Chapter Five; Believing in the Impossible
The next afternoon Jeannie and Amanda went to the mall together while Doctor Bellows took the children back to the hotel. "Maybe I'll buy something for Anthony and Roger Healey while we're here like a little souvenir or something." Jeannie said.
"That's a good idea Jeannie and I'll go ahead and get something for Peter and Sarah. I'm sure that I could always find some toys for them that they would enjoy playing with. Maybe get some action figures for Peter and some dolls for Sarah." Mrs. Bellows said when suddenly Jeannie remembered something.
"When I was on the telephone with Roger Healey last night he told me that he wanted me to send him a postcard." She said.
"Well I'm sure we can find some of those. You can find a nice card to send them both." Mrs. Bellows told her.
"Oh I do wish that Peter and Sarah could come home with us. They both are such wonderful children." Jeannie said heaving a sad little sigh.
"Well it's interesting that you brought that up Jeannie because I was thinking about taking them in myself. As long as it was alright with Alfred. We always wanted children but I'm afraid that we never did." Mrs. Bellows told her.
"Then why couldn't you?" Jeannie wondered.
"It's because I have a problem with my ovaries. They don't work the way they're supposed to." Mrs. Bellows explained.
"Oh dear, that's terrible!" Jeannie exclaimed but Mrs. Bellows just simply shrugged at her.
"That's the way life is sometimes Jeannie. It's just something that can't be helped." She told her.
"Well you can babysit my child anytime you want to. Every woman deserves to hold a sweet little baby inside her arms." Jeannie told her as Mrs. Bellows smiled warmly at her.
"Thank you Jeannie. I really appreciate it. And the good news is that Peter and Sarah would finally have a loving time and I'm sure that they would love helping take care of the baby as much as we would. You know you should get some things for it while you're here." She told her.
"How can I when I don't even know if it'll be a boy or a girl yet?" Jeannie asked her.
"Well I mean the basic necessities like bottles, pacifiers, and diapers. You could also buy some clothes for it that could work for either gender." Mrs. Bellows suggested as Jeannie nodded in agreement.
"Yes that is a good idea. I wonder if cloth diapers or disposable is the best way to go." She said.
"I would personally go with the cloth diapers because they're less expensive and reusable if you and Colonel Nelson plan to have more children." Mrs. Bellows told her as Jeannie nodded again.
"Oh yes we certainly do. We want at least two and maybe even three or four." She replied before she turned around and walked away.
…
"Peter, Sarah, I've got a surprise for you." Mrs. Bellows said as she entered the hotel room with her arms full of bags. Both of the children hurried over towards the front door to greet her.
"What did you get us?" Sarah asked her anxiously with a grin.
"Well for you Sarah I got you a brand new baby doll and a couple of new Barbie dolls. And I got some army men for you to play with Peter." Mrs. Bellows replied.
"Thank you Mrs. Bellows." Peter and Sarah chorused at exactly the same time when all of a sudden Jeannie entered the room.
"I think I'm going to start filling out my postcard now so I can get it sent in the mail." She said while she turned around and walked down the hallway and the children started playing with their new toys.
"Uh Alfred, can I please speak with you outside for a moment?" Mrs. Bellows asked him.
"Sure." He replied with a nod as they stepped out on the balcony together before his wife shut the door behind him.
"Listen Alfred, I've been thinking about the children and I was just wondering, could we keep them?" she asked him.
"Gee Amanda I don't know. We're a little too old to be raising children." He told her.
"But that's the beauty of it. They're older children and we won't have to go through the baby and toddler years except when we're babysitting for Colonel Nelson. Besides, these poor children need a home. And they deserve to be raised by people that love them." She said.
"Well, I agree with you about that much and I'll go ahead and think about it." He told her.
"Good. That's something that we can talk about over dinner tonight. Jeannie offered to watch the kids and put them to bed for us while we go out to eat." She said.
"That's marvelous, I'll go ahead and make the reservation." He told her before he turned around and went back inside.
….
Jeannie made sure that Peter and Sarah had used the bathroom and brushed their teeth before she tucked them into bed. "Can you tell us a bedtime story Jeannie?" Sarah asked her. "Pretty please? With sugar on top?" she pleaded as Jeannie smiled warmly down at her and sat down on the foot of her bed.
"Of course I can. I could use all the practice that I can get." She told her.
"What story are you going to tell us about?" Peter wondered.
"It's a story about Aladdin and his lamp." She replied while Sarah grinned up at her.
"I know that story. A genie comes out of the lamp after he rubs it doesn't it?" she inquired.
"That's right." Jeannie replied softly with a nod.
"Sort of like your name." Sarah said while Peter glanced over at Jeannie's bottle.
"That's funny. That looks like something that a genie would come out of." He said.
"Are you a genie?" Sarah whispered out of complete astonishment and amazement.
"Don't be ridiculous Sarah, there are no such things as genies. They're like witches." Her brother told her.
"If God, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny can be real then so can genies." Sarah said. "Right Jeannie?" she asked her as Jeannie just simply smiled at her.
"Well I believe that anything is possible." She told her before she started to tell her the story. "Now once upon a time,.."