Short Stories

Money Can't Buy You Family

I finally got home from work after a double shift. I threw the keys to my old beat up Nissan on the coffee table and plopped on the couch.

"Mommy!" Rose squealed running down the hallway. My wonderful husband Ryan hobbling his way behind her trying to keep up on his crutches. Ryan had lost his left leg in Desert Storm as a Marine.

"How's the baby?" Ryan said putting his arms around me and holding my belly.

"She's fine," I said with a half smile.

"And how is my beautiful wife?"

" To be honest I haven't been feeling so good,"

"Maybe you should go to the doctor,"

"I'll see how I feel in the morning."

"Mommy look what I made for you!" Rose said jumping up from where she had been coloring and running to me. She pushed a piece of paper with colorful scribbles all over it.

"It's a pony mommy,"she said

"It's beautiful baby I love it," I said walking to the fridge to display her masterpiece. We may not have much, but at least we have each other.

* * *

Its supposed to get really cold soon and Rose doesn't have a coat so me and Ryan decided that I would take her with me to the thrift store when I went to find some baby clothes. We went to the discount rack and found Rose a coat.

"Mommy can I get this?" Rose said holding up a small stuffed pony.

" No honey, we can't afford it,"

"But Mom I love ponies," she said squeezing the small toy.

"I said no," I said sternly.

As we browsed the racks for some cheap onesies I passed the jewelry case. Sitting in the middle of the case as if it had been waiting for me was a diamond ring. I looked down at the plain wedding band resting on my left ring finger.

* * *

" Honey, you look exhausted. Why don't you go lay down and I will make dinner?" Ryan said as I walked through the door.

" That would be amazing. I'm so tired,"

I dragged myself to my bed that welcomed me like an old friend. I don't quite remember what happened after that, but somehow I ended up asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I sat up, yawned, and rubbed my eyes. As I lifted my hands to stretch I saw something shiny on my hand. When I looked closer I realized it was a huge diamond ring.

"What the hell is going on?" I murmured to myself. I ran my hands across the sheets. They were different to. The sheets were soft, like silk and the comforter was as fluffy as a cloud. Hanging from the ceiling was a huge crystal chandelier. I walked out of my room into the living room where there was the most beautiful furniture I had ever seen. For the next hour I wandered around my house in awe of it all until I made my way to the backyard. The first thing I saw was a strange woman standing next to Rose.

"Who are you?" I said putting my hands on my hips.

" I'm Mary...the nanny...you hired me last week?"

" Oh... That's right, I remember now," I said trying to act normal.

"Wow. A nanny. Diamonds. Huge chandeliers. What more could I want?" I thought. I was sitting on the couch watching T.V. when Ryan walked through the door. He went straight past me. It was like I didn't exist. Apparently, we don't even sleep in the same bedroom and to make things worse, I hadn't seen Rose all day.

"Excuse me, Miss?" said Mary.

"Yes. What do you need?"

"Rose wants another pony. I tried to to tell her she has enough ponies already, but she insists that she needs a new one" She said nervously.

" How many does she have already?"

"Seven, ma'am."

" That's ridiculous tell her no," I said waving her away

I spent several days at "my" house. I had everything I've ever wanted, yet I still felt empty. My days were now filled with watching T.V. and having someone cater to my every need. I no longer had purpose. Rose was being cared for by some stranger and my husband didn't seem to even notice I was there.

* * *

I woke up in a hospital bed with a million different machines connected to me. I looked down at my stomach. The baby was gone.

" Where's my baby? What did you do to my baby?" I screamed as I frantically tried to pull all of the cords away from me. A nurse came running into my room and tried to calm me down.

" Your baby was put into the NICU. You got pneumonia and you have been in a coma for two days. Please calm down. You need to rest."

" I want to see my baby now!" I said my face now flooded with tears."I need to know she's ok."

"I will bring you to see your baby but you need to be in a wheelchair. You aren't recovered from surgery yet."

"Okay" I replied.A few minutes later she came back in with a wheel chair.

"Do you know where my husband is?" I asked.

" He went to take Rose to a sitter."

"Okay," I said still in shock about everything.

When we got to the NICU they wheeled me next to the incubator. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. There was no name on the tag on her incubator.

"Why didn't Ryan name her?"

"He wouldn't name her without you," the nurse replied smiling from ear to ear. Just then Ryan burst into the room and threw his arms around me and started to sob.

"I thought I was going to lose you," He said in between sobs.

"I love you so much," I said holding him tight.

"I love you to."

"What should we name her?" Ryan said sitting next to me, looking down at our sweet baby.

"What about Hope," I said looking up at him. A single tear ran down his face.

"That's perfect."