Bamboo and Lace (56 page)

“Do you want to have prayer time down here with Lily and Sarah or up in your beds?” the children's uncle asked.

“Down here,” they both voted, and what followed was a sweet time of listening to the children pray and then hearing Gabe praying for them. His petition included a plea that they would understand how much God loves them, that they would desire to serve Him always, and that they would have a wonderful night's sleep.

After prayer time, Gabe gave them piggyback rides to bed and then gladly joined his wife on the sofa. Lily had found Sarah's bottle and was talking to the baby while she ate.

“You're such a sweet girl,” she said softly. “You need to drink the whole bottle, sweet Sarah, and sleep all night.”

Gabe put an arm around his wife and looked down at his niece.

“Isn't she beautiful?” Lily asked.

“Yes, she is. She looks like a miniature CeCe.”

“Who looks like a miniature Bailey,” Lily added.

The couple spent some time talking to each other and Sarah. Annika's upcoming visit to Jeff was mentioned before Gabe volunteered to take Sarah on his shoulder and rock her to sleep.

“By the time we get one of our own,” Gabe said as he cuddled Sarah close, kissing her downy, soft head, “we'll be old pros.”

“I think you're right.”

“I never did ask you what your father said when you told him we hoped to adopt from Kashien.”

Lily turned to look at Gabe but didn't really see him.

“Lily?”

She finally focused on her husband's face.

“I don't think I ever said anything, Gabe. I'm sure he knows we want to adopt, but Kashien never came up.”

“Oh.” Gabe was surprised. He had assumed they'd spoken of it. “Will you mention it to him, or is there some reason you would rather not?”

“No, none at all. I just didn't think of it. We received a letter from him yesterday, and I just have two more verses to go on that chapter I'm working on, so I'll ask him about it when I write back.”

“Be sure and let me know what he says.”

Sarah had fallen asleep in that brief time, and Gabe took her to the bassinet in her parents' room. He left Evan and Bailey's bedroom door open so they could hear if she woke before going back to Lily on the sofa. They turned the television on and started to watch a movie, but it wasn't often that they had the downstairs to themselves. It didn't take long before they were more interested in each other than the television.

Bailey's voice probably sounded normal to her children, but Lily could tell she was having a hard time. Her tone was a little too bubbly, and she kept looking at Peter and then swiftly away.

Breakfast was a merry feast of Peter's favorite foods, but at last it was time. Celia stayed with Lily, as both Evan and Bailey walked Peter out to the road so he could catch the bus for school this first day. Lily was working on the dishes when Bailey came back in, not bothering to hide her tears. Lily turned and watched as she sat at the kitchen table and cried.

“He's so little,” the torn mother whispered. “I can't stand it, Lily. He was so excited, but to me he just looked little and vulnerable.”

“Did Evan follow in the car like he planned?”

“Yes. He said he would come right back and tell me, but I still feel awful.”

The advice from the school was not to bring your child on the first day unless that was going to be their primary mode of transportation. The Markhams understood this, knowing that part of the school experience was the bus, but Bailey desperately wanted to know how Peter arrived. Evan had the idea of following in the car and simply watching from a distance.

“I know what I have to do,” Bailey proclaimed and stood.

“What's that?”

“Get to work. Get busy, play with Celia, something!” she said with a sniff. “Sitting around is pointless.”

Bailey began to walk from the room, but Lily's voice stopped her. She looked back.

“Don't forget to add prayer to that list, Bailey, especially for Peter.”

Bailey bit her lip to keep from crying again, but she did thank Lily before going on her way.

To Lily and Gabe's amazement, Annika looked like Lily. She was slim with dark hair, and her eyes were a shade of brown-green. Lily had been rather nervous about meeting her, but when they arrived at Jeff's apartment and Lily saw that Annika was nervous too, all walls came down.

“How was your flight?” Lily asked warmly. The men were making dinner.

“It was fine. I've never been on a plane that long, but then I thought of your coming from Kashien and knew I had it easy.”

“You learn to sleep in a seat or bring a lot of books.”

“I read,” Annika confirmed.

The men came in just then with glasses of soda.

