Molly woke up one grey November morning with the instant awareness that her monthly visitor hadn't arrived yet. "Hmmm... that's odd... " she thought as she climbed out of bed. "I'm never late." She shrugged the thought off as she got ready for work.
She went through her day pretty uneventfully except that the nagging thought of "What if??..." kept invading her mind, almost against her will. "Danny and I only had sex that one night... what are the odds?" Still, the knowledge that it only took one sperm plagued her.
You see, Molly isn't exactly the motherly type. She has been a tomboy for as long as she could remember. Favoring sports over dolls, her mother gave up right away the hope that she could ever get Molly into a dress. Now a sales manager for a major sporting goods company, she felt right at home. In fact, life couldn't get any better. Living on her own in a one bedroom apartment in the city, she spent her free time living single life to its fullest.
"Maybe it's been too full..." she pushed the thought away and immediately slammed on her brakes, barely missing what would have been a head-on collision. "Get a grip, Molly!!" she muttered as she carefully made her way towards home. Just as she was about to turn down her street, she noticed the Walgreens about a block away. "I might as well get it over with," she thought as she made her way to the parking lot.
Once inside, she went straight to the aisle where they keep both the condoms and the pregnancy tests ("what are they trying to do... rub it in my face?!") and grabbed the first test she saw. Once home, she ran to the bathroom and ripped open the packaging. Peeing on the end of the stick, Molly couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous this must look. "Ridiculous or not, it had to be done," she thought.
She laid the test down on the sink and held her breath as the first bright pink line started appearing. "Okay, good, there's still a chance..." About 30 seconds later another line started forming, this one much lighter than the first, but still noticeable.
All the air flew out of her lungs in one big "WHOOSH!!!" as she collapsed onto the bathroom floor. "Why me?! Why now?? Everything was going so perfectly... " Wallowing in self-pity, she didn't notice the bright light starting to shine inside of her. Between sobs, she noticed a peculiar feeling in her stomach, but she figured it was just morning sickness starting up.
Crawling out of the bathroom, she decided to watch some TV in the hope that it might distract her for a little while. Just as she was settling in to watch her favorite program, a diaper commercial ("what else could it have been?") came on. She was instantly riveted by the baby crawling across the screen as if it were a live taping of the apocalypse.
The bright light started to ignite inside of her again, and, this time, she definitely felt it. Tears of joy spilled onto her cheeks as her entire being was swept away by the power of the miracle of life. She knew, right then and there, how very fortunate and blessed she truly is. Nothing can compare to this for it is the very reason for being.
We are born to give life, to play a hand in the richness of the gift that is humanity. This light welled up inside of her and made her thank the universe for allowing her to live so that she could experience this divine act. Not one day has gone by that she hasn't cried tears of joy over the perfection that is her son, Anthony Michael.
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