Authors: Lurlene McDaniel
Briana's Gift (9 page)
D
uring the ride home from the hospital, I sit in the backseat next to the strapped-in carrier holding the baby. We have dressed her in pink and lavender and she’s all scrunched up, sound asleep. Mom keeps glancing in the rearview mirror and asking, “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine.”
In the trunk, we have a home monitor to track her breathing and a going-home bag from the hospital full of formula, diapers, baby wipes and other baby products—all we need to get started. Melody’s already informed me that her mother is having a huge baby shower for us just as soon as she can get it organized. We are all surprised that Dr. Kendrow has allowed the baby to leave the hospital so soon, but she’s gained enough weight and although she still needs to be monitored, her lungs are developed enough for her to go.
“We’ve got plans,” Melody has told me on the phone. “Do you know how many people are volunteering to help your mom when you go back to school? It’s true. Mom’s got a long list. So…can I come over on Christmas Day? Can I hold her? I’m her surrogate aunt, you know.”
I tell her yes because I feel generous and bighearted. We’re still best friends and the baby will grow up with her and Stu hanging around.
Traffic is heavy and by the time we get home, it’s dark. I change and feed the baby and walk around the house, showing her the place, talking to her while holding her on my shoulder. She’s alert and seems to be looking at everything. She’s especially attracted to the lights on the tree.
Later I put her in her crib and drag my sleeping bag into her room.
Mom asks, “What are you doing?”
“I think I’ll sleep on the floor next to her bed tonight.”
“Are you sure? It’s going to be cold.”
I’ve thrown several blankets on the floor and have slipped on my flannel pj’s, the ones with Dalmatians all over them. “Just for tonight.”
The monitor is set up and I have an alarm clock to wake me so that I can give her a bottle in three hours.
“I don’t mind taking a feeding shift,” Mom says.
“I’ll handle it tonight,” I tell her.
We settle down, the baby in her crib and me on the floor. From the floor, my perspective is different. Through the window, I see stars dotting the night sky. They look cold and far away. A cow-jumping-over-the-moon night-light glows from a nearby wall socket. I see a baseboard left unpainted from when I abruptly stopped the night Bree was taken to the hospital.
The baby sleeps, but I can’t. I turn on my clock radio, tune it to a station that plays holiday music all night long on Christmas Eve without any interruptions. I think the baby likes music. Maybe I’ll teach her how to play the flute someday.
As I listen and wait for sleep, one particular carol performed by a symphony orchestra catches my ear. I sit upright, my eyes wide open, suddenly knowing what I’m going to name the baby. Why didn’t I think of it before?
Noel.
It means Christmas and she’s the most wonderful Christmas gift of all. I decide that she needs her mother’s name too, so that she’ll always remember who she came from. She’ll be Briana Noel, but we’ll call her Noel. I say the name aloud and it settles on my heart like firelight, and I know it’s right. So right for her. I can’t wait to tell Mom.
Through the window the stars twinkle, no longer cold-looking, but only bright and beautiful and full of promise.
Noel!
About the Author
LURLENE McDANIEL
began writing inspirational novels about teenagers facing life-altering situations when her son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. “I want kids to know that while people don’t get to choose what life gives to them, they do get to choose how they respond.”
Lurlene McDaniel’s novels are hard-hitting and realistic, but also leave readers with inspiration and hope. Her books have received acclaim from readers, teachers, parents, and reviewers. Her novels
Don’t Die, My Love; I’ll Be Seeing You;
and
Till Death Do Us Part
have all been national bestsellers.
Lurlene McDaniel lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
You’ll want to read these inspiring titles by
Lurlene McDaniel
ANGELS IN PINK
Kathleen’s Story • Raina’s Story • Holly’s Story
ONE LAST WISH NOVELS
Mourning Song • A Time to Die
Mother, Help Me Live • Someone Dies, Someone Lives
Sixteen and Dying • Let Him Live
The Legacy: Making Wishes Come True • Please Don’t Die
She Died Too Young • All the Days of Her Life
A Season for Goodbye • Reach for Tomorrow
OTHER FICTION
Prey
Hit and Run
Letting Go of Lisa
The Time Capsule
Garden of Angels
A Rose for Melinda
Telling Christina Goodbye
How Do I Love Thee: Three Stories
To Live Again
Angel of Mercy • Angel of Hope
Starry, Starry Night: Three Holiday Stories
The Girl Death Left Behind
Angels Watching Over Me
Lifted Up by Angels • Until Angels Close My Eyes
I’ll Be Seeing You • Saving Jessica
Don’t Die, My Love • Too Young to Die
Goodbye Doesn’t Mean Forever
Somewhere Between Life and Death • Time to Let Go
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
When Happily Ever After Ends
Baby Alicia Is Dying
From every ending comes a new beginning….
Published by Laurel-Leaf an imprint of Random House Children’s Books a division of Random House, Inc. New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2006 by Lurlene McDaniel
All rights reserved.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Delacorte Press, New York, in 2006. This edition published by arrangement with Delacorte Press.
Laurel-Leaf and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
RL: 4.8
eISBN: 978-0-375-84658-8
v3.0