Brian lifted both hands, gathered the “Dear Mother” letters, and stacked them on the counter.

Jimmy studied Susan’s face as she stood motionless, still holding the phone, as if trying to process what she had just heard.

“What?” he said, moving closer, taking the phone from her and hanging it up. “What did she say?”

Susan could barely speak. Her face showed the emotion roiling inside. Finally she said, “She wants me to be the mom.”

“What?” He couldn’t contain his smile. “Honey, that’s wonderful!”

Instead of hugging him, she turned away and with her voice breaking said, “I didn’t know you were going to do that. I didn’t know you were going to do that!”

Sobbing now, Susan broke and Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Her body shook with emotion, and he moved in front of her and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just not ready to let go.”

Susan searched his eyes. Then through her tears she said, “But I can’t go through another loss, Jimmy. What if she calls and changes her mind?”

Jimmy guided her to the chair by the desk. His wife was panicking. He could see it. “But we don’t know that. She just called and said she chose you.”

A little light broke through and Susan nodded and pulled her hair away from her face and there was a smile. “Yeah.”

“We want to trust God, right?” Jimmy said. “No matter what happens.”

Susan nodded again.

“And we love the baby, we want what’s best for the child and what’s best for the birth mother. And even if she decides to keep the baby, can we just take this step together and trust God with it?”

Susan’s face tightened and she shook her head. “I just don’t know . . .”

“Just one step,” Jimmy said, holding up a finger. “Okay? Just one step at a time.”

Susan finally nodded and leaned forward and the two embraced. And it felt like they had just begun a long journey together.

CHAPTER 8

The plan was simple. Keep the pregnancy a secret. Nobody needed to know but them. No family. No friends.

Melissa wanted to get to graduation without any of her classmates knowing that she was expecting, so she visited a thrift store and picked up some baggy clothes. It only helped that loose clothing was in style, so her sweatshirts and oversize sweaters kept her peers clueless.

She also noticed in the first several months that her belly did not bulge out as far as she expected, and she read that sometimes a mother can “carry the baby in her back,” meaning the position of the growing child was less obvious when others saw her.