An Inheritance

Chapter 25

As the months went by, more similar episodes started to occur.  If Danielle had a bad day at school, or if playmates teased or hurt her, Lauren would tell her mother and wait at the door to comfort her when she came home.  One Saturday Lauren had insisted her mother pick Danielle up early from the playground; that she had to come home now.  “… I relented and brought Danielle and her friend home to their loud protests.  But no sooner had we walked in the door when a freak storm came through and lightning struck several of the trees at the playground.  Thankfully no one was hurt, but if I hadn’t brought them home ..?”

The stories her mother wrote about Lauren’s budding sense of awareness captivated her.  She had been so young, she couldn’t remember these instances, but there was a sense of knowing, of accepting what was written.  But while reading, Lauren was both confused and fascinated with the interaction between her father and herself.          

“ … strong bond between them … Lauren waits each day for Conrad to come home and when he sits down she climbs onto his lap and tells him about any cartoons she saw, or where we may have gone after I pick her up at day-care … she seems to know not to tell him about any incidents where she see or knows things … that is a relief for me …”

“ … Conrad watches her every move … I can’t help thinking he’s waiting for that one clue that tells him she is truly an Alma … but he adores her and he spends much of his free time with her … I’m also grateful that he doesn’t exclude Danielle, but she is getting to that age where she would like to visit more with her friends, so Conrad and Lauren spend much of that time together … but it does make me uneasy to think Lauren could let something slip …“ 

Within almost each letter there was another item of Lauren’s abilities.

“Lauren has this affection towards pregnant women.  Likes to touch their tummies and tell them things about their baby.  At first my girlfriends and neighbors had thought it funny; she always gets the sex right, correctly said there would be triplets, not twins and some didn’t even know they were pregnant.  But recently Lauren asked a neighbor where the daddy was with her husband standing right next to her … Lauren insisted he was not the daddy … later I found out that during a separation, the woman had had an affair … thank goodness the husband knew and was willing to forgive and take in the child … I’m sometimes afraid of what will come out of that girl’s mouth … “

“ … found a stray kitten in the back yard and was rummaging in my pantry for peanut butter.  She said the kitty was coughing and needed something for the ‘air balls.  Don’t know where she found that out but I called a vet and he said that was a good remedy for hair balls.  Needless to say, the kitten is no longer a stray, her name is now ‘Kitty’.

“… I took the girls to the mall today and allowed them to run ahead to the play area.  I saw Lauren stop for a few moments to talk to a woman with an infant in her arms.  She patted the baby’s feet and then ran after her sister to the slide.  When I approached, this woman touched my arm and asked me if I was her mother.  When I told her I was, she told me that almost a year ago she was in a grocery store nearby.  Lauren must have slipped away from me because I never saw this encounter.  This woman told me Lauren reached up and touched her belly and told her not to worry, that the doctors can fix Richie’s heart. 

“I started to apologize but then she lifted her son’s shirt to show a scar running down his chest.  She said that she had just been told that she was pregnant the day she had met Lauren, that no one else had known, not even her husband.  They had planned on children and had settled on Richard as a name if they ever had a boy.  Richard was born with a large hole in his heart and they had to operate as soon as he was delivered.