Page 54 of Left Behind

Poor baby, Georgia mouthed.

“You have no idea,” Wiley muttered, and then saw a shelf of stuffed toys. “Go ahead and take those to the register,” he said. “We’re going to the stuffed toys.”

Ava heard the word toys, and when she saw where they were going, she couldn’t imagine one being for her.

Wiley heard the catch in her breath and swallowed past the lump in his throat. She wasn’t begging or whining for anything, but the disbelief and desire in her eyes were there for the world to see.

“Look at all the stuffed animals,” Wiley said. “Teddy bears, rabbits, little squirrels, puppies, kittens, and all these colors. Oh…and there are rag dolls. Those are the old-fashioned kind of dolls that my mother would have had when she was little. They’re soft, too, and good sleeping buddies. Let’s look, okay?”

He set her back down in front of the shelves. “You pick out whatever you want, honey.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “I can have one?”

Wiley squatted down beside her. “You pick out a dolly and as many stuffed toys as you want, and I’ll buy them for you.”

Tears rolled.

Wiley was lost. “Don’t cry, baby,” he whispered.

“I don’t know how to choose,” she said.

“What color of teddy bear do you like best?” he asked.

“The white one with the pink bow?”

Wiley pulled it off the shelf and dropped it in a shopping basket sitting on the floor. “What next? What color of kitty?”

And down the row they went, until Ava was almost giddy from the game and the growing pile in the cart.

“Now, do you want to pick out a dolly?” Wiley asked. “Here’s one with short red hair, and one with long brown hair, and… Oh wow! Look at what I see hiding back here on the shelf!”

He pulled aside a handful of dolls, revealing one with big blue eyes and blond curls, just like Ava. The doll was wearing a pink gingham dress and a petticoat with ruffles visible beneath the gingham hem.

“Her! Can she be my dolly?” Ava asked.

“Absolutely, but you have to pick her up yourself so she’ll know you chose her, just like I chose you.”

Ava reached for the doll with both hands as she lifted her off the shelf, looked the doll straight in the face, and then hugged her.

Wiley breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good. He picked up the basket of toys and held out his hand.

“Let’s go pay Miss Georgia for all your clothes and toys, and then get something to eat, okay?”

Still clutching the doll, Ava nodded.

She was still clutching dolly when Wiley buckled her in the back seat. “Remember to tell me when you need to go to the bathroom, and we’ll find one.”

She nodded.

He paused. “Are you hungry?”

She nodded again.

He tweaked her nose. “I can’t hear you.”

She giggled. “Yes!”

“What do you like to eat, baby girl? What are your favorite foods?”

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