Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) (27 page)

“Thanks grandma.” I said holding my arms up
to hug both of my grandmothers.

“You feel okay, you look a little pale.”
Grandma Rose said sizing me up.

“I’m a little weak; I guess I lost a lot of
blood. It’s okay though, I’m on iron supplements.

“I heard you did good sis.” Edward, my
oldest brother, said from the clan of my family and CeCe that were
following our grandmothers.

“Yeah, I didn’t have any pain medication to
deliver that little squirt.” I smiled looking down at Lucy, lying
perfectly still all cozied up in her bassinette.

“She was a rock star in there!” CeCe said
loudly from behind the massive teddy bear that seemed to be taking
her for a walk.

“Here are some flowers for you and Lucy? Is
it?” Jason, my third oldest brother, asked, as he handed me a
bouquet of fresh pink Gerber daisies with white and light green
mums of various sizes.

“Yes, it’s Lucy Grace and thanks Jason,
you’re my favorite brother.”

“Wait a minute—those are from all of us and
I’m your favorite brother.” Richie said pushing his index finger
into Jason’s chest before quickly moving away from any
retaliation.

“Thank you guys; you’re all my favorite
brothers.”

“That’s better—you mean I’m the most awesome
and they’re okay.” Richie shook his head.

“I need to sit down. Do you guys want to
come to the room? Then you can sit and hold her if you want but you
have to wash your hands first. I don’t want any pesticide on
her.”

“Don’t worry; momma and Grandma Rose already
told us we had to wash up and change our clothes before we came
down here.” Peter, my second oldest brother and Edward’s twin,
stated.

“Oh good,” I said turning Lucy’s bassinette
towards my hospital room as our mom and dad entered through the
double doors down the hall.

“Perfect timing, we are going back to the
room with Lucy.” I shouted to them.

“Where’d you guys go?” I asked as we met up
by my hospital room.

“We just needed to finish up a little
business.” My mother said trying to be inconspicuous.

“Business?” I pushed.

“Yes, something came up that your dad and I
needed to take care of it. We figured you needed your sleep so we
let you be for a little bit.” She pushed back, gently.

“Alright,” I said leading the pack into the
room.

I got back into bed, with my mother’s help
as the rest of my family ogled Lucy. It felt good to be back in
bed. I had started to feel the soreness creep up again as I stood
in the hallway. Rebecca came back in while I was getting into bed
and offered more pain medication to help with the soreness and
swelling. She also made the rest of the group stand outside a few
moments while she re-checked me and iced me all over again. The
coldness shook my system before eventually comforting me.

“Okay, I will let the others in.” Rebecca
notified me. “Is there anything else I can get you right now?”

“No, I’m good. I’ve still got water. Thank
you though.”

“Sounds good, if you need something just
push your call light.” Rebecca pointed towards the remote connected
to my bed.

“Thank you, I will if I need to.”

“Okay y’all—you can come in now.” Rebecca
instructed as she stepped out of the room.

I sat back, comfortably propped up by the
bed full of pillows everywhere, as my brothers, grandmothers,
parents, CeCe and a very large teddy bear filed into the room. All
the chairs and most of the floor space, in the room, were now taken
up. I was so tired and ready for bed but I watched quietly, like
many times in the past, as my family laughed and told stories and
now—admired Lucy. I sat still appreciating the peace in the midst
of my loud, Southern, family. It was like old times. No one was
whispering or avoiding eye contact with me. Lucy had brought us
together again with her small but vibrant light.

“Hello?” I heard a full-bodied voice call
into the room.

“Oh Father John, come on in!” My mother
exclaimed, happily, as she rose up to greet him.

“Hi Charlotte, congratulations! Your mother
called me and asked me to come down and say a prayer over Lucy. Is
that Okay?”

“Sure, that would be great. Thanks Father.”
I said, surprised by his appearance.

“Here she is Father; her name is Lucy
Grace.” My mother said, carefully handing Lucy over to Father
John’s embrace.

“Hi there young lady, you sure are a
beauty.” He said to Lucy as he swayed her gently in his arms.

