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"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies"-Mother Theresa
"A baby fills a place in your heart that you never knew was empty."-Anonymous
"The littlest feet make the biggest footprints in our heart."-Anonymous
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"Mommy? Where are you? Are you okay?" Anna called as she walked from her room through the hallway to the master bedroom looking unsuccessfully for her mother. "Mommy?" she called again, sounding more and more frightened, as there was no response. She could see the empty bed; the undisturbed side where Daddy usually slept was still neatly made. Her mother's side, with blankets and sheet all askew and pillow dented was still warm to the touch. "Mommy?" she called again, the alarm level in the child's voice increasing with each call.
Behind her, the family's newly acquired Rottweiler cross puppy followed his beloved Anna step for step. While Muttli didn't share the child's concern for her missing mother, he was immediately perceptive to Anna's distress and pushed his nose into the back of her legs sympathetically. Anna plopped herself down onto the floor next to him and gathered the pup into her arms. She hugged him to her face for a long moment before setting him back down and rising to her feet.
"Mommy?" her voice quivered as her concern heightened. As her eyes started to fill with tears, she heard the toilet flush in the master bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief as she realised her mother wasn't gone, just in the bathroom. She wiped at her eyes and took a few steps towards the closed bathroom door before the sounds of distress from behind that door brought her to an abrupt stop.
Melissa heard Anna calling for her but she was quite indisposed and couldn't reply immediately. Another bout of retching incapacitated her for several moments and finally she managed to acknowledge Anna's call.
"I'm in here, honey. I'm sorry," she exclaimed between deep breaths, struggling to her feet and opening the bathroom door to give Anna visual reassurance that she was alive, if not so well. Anna rushed to hug her, Muttli following immediately.
"Are you sick, Mommy?" Anna asked her, stroking Melissa's forehead. Together, they walked back to the bed and sat down on it. Muttli pushed between their legs and Anna bent forward to pick him up and set him on her lap. Melissa let the 'no dog on the furniture' rule slide as she put her arm around Anna and answered her.
"A little bit, honey. But it's not serious. I will be okay."
"Should I stay home from school today to look after you, Mommy?"
"Oh, Anna," Melissa began, hugging her daughter close. "That's very sweet of you but I'm better already, and will be just fine. We need to have some breakfast. Did you let Muttli go out to do his business yet?"
She rose to finish dressing, acknowledging the affirmative nod Anna had given her about the dog and indicated Anna needed to go finish dressing herself as well. After her daughter left to comply with the request, Melissa looked wistfully at the undisturbed side of the bed. She made up the half she'd slept in and addressed the absent Spencer.
"I'm not totally sure yet, Spence, but I think," she paused to fluff up her pillow as she finished straightening the bed, "I think we might be expecting. I wanna tell you in person though, hope this case in Cedar Rapids winds up soon."