"How are you, Shane?" Oliver questioned, taking her hand in both of his.
"I'm okay. I feel much better now that I'm on land." Shane chuckled.
Oliver nodded and stared her down.
"What?" Shane inquired.
"Nothing," Oliver responded, shaking his head. "I have something for you," he told her. He went into the bedroom, retrieved a wrapped box, and sat back down beside her. He handed the present to her, his eyebrows raised.
"What? Why?" she asked.
"Open it," he directed, a twinkle in his eyes.
"What is this?" Shane questioned, flabbergasted, as she pulled out an album wrapped in fabric.
"It's a baby book," Oliver replied simply.
"Don't tell me we need to track down the owner." Shane grimaced at her husband.
Oliver laughed. "No. I was in the bookstore a few days ago and I just happened to peruse the section of memory books. I saw this one, and I thought it would be perfect for us to use one day."
Shane ran her hand over the outer fabric of the album. "Our Special Delivery," she read. She looked back at Oliver with a slight smile, her eyes pooling up again, much to her chagrin. "So what does this mean? Are you saying that you are ready for the next chapter in our lives?"
"I am ready," he affirmed confidently. "Whenever it does happen."
Shane was contemplative. "But last night, you said that you never wanted things to change."
"Oh, honey, no," Oliver soothed her, rubbing her back. "I just meant that I want you for the rest of my life. I never want to lose you, what we have together."
"Oh," Shane sighed with relief.
Oliver looked at her patiently once again. She bit her lip.
"But this would change a lot. Do you really—I mean, really, want a baby?"
Oliver was thoughtful for a few moments. Then he abruptly stood and went into the next room. Shane sat motionless on the couch, feeling dazed and numb, but before she had the chance to become a blubbering mess, Oliver had returned. He sat on the loveseat beside her and without saying a word, handed an envelope to Shane.
She looked at it, then back at her husband. "You wrote me a letter?"
"No," Oliver told her, shaking his head. "But I want you to read this anyway."
Shane's hands were trembling, but she slipped the contents out of the envelope and unfolded them. It was a letter, in Oliver's handwriting. She gasped a little when she read the greeting.
"'My dear little one,
Today I found out about you, and my whole world has changed, once again.'"
Shane stopped and looked at Oliver, baffled.
"'It's difficult to find the words to adequately describe how I feel, but I'm going to try. For years I have desired to have a family—and for a while, I thought it might never happen. Then I met your mother.'
"'First she was standing in line behind me at the coffee stand, then she was directed to me for training in the Dead Letter Office. It didn't take long for me to know that she was the one I had been waiting for my whole life. In His perfect timing, our love grew and then we were married.'
"'Your mother is beautiful, compassionate, intelligent, and loyal, with a great sense of humor and curiosity….but her tenacity—that attracted me instantly. When she sets her mind to something, you just know she will see it through, no matter what. I love her beyond words and I always will.'"
Shane was sobbing. In true Oliver fashion, he took the letter from her and continued reading.
"'I feel overwhelmed, in the best way possible. Overwhelmed that He loves us enough to send us you. Overwhelmed that after being on my own for so long, I now have a wife and a baby on the way—my own little family to love and cherish. Overwhelmed that I am going to be a father and overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.'
Oliver paused as tears began flowing from his eyes. He cleared his throat and continued in a raspy voice.
"'I pray that you will stay safe and grow healthy and strong, and I promise to do what I can to take care of you and your mother, especially over the next several months. I also pray that one day you will find the faith that your mother and I have. I promise you, it will see you through the biggest challenges of life. Once you have that faith, you'll understand what we mean when we say, "Trust the timing."'
"'Today when I looked at your gorgeous mom sleeping soundly, peaceful and glowing, I just knew. God is giving us an incredible blessing—our very own divine delivery—and I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life. My precious baby, we love you more than you can ever imagine….but God loves you abundantly more.
Eternally,
Daddy'"
Oliver looked up from the letter and directly into Shane's eyes. They were full of emotion—but he saw mostly happiness and contentment.
"You wrote this today?" she whispered.
"I did," he responded quietly. "Am I….correct?"
Shane stared hard at him, biting her lower lip again, tears cascading down her cheeks. Finally she nodded. "Yes, Oliver. Yes. We're having a baby."
Oliver blew out the deep breath he had been holding and a huge grin crossed his face. "Oh, sweetheart. Come here." He pulled his wife into a warm embrace as she laughed with joy and relief. He held her for a few seconds, then raising his head and gazing into her eyes, he told her, "Thank you for saving my life and making me the happiest man in the world."
Shane had difficulty speaking. "Thank you for giving this day a brand new meaning for me," she said through the tears. "Happy Father's Day, Oliver."
Oliver laughed, and his voice was filled with emotion. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
"Maybe?" Shane challenged, raising an eyebrow playfully.
"Well, then, I certainly intend to show you, Mrs. O'Toole," Oliver vowed, then kissed her passionately but tenderly, leaving no room for her to have any doubts.
Author's Note:
I have been a fan of Signed, Sealed, Delivered since the premiere of the Pilot. It is a rare thing for a television series to be as entertaining and as inspiring as this one, but it has excelled in both categories. This captivating series not only hooked me from the very beginning, making me want to see more of the POstables on my screen, but it has motivated me to see the world in a different light and has changed my life forever.
A couple of years after the show first aired, I found an amazing group of fans on Twitter, and we became forever family (that in itself is a blessing that keeps on giving). An interesting thing happened only a couple of months after I began my interactions with the other "POstables" online. As I was scrolling my Facebook feed one day, I noticed a post by my local library, here in Alabama, stating that they had discovered a baby book in their archives. They were looking to track down the "baby"—a woman who had been born in the 1960s. Within the post, they had provided her full maiden name and her parents' names, but no one was acknowledging that they had ever known the family.
I was inspired by Signed, Sealed, Delivered to help the library locate the owner of this baby book. I began doing some research online and within just a few hours, I had put together the puzzle pieces and found her—with a married surname and living thousands of miles away in Alaska. Once I relayed this information, the library was able to make contact and ship the woman's baby book to her. She was beyond thrilled, and I was honored to have been a part of that reconciliation.
A few weeks ago, I was inspired to write a fan fiction story based on this idea of a lost baby book. The story also has a few elements from my own life, as I experienced the loss of my father shortly after I graduated from high school. He was buried on Father's Day, and for years, that season brought with it an agonizing remembrance of the most difficult time of my life. Somehow, writing this story was therapeutic—it helped me to put into writing an example of how God can take something painful and turn it into something truly beautiful in the end.
Thank you for reading my story. It was such a pleasure to write and share with you!
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