They came wrapped in rolls of dimpled fat, nine impatient months preceding each arrival, and the doctor laid them in my bosom, where they belonged. They cried, they nursed, they grew, they giggled, and they turned me inside out. (I got lots of pictures.) I had found what I was made for - motherhood - and, oh, it took my by surprise! (They needed me. Surely no one else in all the world needed me as much as they.)
Tickle times and snuggle times. Sandwiches without the crusts. Hour upon hour of my undivided love. I gave them all I had to give. And in my quiet times (for even I knew God must come first), I thought I heard Him trying to tell me something. But it never was quite clear. (Surely no one else in all the world needed me as much as they.)
They grew too fast, and their needs changed, too. Piano lessons and ballet. T-ball, church camp, and back-to-school trips. I didn't mind - I embraced it all. No mother was ever more in love. (For surely no one else in all the world needed me as much as they.)
Teenage years came (in spite of all my prayers that the Rapture would come first). But they were the Lord's, and we got through it. Amost intact.
As they neared young adulthood, I found myself losing ground in my valiant battle against time.
Then they were gone.
I looked around me, and there stood a man I hardly knew. We had made some vows to each other once, it seemed, a long time ago. He had fathered my children. (I mean - OUR children.)
"Would you like some coffee?" I offered.
"No, thanks. I don't care for coffee," he replied. "Would you like to dance?"
"I never learned how to dance - with a partner," I explained.
"I'm going fishing," he said, and slammed the door behind him.
"I'm going shopping," I said, and reached for my purse.
What would I shop for? Not toys, not ruffles, not blue jeans, not school supplies. Perhaps I could head for the men's department, wherever that was. What size did he wear, anyway?
I buried my face in my hands and wept. How gracefully I had danced the liturgy to motherhood (and THAT I will never regret). But how much more beautiful the dance when graced by two. For surely someone in our very home had needed me as much as they.
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