The sound of the door opening caused Faith to look up. Teresa came through the door. Faith looked at her watch. It was already 3:00.

"Hey," Teresa said. "How is he?"

"I think he's still asleep," Faith said. "I was so engrossed in the journal. I lost track of time."

"I understand. I had trouble putting down the one you let me read. Your Mom's a good writer."

"Yeah, she is." Faith put down the journal and stretched. "I got the stuff you asked for. I also bought some chocolate chip cookie dough. I meant to make them before you got here."

"We can make them together," Teresa suggested. "Maybe the smell will wake Jacob up."

"And you can tell me about your day. Was it as bad as you expected?"

Teresa turned away, but not before Faith saw the tears spring to her eyes.

"Aw, honey," she said as she put her arms around the girl.

Teresa turned and cried on Faith's shoulder for a moment. Then she squared her shoulders. "I am not going to let them ruin my day. I need to be upbeat for Jacob."

"You can't carry it all," Faith said.

"I know," Teresa said. "I went to the bathroom several times and sat on the toilet and prayed. Jesus got me through." She smiled at Faith. "I remembered the verse that says something about heaping burning coals on your enemies' heads by being kind. I'm going to kill them with kindness."

Faith reached out and gave Teresa a quick hug. "The Bible also tells us to pray for our enemies. Maybe we can say a prayer for them every morning before you leave for school."

"Do you think He told us that because it's harder to hate someone you're praying for?"

"I suppose. The Bible also tells us not to let a bitter root grow up and cause trouble. I think that harboring hatred would cause bitterness"

"And eventually trouble would be the result." Teresa agreed. She looked toward the kitchen. "You said something about cookie dough?"

They had just stuck the pan of cookies in the oven when Faith's cell rang. She stepped onto the back porch to take Wade's call.

"Rhoda and Thomas would like to meet with Jacob and Teresa tonight," he told her. "Is he up to it?"

"I don't know. He's been asleep most of the day. Once he's awake, I'll call you back."

When she went inside, Teresa was no longer in the kitchen. Faith heard voices from the bedroom. She found Jacob propped up on a couple of pillows and Teresa sitting on the edge of the bed. He was holding her hand and talking earnestly. Not wanting to eavesdrop, Faith knocked on the doorframe.

Jacob looked up and smiled. "Come on in," he said. "I was just giving Teres' the low down on our discussion this morning."

"So you two are talking about marriage."

"Yeah," Teresa said. "I keep telling Jake that I don't want him to mess up his future. I don't want to hold him back. He can't loose his scholarship because of me."

"You won't hold me back," he said. "Lots of college ball players are married. I just need to find out if we can get married now. If we have to wait, we'll wait."

"Well, here's something else to think about," Faith said. "The Jacobsons would like to come over tonight and meet you guys. Are you up for it?" She directed her question to Jacob.

"Sure," he said.

At the same time, Teresa said, "I don't know."

She was afraid that they didn't have enough information.

"I want you to know what all of your options are before we talk to them," she said.

"But Teres, I don't need to have everything worked out before we meet them. Meeting them will help me clarify my options."

They asked Faith to stay while they talked over the pros and cons of having the meeting. She mostly listened, but asked a judicious question every now and then. The sound of the smoke alarm interrupted the discussion.

Teresa and Faith sprinted for the kitchen. Smoke billowed from the oven. Teresa grabbed an oven mitt and yanked the door open. Sputtering and coughing, she pulled a pan of charred cookies from the oven. Faith turned the exhaust fan on and opened a window. She was on the stepladder removing the battery from the wailing alarm when Aaron stepped into the kitchen.

"What the..." He stopped in mid-sentence when Teresa turned around with the pan of crisp cookies in her hand. "You shouldn't be taking cooking lesson from a woman whose mother kept this on her fridge," he said, grabbing a plastic magnetized sign and fanning smoke away from his face.

Teresa set the pan down and snatched the sign from him. She burst out laughing as she read, "Dinner is served at the sound of the smoke alarm."

Faith sent a mock glare from her perch. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I had to work through my lunch hour, so I left," the still grinning Aaron said.

