Read Online Birth of Jaiden by Jennifer Malone Wright - Free Book Online

matter;
everyone has obstacles they have to overcome.”
    He looked into her eyes.
“Yes, that’s very true.”
    “ Alex?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Why don’t you have any
photographs?”
    He shrugged. “I never
really thought about it.”
    “ It makes it feel less
like a home.” She raised her eyebrows. “You don’t even have any
picture albums. Everyone has pictures.”
    “ Well, I don’t.” He turned
away.
    “ I’m sorry, did I hit a
nerve?”
    Clearly she was being sincere,
not hurtful, so he let it go. She means well. “It’s ok.”
    “ I wasn’t trying
to…”
    “ It’s ok,” he
repeated.
    An awkward silence filled
in around them like a thick cloud.
    He didn’t want to make her
any more uncomfortable, so he jerked his head toward the door.
“Let’s go pick out a room for you.”
    She smiled. “Ok, that’s a
great idea.”
    “ Good, let’s
go.”
    Isabella gently picked
Jaiden up and cradled her in her arms. “She can sleep with me
tonight; we can set up the bassinet tomorrow.”
    “ If that’s what you
want.”
    Alex held out his arms so
Isabella could transfer Jaiden to him.Jaiden opened her pretty eyes
and looked up at him.
    “ Hi,” he said softly to
her. In response, she opened her mouth and yawned.
    “ You can have any room you
like, but there is one I want you to see. I think you will like
it.”
    He led the way up the
curved staircase to the second level, then down an art laden
hallway.
    “ So tell me about your
brothers and sisters. How did you come to be their only parent?” He
could see her begin to look uncomfortable.
    “ My parents left when my
youngest brother was two. I was all they had, and there was no way
I was going to let the government separate us into foster
homes.”
    “ How old were you ?”
    “ Fourteen.”
    “ Wow, that’s
young.”
    Alex was surprised she had
even been able to commit to something so big at the age of
fourteen, an age when most young girls were worried about makeup
and boys.
    “ I’d rather not talk about
this right now; I’m worried enough about them.”
    “ You do know you can use
the phone whenever you want.”
    Isabella lowered her head.
“We don’t have a phone.”
    Alex tried to hide his
shock. He could tell that she was embarrassed about admitting they
were so poor. He paused in the hallway and stared into her
eyes.
    “ Tomorrow night, I can
take you to visit them. Would that help?”
    “ Yes, I would feel so much
better knowing they are doing alright without me.”
    He watched her eyes take
on their glitter again.
    “ Here we are.” He flung
the door open with his free hand.
    Isabella walked in and her
hand immediately went to her mouth. “Oh.” She turned in circle to
see all of it.
    A queen sized bed with
champagne colored silk bedding stood against one wall, complete
with canopy. All of it was trimmed with white lace. On the other
side of the room, there was a large oak dressing table and
armoire.
    “ Oh, Alex, this is
beautiful.”
    He watched her as she
walked across the snow white carpeting to the window, whose
curtains matched the bed, and sat down on the window seat. She sat
there for a moment and stared out the window with her hand still
raised to her mouth.
    “ Are you alright?” he
asked her.
    “ Yes, it’s just that…this
room…” A tear escaped from the corner of her eye. “This room is
something I have dreamt of for my entire life.”
    She moved her hand away
from her mouth and caressed the curtains.
    “ So you like it,
then?”
    “ I love it.”
    He looked down at
Jaiden.
    “ She likes it,” he
whispered to the baby.
    Jaiden yawned again as if
she were bored with the whole ordeal. Isabella still examined the
room. The white walls were completely bare except for a large
floral painting beside the door to the adjoining
bathroom.
    Alex followed her. Once
inside, he was again filled with pride as she ran her gaze over the
large walk-in shower with a glass wall in the shape of half an
octagon. Nestled