A Treasury of Miracles for Friends by Karen Kingsbury Page B

before saying good-bye. Adam wanted to ask her for her number, a way to see her again. But she seemed suddenly in a hurry, and they parted without a plan. That Saturday he visited Will and Wanda and told them about the girl.
    “Oh, yes. Brenda. She’s a beautiful girl.” Will nodded. Then his eyes lit up. “I guess that means you’ll have to come with us tomorrow.”
    Adam couldn’t argue the point. The next day, dressed in his best jeans and T-shirt, he went to church. After the service he found Brenda outside chatting with a group of girls. She pulled herself away, and this time Adam didn’t hesitate.
    “I forgot something last time we were together.”
    “You did?” Her smile told him she knew what he was getting at.
    “Yes. Can I have your number?”
    Brenda hesitated, but only for a moment.
    Their first date was that weekend, and they never looked back. But Adam refused to allow his relationship with her to be anything more than casual until he had a better understanding of God and everything a life with him meant. He attended Bible studies and one-on-one meetings with Will, and six months into his newly found faith, Brenda’s father baptized Adam after a Sunday church service.
    Will was the first to find him when it was over. “I’m so happy for you.” He winked. “How’s that empty feeling?”
    Adam smiled and the warmth of it went all the way through him. “It’s gone.” He hugged Will. “Thanks for praying for me, Will. Everything’s different.” He thought of Brenda. “Everything.”
    He and Brenda grew more serious over the next year, and at the two-year anniversary of their first meeting, Adam asked her to marry him. That week he wrote something in his journal that he looked at often: “I never knew I could feel like this, so complete and whole, so sure that everything is happening just as it should. I have the woman of my dreams at my side, and my best friend, Will Fredericks. Life couldn’t be better.”
    For a long while things actually did get better.
    Two years after Adam and Brenda married, Brenda learned she was going to have a baby. They celebrated by sharing dinner with Will and Wanda, and when the meal was over, Will pulled Adam aside in the living room. “Nothing in life beats having a baby.” He pointed to the Bible on the end table. “Teach ’em the Good Word and everything’ll turn out alright.”
    Adam appreciated the advice, and by the time Brenda was six months pregnant, they had a parenting plan. Will and Wanda were chosen as the baby’s godparents. By then, Adam and Brenda were meeting at the older couple’s house once a week for Bible study, and the friendship between Adam and Will was stronger than ever.
    “He’s so many things to me,” Adam explained to Brenda once. “Father, mentor, counselor.” Adam paused. “But most of all, he’s my friend. The best friend I’ve ever had.”
    “I’m glad.” Brenda slipped her arms around his neck. “Friends like that are a gift from God.”
    At the time, neither Adam nor Brenda knew just how true those words would become.
    Brenda’s pregnancy went well for the next two months, but then, four weeks before her due date, she began to bleed. Adam rushed her to the hospital, and at first the good news came in a steady stream.
    Doctors stabilized Brenda and delivered their baby, a boy who would be named William—after Adam’s friend—and whom they would call Billy. Because of Brenda’s emergency C-section, Adam wasn’t allowed into the delivery room, but he was able to see little Billy a few minutes after he was born.
    Adam touched the child’s velvet-soft hand and prayed.
God, thank you for this miracle child. He’s beautiful, and forever he will be a reminder to me of your faithfulness. Now, please . . . please let Brenda get better quickly because she needs to be here with us, enjoying this moment. And God, please let this child grow up to know you and—
    “Mr. Murphy?” The voice came from the doorway,