"So, I don't need to call 9-1-1?" Jacob said from the doorway.

"Hey, what are you doing out of bed?" Teresa demanded.

"You expected me to lay there and burn up?"

The fine lines of pain were etched around his mouth and eyes.

"You look a little green around the gills," Faith said.

"Yeah, standing up seems to have allowed the pain demons back into my brain," he said.

Once he was settled back in bed, Teresa offered him a pain pill and some water.

"I don't want to take one of those," he said. "I want to be alert when we talk to the Jacobsons."

"Maybe tonight is not such a good idea," Faith said. "They're not going anywhere."

"Let me just lay here for a half an hour or so. If lying down doesn't lessen the pain, you can call Wade back and tell him tonight's not a good idea. If it improves, then I'd like to talk to them." His eyes were on Teresa. "Is that okay with you?"

"I guess," she said. "I suppose you're right. Meeting them should help us clarify our options."

We pulled the shades and left Jacob in a darkened room. Teresa set about fixing supper while I brought Aaron up to speed on developments. When she had the lasagna in the oven, Teresa went to Jacob's door and peeked in.

"He's sleeping," she announced when she returned to the kitchen.

She set about tossing a salad and preparing garlic toast.

"Leave the garlic off of mine," Faith said. "I'm mildly allergic. The taste returns and wakes me up in the middle of the night."

"Oh, no," Teresa said. "I put garlic in the lasagna sauce."

"That's okay," Faith said. "I saw you. A small amount cooked in doesn't bother me. I just don't want to over do it."

"Are you sure?" A worried frown creased her brow.

"Hey, don't sweat it," Aaron said. "I cook with garlic all the time. Just don't use too much, and she's fine."

"Anybody home?" Jacob's voice came from the bedroom.

We all traipsed to the door.

"I'm feeling much better," he said. "Go ahead and call Wade."

"You're not just saying that are you?" Teresa asked, switching on the light.

Faith looked closely at Jacob's face.

"The pain lines have vanished," she said.

"See," Jacob said. "Even the lady who can tell when I'm green around the gills says I look pain free."

The couple arrived at 7PM sharp, with Wade in tow.

"I'm just here to clarify anything legal," he said. "In fact, maybe Faith and Aaron and I can have a cup of coffee in the kitchen while the two couples talk."

Teresa grabbed Faith's hand. Her palm was sweaty and her hand trembled slightly. "I want Faith to stay," she said. "We'll talk things over anyway, and I don't want to have to repeat everything."

"That's fine with us." Rhoda's voice was gentle. "We're new to this, too. A wise ear is always welcome."

Faith laughed. "Wise isn't the word I'd have chosen. Come on in the bedroom and meet Jacob."

We had arranged chairs around the bed. After introductions were made and everyone had settled, Jacob asked, "Where's Aaron?"

"In the kitchen with Wade, having coffee," Faith said.

"Isn't he coming?"

"I can get him."

So Aaron joined the group while Wade settled in front of the TV with his coffee.

"Maybe it'll help for you guys to hear our story," Rhoda said.

She told of a seven-year attempt to have a baby that included two miscarriages.

"We were considering adoption when I was diagnosed with vaginal cancer," she said.

Teresa gasped.

Rhoda smiled at her.

"My reaction exactly," she said. "Because I was under the constant care of a doctor as I tried to get pregnant, the disease was caught in stage one. It had not spread outside the vagina. I had surgery three years ago. The doctors tell me that the success rate for early detection vaginal cancer is high. I've had tests every six months. No other cancer cells have been found. I should live a long and productive life, the Lord willing."

"What if it comes back?" Teresa said.

"That's always possible," Rhoda said, "but it's medically improbable." She took a piece of paper from her purse and held it out. "This is a letter from my doctor."

Teresa took it and began to read aloud:

"To whom it may concern: Rhoda Jacobson suffered from vaginal cancer. It was discovered in the earliest stage. She underwent surgery. All cancerous tissue was removed. She has been symptom free for three years. In my opinion, she is a good candidate to adopt a child. The likelihood of her cancer returning is very slim. Less than one percent of women treated for stage one vaginal cancer have a recurrence."

