Sophie's Heart (70 page)

“If that’s the case,” Rita was saying, “we’ll get along fine. I’d like to sleep the whole week I’m home.”

“I’ll just bet,” her father chuckled. “You’ll be on the phone an hour after you get up Saturday morning.”

Rita laughed, and after another five minutes of conversation they hung up. Sophie was sound asleep, so Alec secured the downstairs and then bent over her.

“Sophie,” he called softly, his hand gentle on her hair.

Her eyes opened, but she only stared at his shirtfront.

“Come on, I’ll help you upstairs.”

“Did I talk to Rita?” She was frowning at his pocket now.

“No, honey, but she said she’d be home late Friday night.”

Sophie looked very pleased, and then allowed Alec to take her up to bed. She sank into sleep as soon as she stretched out and slept dreamlessly until the first time her bladder called her into the bathroom. Each time Sophie went, she asked God if she would ever sleep through the night again.

“I am hungry,” Sophie proclaimed, and the girls stopped in the middle of the mall to look at her.

“We just have two more stores, Sophie,” Rita bargained.

Their stepmother slowly shook her head, her brow drawn into a stubborn pout. “I am going to eat now. If you want to join me, you may, but I am going to eat
now
.”

The girls grinned. “I think she means it,” Rita whispered loudly.

“Trust me,” Tory teased as well. “When Sophie needs food, no one argues with her.”

Sophie put her nose in the air, pulling off the air of lofty disdain with a flourish before the girls broke into laughter. However, Sophie did get her food. Just ten minutes later they were seated at the food court, and Sophie was biting into a burrito. Her eyes closed in pleasure, and her companions only shook their heads.

Their stepmother was unlike any woman they had ever met. Sophie was utterly transparent. Things did not go ignored. When she needed to talk to someone, she talked. If someone was upset, she didn’t get upset back, but remained calm and listened. She had cried more tears during her pregnancy than any of them would have dared believe possible, but she also laughed at herself in the process, and told them that someday she would be “Sophie” again.

And then there was their father. There were 11 years between him and Sophie, but the kids never felt it. Sophie’s maturity level was incredible, and their father seemed younger than ever these days. The combination made for a great team. The way their father looked at Sophie was the most romantic thing Tory and Rita had ever seen. Rita loved Christian romance books, and now Tory was getting into them as well, but watching their father with Sophie was better than anything on the pages of a book. They weren’t perfect; at times they frowned at each other in a way that told the other there was going to be a discussion behind closed doors, but for the most part they were delighted with each other. Their father was a very affectionate man, and his tender handling of Sophie could not be faulted.

“What are you girls thinking about?” Sophie suddenly noticed the dreamy expressions on their faces.

“Nothing,” Tory said, but Rita only grinned.

Sophie eyed them carefully and then let the matter drop; she could see that nothing was wrong. A woman couldn’t ask for more precious stepchildren. They might exhaust her before they were done with this shopping trip, but Sophie wouldn’t have traded them for anything, not even the babies inside her. And considering how precious those babies were to their mother, it spoke volumes as to the love Sophie felt in her heart where Rita, Craig, and Tory Riley were concerned.

Sixty-One

A
lec and Sophie’s first anniversary came and went, and there was still no sign of the babies. Dr. Fouch told Sophie that he would give her just five more days, until June 1, and then he would induce labor. Sophie was not pleased with the thought, but on the other hand, she was more than ready to get the show on the road. She had gone back to crying almost constantly now and, in the process, had even managed to get on her own nerves.

Rita was home for the summer, not working full-time, because Alec wanted her to help with the babies. Most nights she made supper. However, on this particular night Rita had an overnight babysitting job, and Sophie handled the meal. Tory had set the table, but Craig had been the one assigned to help with the rest. He was working over a bowl, peeling carrots, when Sophie took a bowl of Jello from the refrigerator. Craig turned when he heard a crash. The bowl was upside down on the floor, and huge tears stood in Sophie’s eyes.

“I am not going to cry,” Sophie told him firmly.

“You can if you want to,” he had learned to reply.

Upon which she burst into tears. The timer went off for the cookies in the oven, and Craig grabbed the pot holder. Tory came along and started to clean up the Jello, and Sophie cried through it all. She stood in the kitchen for a few more minutes and then wandered to the living room to cry in there. Tory joined her after a few minutes.

“I am so tired of tired,” Sophie cried. “I am so tired of pregnancy. Is like some huge joke on Sophie; she will be carry babies forever.”

Tory sat quietly with her. She didn’t know what to say. It did seem like she’d been pregnant for a long time.

“I’m glad we’re all ready.” Tory said the next thing that popped into her mind. “Jenny Lambert is the oldest child in her family, and she told me she was early. They didn’t have a crib or anything.”

Sophie sniffed and gulped a little, but she was still listening.

“I mean, even if the babies came tonight, we’d be all set. Rita even vacuumed in the babies’ room yesterday, so it’s really ready.”

Sophie sniffed again and shifted her uncomfortable body in the chair. It was hard to have a pity party with Tory talking like this.

“And Craig and I are out of school in less than a week, so we’ll be here to help, too.”

Sophie smiled; she had to. “You are in Sophie’s heart, Tory. I am sorry I am such crab.”

