She wanted to yell and scream at the world. The baby boy she loved was dying. They took him home and loved him. They gave him everything they had in the short time they had left with him. She wanted to make many memories with him. All of them happy, because he'd be leaving them soon. She talked to him all the time, telling him about her life, about everything she had done and the places she had seen. William had wise eyes, and he always seemed to listen. He'd lay there in his mother's embrace, taking it all in. He seemed obvious to her pain and her yearning. She wanted him to stay forever, not just for a few months. He was her baby, and she loved him so much.
His daddy was far more quiet. He would sit in a chair for hours, his son in his arms, and he would not say a word. Every now and then he would caress his son's fuzzy little head or smile down into his infant eyes. William was a happy baby from the very first. He didn't cry much, and he smiled often. He didn't seem to be in any pain. His ice-blue eyes would to take in the world as he quietly studied it. He seemed like such an old soul, and his father was convinced he had been sent down on earth with a purpose.
As he was seated in front of the window in the nursery, holding his infant son, he came to realize the purpose of William's life. William came to them in a time of turmoil. He wanted his parents to realize there was beauty behind all the ugliness. He was their gift beyond all the pain. He was their rainbow in the sky, and their promise of the future. Sadly though, William's time on earth was limited. One day they'd have to go on without their baby boy.
She came to his side and lay her hand upon his shoulder. He looked up at her and with his sad little smile. "We have to make the most of the time we have with him," he whispered as he lay his hand upon hers. "I love you... and I love him. And I'm ready to forgive myself. Having him in our lives has taught me that."
"Are you sure you're ready to let go of the past... and all the pain?" she asked him.
"You and our son have given me the courage to see beyond that one night of suffering. The future is waiting for us. I don't know what it is... but I know I can never lose you," he responded. As the rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains, he saw her most beautiful smile.