Maud smiled and backed out of the room. A moment later, Valerie heard Jeremy’s footsteps up the stairs. He appeared in her open doorwayand stood speechless. He wore a thick blue knit fisherman sweater and faded blue jeans with heavy wool socks.
Valerie wore a white cotton nightgown and blue bathrobe. She stood on the oval rug, uninhibited by her state of dress, and smiled at him.
“Hi,” she said. “You must have a sixth sense. How did you know today was the right day for a visit?”
He entered her room tentatively, moved closer, and stared at Cameron with a mixture of apprehension and enchantment. “He’s so tiny. I’ve never seen a newborn baby before.”
Jeremy reached out, touched Cameron’s soft head, and patted him like he would pat a kitten.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Good,” Valerie replied blithely. “Better than good. It’s been a wonderful day. I’m so happy.”
“You deserve to be happy,” Jeremy said, “because you’re a good person.”
She could have wept at the compliment. Everything was making her feel weepy today, but it was joyful, not sad.
“Thank you.” She shifted Cameron in her arms. “Would you like to hold him?”
Jeremy took a step back. “I don’t know about that. I’ve never held a baby before.”
“There’s a first time for everything. Why don’t you have a seat over there, and I’ll pass him to you.” She gestured toward the wooden chair against the wall.
Jeremy crossed to it and sat down. “What if he cries?”
“He probably won’t. He’s sleepy. But if he does, I’ll take him.” She bent to place her precious boy in Jeremy’s waiting arms. He cradled Cameron gently and looked down at him with reverence.
“He’s a miracle,” Jeremy said. “Look at his hands. They’re so small.”
Valerie’s heart was fully open. Her soul was content. “If you place your finger in his palm, he’ll grab on to it. It’s called the grasp reflex.”
Jeremy gave it a try, and his eyes filled with laughter as Cameron took hold. “He likes me.”
“He does.”
She stood back and watched Jeremy interact with Cameron. She felt strangely buoyant. Life in that moment was pure rapture.
“I’d like to be a dad someday,” Jeremy said, looking up at her.
“You’d be a good one.”
His shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. “I wish Angie would come away with me. I’d treat her better than Joe, and I’d look after Ethan too. I’d get a job in Juneau, and I’d keep it.”
Valerie didn’t know what to say to Jeremy about that. She agreed with him, of course, that Joe didn’t treat Angie well, but Valerie was quite certain that he would have to do a whole lot worse before Angie would ever leave him.
Cameron began to fuss, so Valerie took him from Jeremy. She bobbed up and down at the knees and rocked him in her arms until he settled. “I think he’s sleepy.”
She moved across the room, laid him in his cradle, and returned to her bed, where she sat up against the pillows.
Jeremy inched forward in his chair, elbows on knees, his hands clasped together. “Have you heard from the father? I forget his name.”
“It’s Drew. And no, I haven’t. But I’m going to write him one more letter, because I think it’s possible that he never received the others. I think Carol Brown might have stopped them from going out with the rest of the mail.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because my father has been sending money to the Browns for my upkeep, and he’s probably paying them handsomely to make sure I come home with no baby. So please don’t tell anyone that I’ve already given birth.”
“Scout’s honor.”