"There are never any guarantees," Thomas said. "We could be killed in a car wreck. The statistical probability for that happening is higher than the chance that the cancer will return."

"If it came back in the first few years of the baby's life and the prognosis was grim, would you be willing to give him or her back to us?" Jacob asked.

"I would do what was best for the child," Thomas said. "If you two were married and living in a stable home, I would be willing to consider that option."

"But no guarantees," Jacob said.

"No guarantees," Thomas said. "The child's welfare would be the most important thing."

"He's right," Teresa said. "What if we split up and were arguing over who got the child? What if one of us started drinking or doing drugs? I can see his point. If he's the child's father, he would have to consider what is best for the baby."

"Once the third year cancer-free mark passed, we started looking into adoption again," Thomas said. "We were praying about it. We investigated overseas adoptions. We talked to the people at child welfare about fostering that leads to adoption. We went to the Children's Home and talked to the people there about adopting an older child."

"We didn't have a peace about any of the options we explored," Rhoda said. "The afternoon before the basketball game, we talked to a young couple who were in an open adoption. I sort of liked the idea of the child knowing from the get go that he had biological parents that loved him enough to give him up."

She paused, her eyes focused on something we couldn't see. No one said a word.

"I had a friend who was adopted," she said. "She found out when she was 13 – by accident. She'd always felt out of sync at home. She had a younger sister that seemed to be the favorite. My friend became a cutter."

Rhoda was looking down at her wrist. She had pulled up her sleeve and was stroking her left arm.

"Her parents told her that her Mom loved her and gave her up because it was the best thing. Her Mom was killed in a car wreck when she was 10, so she never met her. I always wondered if her life would have been different if she had known she was adopted, if she had met her mother."

"What about her Dad?" Jacob asked.

"No one knew who he was. Her Mom didn't put a name on the birth certificate."

"What happened to her?" Teresa's voice sounded small and frightened.

"She went into counseling as an adult. She was married with two teen-aged boys before she sought help. Her marriage broke up. Her oldest son was in and out of trouble. Her youngest son began seeing a psychiatrist when he was 15. She eventually came to terms with the rejection she felt, but she went through a lot of pain to get there. She doesn't cut anymore. She lives on a farm by herself and boards horses. They are her friends."

Rhoda shook her head as though to rid it of the memories.

"Anyway," she turned to Teresa. "When your Dad made a scene at the basketball game, I was watching you, not Jacob. My heart jumped. I know this sounds strange, but I actually heard the words in my mind, 'This girl is carrying your baby.'"

"What about you?" Teresa asked Thomas. "Did you hear it?"

"I didn't hear anything," Thomas said, "but I felt like there was no one else in the gym but you and us. I put my arm around Rhoda and whispered in her ear, 'God put us here tonight. We needed to know about this baby.'"

Faith felt goose bumps rise on her body. Teresa crossed her arms and rubbed below her shoulders like she was cold.

"When I went to work the next day, I asked my boss if he knew any lawyers who did open adoptions. He sent us to Wade. You know the rest."

"We were praying when Wade called," Teresa said. "Jacob's Dad had just told him that he didn't have a home if he considered adoption. We'd already looked at all options – marriage, adoption, abortion. Adoption seemed like the best course, but we were feeling abandoned. Both of our parents disowned us. Aaron and Faith were our only support. Well, human support, that is. God was there for us, but I was sort of new at leaning on Him. I couldn't believe that He would answer that fast."

"Everything happens in His time," Aaron said.

After that the two couples spent some time getting acquainted while Aaron and Faith joined Wade in the living room. An hour later, they called all of us to the bedroom.

"You can start drawing up the papers," Jacob told Wade. "As soon as I'm able to get up, we're going to go over and look at the apartment. We aren't going to sign anything until after that."

"But we know God is in this," Teresa said. "We'll work out the details later. We know that the Jacobsons are the ones God wants to parent this child." She placed her hand on her belly and smiled through tears.

There was no sleeping when we got home. Teresa and I talked some and then I left her doing homework on the couch and settled into bed with the journal.