How did you manage to get yourself into this mess, you foolish girl? Who will want you now that youre expecting? How do you intend to raise a child? Dont count on me for help. I brought you up, and now you expect me to care for your baby as well? I dont need you here. Pack your things and leave my house!
Anna kept her eyes low, listening in silence. The thin hope that Aunt Helen might let her stay, even just until she found a job, vanished instantly.
If only Mother were still alive
Anna never met her father; her mother was killed by a drunk driver at a crosswalk about fifteen years earlier. Social services were about to place the girl in an orphanage when a distant relativea cousin of her mothersuddenly appeared, took her in, and, thanks to a steady job and a house of her own, made the guardianship effortless.
Aunt Helen lived on the fringe of a southern border town, green and scorching in summer, damp in winter. Anna was always wellfed, neatly clothed, and used to hard work. With a house, a yard and a few animals, there was never a shortage of chores. She may have missed a mothers tenderness, but that mattered little.
Anna performed well at school and, after graduating, enrolled in a teachers college. Those carefree student years passed quickly; now the exams were finished and she returned to the town that had become her home. Yet the homecoming was far from joyful.
After her angry tirade, Aunt Helen finally regained some composure.
Enough. Get out of my sight. I dont want to see you here again.
Please, Aunt Helen, can I just
No, Ive said all I need to say!
Anna lifted her suitcase in silence and stepped onto the street. Did she imagine returning like thishumiliated, rejected, and already pregnant, though still in the early weeks? She decided to admit her condition; she could no longer keep it hidden.
She needed somewhere to stay. She walked, lost in thought, oblivious to the surroundings.
It was midsummer in the south. Apples and pears ripened in orchards, apricots glowed golden, grapes hung in heavy bunches from arbors, and deeppurple plums lurked beneath dark leaves. The air was scented with jam, roasting meat and fresh bread. The heat was oppressive, and Annas throat was parched. Approaching a gate, she called to a woman standing by a summer kitchen.
Excuse me, may I have some water?
Pauline, a sturdy woman in her fifties, turned. Come in, if you mean no trouble.
She dipped a cup into a bucket, handed it to the girl, who sank wearily onto a bench and drank greedily.
May I stay here a while? Its terribly hot.
Of course, dear. Where are you from? I see you have a suitcase.
I just finished college, hoping to find a teaching job, but I have nowhere to live. Do you know anyone renting a room?
Pauline studied the girlneatly dressed yet clearly weary.
You could stay with me. It would liven the house up. I wont charge much, but you must pay on time. If you agree, Ill show you the room.
Having a lodger was a welcome prospect; extra income was always useful in their small, remote town. Her son lived far away and rarely visited, so companionship on long winter evenings would be pleasant.
Anna, barely believing her sudden luck, followed Pauline. The room was small but cozy, with a window over the garden, a table, two chairs, a bed and an old wardrobejust enough. They settled on the rent, and after changing clothes she headed to the education office.
Thus the days slipped bywork, home, work. Anna hardly had a moment to tear pages from her calendar as time rushed forward.
She grew close to Pauline, who proved kind and caring, and Pauline took a liking to the modest girl. Whenever she could, Anna helped around the house, and many evenings they chatted over tea in the garden gazebo, since in the south autumn arrived slowly.
The pregnancy progressed without trouble. Anna felt no nausea, her face stayed clear, though she was gaining weight. She confided in Pauline about her simple, alltoocommon story.
In her second year, Anna fell for James, the charming son of welloff university teachers. His future was mapped outstudies, graduate school, a career in teaching or research, all near his parents. Handsome, polite and sociable, he was the life of any gathering and attracted many girls, yet he chose quiet Anna. Perhaps it was her shy smile, gentle brown eyes, or slender figure; maybe he sensed a kindred spirit or admired the resilience forged by hardship. Whatever the reason, they spent almost every moment together, and Anna pictured a life beside him.
One morning she realized she could no longer tolerate certain smells, felt nauseous for days, and knew she was late. She bought a pregnancy test, returned to her dorm, drank a glass of water and waited. Two lines appeared. She stared, unable to believe her eyestwo lines. Exams loomed, and now this! How would James react? Children were not part of their plans.
Unexpectedly, a surge of affection for the tiny life inside her overwhelmed her.
Little one, she whispered, gently touching her belly.
When James heard the news, that very evening he took her to meet his parents. In that meeting, tears welled in Annas eyes. Jamess parents suggested she terminate the pregnancy and leave town after graduation, arguing that James needed to focus on his career and she was not a suitable match.
What conversation James had with his father, Anna could only guess. The next day, James entered her room silently, placed an envelope with cash on the table, and left without a word.
Anna never considered abortion. She had already fallen in love with the little being inside herher baby, hers alone. Yet after a brief pause she accepted the money, realizing how essential it would be.
Pauline listened and offered comfort. These things happen. It isnt the worst thing in life. Youre brave not to end itevery child is a blessing. Maybe everything will work out for the best.
Anna could not imagine reconciling with James. The humiliation lingered, and she could not forgive him.
Time went on. Anna stopped working, waddling like a duck as she awaited her babys arrival. She wondered whether it would be a boy or a girl, though the ultrasound technicians could not tell. It mattered little; she just wanted a healthy child.
At the end of February, on a Saturday, labor began. Pauline took her to the hospital. The delivery was smooth; Anna gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Baby John, she murmured, gently stroking his round cheek.
In the maternity ward she befriended other women, who told her that two days earlier the border officers wife had delivered a daughter. The couple lived together without being officially married.
They showered her with flowers, brought chocolates and brandy for the nurses, visited daily in a Jeep, one said, but she kept saying she didnt want children and left a note, abandoning the baby, saying she wasnt ready.
What about the baby? another asked.
Theyre bottlefeeding her, but the nurse said a breast would be better. Everyone has their own child to feed.
When it was feeding time, the nurse asked if anyone could nurse the frail girl.
I will, poor child, Anna replied, laying her son on the bed and cradling the newborn in her arms.
Oh, how tiny and fair she is! Ill call her little Mary.
Compared with her robust son John, the girl was diminutive. Anna breastfed her, and the baby latched eagerly before drifting to sleep.
The nurse later returned to tell Anna that the girls father had arrived and wanted to meet the woman nursing his daughter. That introduced Anna to Captain James Hathaway, a young border officer of average height with resolute blue eyes.
The episode spread through the hospital staff and soon throughout the whole town, because the conclusion was unforgettable.
When Anna left the hospital, doctors, nurses and aides gathered at the entrance where a Jeep decorated with blue and pink balloons waited. A young officer in captains stripes helped Anna into the vehicle, where Pauline was already seated, and handed her a blue bundle followed by a pink one.
With a cheerful honk, the Jeep drove away, disappearing around the bend.
Thus life unfolds in ways we never anticipate; our actions can bring consequences we never imagined. Sometimes the world throws at us surprises we could never have pictured.
