiona’s cheek. “And here’s my address. I live right behind the co-op.” She pressed a piece of paper into Fiona’s hand. “My cell is on all the time, so call me if you’re worried or concerned or just want to talk, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  They left the nurse with Fiona, but Haley turned back as they approached the elevators. “Maybe I should—”

  “Pray.” Tina grasped her arm and steered her forward. “Honey, we’re coming in on the last chapter of a long, drawn-out play and I can’t tell you the ending, but I can tell you this. That little sister of yours needs prayers right now. Prayers for a good decision, prayers for strength, prayers for turning her life around. We know she did good to come here. Seek you out.”

  They stepped into the elevator and Tina pressed the ground level button.

  “But we don’t know what’s gone before. So we trust, but we proceed with caution.”

  “I agree.” Haley sighed. “But I feel bad, Tina, because I kept meaning to track her down. It kept coming to me, like God was nudging me to find Fiona. Meet her. Get to know her. And I didn’t do it.”

  “We all have those regrets.” Tina shrugged. “That’s part of life. But right now, you’ve got a lot on your plate and Fiona isn’t sure what she’s done, where she’s going or what to do. At this point, she needs to act, and we’ll react. Ain’t no good pushing a woman to keep a child she’s not ready for.”

  Tina’s common sense showed the wisdom of her years. Haley reached out and hugged her. “Thank you for finding me in the co-op earlier. For coming to get me when you saw there was a problem.”