She

She calmly takes a seat. Her posture feigns insignificance. As she looks up her eyes betray her. It's clear that something inside is ready to burst. This night will not be ordinary. She opens her mouth and begins to share her secret with me. She is pregnant. The excitement that should accompany this divulgement is suffocated under a torrent of fear and confusion, embarrassment and shame; treasure disguised in tragedy.

As the night turns to morning she discloses more scandalous revelations. She does her best to inject enthusiasm into the narrative of a rushed marriage proposal but her attempt is unconvincing. It appears to be the result of mixing a young man taking responsibility with a woman in desperate search for an acceptable answer to the quandary that is unplanned, out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The answer provided is raising a child in a two-parent household and is much preferred to giving the baby up for adoption.

Having unburdened herself of her darkest secrets her countenance is altered. Relief is spelled out in her eyes. A glimmer of happiness emerges. The heartbeat of her soul is transformed from the depths of despair to the promise of felicity. Her child is no longer a consequence, he is a blessing from her Father in Heaven.

She needed someone to listen to her. She needed someone to love her. She needed to see God's unconditional love reflected in the heart of one of his children. She is a daughter of the King. She is a princess. And she is going to be a great mother.