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She saw a flash of pink flesh as they swept the baby away from her to be checked on. Then small but powerful lungs let out a massive squall until, bundled up snugly, the little one was placed in her arms.
“It’s a boy,” Dr. Pan said softly.
Chloe drank in the beautiful little round face. Her son was a deep pink color, with tiny horn nubs on his sweet head, and eyes the color of the ocean at dusk.
“Oh, Chloe,” Jubal breathed.
“We’ll call him Charlie,” she told him softly. “If that’s okay.”
“After my sister,” he said, his deep voice breaking on the last word.
He wrapped his arms around them, and she held both her boys close, wondering what she had done in this life or the last one to deserve so much love and hope for the future.
27
CHLOE
Six months later, Chloe observed her classroom with satisfaction.
Coming back to teach after more than a month away had been quite the transition.
Luckily, with the help of what seemed like the entire district, her substitute had done a marvelous job keeping things going. And now the sub was well prepared to cover for other teachers, one of whom was already out on maternity leave.
These last few months of teaching had been incredibly satisfying, especially with Jubal and Charlie at home waiting for her to tell them about her classroom.
But it was finally the last day of the school year, always an emotional time, and today more than most.
Two dozen small, smiling faces met Chloe’s, as well as the faces of a record number of parent volunteers, and even some of the admin.
For some reason, when Chloe had announced that her boyfriend would be coming in to talk about music with the children, she had received a huge influx of parent volunteer applications.
She knew more about Jubal’s music career now, of course. But she was still coming to terms with just how famous he really was. To her, he would always just be Jubal from the Center - the man who won her heart, the father of her child.
“I’m so glad you’re all here today,” she told them. “Now that each of you has your clearances, you can attend field trips and museum excursions, maybe even concerts, if the kids ever go to one.”
That got some soft cheers.
Vice-Principal Dolors nodded encouragingly from his place in the back of the room, where he stood beside a smiling Miss Aynsworth.
For the first time, she felt nothing but friendship for the man she once thought might be a part of her future. Everything had worked out as it was supposed to - for all of them.
“I want to take this opportunity to tell you how much I have loved teaching your children this year,” she went on, directing her attention back to the parents. “I will miss each and every one of them, but I know they have bright futures ahead of them. I hope you’ll keep in touch, if you’d like.”
“You had a baby,” a boy in the front row pointed out.
“I did,” she said. “His name is Charlie, and you’re going to meet him today.”
“We’re going to first grade,” a girl told her sadly. “And we won’t see you every day.”
“You’ll get to see Miss Buckley or Mr. Hodges,” Chloe replied. “Can you believe you get to be at school for a whole day, and even eat lunch in the cafeteria?”
The girl couldn’t contain her smile at that.
Toward the end of each year, Chloe always tried to get the kids excited about what was coming up. She even had the first-grade teachers visit her classroom for story time now and then, and always arranged a field trip down to the cafeteria to meet the sweet Vystian lady who prepared the desserts for the lunches.
A gentle knock on the door told her that their special guests had arrived. She opened the door to reveal Jubal, with baby Charlie in the carrier strapped to his chest, face out.
“Hello, my loves,” she said.
