Little Henry O'Toole may have been three weeks early but he still weighed 7 lbs. 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. Shane and son were allowed to go home early Sunday morning. Rita and Norman had taken care of moving all the gifts and setting up the crib in the house so that everything would be ready for mother and child. The day rolls into night and night into day those first hours home with a new baby. Neither Oliver nor Shane sleep. Neither of them cares – yet. By late Monday afternoon Oliver convinced Shane to close her eyes until it was time for Henry to nurse. He gently stroked the new mom's hair as she drifted to sleep. He had just slipped from the bedroom when he realized someone was on the porch.

"Mr. O'Toole."

"Mr. Henderson, what brings you by?"

"I tried to reach you by phone. First I tried your work and then I tried your home. Finally I heard your wife had the baby and I just could not wait any longer."

"My apologies with baby coming early and everything else I forgto to write your check."

"Oh I didn't come by for the check. I came by to give you this."

"Mr. Henderson, it is exquisite. I don't know what to say. The craftsmanship is extraordinary."

"Oh I didn't make it or buy it. I did clean it up a little. It's yours. You remember that cellar we found. This was in it along with this box. They were stored in some kind of big chest and wrapped in cloths. The chest was covered in dirt, mold and mildew but whatever it was it protected these."

"Mr. Henderson, you have no idea how much this means to.."

"I've been in this business a long time. Some people think of me as just someone who moves dirt. I like to think that I find that things that were lost, clear out the past, so folks can move on to the future. Here's the box. I admit I opened it. I think you and Mrs. O'Toole are going to like that too. Give Mrs. O'Toole and the baby my best."

"Oh your check."

"You can just mail it."

Oliver is astonished. Sitting on his porch is a hand carved mahogany cradle. The cradle's head has feathers carved with inlaid tulip and birch. The tapered legs are reinforced with a piece of wood set perpendicular about halfway down the length of the legs. The box has matching pattern of feathers carved on the lid. The rim of the lid was also inlaid with tulip and birch.

Oliver sits in the porch swing and carefully opens the box. Inside is a stained baby bonnet with tatted lace trim and French embroidery along with a matching bib monogramed JHO. A letter on paper so fragile that Oliver fears to open it lest it tear is neatly folded underneath the baby garments.

Dearest Letisha,

My darling daughter, I was terribly angry with you when you married Randall O'Toole and he took you west and away from Boston. However, Mr. Frederick assured us that Mr. O'Toole is in fact a good and decent man and will provide for you. Although it will not be in the manner to which you are accustomed.

I was wrong to withhold your dowry. I am wiring the money to the bank in Denver. Especially now that I have learned that you are carrying my first grandchild, I thought I should further send you these family heirlooms. They have always gone to the first grandchild and they are rightfully yours. Mother misses you terribly. Perhaps we will travel to see you this spring. I have business in San Francisco. Denver could provide respite along the way.

I wanted you to know that wherever you go, wherever you live, whatever you do, I will always be your father and you will always be my beloved daughter.

Sincerely,

Your Father

Langston Hepplewhite

Oliver takes his cell phone from his pocket and looks at it for a moment. He cautiously opens it and calls his dad.

"Oliver, you're using you phone!" Joe answers.

"Well yes. Shane is inside and Henry is asleep and I'm on the porch so I thought I might…." says Oliver

"Give it try. That's great. What's up?"

"Dad, do you know anything about a family cradle?"

"A cradle? My grandfather mentioned a cradle that was passed down through Leticia Hepplewhite's family but no one knows what happened to it."

"I think I am looking at it."

Oliver proceeds to explain.

"Oliver do you have any idea what you have? Look at that crossbar. Does it forms an H."

"Yes."

"That's the orginal Heppliwhite cradle as in Hepplewhite furniture makers."

"Oh my goodness."

"Son do you have any idea it's value?"

"Yes, dad. I think I do."

In losing a house Oliver had found a buried treasure – a symbol of family and a symbol of acceptance and legacy. In the birth of a child he had also found a new understanding of fatherhood and family and faith. He continued to sit in the porch swing another hour. He sat there not so much as to keep from disturbing Shane or his sleeping son but in order to absorb what rested before him, to ponder the overwhelming events of the past week. It would be the beautiful cry of his baby that would call him out of his thoughts back into the present.

Before he could carry the cradle into the house, Shane had already risen and scooped up Henry. He was an easy baby and nursed readily. Oliver waited for feeding time to end before sharing with Shane their newfound treasure. But Oliver understood his greatest treasures, his greatest inheritance was the love of Joseph O'Toole, his earthly father; his greatest discovery was his helpmate, Shane McInerney O'Toole; and his greatest blessing was the child she held. He was heir to a fortune.

Later that evening Oliver and Shane's attention was drawn to the sound of a car parking in front of the house.

"Look, It's Rita and Norman," says Shane.

"Were you expecting them?" asks Oliver.

"No."

The O'Toole's watch as a smiling Norman leads an obviously shocked Rita by the hand up the steps.

"Does Rita appear a bit odd?" Oliver asked Shane.

"She doesn't seem herself," replied Shane.

The two greet their friends on the porch.

"Rita, Norman, What a nice surprise," said Shane.

"Well we wanted you two to be the first to know. Well actually the second to know. Rita's dad was the first to - no actually we were the first."

"Norman," interrupts Shane.

"Today we got a call from the adoption agency. They have our baby!" says Norman with a gleeful smile.

"That's wonderful my friend. We could not be happier for you," replies Oliver.

"The adoptive family backed out at the last minute and they called us," says Norman.

Rita is standing there in an apparent state of shock. The last time Shane saw Rita looking like this was when she was unexpectedly named Miss Special Delivery.

"Rita, are you all right? I know it is unexpected timing but trust the timing!" Shane says enthusiastically trying to reassure her friend.

"I'll be glad to share diapers. We have plenty," continues Shane.

Rita nods and forces a smile but still doesn't speak.

"And guess what else!" Norman is absolutely beside himself by this point. "You know last month when we thought Rita had the flu. It wasn't the flu. It was a baby! WE ARE PREGNANT!"

"Oh my goodness. Two babies at one time. That is a miracle," says Oliver. The two men hug each other in joy."

"Rita everything will work out. We will throw you a really big baby shower."

Shane places her arm around Rita's shoulders and escorts her inside.

"Why don't we sit down," Shane says.

All Rita can do is nod. Their rainbow of babies is just beginning.