My wife, Natalie stared at the positive pregnancy test for ten whole minutes. At one point I thought, maybe she felt like the second line would just disappear or something. Happily married for seven years now. We’ve been paying off a loan for our matchbox house for all these years. We both work two jobs just to bring food to the table. Neither of us have ever had the guts to even bring up the word ‘baby.’
‘Okay Mark, no reason to panic. Just stay calm for Natalie. This is a blessing.’ These are the words that repeated in my head like a broken cassette player. “Babe, babe. This is amazing, I love this for us. We’re going to be such great parents” I said to her. Such brazen confidence, if only that were really the case. A baby? In THIS economy? The thought made me feel faint.
“I’ll just pick up a few extra shifts at the diner, and stay back later at the garage.” I said to her and she smiled at me. Slowly coming to terms with the good news she very happily said, “Oh yes, and I can definitely take up a couple extra sewing orders.” She held her stomach with both hands and squealed excitedly, she spoke to our unborn baby “We can do this.” For a moment, but only for a moment, I felt blessed. If I did one thing right in my life, it was definitely marrying the most perfect woman. Our baby will be loved fiercely.
With that in mind, I left home for my shift at the garage. I walked all the way across town to my job. I could take the bus, but the walk across town was peaceful, and I quite enjoyed it anyway. So I figured, why not save a couple bucks? Something on the windowsill of a small, dingy thrift store caught my eye. FOR SALE: BABY SHOES, UNUSED. They were the cutest pair of little shoes ever, I had to buy them.
On the bus ride home, I was attacked by many thoughts. Spotting those shoes randomly felt like a heavenly intervention. I just knew Natalie would love them. Who would give unused baby shoes to a thrift store? I finally reached home and flung my shoes off and ran to Natalie. “Love look, I saw these and knew I had to get them for our baby.” As I pulled the shoes out in a haste, a small paper flew out of one of the shoes. It landed on the floor, I picked it up, a phone number was written on it. “Those are super cute Mark….but whose number is that?” asked Natalie, to which I responded. “First time I’m seeing it. Let’s try calling” By the third ring, an elderly woman with a deep voice spoke. “Hello?” For a moment I was quiet, I didn’t know what to say. Then I said, “Yes hello, I purchased this pair of baby shoes from a thrift store downtown, and-” Before I could even finish my sentence the lady spoke again, her voice booming and commanding. “Come meet me tomorrow at noon, the little coffee shop near the thrift store” and she hung up.
Those words lead to a sleepless night for both me and Natalie. The next day, when we reached the cafe, we saw a lady sitting, wearing a red trenchcoat and sunglasses to match. Really hard to miss, she obviously had to be the woman we were looking for. We sat across from her, I tried asking who she was, keyword being try. “Who ar-” and she cut me off again. There’s an awful habit I thought. “I’m Gracie Adams, I’m sure you’ve heard of me. I own a major shoe company, and almost every model wears Gracie Adams.” Cocky.
Our jaws were on the floor, the both of us could not find words to speak, but it’s not like she would let us anyway. She continued, though now she spoke softly with a hint of sadness evident. “I’ve always said that the shoes I make are like my babies. Though for many years I’ve tried to become a mother. The shoes that you purchased yesterday. I made them, to manifest into my arms, a little angel of my own. You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Am I right? Anyway, I’m too old now.” She was quiet for a moment, and then she spoke again. “I gave the shoes to a thrift store. I knew that they would go to a deserving couple.” “But mam- I-We-” “Hush now, I’m still not done speaking. I know that financially you may not have a lot to offer your child, but by choosing to still bring it into this world this baby is already among the richest.”
“Don’t worry about money, I will set up a trust fund for your baby. Before you reject my help, I’m not giving you money for free. I’m offering your wife a job in my company, the trust is just a perk.” Those words were the beginning of an end. With Natalie working for the biggest shoe company, I was working the dream job. A stay at home dad to our perfect little angel. Gracie Jr. Named after ofcourse, her fairy godmother. I guess all fairy tales really do start with shoes.
Pic credit: pintrest- amity.
