Tears pricked at his eyes, and he blinked them back. He cleared his throat once more. “The baby,” he said. “Your baby has got to have things. It’s just lucky I have those things, I guess.”
He could say I guess all he wanted, but he knew: This had to be the Lord at work. All of it. From the ice storm to Tillie having her baby on such an inconvenient night, he felt as if God was giving him a big message. It was time to get himself together. And that’s just what he planned to do.
“There’s more downstairs if there’s anything else you need.”
She smiled, and to his dismay, tears formed in her eyes as well. “I’m sure this is plenty. I don’t want to take your things.”
He shook his head. “They’re just things.” And suddenly he knew it to be true. The things that Mary had saved, things that she had gathered, their baby didn’t need them, and the child before him did.
He looked at the baby once again, how beautiful and perfect she was. Was it okay to think that? But he was sure he couldn’t change his thoughts if he tried. She was a miracle wrapped in her mother’s arms. In fact, as far as he was concerned, they were both miracles.
“I really appreciate it,” she said.
Levi could only nod in response. Then he started to the door. He stopped there, turned back around to face his previously unwelcome houseguest. “I’ll go down and get some breakfast,” he said. “I figure after the night we had, we could sure use some bacon and eggs.”
* * *
Tillie started to shake her head, to tell Levi that it wasn’t necessary, but he was gone before she could say the words. She didn’t want him cooking for her, waiting on her hand and foot like she was an invalid. She had just had a baby, that was all. But she had only had a short nap since the time the baby came. And she was very hungry. Truth was, she wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to maneuver the stairs. But that wasn’t the first problem on her list. She unwrapped her baby from the dress she had swaddled her in and checked the makeshift diaper she had put on her.
Tillie had found a bandanna in the nightstand drawer. Perfect to use for a diaper, along with two small safety pins. Thankfully the baby hadn’t wet yet, but Tillie knew it was only a matter of time.
She loosely covered her baby girl again, then eased off the bed. She winced as the sore parts of her protested, but it had to be done. She stood, and with one hand braced against the small of her back, she started unloading the cradle he had brought up.
It had been no secret that he didn’t want her there, and she could only imagine how he felt about having her and the baby stranded due to the weather.
It would be days before the ice would melt, the roads would be cleared, and somebody could get through to them. And despite his gruff and sour demeanor, she knew that somewhere in that big chest of his, he had an equally big heart. There was no other explanation for his extreme generosity.
She unloaded a pack of diapers and pulled the plastic bag open. Her first thought was that she would replace them immediately, but diapers were not something he needed any longer, were they? There had to be something else she could do for him. At least she had a couple of days to think about it.
She quickly uncovered her baby girl and wrapped her in a diaper. And as easily as she could, she pulled one of the tiny gowns over the baby’s head. It was a surprisingly good fit, but the baby didn’t appreciate being disturbed from her midmorning nap. No matter though. It was cold.
As gently as she could, since she still harbored a fear of somehow breaking this tiny little thing the Lord had entrusted to her, Tillie slipped a hat on the baby’s head and impossibly small socks on her feet. She pulled a blanket from the cradle and wrapped her baby inside.
Tillie winced again as she bent over to empty the rest of the things from the cradle. She could only assume that he had brought everything up in the cradle because he intended for her to use it. So she emptied it and laid the baby inside.
She was about to crawl back into bed when she stopped. She’d had the baby with her since the minute she had been born, right next to her, side by side, and she felt a little lost with her even a foot away in the cradle. Tillie supposed that feeling would ease with time, but she didn’t want that time to be now. She turned back, scooped the baby into her arms, and climbed into bed once more.
She was just settling in when a knock sounded at the door. She’d been smelling all kinds of great aromas from the kitchen, and she still hadn’t figured out how she was going to navigate the stairs, especially with the baby in her arms. And she certainly didn’t want to leave her behind. So it was a conundrum.
Levi opened the door and let himself in. He carried a tray of food—two cups of coffee, a large stack of toast, and two plates piled high with bacon and eggs.
“You’re bringing breakfast to me?”
“I didn’t know if the stairs . . .” He turned a warm shade of pink.
She wasn’t sure if it was from the awe she heard in her own voice
