The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Baby

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalm 127:3

 

Usually Miranda didn't like being woken up so early in the morning, or at least before she got enough beauty sleep, as she was a busy woman who worked at the clinic and took her job very seriously. However, the moment she heard the dogs barking downstairs, she was forced to open her eyes and groan at the racket they were making. At first she thought it wasn't anything serious so she stayed in bed and tried going back to sleep. However, the moment she heard Timotheos scream, she immediately jumped out of bed and ran out of her room to see what the problem was. Barnim was also woken up but only because his dogs were barking rather loudly though he got out of bed much quicker than her so he could see what all the fuss was about. They both arrived downstairs, with Barnim beating Miranda to the punch, and saw Timotheos bringing the crying baby inside, holding the basket by its handles. Schnell and Angus continued to bark and jump at Timotheos' legs, with Bruno, Valeria and Aldo joining in, causing both Miranda and Timotheos to become irritated and wince at the dogs' antics. The baby's crying did not make things any better for anyone as Timotheos was struggling to put the basket down somewhere safe. Although he was used to the sounds of the dogs' constant barking, Barnim saw that the dogs were making things difficult for everyone and decided to put a stop to it.

"Alright, alright that's enough!" Barnim said as he made his way towards his family and the baby. Unfortunately, the dogs continued to jump at Timotheos while he tried to keep the baby away from them. Miranda struggled to hold both Bruno and Valeria back by their collars but they were too excited to keep still. This began to frustrate the old man to the point where he decided that enough was enough.

"SIT!" he shouted, causing all of the dogs to immediately stop barking and obey by sitting down. Miranda sighed in relief while Timotheos couldn't help but be impressed by how quickly his grandfather was able to get them to calm down. Once that was dealt with, Miranda let go of the dogs' collars while Barnim went to check on the baby while Timotheos placed the basket on the dinner table.

"Alright, let's see what we got here," said Barnim as he got closer to the table while Miranda went to turn on the lights in both the dining and living room. Once she was done, she came back to get a closer look at the baby.

The baby stopped crying the moment Timotheos placed the basket on the table but was whimpering a bit due to being in a unknown place. He made sure to carefully unwrap the baby, freeing his arms and legs while showing that he was earing a soft white onesie underneath. As the baby opened his eyes, Timotheos noticed that they were brown but also had a shade that reminded him of caramel candy. They stared at each other until Timotheos cautiously placed a finger close to the baby's hand, to which the baby responded by grabbing onto and giggling. Timotheos smiled as he watched baby giggle while Barnim and Miranda looked on in amusement.

"Well, it seems he likes you Timmy," said Barnim.

"Yeah, I guess," said Timotheos as he continued to play with the baby.

As the young man continued to play with the baby, Miranda noticed that there was something taped to the back of the wicker basket.

 

"Huh, what's this?" she asked as she grabbed the mysterious item and held it in both her hands.

"What's that mom?" Timotheos asked, focusing his attention on the baby.

"It looks like someone taped an envelope to this basket," Miranda replied as she got a closer look at it. It was a white envelope and, judging from the shade that it gave off after Miranda put it under the light, there was something inside. She carefully opened the letter while making sure not to accidentally rip the note inside before sliding it out onto her hand. Barnim and Timotheos watched as she did this, wondering what the envelope's contents would be. Once it was opened, Miranda found that there was a letter inside and slid it out onto her hand. As she put the ripped envelope on the table, she opened the letter (which was folded into thirds) and saw that there was a message inside written in French. Judging from the way the sentences were written, it appeared that the person wrote the message in blue fountain ink that seemed to shimmer under the light. Although the Blumenthals were of German descent, they were fluent in French due to having learned it in school along with having some friends who helped them with some of the more difficult words and phrases.

"What does it say?" Timotheos asked.

"Well, given that it's in French, I guess reading it in the language that it was written in will make things easier than simply translating it," Miranda replied as she cleared her throat and prepared to read it.

(For the reader's sake, the message will be written in English but you can translate this in French if you wish.)

"To whoever received this letter, I thank you for finding it along with my baby. His name is Ambroise and he is 3 months old. I apologize for making you to take care of him on such short notice but I had no choice. Certain events have forced me to leave him here for his own safety and this town is considered one of the safest places to be in Belgium. While I cannot disclose on why exactly I had to leave him in your care, please understand that it was for a good reason. I will be coming back for him in August so you will not have to wait very long. Once I return for him, I will explain everything to you so you will better understand why I was forced to leave him in your care. I promise that you will be rewarded for taking care of him. For now, please keep him safe until I return. Till then, thank you and farewell.

Sincerely, his mother."

"And that's it," Miranda said as she finished reading the message.

Once she was done, she handed the letter to Barnim who read it for himself while Timotheos was left surprised by the message. The baby, whose name was revealed to have been Ambroise, continued to play with Timotheos' finger without a care. When Barnim finished reading the letter, he placed it on the table with a serious expression.

"Well, judging from this letter, his mother is still alive somewhere. She could be anywhere at this point so we can't really go looking for her," he said.

"Then what do we do, papa?" Miranda asked with concern.

"The best thing we can do right now is take care of the baby like the letter asked and wait for his mother," Barnim replied. Timotheos perked up when he heard this and became excited over the prospect of taking care of the baby.

"Really? Can we actually keep him here?" he asked with increasing excitement in his voice. Seeing that he was more than willing to care for the baby brought a smile to both his grandfather's and mother's faces.

"Sure, I mean there's no harm in caring for a baby. Especially one as cute as him!" Barnim said as he began playing with the baby's toes, making him giggle in the process. "Who's a little cutie! You are, yes you are!"

Miranda and Timotheos couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Barnim showing affection for little Ambroise. It reminded Miranda of how Barnim was incredibly doting towards Timotheos to the point where he almost spoiled him. Almost. She remembered how happy he was when she and her husband announced that they were pregnant and how eager Barnim was when he got to hold Timotheos for the first time. Many tears were shed that day but it was a day that no one would ever forget nor did they want to forget. She also watched Timotheos continue to play with the baby and was happy to see that her son got along with the little one just fine. Given how he helped take care of the kindergarteners near his school and had lots of experience dealing with the younger kids, it would make sense for someone like Timotheos to help take care of a baby as well.

"Wait a minute," Timotheos said as he realized something. "Where is he supposed to sleep? Do we have any more spare rooms for him? And what about a crib?" Miranda and Barnim realized that he was right and were at a loss for words until Miranda thought of something.

"Oh right, I almost forgot," Miranda exclaimed, "I still have the old crib you used to sleep in when you were a baby." Timotheos raised an eyebrow when he heard this as he didn't expect his own mother to still keep some of the items that he had when he was younger.

"Really? You actually kept that thing all these years?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. Originally I was going to give it away to other people who had infants of their own but because no one in the town wanted it, I felt that it would be a waste to just throw it out so I kept it," she explained, "Well, that and because it was too nostalgic for me to just give it away." As she finished her explanation, her cheeks began to show a twinge of pink out of embarrassment.

"Well, at least it came in handy," said Barnim as he tried to ease the now awkward atmosphere. "So where did you put it Miranda?"

"I put it in the basement along with most of Timotheos' old baby products," Miranda explained as she brought Barnim downstairs to show him where the crib was. Although Timotheos was a bit disturbed by the fact that his own mother kept his old crib even after he outgrew it, he was happy to see that Ambroise would be able to stay with them after all. As he continued to play with the infant, he smiled as he saw just how bright-eyed and cheerful he was.

"Hey little guy," Timotheos said, "Welcome to our home."