Wonderment

A Sense Of Belonging

     When Claudia Turner woke, at near midnight, to the sound of an infant crying, she thought she had finally gone crazy, like the patients she treated at the local mental clinic. But when her husband stirred soon after, she knew something wasn't right. 

"John, wake up." She shook his arm, slightly. "Do you hear that?" 

Already pretty much awake, John Turner raised a sleepy eyebrow at his frantic wife. "Yes, sweetheart. I hear it."  Getting up from the comfort of his warm bed, he slipped on his slippers and nodded toward the door. "How about I go check to see where it's coming from?" 

Claudia agreed, warily. Though John spent most of his time acting as Sheriff in their sleepy, little town, she still wasn't used to him going off into the unknown so easily. But with the title, came sacrifice and she had to accept that when she married him five years ago. 

    John silently followed the noise down the hallway and toward the front porch. It was a familar sound. One he'd never forget. A baby. As he neared the source of the crying, he thought back when Claudia and he were newly married and trying so hard for a little one. But too many failed tests and false positives brought them both here, swallowed up by their jobs with little time together.

He came to the front door and layed a hand on the doorknob. Unsure of what he was going to find, nerves began to flutter in the pit of his stomach. Slowly he creaked the door open. His mouth fell open.

"Claudia!" he yelled, a mix of excitement and terror in his voice. "Sweetheart! Come here!" 

Hearing her name, Claudia rushed out to the frazzled expression of her husband. "John? What's going on?" 

He motioned for her to come over to where he knelt on the porch. She drew closer and saw a bundle in her husband's arms. "What's that, John?" 

"A baby." He said, quietly, almost trance-like. "Claudia, it's a baby."

She peered down at the infant swaddled in a white cloth. Big eyes blinked up at her. "Oh my!" The little girl opened her sweet mouth and cooed at the beautiful woman. In that moment, it was like a mother meeting her child for the first time. 

A warmth washed over Claudia immediately. She took the baby from John and rocked her back and forth. Never having a child of her own, Claudia didn't know she even had any maternal instincts but this child had brought some out. 

John sat back and watched his wife interact with the infant. He was in awe. This woman who could burn waffles to a crisp, cuss the crap out of a sports caster on TV, and deal with homicidal lunatics on a daily basis was softly whispering to a little baby. He saw then what he always knew. Motherhood suited Claudia perfectly. 

"What should we do?" she asked, not wanting to let go of the little girl in her arms. "Should we call the police?"

John shook his head. "I am the police, Claudia." He scratched at the hair along his jaw. "She was on our porch for a reason. I think we should keep her."

"Keep her?" Claudia looked at him. "But what do we say to the neighbors? 'We magically had a baby overnight'?" 

"No, darling." he put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll tell them that your sister gave birth to a child and couldn't take of her so we stepped in. You weren't born here and you do have a sister. They'll buy it."

It was Claudia's turn to shake her head. "I don't know, John. Although it's a small town, the people here are sharp. It's going to be hard to get them to buy that. But," She gazed at the now sleeping baby, "I can't let her go." 

They both agreed right then and there. This was meant to be. This little girl was left on their porch for a reason. John helped Claudia inside with the infant still nestled in her arms. For the first time in five years, they both felt what they longed for. Parenthood. 

And a sense of belonging.