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“I believe you,” she said simply, and again.
“If you’re not the dad, why did the letter say you were?” Alaska asked, and while Ellen wanted to pull closer, lift her head and touch her lips to Travis’s, she pulled back instead.
“Why did you say that the father of your baby was Roger, when it wasn’t?”
Alaska didn’t need to say anything more. It was funny that she’d even asked to begin with, since she’d done the exact same thing. Obviously she did it to force Travis to take the child. Because she wanted something better for her child than what she could provide for it.
“You’ve met Alice’s mom, her name is Alaska,” Ellen said, as she put an arm around Travis’s waist, and he put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. She loved the way he felt, solid and strong beside her.
“Good to meet you,” Travis said, but his words sounded guarded, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She couldn’t blame him, since it seemed like he’d had a lot of things dropping in his life lately.
“Is the man coming back?” a little voice asked, one that trembled, and sounded like it was close to tears.
“His name’s Eugene,” Travis said.
Ellen dropped to her knees. “Hi Eugene. I’m Ellen.”
“I’m scared,” Eugene said, and he stopped trying not to cry.
All three adults froze for an instant. Before Ellen could reach out to Eugene, Alaska had wrapped her arms around the little boy.
He didn’t necessarily come willingly; he wanted his mom. But, he allowed her to take him, and fold him into her embrace.
Ellen watched, her heart cracking. Alaska had so many issues of her own. They hadn’t even gotten into those in the car, but just counting the ones Ellen knew about. Whatever caused her to give up her own baby to begin with. Maybe that was what made her reach out for Eugene. Because she could relate to a mom who felt like they couldn’t take care of their child.
She bit her lips, and looked at Travis. He had an expression on his face that she couldn’t read. It was a little bit of tenderness, maybe a little frustration too. And she could understand that. It felt like sin messed everything up. It was frustrating when people made bad choices, and children suffered because of it.
“I need to go back to the farm. I haven’t fed my cows today, and I need to take care of my dogs as well.” She spoke quietly to Travis and he nodded.
“Do you mind if I come along?”
“I’d love it.”
Eugene was still crying, but his cries weren’t quite as loud as they had been when he started out.
“Ellen and I are going to head out for a bit.” Travis spoke. Alaska’s head came up, and she nodded as she looked at him, never letting go of the little boy who clung to her now. “I’ll take the kids...or at least take Eugene if you want to spend some time with Alice.”
“I’ll keep them both.” Alaska’s voice held determination.
Ellen and Travis looked at each other. She could keep Alice for sure; the baby was hers. And she didn’t seem to want to let go of Eugene. Travis lifted her brows, as though asking her if it was okay with her to leave them with Alaska. She shrugged and nodded.
“I cracked some eggs, and they’re on the counter. If you want to cook them, you’re welcome to. There’s bacon in the fridge.”
He hadn’t walked away from the carseat, and Ellen could see his struggle as he looked down at the baby. He had fallen head over heels in love with her, and having Alaska come back was going to be hard for him. Especially if she wanted her child back. But how could they not let her go?
Ellen almost laughed because her concern had been for Travis, but the idea of Alice being taken away was almost more than she could handle. She loved the baby, too.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” Alaska said, and her chin came up. Ellen recognized that look easily. It was a look of someone who was going to keep going, even though they felt like quitting.
“Alice is probably going to be hungry soon,” Ellen offered. “I had her for two hours and she hasn’t eaten the whole time.” Ellen looked down at the baby whose big eyes were blinking as she stared out at the adults surrounding her.
She wiggled a bit, as her hands moved jerkily in front of her face.
Ellen’s heart squeezed. She was so precious.
Precious life, created in the image of God, who needed a mom and a dad to love her and raise her and provide a stable home for her, a place of refuge, a place where she learned all that she needed to know in order to move through life. To handle what life held out for her, to handle what life threw at her.