“Would you all bow your heads and close your
eyes?” He started. “Dear wonderful heavenly Father of all creation.
We give you thanks today as you have safely brought Lucy Grace into
our presence. We thank you that your wisdom and your gifts are
beyond our ability to comprehend and that no surprise to us is a
surprise to you—that babies are not mistakes but are made in your
image and given life by the Almighty God of the universe. Father
God, we pray that you would forever place your favor and hand of
protection over this little one and that you give Charlotte the
wisdom and the courage to raise Lucy Grace to know her Creator as
her savior, her friend, and her daddy, whose love is never failing.
Lord, we thank you that you give us everything we need to live
fully and that in no way will Charlotte or Lucy be lacking in
anything but blessed and full of joy. Lord we pray your mighty hand
to bless and protect this family, we ask, in the name of the
Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Chapter 15: The First Year

I
opened my eyes feeling the early morning autumn sun peering in
through my window. I looked over at Lucy’s crib. She was still
sleeping. It had been four and a half months since her birth. She
had to decided, within the past few weeks, to try sleeping
six-to-seven hours at a time at night. This was a very big surprise
to me since she had been nursing every one-to-two hours up until
now causing me to look like a walking zombie with bad hair, for the
past several months. I was still getting use to sleeping when she
was sleeping. Before Lucy, a bomb could have gone off right next to
me and I would’ve never known until the angels greeted me through
the pearly gates. By now, I had developed super-hearing powers
while sleeping. The slightest sneeze, movement or sound could
startle me wide awake and on my feet in under three seconds.

CeCe had been to Paris and back and then on
to college and back already once since the fall semester began to
see Lucy and me. She had brought back lots of pictures of herself
and cute Parisian guys she insisted were part of the gorgeous
scenery and not just for the hottie that happened to be standing
next to the Notre Dame Cathedral or the Louvre. She told me all
about the fresh made pastries and breads that we’d never had here
and that I must try before I died. She even mimicked the mannerisms
of this fancy Couture-type lady she saw in the French marketplace
with her black beret and perfectly coiffed curls, wearing a fitted
white collar blouse with black pencil skirt, drenched in diamonds
and black Louis Vuitton stilettos and matching handbag. CeCe
pretended to hold a cigarette, with a holder like the kind Audrey
Hepburn used in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in one hand while she held
her other arm at waist-height inspecting fictitious, organic
vegetables and multigrain hearth-oven breads. Back at school, she
had picked up where she left off with her Tri-Delta sisters holding
parties with handsome hunks, hosting goodwill events to raise money
for impoverished inner-city children, and early bird yoga
work-outs.

At home, I had started back at the community
college with two classes and working three days a week while Lucy
stayed with Grandma Rose. I had a few guys hit on me at the diner.
I scared most of them away once I showed them a picture of Lucy.
One creep thought that I might be easy since I seemed fairly young
to have a baby. He grabbed my butt when I was coming around the
corner with a very heavy tray. It was the last time he did that.
Jimmy had been putting food up on the counter when he saw him grab
me. He gave him a little rough-up and told him not to show up at
the diner anytime soon unless he wanted a boot somewhere very
unpleasant. I hadn’t seen that guy since or any guy, for that
matter, that seemed at all interested or appealing. It was a bit
frustrating. Although—even if a nice guy had come along I probably
wouldn’t have noticed anyway. I had my heart locked up tight. I had
learned a very painful lesson over the past year and wasn’t about
to let myself be lulled into such trickery and games with my heart
again.

On the upper hand of life, I had a beautiful
little daughter out of my heartbreak—a little girl that brought me
challenges and immense joy. Her smile made me smile. Every new
expression she made was like seeing a sunset for the first
time—beautiful and mesmerizing. Some made me giggle every time I
thought about them while others let me know that she was making her
own introduction in this world. This tiny little person was the
center of my life. Everything I did—I did for her. Late nights
working and studying and early mornings with her—all of it was an
attempt to set up a future for her and I that we could be happy
in.

