A Ray Of Hope [Fiction]

The door to the nursery creaked a little as Claire Roberts opened it. She made a mental note to speak to Joe, her husband, about it. She looked around the room. The soft hues of the grey mixed with the light blue colours on the wall of the nursery were soothing. The delicate design, painting and furnishing of the nursery were all Joe's work.

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Claire chose the colours. Rose, the teenager they were introduced to by the adoption agency, did not want to know the gender of the baby and Claire respected that. So she mixed the colours.

Claire parted the curtains, staring at the clear blue sky and wondering how happy she would have been if Rose had not gone back on her word. She agreed to let Joe and Claire Roberts raise her baby.

Getting a call that Rose was in labour, Claire and Joe's joy knew no bounds. They hurried to the hospital. Joe waited in the waiting room, Claire put on a surgical gown and chaperoned Rose through the birthing process.

As soon as the midwife placed the baby boy in Rose's arms, everyone in the room could see her swollen face lighten up. The unconditional love of a mother towards her baby shone on Rose's face. Claire couldn't help the tears that flowed down her face, tears of joy which quickly turned to ones of heartbreak as Rose declared she would keep her baby.

Days later, Claire was inconsolable. Joe worked late every day and drowned himself in hard liquor before hitting the sheets.

"What do we do about this room?"

Claire turned from the window and smiled at her husband. "Can we leave it the way it is? For a while at least."

"Sure about this?" He covered the space between them and hugged her.

"Yes," Claire replied, her eyes closed. "Our baby will come soon. I can feel it."

Joe nodded, held her tighter and growled, "You are stronger than I am, woman." Claire chuckled. He always sounded funny whenever he referred to her as 'woman'.

Describe What You See:

I see an empty nursery, the colours on the wall are a mixture of light pink and blue, indicating the room could be occupied by either a baby boy or girl. But there's no baby in the room.

Describe What You Feel:

I feel the nursery is quiet, empty and missing a baby. The owners are probably looking forward to nursing a baby in it soon.

This is my entry to the A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words - 5/7/2022. To participate, click on the link.

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