WHAT HURTS THE MOST
Chapter Two
Cal put Sarah down for the
evening at 7:30. He gently laid her down in the crib that he had bought a week
ago. He had worked for the past month at putting together a nursery for Sarah.
He had painted the walls a pale pink, gotten a nice crib for her, clothes,
everything a five-month-old could need.
Sarah fell asleep right away. Cal
stood in the nursery for a few minutes. The house had an eerie silence to it,
considering that there was now a young child in it.
Even though the day was far off,
he wondered how he would tell Sarah that she was adopted. Would she accept it
politely? Would she scream and yell at him? Would she go as far as running
away?
Would he even tell her at all?
He went back to the parlor and sat
down in a chair. The days were getting a bit cooler since it was now late
September. A slight chill was in the air. Fall was coming over Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Ever since Cal had returned to
Philadelphia five months ago, he had called Virginia Street his home. This was
the road with millionaires. He had a few servants in the house. One was a cook,
and the other was a housekeeper who did all the cleaning.
He picked up the Philadelphia
Eagle and read the paper in silence. He kept waiting for Sarah to wake up and
start wailing. She had been asleep since she brought her home, which was at
noon.
Good Lord, how long can a
child possibly sleep? he
thought.
He skimmed through the paper for
a while, then folded it up and went to bed.
The instant he lay down, he heard
what he had been waiting for all night--Sarah.
The ear-piercing cry came from
the room down the hall. It was dark enough that he could barely see across the
room. Cal stumbled getting up and walked to Sarah’s room. He could see her
chubby arms flailing in the air. Cal was somewhat afraid to try to soothe her,
seeing as he was in a perfect position to get hit in the face.
What do I do? he thought. Rose would know what to do.
Seeing as she’s not here, she can’t help me, now can she?
He decided to pick Sarah up and
walk around the room with her for a while. He tried to think of what Rose would
do if they were a family.
Well, this wouldn’t be my job,
he thought. She’d be
taking care of Sarah. Or whatever we would end up naming our child.
The crying that came from little
Sarah only became louder. That was when Cal realized it would be a long night.
And for the first time, he realized that maybe it would be a long few years.