Page 53 of There I Find Hope

“No, although that would be awesome.” Her sister practically glowed. “You give up?”

“You bought a boat?”

“You’re never going to guess. Actually, I thought you would.” Then her eyes narrowed. “Where were you?”

Sunday smiled. “The post office?”

“You know! You little turkey.” She laughed, running across the porch and wrapping her sister in a hug.

“I do know. Congratulations. I’m so excited for you.”

Her sister squeezed her extra hard and then pulled back a little. “Are you? I was afraid it would make you sad.”

“I’m fine. You guys don’t have to treat me with kid gloves anymore. I promise, I’m fine. And I really am happy for you. You and Alex are going to be the best parents ever.”

She meant those words with all her heart, truly she did.

“When are you due?” she asked, wrapping her arm around her sister’s waist and walking up the steps to the porch.

“At the end of February. We’re going to find out whether it’s a boy or girl, and we’re going to tell everyone the name when we figure out what it’s going to be. Which we haven’t yet.”

“I take it you’ve been asked those questions a hundred times today.” There was humor in her voice. She remembered what it was like to be pregnant.

“Exactly.”

“You look like you’re feeling just fine. No morning sickness?”

“A little. But usually just in the evening. Which makes me feel like it was not well named.”

“No. It can be anytime sickness. But I suppose if you’re sick in the evening, it doesn’t really say as much to you as it might if you were not well in the morning.”

“That’s so true. It never occurred to me that it was related to pregnancy until my midwife told me it probably was. I was worried because I lost a little weight.”

“I think it’s normal to do that in the first trimester.”

“That’s what the midwife said.” She snorted. “I could skip the midwife visit and just go to you.”

“I’m glad you went to her. She probably gave you a prescription for prenatals, which I cannot do.”

“That’s true.” They sat down in white rocking chairs, one on either side of their mom.

Sunday noticed that their mom glowed. She loved being a grandma, loved having the kids so close, and loved being able to spend time with them. This was probably the best news she’d heard in a while.

They talked about the baby for a while and about the school that Clara and Alex had bought and renovated. They’d moved in, and Alex was running his business from home while Clara painted and helped him.

Sunday couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous. They were so happy. And Alex was a good man. Clara had made a wise decision, unlike Sunday.

The jealousy wasn’t wishing that Clara didn’t have what she had. It was just wishing that Sunday had been smarter, or more patient, or something.

But she supposed that kind of jealousy was just as bad as any other kind, so she tried to shove those thoughts aside and just realize that God could still make her life beautiful, even if it was in the way He chose, instead of the way she did.

After they’d talked for a while, they rocked silently for a couple of minutes, and Sunday decided she could reach out tentatively to her mom.

“Have you ever thought of selling the bed-and-breakfast?”

Her mom stopped rocking and jerked her head back, although she didn’t look upset, just surprised.

“I suppose over the years there have been times where I wish I wasn’t busy all the time. Where I wish I could go places when I wanted to instead of trying to schedule them around when guests were scheduled to arrive. Sometimes I’d like to sleep in. But I suppose it’s good for me to have to get out of bed. Otherwise, I end up lying around all day. I wouldn’t get my day started until dinnertime.”

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