Her Valentine Family. Renee Andrews

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СКАЧАТЬ Nathan said, then repeated, “God has given. That’s my name.”

      “That’s right,” Brother Henry agreed, still smiling at him. He pulled a peppermint out of his suit pocket and handed it to Nathan. “This is to keep your tummy from growling in church,” he said, then winked. “I’d have one, too, but it’s hard for me to preach with candy in my mouth.”

      Nathan laughed at that. “Can I have another one for class?”

      “Nathan.” Jessica gave Brother Henry an embarrassed shrug.

      But Brother Henry tousled his hair again and said, “Tell you what. After church, I’m going to ask you what I talked about. If you can tell me, I’ll give you another one.” He nodded toward Jessica’s parents. “Maybe I’ll have at least one person listening to the sermon that way.”

      “Give me a peppermint, and I’ll listen, too,” Jessica’s father said, which made them all laugh.

      They entered the foyer, and Jessica felt the first inkling of curiosity from the other side of the lobby. A couple of the older women were huddled, hands over their mouths and whispering as they glanced at Jessica—and more pointedly at Nathan.

      Jessica protectively put her arm around his little shoulders and steered him toward the classroom hall. She’d known she wouldn’t get prodigal son treatment from everyone, but that was okay; even the prodigal son’s brother had a hard time with his return.

      Class was pretty much status quo for what she remembered, but Brother Henry’s church service was much different than the type she recalled from growing up. A lot less fire and brimstone, a lot more grace. Jessica commented on the change to her parents as they walked out of the auditorium.

      Her father agreed. “I was wondering if you’d notice. Brother Henry did a summer series on grace a couple of years back, said the more he studied on the subject, the more he thought we’d gone way too long leaving it out of the equation.”

      Jess turned to see what her mother thought of the change, but she was completely ignoring their conversation and scanning the congregation, pleasantly visiting in small huddles as they slowly moved toward the back of the building. “Mom, you looking for someone?”

      “Yes,” she said, then shook her head. “No, not really. I’d noticed last week that we had some other folks visiting again who’d been away for a while, and I’d hoped they’d be back today.”

      “Who?” Jessica asked. Like most people in Claremont, she knew almost everyone in town—or at least knew who their family was.

      “Oh, look,” her father said. “Nathan’s going for the peppermint.”

      They all turned and walked toward Brother Henry, standing at the doorway shaking hands with everyone and preparing to shake Nathan’s outstretched hand. But Nathan’s palm was turned up, waiting for another piece of candy.

      “Please?” he said, his s lisping a little due to his missing tooth.

      “Hey, we had a deal, remember?” Brother Henry lifted a white brow.

      “I remember,” Nathan said. “And I listened to you preaching.”

      “Okay, what did I talk about?” He crouched down to Nathan’s level.

      Jessica was curious as to whether Nathan had actually heard. He’d spent the majority of the service admiring his Superman shoes, which he’d told Jessica were “nice enough to wear with church clothes because they’re brand-new.” She’d let him win that one, deciding to choose her battles, even though the colorful tennis shoes didn’t exactly go with his khaki pants and striped navy sweater.

      “You talked about daddies,” Nathan said matter-of-factly.

      Jessica’s world seemed to stall for a moment. “Daddies?” she asked, her voice a little raspy at hearing Nathan say the word so sweetly.

      Nathan’s head bobbed. “Yep, how much daddies love their children and how God loves us the same way. That’s what you said.”

      Jessica wasn’t certain, but she thought Brother Henry’s chin wobbled a bit before he worked his mouth back into a smile. “That’s exactly right,” he said, then visibly swallowed and handed Nathan the striped candy.

      Brother Henry stood from where he’d knelt down to speak to Nathan, and this time she was sure that she saw a bit of moisture in his eyes, which matched the dampness in her own.

      “It’s good to have both of you here, Jessica,” he said, the warmness in his tone touching her heart.

      “It’s good to be back.”

      She, Nathan and her parents walked quietly toward her father’s car, then all piled inside and buckled up for the ride back home for her mother’s traditional Sunday pot roast. But food wasn’t on Jessica’s mind, and she suspected it wasn’t on her parents’ minds either.

      On the contrary, Nathan’s words to Brother Henry were resonating through her thoughts, and her son wasn’t done discussing the lesson.

      “Mommy?”

      “Yes.”

      “Did you hear him talk about daddies?”

      She breathed in deeply, let it out slowly. “I sure did.”

      Nathan nodded, and Jessica sighed with relief. Maybe that was it.

      And maybe cows would fly. This was Nathan, and he wasn’t done figuring everything out yet.

      “Mommy?”

      She noticed her mother shift uncomfortably in the front seat, place a hand over her mouth and peer out the passenger window and she assumed this conversation was going to be as rough for her parents as it was for her. Or close. “Yes?”

      He continued looking out his window as he spoke so Jessica couldn’t see his face. And thank goodness, he couldn’t see hers, because it was very tough to control her pain at his next words.

      “Do all daddies love their kids?”

      Have mercy, what would she do now? Did all daddies? If she told him yes, she’d be lying, she knew. Some didn’t. Some weren’t good, and that hurt her very soul, but she knew one who would love his son very much, if he knew the truth.

      “Your daddy will love you,” she said, and she saw both of her parents straighten in their seats. But she couldn’t let him believe, not for one minute, that his father wouldn’t love him, wouldn’t want him, if he knew about him. She’d told him before that his daddy lived somewhere else and that he’d see him one day. That’d been enough to satisfy his mind, before he was nearly six, and before he’d grown up so much.

      That wasn’t enough anymore.

      “It hasn’t worked out yet for your daddy to meet you and love you and be a part of your life,” she said. “But God has a plan, and one day, He will work it out for you to meet your daddy, and it’s going to be a great day.” She hoped. And prayed.

      Please, God, let it be a great day.

      Nathan СКАЧАТЬ