Chapter 28
CHAPTER 29 — The Arrival
The call came on a bright, crisp morning in May.
Julia paced the waiting room of the maternity ward for six hours. She drank terrible coffee. She stared at the ticking clock on the wall.
Finally, the double doors swung open.
Elias stood there, wearing scrubs, looking utterly exhausted and completely transformed. He had the wild, euphoric look of a man who had just witnessed a miracle.
"Julia," he breathed, tears streaming down his face. "It's a girl. They're both perfect."
Julia followed him down the sterile hallway, her heart pounding with a beautiful, heavy anticipation.
She walked into the recovery room.
Mia was sitting up in the hospital bed, her hair plastered to her forehead, glowing with an otherworldly exhaustion. In her arms was a tiny, swaddled bundle wearing a striped pink and blue beanie.
Mia looked up as her mother entered.
"Mom," Mia whispered softly. "Come meet Lily."
Julia approached the bed, her breath catching in her throat.
Mia gently transferred the tiny, warm weight of her daughter into Julia’s waiting arms.
Julia looked down at her granddaughter. Little Lily had a shock of dark hair and perfect, impossibly small fingers.
Julia traced the baby's soft cheek.
She thought of the terror she had felt when Mia was born—the fear of the man waiting at home, the fear of the world she was bringing a child into.
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But looking at Lily, Julia felt none of that.
She felt only the immense, staggering power of a clean slate.
