Echo of Heartbreak, A Recipe for Life by Carol Ann. Kauffman

Echo of Heartbreak, A Recipe for Life is short story written in the form of a letter from a very ill mother to her unborn daughter, telling her the incidents surrounding her birth, giving her advice on life, and leaving her the best of her family recipes.

Link:   http://tinyurl.com/n2eblyu 

An excerpt from. Echo:

Good News and Bad News

“Well, Melina, the sonogram looks good.  Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes.  Mornings are still a little rough, but I’m fine after ten o’clock.  So… the baby’s okay?”

“Yes, she is.  You, on the other hand…”

“Dr. Townsend, please, I appreciate your concern for me, I do, but I’m going to do this my way.  As long as my sweet little baby girl is okay, that’s all that matters.”

“And who’s going to take care of your sweet little baby girl when you’re gone, Melina?  Let’s abort this pregnancy now, before it’s too late.  If you insist on carrying this child to full term, it will kill you.”

“You’re over-reacting to my cardiologist’s report.  Dr. Lambert is an alarmist.”

“No, I’m not over-reacting.  Pregnancy is very stressful on the heart.”

“Not as stressful as parenting, I’ve been told.”

“Let him fix this heart problem, get yourself healthy again, and you and Ethan can start all over again.”

“No.  I want this baby.”

“This baby will kill you.  You know, Melina, your husband, ‘the Professor’ can hardly take care of himself, let alone himself and a baby.”

“Oh, Doctor, he’s just a little pre-occupied and sometimes absent-minded.  But Ethan’s not incapable.  And he’s very loving.”

“Think about it, just think about it.  You don’t have to make a decision today.  We have time yet.  I’m extremely worried about your condition, that’s all.  There is every indication in this cardiology report that the stress from this pregnancy could be fatal.”

“Could be, not will be.  And if the cardiology business ever dries up, Dr. Lambert could write bestsellers.  He likes to scare people with heart problems.

“No.  This is serious.  Think about it, talk it over with Ethan, and call me in a day or two and we’ll schedule the procedure, okay?”

Melina nodded, but not in agreement, just simply to get out of there.  She got in the car and drove toward home.  Think?  That’s all she’d been doing is thinking.  

Talk to Ethan?  Yuck, no!  Ethan wouldn’t understand.  Ethan could care less if they ever had a child.  And, although he would never admit it to her, he’d much prefer a son to a daughter anytime to carry on the Rosemont all male tradition.  She sometimes wondered how dear sweet Mother Maeve Rosemont lived with all that testosterone.  Ethan would side with Dr. Townsend.  The last discussion with Ethan over the baby ended with “Do whatever you want.”