Miles Hollis was in a rush. At the age of forty, he usually didn’t feel this hurried, but on that particular day, he had no other option. A hospital in Florida just called to share the news that a baby girl had arrived—and he was named as the father.
He could have easily brushed it off as just a wrong number or a joke, but the fact that his wife, Tara, was in Florida changed everything. He had sent her off on a little getaway while he worked on renovating their house in Texas. He wanted to surprise her with a bigger house—one that had extra rooms for the four kids they dreamed of raising together. Three had already found their forever homes, as Miles, having been a foster child himself, held a strong belief in offering others the same loving opportunity he once received. The additional space was meant for their unborn baby, a little one Tara had been hoping for after years of trying.
But that phone call turned everything upside down. The nurse on the line shared that Tara had gone into premature labor and welcomed a baby girl into the world. Sadly, Tara didn’t make it through the difficult birth. They said the newborn needed her father right away. Miles packed in a haze, his heart racing with sorrow and disbelief. Was Tara truly gone?
He got on the next flight to Florida, with tears always just beneath the surface. The whole trip seemed like a haze—his thoughts consumed by memories of Tara’s radiant smile, her hand resting on her expanding belly, filled with anticipation for what was to come. How could she possibly be gone?
