Wonder (GBE2 WK 31)

Topic Prompt from GBE2: Wonder

wonder: a definition

A feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

Verb:

Desire or be curious to know something.

Synonyms:

noun.  marvel - miracle - prodigy - astonishment - amazement

verb.  marvel

Image Source: Wikimedia (Public Domain)

"Just a few hours ago, she was sitting here, right here, where I could touch her and hold her hand. It was only her, but now…" He said with wonderment, while he gazed at the small round head in his hands. "…now there is another life." 

Jeremy held his new born son's head carefully in one hand, while the rest of his tiny body rested in the palm of the other. It wasn't the first child he had seen, but it was the first time he had watched someone give birth. 

Shandra just smiled at him, and faded in and out of sleep.

" You, my little man" he said with such a serious tone, "are one of the wonders of the world." 

Shandra mumbled from a half-sleep state "Jeremiah, his name is Jeremiah."

"Jeremiah" he repeated quietly.

Jeremiah was a bit of a miracle, and everybody that came through the door of the hospital room 102 knew it. He was born a week early, but still weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Jeremy and Shandra lived out in the middle of a stretch of mountains that required 4x4 access at the beginning of winter, let alone smack dab in the middle of December. 

It was 13 below zero, the morning that Jeremiah was born. 13 below zero with a wind chill of 30 below. Jeremy was loading wood into the stove, to take off the early morning chill, when Shandra yelled for him, from the other room.

"Jeremmmmyyyyyy" 

Jeremy was so shocked that he dropped the wood, and forgot to close the door to the wood stove as he made a mad dash for the bedroom. 

"What is it Shandra?"

"The baby is coming" she said.

"Now?" he asked.

"Yes, you idiot, NOW" she growled and then started to squinch her face up tight. "RIGHT NOW!"

"Well okay, what do you want me to do?" he asked.

The look on her face told him that the question was as idiotic as the first one.

"We need to go to the hospital, Jeremy" she said softly.

"Right, right, yes, the hospital… "

The hospital was a good 30 minute drive from where they lived in warm weather, but it could take up to an hour or more during the winter. Jeremy bundled up and went outside to warm the truck up. When he came back into the house she was standing in the entryway with a small tote bag in her hand.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes, we're ready, let's go"

"I closed the woodstove door for you Jeremy" she said to him after they got into the truck.

"Oh damn, I would have set the whole house on fire!" 

"It's okay, Jerm, you didn't." 

She must have been in between contractions, because she trailed off to sleep for a few minutes. It was just enough time for Jeremy to get out on the road, and to get his wits back. Shandra let out a small groan before she opened her eyes again. 

"How far do we have to go now?" she asked.

"We still have about ten minutes, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, if my back would just ease up, I would be fine." she said.

The rest of the way to the hospital was slow, but steady. When they got there, Jeremy brought a wheel chair around to Shandra's side of the truck and slowly lowered her into the seat. She held her stomach, with one hand, while she shifted to get comfortable.

"We're really doing this!" Shandra said. 

Three long hours later, little Jeremiah was born. It was Christmas Eve, and the sun was just starting to set over the mountains. Jeremy watched Shandra sleep, while he held their baby boy in his hands.

"You are a wonder to be held my son, and the most fantastic Christmas present I have ever received."