Cocoon
an excerpt

Miranda held little Jessica as she slept; she looked so tiny, so fragile there in her arms. Like a small porcelain doll, perfect in every way; a jet black tuft of hair, ten little fingers and toes, the most beautiful Clara Bow lips, a button nose, coal black eyes, and dimpled cheeks. She was perfection, except for one, tiny flaw.

“Here, let me hold her for a little while, Randa,” said Gerry as he held out his arms towards his wife. “You gather up her things for her diaper bag, and I’ll go put her in the car seat and start the engine. It’ll be nice and toasty by the time you come out.”

Miranda simply nodded to Gerry and gently laid Jessica in his arms without a word. She quickly looked away from him and bent over the pram to start gathering up Jessica’s favorite blankets and toys for her trip to the hospital. Gerry gently laid Jessica on his right shoulder and then reached out his arm to the crook of Miranda’s elbow and gently caressed it.

“It’ll be ok, Randa. She’s going to be just fine. The doctor has every hope that she will recover completely and have a happy, normal life. And even if there are side effects, she will have us. We are a family now. Nothing can stand in our way now that we are all together.”

Miranda laced her fingers through Gerry’s, whispered tenderly but inaudibly, and went back to packing Jessica’s bag. Diapers, baby powder, baby oil, her favorite footed pajamas, her softest bear, her cutest little socks and shoes, and her favorite little blanket that she tucked under her nose like she was smelling a bouquet of flowers on a light, spring day.