Chapter 65

Catherine stepped forward to hug Joe first and then stepped aside so he could greet Jenny. As the two of them hugged, Catherine introduced herself to Joe's mother whom she had placed herself in front of. Reaching out her hand she said, "Mrs. Maxwell I am Catherine Chandler and this is Jenny Aaronson. We are friends of Joe's from work and after hearing the news we wanted to stop by to see if there was anything we could do, as well as offer our support."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Chandler and Ms. Aaronson…Jenny Aaronson?" she said as she shook Catherine's hand, but was looking at Jenny who was still standing very close to her son. "I have heard Joe speak of you," she added, giving Jenny a meaningful glance.

Before there could be a confrontation, Catherine stepped towards the nursery window and asked, "Which one is your daughter Joe?"

Joe moved back to the window and with Catherine on one side of him and Jenny on the other pointed to a little pink wrapped bundle that was sleeping peacefully unaware that so much had gone on in her young life already, "That is her," he said with a catch in his voice.

Tears were sliding down Jenny's face as she stared at the tiny infant, she whispered, "I am sorry about your wife Joe, but that little girl is a beautiful gift from God. You are very lucky to have her."

In the same hushed tone that Jenny had been using, Joe replied, "She's going to need a mother."

Catherine only heard the conversation because of how close she was to the two of them.

"Do you mean…" Jenny hesitated and then added, "me?"

"Yes, if you'll have the both of us," Joe answered.

"I will," Jenny told him, still staring at the baby. "Does she have a name?"

"No, one of the nurses gave me this book with names and their meanings, but I haven't even looked at it yet."

"She should have a name Joe," Jenny urged.

He pulled the book out of his pocket and started flipping though the pages. His mother saw that and said, "Joseph, I can give you a list of good Italian family names."

"I know that Mother, but I want to choose her name for myself," Joe stated firmly without turning to look at her. He looked for a few more minutes and then asked Jenny, "What do you think of Alese Dorothy? It means beautiful gift of God."

"That's perfect Joe!" Jenny exclaimed softly.

"Cathy?" Joe questioned.

"It's a lovely name and I think this winter has been filled with many blessings."

The End.