California Diaries #7: Dawn, Diary Two by Jennifer Burns Read Free Book Online Page A

Mrs. Winslow onto the elevator and we took the short ride to the third floor.
    We stopped at the nursery window. Baby Schafer-Olson was in the first row,
    asleep with her fists on her chest.
    I pointed. “There she is.”
    After a few seconds Mrs. Winslow whispered, “She’s perfect. Just perfect.”
    “Isn’t she?” said a male voice. I looked up. It was my dad. He leaned over and kissed Mrs. Winslow on the cheek. “Isn’t this something, Betsy?” he asked.
    Mrs. Winslow had tears in her eyes. Happy tears. “Yes it is,” she said.
    “Something very wonderful. Congratulations.”
    “Carol’s sleeping,” he said. “That’s why they put the baby back here.”
    While Dad and Mrs. Winslow talked, I signaled to the maternity nurse. I
    explained to her that Mrs. Winslow was a patient on the second floor and a close friend of our family. “Could she hold my sister?” I asked.
    “I don’t see why not,” said the nurse. “Wheel your friend over here to the door and I’ll get the baby.”
    After Dad left I told Mrs. Winslow, “You can hold her.”
    “Really?”
    I nodded.
    “I’d love that,” she said.
    I wheeled Mrs. Winslow to the doorway and the nurse handed me Elizabeth
    Grace. I put her in Mrs. Winslow’s arms. “Oh, look at her,” she said softly. “How precious.” She took Elizabeth Grace’s fist, gently opened it, and put her thin finger in the tiny palm of the baby’s hand. That one-day-old hand closed around Mrs. Winslow’s finger.
    “Hello, my little namesake,” Mrs. Winslow said.
    That’s when I realized it. Mrs. Winslow’s name—Betsy—was a nickname for
    Elizabeth. I don’t think my dad had named Elizabeth after Mrs. Winslow, not
    consciously anyway. But I was so glad that was the baby’s name. I felt incredibly happy and sad at the same time. Happy that my sister would go through her life with Elizabeth Winslow’s name. And sad that Elizabeth Winslow wouldn’t see her namesake and
    newest neighbor grow up. I squatted beside the wheelchair and whispered to Mrs.
    Winslow, “I love you.”
    She smiled at me. “I love you, Dawn. You’re like a second daughter to me.
    Thank you so much for bringing me up here.”
    “Thank you,” I said.
    “I should go back to my room. I need to lie down.”
    I took Elizabeth Grace from Elizabeth Winslow and gave the baby back to the
    nurse. Then I wheeled Mrs. Winslow to the elevator and to her room on the second floor.
    Friday morning 6/19
    I’m waiting for the biology exam to begin. English final this afternoon. I hope I can concentrate enough to finish.
    I couldn’t believe what my friends did for me today.
    It started when Jill met me outside school. She’d been waiting for m. “I heard about the baby!” she said excitedly. She said how glad she was that it was a girl and handed me a box wrapped in pink foil with a huge silver ribbon. “Open is,” she said. I did. Gracie’s present was a stuffed dog—a boxer. I thought it was sweet that Jill had gone to all this trouble when we barely saw each other anymore. I told her about Elizabeth Grace as we walked into school. Our lockers are in different halls, so we separated in the main lobby. But first Jill gave me a big hug and congratulated me again.
    When I reached my locker I had an even bigger surprise. My friends had posted a sign on the door that said, IT’S A LITTLE SISTER! A dozen pink helium balloons were tied to my locker handle with curly purple and silver ribbons.
    Loads of people gathered around my locker and asked questions. I didn’t even
    care that the Cro Mags who walked by yelled out dumb things like, “She didn’t look pregnant to me.”
    Ducky, Maggie and Amalia had presents for Elizabeth Grace too. Ducky gave her the T-shirt we’d seen at Baby Boutique—the orange one that said, “I’m here!” Maggie gave her a beautiful mobile of brightly colored fish. “I know she’ll be a water baby like you,” she explained.
    I had just opened Maggie’s present