I had no time for friends. It was just Lucy,
work and school. I guess that’s the trade-off when you’re a single
mom trying to make the best life for you and your children. Since I
was so busy and tired when I wasn’t so busy I stayed home most of
the time with my family. My father had been a real help since
Lucy’s birth. Not only had he forgiven me and asked for my
forgiveness for ignoring me for months—he had taken so closely to
Lucy that they’re were inseparable—especially after he came in from
the farm in the evenings. When my family and I watched movies, my
father and Lucy would fall asleep on the sofa with Lucy lying on
his chest. My mother said it reminded her of when I was a baby. My
father would sing to me and eventually I would fall asleep on his
chest and she would have to wake him to pick me up and put me in my
crib at bedtime. Her face lit up when she recalled these special
memories.

My parents and Grandma Rose had been so good
to me. After I got home from the hospital with Lucy, my parents
surprised me with a white 1988 Volvo 240 station wagon. I had
always liked the way Volvo’s looked—nerdy with a sophisticated
coolness. I didn’t know my parents knew I liked them and it meant
so much to me; it was the first car I had owned. My father was
beaming when he handed Lucy and I the keys to my new car. He made
sure to tell me that the safety rating was excellent which was
important for his favorite girls. It wasn’t a black Volkswagen
convertible but it was pretty darn cool and it allowed me the
freedom to get to work and school without bothering my mother or
brothers. Some days after school finished, I would drive to the
beach, on the way home, to walk the shore for fresh air and day
dreams. During the middle of the day, the beach was mostly deserted
and I was alone with the washed up starfish and seagulls.
Sometimes, I was caught up in thoughts about Skylar while other
times I had frank discussions with God about my life and my future.
It was the best way I’d found to release a stressful day or
negative thoughts of feeling like I was missing out on something
bigger in this life. In the moments I allowed negative thoughts to
flood my mind, I felt alone in the world. However, I found that the
more I walked along and shared my thoughts with God, the more I
realized that I had the power to see the world, again, as a utopia,
full of beauty, experiences and gifts waiting to unfold at any
moment. God heard me and my cries for an extraordinary life. One
particular day while I was walking on the beach, feeling sorry for
myself and complaining to him that I was going to end up an old,
single, cat lady with 10 cats that everyone joked about—something
special happened. I had been yelling, like a bit of a lunatic.
Thankfully, no one was around and only the seagulls, in my path,
were scared away. It was late afternoon and sunny with maybe two or
three clouds in the sky. After I had finished my ranting I asked
“do you hear me—I know you’re busy with the five-billion other
people on this earth—but do you hear me, you know little ole
me—Charlotte Buchanan—I live in St. Marys Georgia?” I waited for a
response and nothing just like I expected happened. I had been
feeling pretty hopeless this day and was fairly pessimistic. I
threw my hands up in the air and kicked the sand as I turned toward
my car to leave. That next moment changed my mind. Out of the blue
sunny sky a loud crackling thunder reverberated around me. Suddenly
rain dumped down from nowhere and white-gold flashes of electricity
lit up the sky.

“Okay, you hear me. Please don’t hit me with
a lightning bolt. I just wanted to make sure you heard me. That’s
it. Also, if you could make sure that I don’t end up being the cat
lady, I’d really like that. And if you feel inclined, a nice and
good-looking prince for me and Lucy would be okay too. I’m sorry
for yelling at the birds—I didn’t mean it. Thanks, that’s it. I’m
going now.” I jumped as I ran back to the car drenched by the rain
cloud bizarrely, following me all the way.

God heard me. He knew my heart’s desires and
got my attention in a most frightening and anything but ordinary
way—blue skies, lightning bolts, and a rain cloud directly over my
head. Since that day, there have been several times when God has
sent rain to reply to my requests. When I see rain now, it brings a
sense of peace knowing that he is listening and watching. I knew
somehow Lucy and I would end up happy.

Time was flying by. Lucy had her first
Thanksgiving and her first Christmas upon which she started
crawling. She was so little and fast. She was almost seven months
old and finding her way around the home pretty quickly. My father
delightfully enjoyed showing her off to all the family at Christmas
this year. While last year had been one of the hardest times in my
life, this Christmas had been one of the best, watching Lucy crawl
from person-to-person getting into bags and trying to eat bits of
wrapping paper. At Christmas mass, we sat up in the balcony, as
usual, and Lucy was drawn to the beautiful Christmas lights and
soothing music from the choir. She was silent, taking in all the
beauty, yawning every few minutes until she fell asleep in my
lap.