“The mom and dad were very sad. They loved the little baby boy so much. And it was really hard for them just to keep going because they had such hopes for that little boy. After a while, the doctor said that the mother was going to have another baby. And they were really happy, but they were also really scared. Do you know why?”

“They didn’t want the second baby to get sick?”

“Yes. But they decided that no matter what happened, they would trust that God would help them and the baby. And after nine months their second baby boy was born.”

“And he was okay, right?” David sat up again. “Dad, don’t tell me he got sick too.”

David’s father nodded.

“That’s not fair. I don’t like this story.”

“I understand. It’s a hard story. But it’s a good one too. Sometimes the hard stories are the best ones.”

There was movement in the hall and David’s mom leaned against the door.

“Mom, can you get Dad to tell a different a story? This one is so sad.”

She came around the bed and sat on the other side next to David. “I’ve heard this one. It gets better. A lot better.”

David yawned and stretched. “Okay.”

David’s dad took off the glasses he had begun wearing and put them on the nightstand. The glasses left two marks on the bridge of his nose and David stared at them as he continued.

“The man and the woman were sad. But even though their hearts were broken, they felt like there was room for someone else. So they found some people who worked with women who were having babies but knew they couldn’t take care of them.”

“Like the goose mom?”

“Right. And one day they got a phone call that a baby had been born and they had been chosen to come get that baby.”

“And love it like their very own,” David said.

David’s dad nodded and turned his head away for a minute. “So the man and woman drove a long way, all day, and finally got to the hospital. And the people there brought out this perfect baby boy and placed him in the woman’s arms.”

His mother rubbed David’s arm and leaned close. “The baby boy was wrapped tightly in a blanket. It was soft and smooth and the baby was snug inside.”

She held out David’s old blanket, the one he’d carried around as a toddler. The one he didn’t want to let go.

“Where did you get that?” David said.