Saving Rain(2)

“What are you going to name him?” her mom asked, brushing the damp hair from off her daughter’s forehead. “Have you thought about it?”

In truth, Diane hadn’t thought about it at all. She had been too busy these past thirty-seven weeks talking herself out of sneaking sips from the locked-away bottles in the liquor cabinet while cursing the parasite in her belly for keeping her awake and making her puke and squeezing her bladder down to the size of a poppy seed. But now that she looked at him, now that she knew he was in fact a he—the little ray of sunshine sent to brighten her gloomy world and save her life—she could only think of one name, one word, worthy of someone brave enough to be born to a wreck like her.

“Soldier,” she replied as he cracked his tiny eyes open to look at her for the first time. “His name is Soldier.”





CHAPTER ONE


HEARTS OF HOPE



Age Five



“Mommy?”

I peered through the crack in the open door. The room was dark.

I wasn’t scared of the dark, but I was scared of what it meant.

Mommy only liked it dark when she was sleeping or did the Bad Stuff, and since it wasn’t morning time anymore, it probably meant she had done the Bad Stuff.

But maybe not. Maybe she was sick. Billy’s tummy hadn’t felt good when I saw him a couple days ago, so maybe her tummy didn’t feel good too.

“Mommy?”

I walked slowly inside to see her on the bed and giggled because she looked so silly. Her jammie shirt was on backward, and she had forgotten to put on her pants.

“Mommy, I see your undies,” I whispered, still giggling wildly. “I can see your butt.”

She snorted against her pillow. She sounded like a piggy, and I giggled again before making a piggy sound too.

“Soldier?”

Uh-oh.

Gramma was coming up the stairs, and she was going to be mad if she saw Mommy sleeping when it wasn’t morning time anymore.

I hurried out of the room and saw Gramma. She smiled big at me and raced for me super fast to pick me up and swing me around.

“What are you doing up here? Did you find Mommy?” she asked.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around Gramma’s neck. “Mommy’s sleeping.”

Gramma didn’t like that. Her face got liney and mad, like the time when I had dropped The Lion King into her fishbowl.

“Mommy’s sleeping, huh? Maybe we should wake her up, don’t you think?”

I thought real hard about that.

If Mommy was sleeping because she had done the Bad Stuff, then Gramma would yell. She would tell Grampa, and he would yell, too, and Mommy would yell back, and I would have to hide because I didn’t like it when they yelled.

But if Mommy was sleeping because her tummy didn’t feel good, she should stay sleeping because sleep made you better when you didn’t feel good.

So, I shook my head.

“No,” I said, tapping Gramma’s nose. “Mommy’s tummy doesn’t feel good.”

“Oh, it doesn’t, huh?”

I bobbed my head real fast. “Uh-huh. Billy’s tummy didn’t feel good when I was at his house. His mommy said he maybe caught a bug, so I think Mommy caught Billy’s bug too.”

Gramma’s face wasn’t liney anymore. Now, she looked sad, like she wanted to cry, and I didn’t think I liked that.

I poked at her lips and tried to make her smile again.

“Mommy caught a bug all right,” Gramma muttered in a quiet voice, and I was happy because I was right.

Then, she really did smile, and I felt good again. Because I’d made it happen.

“Come on, my little man,” she said, carrying me back to the stairs. “Let’s go make some cookies, okay?”

“Yeah!” I threw my fists in the air like Superman.

“Chocolate chip?”

I shook my head.

Gramma looked surprised.

“No?! But you love chocolate chip!”

“I wanna make oatmeal today.”

“Really?”

She couldn’t believe it. Gramma knew I didn’t like oatmeal.

“Yeah.” I stuck my bottom lip out because, now, I was sad even though I didn’t really know why. “They’re Mommy’s favorite.”

Then, Gramma was sad again, too, but she nodded. “Okay, little Soldier. We’ll make oatmeal cookies for Mommy.”

***

Age Six



Grampa zoomed around the living room and made the plane noises. My arms stretched out real wide, and Gramma laughed as she put another sparkly ornament onto the Christmas tree.

It was the biggest, glitteriest tree I’d ever seen, and I knew Santa was gonna love it and leave me tons and tons of presents.

“I know being an airplane is fun, but I think someone needs to get some sleep,” Gramma said, and I knew she was talking about me.

“No!” I yelled, trying real hard not to yawn. “I gotta stay up for Santa!”

Grampa put me down and bent over to tap my chin. “Oh, but if you stay up, Santa won’t come.”

I couldn’t help it. I yawned big, stretching my mouth out like a lion, and Gramma laughed again.

“How about Grampa flies you up to your room and gives you a nice, soft landing in your bed?”