“It’s all right, Sophie.” She stopped and looked at her intently. “Are you a little scared, Sophie?”

“To have the babies?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe a little, but I am so ready, my Tory. I want to meet them. I have shared the most intimate experience imaginable with these two little people; I have nurtured them in my body. This is a miraculous thing, Tory. I love these babies, this I know, but I don’t know
them
, and I ache for this.”

Tory nodded. Sophie knew she should get back to the kitchen, but right then she was too tired to move.

“I should not have sat down.”

Tory stood then and came over to help Sophie to her feet. They returned to the kitchen and, as soon as Alec arrived, sat down to eat. However, Sophie did little more than pick at her food. She didn’t feel well all of a sudden.

“What’s going on?” Alec asked when the dishes had been washed.

“I feel achy and heavy,” she told him, “but then I’ve felt that way for many weeks.”

“But tonight it’s a little different.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “How did you know this?”

Alec shook his head and shrugged. “Your face and actions.” He then smiled. “And, of course, the time. Babies never let their parents get a full night’s sleep before the fun begins.”

But Alec was wrong. Sophie did not sleep extremely well, but the first pain didn’t hit her until after noon the next day. She was in the kitchen, totally unsuspecting, and the sharpness of it took her breath away. Alec had been calling all morning, and when he called 20 minutes later, Sophie had had a total of three contractions.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. They hurt, but it is not unbearable. Are you coming?”

“Yes, but I’m a good 45 minutes out. Is Rita home yet?”

“No, but I think soon.”

“Call Gladys just so she knows, and keep the phone handy.”

“All right.”

“And Sophie,” Alec added, “don’t clean anything.”

He knew his wife well. By the time he arrived, Rita was there trailing Sophie as she fixed and straightened up every room of the house. The contractions hurt, but she felt strangely exhilarated.

“Will you please sit down?” Alec tried to reason with her.

“I have just a few things to do.”

Alec followed her and kept talking. “Just sit down long enough for us to time these. What if they’re getting closer?”

“I do not think they are, Alec,” she began and started away, but he caught her hand and led her into the family room.

“Humor me,” he muttered and gently pushed her onto the sofa.

“Alec!” she complained. He knew very well that it took her forever these days to get off that soft couch. However, she couldn’t stop her laughter when Alec grabbed the stopwatch and sat down to stare at her.

“You are being silly,” she told him, but he didn’t answer. Rita, who was silently taking all of this in, sat in a chair as well.

Alec timed Sophie’s contractions for the next 30 minutes. By the time he was through, they were five minutes apart. Alec made a quick call to Sophie’s doctor, who gave Alec instructions for the next move. Rita picked up Craig and Tory from school, and the two younger children came in quietly, their faces alight with excitement.

Alec finally took Sophie to the hospital at 6:30 that evening, but they still had several hours to go. Over ten hours after Sophie’s first contraction, she gave birth to a baby boy. It was 10:18 that night of May 29, 1992. At 10:20 another baby boy arrived and, much to the delight of his parents, he looked identical to the first.

For a moment Alec came to Sophie’s pillow and laid his head near hers. The babies’ cries were very loud, but Alec’s words could still be heard.

“You did it,” he told her, almost as dripping wet as she was.

“I did it,” Sophie panted.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Alec.”

He kissed her before joining the nurses to take his sons to the nursery. Sophie was weak with exhaustion, but she still asked for a phone. Craig answered at home.

“Sophie?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“How are you?”

“I am tired, but so—” She had to stop because she heard Craig shouting through the house.

“What did you have?”

“Boys. Both boys.”

There was more shouting, and then Tory came on the line.

“Oh, Sophie, we want to come and see you.”

“Oh, Tory, I wish you could, but it would be so late.”

“In the morning—we’ll come in the morning.”

“All right.”

“Rita wants to talk to you.”

“Hi, Sophie.”

“Hello, Rita. I had baby boys.”

“Craig told me.” Sophie could hear the tears in her voice. “Is Dad there?”

“He is with the babies.”

Rita broke down then. “I love you, Sophie.”

“I love you, too, my Rita. Tell Craig and Tory, too.”

“Okay.”

The conversation ended then, but Alec, not having realized that Sophie called, phoned the kids just 15 minutes later. He was able to tell them that everyone was doing fine and that their new brothers were healthy. There were no names yet, but Alec reported to Tory, who wrote down every word, that the first boy had been 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. His brother had come in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. Both were in fine health, and Sophie had been a marvel. Alec told the kids he would be home in a little while and that they could all come visit the next morning.

The next day managed to be very busy. Alec and the kids were not Sophie’s only visitors. Mr. Kent came in during a quiet moment in the afternoon. The babies had just returned to the nursery, and Sophie was thrilled to see him.

“How are you?”

“I am well,” she told him. “Did you see the babies?”

“Not yet.”

“I had two boys.”

Mr. Kent nodded. “Alec told me when he called.”

The old man sat down now, and they talked about nothing in particular. Every Sunday he attended church with them, even sat beside them, but never commented. Alec had asked him to the men’s prayer group once, but Mr. Kent had declined. He sat each week, his eyes glued to Pastor Baker. Since he was a private man, it was difficult to figure out what he was thinking.