Chapter 15 - The Child They Never Expected
Pregnancy frightened Sahale.
Not because she did not want the child.
Because she had spent years hearing that her body was defective.
She feared those voices had been right.
Asa refused to offer false promises.
Instead he found a respected midwife and ensured Sahale received care.
Months passed.
Sahale continued working.
Slower now.
More carefully.
Greyhawk became unexpectedly attentive.
He brought food.
Then pretended he had brought too much for himself.
Sahale recognized the lie and accepted it.
One evening she asked him, “Were you afraid when I was born?”
Greyhawk nodded.
“I was afraid every time any of my children were born.”
“Then why did fear make you cruel later?”
He thought for a long time.
“Because I mistook control for protection.”
Sahale looked toward Asa.
The words mattered to both men.
When labor finally began, it lasted through the night.
Asa paced outside until the midwife threatened to throw something at him.
Near dawn, a baby cried.
Asa stopped breathing.
The midwife opened the door.
Sahale was exhausted.
But smiling.
In her arms was a little girl.
Asa approached as though the floor might disappear.
Sahale placed the child in his arms.
“What is her name?” he whispered.
Sahale looked toward the hill where Ruth and Jona rested.
“Hope.”
Asa cried.
There was no hiding it.
Hope Rich entered the world at sunrise.
And with her came a truth Asa had once believed impossible.
May you like
Loving again did not betray the dead.
It honored the life they had taught him to value.
