Page 113 of When the Day Comes
I drew strength from him, choosing to believe what he was saying.
The doctor was soon finished, and everything was put to rights. Edith wrapped the baby in a blanket and brought her to my arms.
“You’ll never guess,” she said with a bit of wonder. “I found another mark on her.”
I cradled my daughter in my arms but looked up at Edith in alarm. “What do you mean?”
“There.” She pointed to the back of my daughter’s head. “She has the exact same birthmark.”
My heart pounded wildly as I gently lifted my daughter to examine the back of her tiny head—and there it was, another mark, just like Henry’s.
“I’ll leave you in privacy,” Edith said, then stepped out of the room.
“Well done, Mrs. Hollingsworth,” Dr. Hutton said. “Take your time and get plenty of rest. I’ll return in the morning to check on both of you.”
Henry rose to shake his hand and then closed the door behind the doctor. He stood for a moment and just looked at me.
“What does it mean?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” He came back to the bed and sat down beside us. “And I don’t think we’ll know for many years to come.”
I held our daughter as I gazed down at her. She was beautiful, with dark hair and a perfect complexion. Her eyes were closed, but her lips pursed into a little pucker, revealing identical dimples in each of her cheeks. My heart filled with love overflowing, yet I couldn’t shake the uneasiness in my spirit over the marks she bore.
It was one thing to carry a single birthmark—but to carry two of them?
“What will we call her?” Henry asked as he caressed the baby’s cheek with the back of his finger.
“Margaret Theodosia Hollingsworth,” I told him. “But we’ll call her Maggie.”
“Maggie.” Henry smiled and then leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. “May God bless and keep you, Maggie. May God’s face shine upon you, may He be kind to you and give you peace.”
We sat there, memorizing the lines of her delicate face, looking in awe at the perfection of her fingers and toes, and marveling at the gift of her life.
Neither one of us broached the subject of her markings again. Not for a long time.