“It's nice to be waited on,” Lily told her husband, and he bent to kiss her. Lily then glanced at Jeff. He'd given Annika her glass and still hadn't taken his eyes from her. Annika was staying in a small hotel so she could be close by, and Lily knew that Jeff planned to show Annika every square inch of the island before she left, as well as introduce her to Gabe's family and all the church family. It was going to be a busy time.

Lily found herself praying for her brother and the woman he loved. She didn't know Annika well enough to read her face, but looking into Jeff's love-filled eyes, she knew that if he had his way, Annika would never go back to California.

“Are you busy?” Lily asked as she came to the doorway of Gabe's office just two weeks after Annika returned to California. The resort families had already started their time off, but Gabe had occasional business calls to make.

“For you? Never.”

Lily smiled as she went in and sat in the chair across from his desk.

“My lap would be more comfortable,” he teased her invitingly.

“I'm sure it would, but I've come on business.”

“Let me guess,” Gabe teased again. “You want a golf cart of your own.”

Lily laughed and Gabe just watched her, still marveling that she was his.

“What's up?” he finally asked.

“Were you sincere about adopting a baby from Kashien?”

“No,” Gabe teased again. “I was kidding.”

Lily smiled but still waved a letter at him. “The day before my father got our letter, a baby girl had been left on the neighbor's front porch. They already have five of their own and don't want her. My father wants to know if we do.”

Gabe could not believe what he'd just heard. For a moment he wasn't sure he could find enough air for his lungs. A baby girl was waiting for them in Kashien. Could it be true?

Watching him, Lily realized for the first time what this meant to her husband. Lily had always had a plan: Even if she had never married, she would have adopted at least one child from the village. Until Gabe had met her, he'd had no such options. He thought he would never be a father.

Right now Lily watched as he slowly stood and came around to her. Lily stood to face him and watched as he searched her eyes.

“You wouldn't kid me about this, would you, Lil?”

“No, Gabe,” she told him gently, seeing the vulnerability in his eyes and wishing she'd understood before. “Let me read to you what my father said.

Lily, were you serious about a Kashienese baby? I know you have just married, but the day before your missive arrived, a baby girl was left by Lanling Sanyi's door. She hasn't the ability to care for an additional child. I had just read your letter when I heard the news, and I asked her to keep the baby for the time being. If you are interested, you should get right back to me.

Lily lowered the paper and looked at her husband. It was a huge step.

“What do you think?” Gabe asked when she was done.

Lily laughed. “I think I want her today, but I haven't looked into the savings account to see if we can even afford airline tickets, much less the cost of the adoption. Sarah is still using her bassinet, but we could probably borrow one. It's probably only fair that we discuss this with Evan and Bailey because it would certainly affect them as well.” With that Lily ran out of practical thoughts. “What do you think?”

“I'm stunned. I'm excited, but I'm also stunned. She would be ours, right, Lily? No one would come and take her back?”

“No, that rarely happens as it is. But when the mother deserts the child, the authorities see it as a done deal.”

“Let's go find Evan and Bailey and see what they say.”

Initially they didn't say anything. Gabe was still too stunned to talk about it coherently, so Lily had explained the situation. For a time Evan and Bailey just stared at them.

“This baby was just left to starve?” Evan finally confirmed, his voice filled with pain.

“Not exactly.” Lily was still doing the talking. “She was left with a family. The mother knew that at least for the moment the baby would be cared for.”

“But this means you could have her?” Bailey asked in wonder, looking to her brother. “You would have your own baby, Gabe? Yours to keep?”

“It looks that way.”

“Call the airlines,” Bailey said, telling herself not to cry. “There's no one more perfect to take this baby than the two of you. Call right now and go get her.”

“You do understand, Bailey, what it will mean in this household?” Gabe had to check.

“Don't worry about that,” Evan said firmly. “Sarah could have been twins. Having two babies in the house is not a worry. Understanding whether this little girl has health problems or special needs or restrictions about leaving Kashien—those are things to question, not whether we should have another baby in the house.”

With that, the Markhams began to question Lily about Kashienese adoptions. Even Gabe had some questions he had not thought of before. They talked for a solid hour before Evan grew practical again.

“Okay, it's settled. Now what do you do?”

“Write my father,” Lily said, “and tell him we want to come.”