Free A Bid for Love by Rachel Ann Nunes

“I’m glad you got it,” she said sincerely. “I’m just sorry you didn’t get it for less.”
    Jared shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m quite sure my boss will make more of a profit on it than I’ll make in an entire year. I’m glad we could help your friend.” He turned and followed Larry out the door.
    Cassi stared after him long after the door had obscured him from view. How could she have been so wrong about him? She shook the thoughts away and returned to Renae’s bedside.
    “I told you he was all right,” Renae said between contractions. Cassi marveled at how calm her friend looked now as compared to before the prayer and the men’s visit. Logically she knew that the amount of pain hadn’t changed, but Renae’s ability to deal with it apparently had. The flow of blood from the placenta had also miraculously decreased.
    An hour ticked by quickly. The nurses checked Renae several times and told her that she would soon be able to push.
    “Hurry, Trent,” Renae said under her breath as another contraction began. “Our baby can’t wait for you.”
    As if he had somehow heard her, Trent burst into the room. “Renae!” His brown head was beside hers in an instant. “I’m here, honey.” He held her hand through the contraction, directing her to breathe. Afterward, he rubbed her shoulders gently. He knew exactly how to help, whereas Cassi had felt awkward and useless.
    Cassi sighed in relief. Trent looked up at her with the suggestion of a smile. “Rough day, Cassi?”
    “Does it show?”
    He nodded. “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad you were here with her. Thanks.”
    “I’m glad you’re here.” She hesitated. “I guess I’ll go out and see the kids.”
    “No, don’t go, Cassi,” Renae called from the bed. “I mean, you’re welcome to stay if you want.”
    Cassi did want to stay. She felt she now had a stake in the baby’s life, and she wanted to see him safely into the world. “What about the kids?”
    Trent shrugged. “They’re with your friends in the waiting room. They seem pretty capable. Besides, Scotty’s nine. He’s a good baby-sitter.”
    Cassi smiled. “Then I’d like to stay.”
    “It won’t be much longer,” said one of the nurses. “I’m going to page the doctor now.”
    Renae began to push. Her face went red with the effort, and at times she cried out with the pain. Before long Cassi could see the top of the head, covered in a mass of dark hair. A few more pushes and the baby’s head emerged face down. With the next contraction, the baby’s entire body slipped free, turning as he came. Renae had her second baby boy!
    Cassi stared, almost unable to believe the miracle of life she had witnessed. Familiar longings welled up within her. Those also seemed like miracles in the light of the great pain Renae had suffered. What was it about a tiny, helpless baby that made a woman willing to withstand such agony? Cassi thought she could just barely understand the reasons; her arms ached to hold the baby that wasn’t even hers.
    Since the baby was early, the doctor immediately took him for tests. At Renae’s insistence, Trent went with the him to keep an eye on their child. Cassi stayed with Renae as the placenta was delivered and the bed cleaned. Within a half an hour, Trent and the baby were back.
    “Seven pounds!” Trent said as he came in the door. “Three weeks early and still seven pounds! And healthy as a horse.” He lifted the baby from the rolling bassinet into Renae’s outstretched arms.
    “My last baby was nearly eleven pounds,” Renae reminded Cassi.
    Shortly later, in bounded four towheaded children, eagerly crowding around the bed to see their new brother.
    “Mom, he’s wrinkled!” said four-year-old Janet.
    “So would you be if you had been nine months in water,” seven-year-old Andrea replied in a know-it-all voice.
    “Can I hold him?” Scotty asked, followed by a me-too chorus from his sisters. Even two-year-old Sandy