Auggie found himself at the shopping mall. He wanted to buy a present. The following weekend he was invited for the christening ceremony of Mackenzie Campbell. And he needed to buy a present. It had to be a special one, because Auggie was the godfather of the 3-month old baby. He had no idea what to buy but it had to be something special. And then all of a sudden he had an idea. He called his car service and asked to take him to the Lighthouse for the Blind. Arriving there, he bought a book. It was a fairytale book that had usual print and text in Braille. So just in case he got the chance to read to Mackenzie, he could do that easily.
Sunday morning
The doorbell rang when Auggie was just about to arrange the tie; that he had chosen for this event. He had opted for a dark-grey suit, a white shirt and a red tie. As usual his braille tags and a colour detector helped him to make the choice. Auggie went to the door and opened. It was Joan; who picked him up. He slid the door open and Joan entered. „May I help you with your tie?" She asked and Auggie nodded. Then he grabbed his cane from the kitchen counter, took Joan´s arm and left.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at the church. Auggie had left his cane in Joan´s car. This tool would be a bit of a hindrance during the ceremony and so he preferred to be led. Auggie got out of the car and took Joan´s elbow to be guided. They both walked along the aisle up to the altar where Arthur and Annie, the godmother, were already waiting. Family and friends were sitting in the first row. „Three steps up!" Joan announced and Auggie carefully walked up the stairs next to her. A few seconds later, the minister began with his recital of the bible and Arthur touched slightly Auggie´s arm as a signal to take the baby. Auggie carefully took the baby into his arms after Joan had led him a bit closer to the baptistery. With his right hand he felt a bit for the fine features of the baby face before he held the baby´s head over the baptistery. Mackenzie wailed a bit, when the cold water splashed onto his forehead. But Auggie was able to calm him by cradling him a bit in his arms. „You would be a perfect Daddy" Annie whispered into his ear. And Auggie smiled „And you a perfect Mum, I bet." After the ceremony at church the Campbells had invited family and friends to their house for lunch. Annie had guided Auggie on their way out of the church offering him her elbow and he had enjoyed her company. As always she smelled of Joe Malone Grapefruit and walked on high heels. Auggie could hear the rustling of the dress that she had chosen and said. „I bet you look gorgeous today".
Everyone had taken a seat at the huge dining table in the living room, when Arthur started his speech. „Dear family, dear friends. My wife and I are glad to welcome you all to our house on this special occasion. We are happy that all of you have decided to share this special moment with us." And then he raised his glass for a toast. Auggie slowly felt for the napkin and the cutlery before he found his glass with champagne. Lunch was delicious. For this special occasion Joan and Arthur had ordered from a catering service. They had decided for potato cream soup, salmon with baked potatoes and salad and vanilla ice cream with cherries and cream for the dessert. To complement the meal perfectly Arthur had offered some of the best red wine from his wine cellar in the basement.
After the meal everyone had taken a seat in the living room. Auggie had made himself at home in one of the huge armchairs next to Annie when Joan entered the room. She had just changed the baby and had fed Mackenzie. „Do you want to hold the baby?" She asked Auggie and he took the opportunity to get to know his godchild a bit better. Apart from the church ceremony he had not had a chance to see the baby. For him holding the baby meant „actually seeing it." It had been a long time since he had held a baby in his arms. Before he went to Iraq, Julia, his sister in law and his brother James had had a baby. But that was a long time ago and he had still been sighted. Now, as a blind man, he had to find a different way to get to know this little kid in Joan´s arms.
Joan put the little child into Auggie´s arms and Auggie took in the special „baby scent." Baby Mack smelled of baby cream and baby powder. Auggie felt for the tiny fingers and slowly explored the little face with his fingertips. When he felt for the mouth and the soft lips of the baby, Mackenzie suddenly started to suck on his finger and Auggie smiled and let it happen.
He was so immersed into his own little world of scents and sounds, that he did not realize that Annie was watching him with interest. She smiled, when she saw how carefully Auggie explored the baby in his arms. Of course she knew that this was the way for Auggie „to see" but the whole scene of her best blind friend with a baby in his arms was so moving, that she could not help to wipe away a tear from her eyes. After a while ,Auggie seemed to realize that someone was watching him and he said „Hey, never seen a blind guy with a baby on his lap?" Annie laughed and said „To be honest, I have no,t but life is full of surprises." In the meantime Mack had fallen asleep again in Auggie´s arms and now Joan took the little baby and put it back to sleep into the cradle next door.
A few minutes later Joan and Arthur started to unwrap all the presents, that they had previously arranged on the credenza next to the couch. There was a voucher for a new baby bed from the CIA colleagues, because soon the cradle would be too small for the baby, a new baby phone from
Arthur´s parents and some other nice things. When Joan opened Auggie´s present, she was surprised. „How thoughful of you" she said when she discovered the fairy tale book with pictures, print and Braille. And then Joan added „So now Auggie, you will have no excuse, when you are babysitting and the kid wants you to read a story". Auggie smiled, happy, that the present he had chosen was a success.