Chapters (38)
“So they tell me,” she said, suddenly clenching his hand in a grip so fierce he thought for sure the bones would break. “This is it.”
“Sure is,” the doctor agreed. “That’s it, Janet. Come on. Just a little more.”
Harlan’s incredulous gaze was fixed on the doctor, watching his concentration, then the smile that slowly spread across his face just as he lifted their brand-new baby into the air.
“It’s a girl,” he announced. “A big one, too. Pretty as her mama.”
If there’d been a chair close by, Harlan would have collapsed onto it. Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned a tremulous smile on Janet. “A girl,” he repeated softly. “Another daughter.”
“I promised, didn’t I?” Janet whispered.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss filled with gratitude and love to her lips. “Thank you for my two girls,” he murmured. “Most of all, thank you for loving me and making my life complete.”
Just then a nurse approached carrying their daughter in a pretty pink blanket. “Here she is, Mr. Adams. Would you like to hold her?”
An awe unlike anything he’d ever before experienced spread through him as he took that precious bundle into his arms and gazed down into his daughter’s tiny, scrunched-up face.
“She is so beautiful,” he said, barely getting the words past the lump in his throat. “What are we going to name her? Have you decided?”
“I had a thought, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it,” Janet said.
“What?”
“I was thinking of naming her Mary Elizabeth,” she said, watching his face intently.
He was stunned by the generous, unselfish gesture. “Wouldn’t you mind naming her for Mary?”
Eyes shining, she reached for his hand. “It’s something I’d like very much to do for you and your sons. I was thinking we might call her Lizzy.”
He gazed down at the child in his arms and grinned. “Lizzy, huh? What do you think?”
Mary Elizabeth Adams opened her tiny mouth and wailed. There was no telling if that was a sign of approval or dissent, but Harlan took it as a positive reaction. He smiled at Janet. “Lizzy, it is.”
“So,” she said, as they wheeled her and the baby to her room, “do you think there are any more surprises in store for us?”
“You bet,” he promised. “They’re around every corner.”
Keep reading on for a sneak peek of
The Littlest Angel,
from New York Times bestselling author
Sherryl Woods!