Her Secret, His Child

"Oh, sorry," the mother said, embarrassed. "I can't believe I did this. I thought—"

"It's okay, ladies," Nelson interrupted, nodding at each of them. And then he looked at Jamie and she cringed, waiting for everything to blow up in her face.

"Nice seeing you again, Jamie," he said, and to her astonishment, he turned and left.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Jamie stood there a full minute, the crowd pushing around her, as she stared at the spot where Nelson had disappeared. She didn't know why, didn't know how, but she'd been spared.

Because Mother's Day was the biggest day of the year in the Archer household, Jamie and Ashley started making celebration plans by the end of April. They each came up with suggestions, which Jamie wrote down, and then when they had a whole list they'd put the day together.

Pen and paper in hand, Jamie called Ashley into the kitchen that Friday, just before dinner. They were waiting for Kyle, who was late. The table was set, casserole ready, salad tossed. Then they were all going to the drive-in to see a second-run showing of a favorite Disney film.

"Let's do our Mother's Day list," she said while Ashley was climbing into her booster seat. Mother's Day was not only a celebration of mother and child, but to Jamie, it was a symbol of who she herself had become. A celebration of everything that was good in her.

Ashley was watching her silently, eyes downcast.

"Don't you want to make a list?" Jamie asked, concerned.

"Uh-uh." Ashley shook her head.

Crushed, Jamie stared at her daughter. "Why not?"

"Mommy's Day is about God giving me to you, right?" the little girl asked, frowning.

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

"Yes." Jamie was scared to death of where this might be going, what Ashley might have heard.

"'God gave me to Daddy, too, and it might hurt his feelings if we do our special day wifout him."

"You want to wait till he gets here to make the list?" Jamie asked, weak with relief.

The little girl nodded solemnly. And wait they did.

"'I think we should all go to the zoo on Mother's Day," Kyle said after dinner when the list was once again on the kitchen table. "Ashley had such a good time there."

"Yeah!" Ashley cried. "We can see the mommy and baby and daddy monkeys!"

Jamie wrote down the zoo. "What else?" she asked.

"Your favorite. Mommy, Mr. Wallup's Ice Cream Shop!" Ashley's swinging feet were kicking her booster seat beneath the table.

Jamie added Mr. Wallup's to the growing list.

"I think we should have a picnic at the state park." Jamie threw out what she'd been thinking about. "We could have a cook-out with hamburgers or hot dogs and fly kites and take hikes if we want."

"Yeah!" Ashley cried. "A mommy, baby, daddy hike."

Kyle grinned at that last drawn-out daddy. If he'd had any doubts about where he placed in his daughter's affections, they'd surely been dispelled. Loving him as she did, Jamie felt almost as happy about that as he must have been feeling.

TARA TAYLOR QU1NN

"Let's do that," he said, studying the other items on the list. "We could hike after the picnic and then go to Mr. Wallup's on the way home."

"Yeah!" Ashley cried, bouncing up and down in her seat. "It'll be the best mommy, baby and daddy day!"

Exchanging a warm, intimate glance with Kyle, Jamie couldn't have agreed more.