He had made the move after much deliberation. Accepting Judaism had taken him full circle, back to the faith of his biological parents. Even though Decker considered his adoptive parents his only parents, he knew his renunciation of Christianity was tantamount to renunciation of his parents in his mother’s eyes. For a while, the relationship with his parents was sticky. But things were improving. Mom genuinely liked Rina as a person.

And now the baby…their granddaughter.

Time and babies heal all wounds.

Not really hungry, Decker decided to peek in on Rina. He opened the door to the bedroom. She was curled into a ball and wrapped in her blanket, only a tiny area of skin showing from her face. He bent down to kiss her cheek, and she opened her eyes.

“Nora says you’ve been resting. That’s good, darlin’. The only way to heal.”

“You mean it’s good for her,” she squeaked out.

“Rina, if you don’t like Nora, I’ll fire her right now.”

No response.

“Honey, do you want me to get rid of her? We certainly don’t need another interfering nurse around here.”

Rina pulled the blanket off her face and turned to him. “What do you mean, ‘another interfering nurse’? Who was the first one?”

Decker winced. “No one. I’m just babbling.”

“You were referring to your case, weren’t you?”

“I suppose it’s all blurring. Is Nora preventing you from taking care of Hannah?”

“No, not at all.” Rina fell back on her pillow. “I suppose she feels she’s doing the right thing by helping me rest. She just makes me feel useless!”

“You’re not useless.”

“Useless and uterusless.” She let out a bitter laugh. “That’s me!”

Decker said, “Rina, I love you and need you and want you and find you sexy, and I’ll keep saying those words over and over until you believe me!”

“I believe you.” She sighed. “I just want my baby, and I’m too tired to care for her. I’m cranky.”

“You can be cranky.”

Rina tried to smile. Instead, the mouth turned down into a look of despair, and she started crying. Decker bit his mustache. All this outpouring of emotion was wearing him down. Rina’s catharsis was so honestly expressed—but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. He felt like galloping his stallion around the corral, building up a sweat until his muscles ached with that satisfied throb of physical work. But instead, he lay down next to his wife and held her in his arms, trying to sympathize with her plight without being consumed by it.

“I love you, baby,” Decker said.

“I love you, too.” Rina sniffed. “I feel so much better when you’re here.”