What A Book Brings 2

I made my way through the aisles, checking things off of my grocery list as I put them in the cart. I was trying to get in and out fast; I didn’t want to get caught driving in the blizzard. It had been on the news last night that a severe blizzard would be coming through my small town.

The loudspeaker came on just as I was about to go to the check-out. I stopped to listen.

“The blizzard will be here in TWO MINUTES! I repeat, the blizzard will be here in TWO MINUTES! The store is closing down. We are not letting any new shoppers in, but we’re not letting anyone out. For your safety, please come to the front of the store and we will tell everyone the plan. Go to the front of the store!” I panicked, but did as the man on the speaker said. Leaving my cart behind me, I ran to the front of the store. I was deathly afraid of any type of storm, so I immediately went to a cashier.

“Are you sure there’s no way for me to get home?” The old woman looked at me and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but the blizzard is here. Can’t you hear the hail?” I listened for a moment, and heard the hail and snow pound the roof. But I wasn’t getting stuck in Walmart for a blizzard.

Ignoring everyone yelling at me from behind, I ran out into the snow and went to my car. I was about to get in when I heard something. I thought it was crying, but assumed it was just the wind. I opened my door and listened again. That wasn’t wind. That was the crying of a baby; I had heard it when my sister had her daughter. Slamming the car door, I started running and searching for the baby that was crying. I found the baby in a carseat in an empty parking spot. He was shivering, and his tiny arms were flailing everywhere.

No one was coming out of Walmart, and there wasn’t a soul in sight outside. With no other choice, I grabbed the baby and took him back to my car. I strapped him in the backseat and got in.

---

“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” I had just laid the baby down on the couch with about five blankets on him. I had gone way over the speed limit driving home, and I was able to get home just before the blizzard really hit.

“WAAAAAAAA! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” He was crying again, so I immediately ran to him and picked him up, bouncing a little.

“Shhh. It’s okay. I promise. Shh.” I didn’t think so, but after watching my sister with her baby, I knew that was the best thing to say. He stopped crying soon enough,

and I could tell he fell asleep. I gently laid him back down on the couch with the blankets on top of him. And at that exact moment, my phone rang. I ran into the dining room and grabbed it off the table before it woke the baby up.

“Hello?” Sitting down on one of the chairs, I sighed.

“Hey! It’s me, Lilly. How are you doing?” 

“Lilly! I need you to come over. Right now.”

“Okay. Be over in a minute.” Lilly was my next door neighbor, so all she had to do was tromp through the snow for about twenty yards to get to my house.

After five minutes, Lilly came through the front door and almost slammed it until I stopped her. I softly closed it.

“What is-” Lilly looked at me with her snow boots still in her hands.

“Shhhhhhhhhhh. SH!” I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the living room.

“Why do I have to be quiet?” When I showed her the baby, her hand flew to her mouth and looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Why do you have a BABY?” Lilly gripped my wrists and looked me in my eye.

“Let me explain.”

---

I sat on the dining room chair with the baby in my arms. It had been two weeks since I found him at Walmart, and Lilly was helping me take care of him. 

“Ma-ma? Ma-ma?” I looked down at him and shook my head.

“No. I’m KK. Kaayy-Kaayy.” He laughed as I tickled his stomach, and I sighed.

“Adorable. Now, if we do find his parents we will give him back to them. If not, I’m sure he would find a wonderful home.” The woman sitting across from me was in her mid-forties, and worked at a foster agency.

“Okay. But could I visit him? Just every now and then?” I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at the woman.

“Of course. I will be back here tomorrow with the papers. I promise that he will find a wonderful home.”

12 Years Later…

“Hello, Mother.” I looked at the young boy standing in front of me. Up and down, up and down. At first I didn’t realize who this was. And then I saw his eyes. Those icy blue eyes that were piercing, even if he was smiling.

“You’re my boy, aren’t you?” He nodded, and tears came to my eyes. I didn’t stop them from coming out. 

“Come here.” The boy ran to me and I wrapped my arms around him.

“Can I stay this time?” I put my hands on his cheeks and pointed his face up at me.

“First I have to know your name.” Tears were in his eyes, too. I smiled and he smiled back.

“I have had many names in my different homes, but none of them stuck. I have been waiting for you.” I could tell that he meant it, and it made me cry even more. This was my boy. After all of these years. I had forgotten about him. And then here he was; right in front of me. He was my boy. He had always been my boy, even though I didn't know it. Things would be very different for me, but I knew it would be for the better.

“Jayc, welcome home.”