God Gave Us Two Read online

  GOD GAVE US TWO

  PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS

  12265 Oracle Blvd., Suite 200

  Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

  Scripture quotations are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971.

  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.

  All rights reserved.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-73224-8

  Copyright © 2001 by Lisa Tawn Bergren

  Illustrations © 2001 Laura J. Bryant

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

  WATERBROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Bergren, Lisa Tawn.

  God gave us two / by Lisa Tawn Bergren; art by Laura J. Bryant.—1st ed.

  p.cm.

  Summary: Little Cub has questions about the new baby that Mama is expecting, but she learns that babies are gifts from God.

  [1. Babies—Fiction. 2. Brothers and sisters—fiction. 3. Polar bears—Fiction. 4. Bears—Fiction. 5. Christian life—Fiction.] I. Bryant, Laura J., ill. II title.

  PZ7.B452233 Gn 2001

  [E]—dc21

  2013

  v3.1

  Children are a gift from God; they are his reward.

  PSALM 127:3

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  First Page

  “Time to get up, sleepyhead,” Mama said one bright Sunday morning.

  But Little Cub wasn’t quite ready to wake up.

  “You can take your new baby to church,” she said with a yawn.

  “New baby? He’s still in my tummy, but he’ll come along too. Now up and at ’em, sugarplum. It’s soon time to go.”

  Little Cub yawned again and padded after her mother down the hall to the bathroom. “Mama,” she asked, “why do you need a new baby?”

  “We don’t need a new baby, Little Cub,” she said, nuzzling her daughter’s nose. “We want a new baby, just like we wanted you. God gave us you. Now he’s given us two!”

  Papa helped Little Cub dress for church. “Papa,” she said, “if we don’t like the new baby, can we send it back?”

  “No, Little Cub. You don’t send back a gift from God. He gave us you. Now he’s given us two!”

  On the way, Little Cub wondered aloud, “If the new baby cries too much, can I move next door?”

  “Sorry, sweet pea,” Mama said. “We want you with us until you’re all grown up. Besides, you’re going to like the new baby.”

  “Even when it cries?”

  “Even when he cries.”

  “Little Cub,” Papa said later, “do you realize how wonderful this is? You’re going to be a big sister! The new baby will love you, just as we do.”

  “It will?” Little Cub asked.

  “Oh yes,” Papa and Mama both answered as one.

  “You’ll be able to play with the baby,” Mama said, tickling her.

  “And teach him how to say please and thank you and to burp with his mouth closed,” Papa added.

  “You can have snowball fights together,” Papa said, tossing a snowball in his hand.

  “Or make snow angels together,” Mama said, “when you don’t feel like fighting.”

  “Will she go iceberg hoppin’ and puffin pouncin’ with me?”

  “If she’s anything like you, she will,” Papa said.

  “Or he,” Mama reminded them, “if it’s a baby brother.”

  Maybe being a big sister won’t be all bad, Little Cub thought. She would have someone to play with who didn’t hog the ball—like the seals did—and someone who’d think she was smart and funny.

  She wouldn’t be the littlest bear anymore.

  “Hmm,” she whispered. “God has given us two.”

  “I wanna baby sister,” she announced as she returned home.

  “Can’t promise that,” Papa said.

  “A brother?”

  “Can’t promise that either.”

  “Well, what can you do?” she asked.

  “Not much,” Mama said, tweaking Little Cub’s nose, “other than pray for you and our precious number two.”

  That night, Little Cub tucked her doll into her cradle…

  …and climbed up into bed to read with Mama.

  It was becoming harder and harder to find room on Mama’s lap. Her lap was getting smaller…

  …and smaller…

  …and smaller!

  Her tummy was so big now that Little Cub had to sit beside her.

  “Ouch!” she said one night as they read her favorite story.

  “What’s wrong, Little Cub?”

  “The baby poked me!”

  Mama smiled wide. “Why, he’s just moving about inside me, like you did. He wants to remind us that he’s there, ready to come out any day.” Mama squeezed Little Cub closer. “God gave us you. And soon we’ll meet number two!”

  “Papa,” Little Cub asked as they walked that night, “will the new baby look like me?”

  “Maybe,” Papa said. He held out his paw and caught some snow. “All these snowflakes are bright, white, and wet. But each one is different. Same Maker,” he explained, looking up at the falling flakes, “but he’s a creative Creator. We’ll soon see, won’t we?”

  The next morning, Papa sent Carrie the caribou to fetch Little Cub’s grandparents.

  “It’s time for me to take Mama to the hospital,” he said. “You’ll soon know if you have a baby sister or brother!”

  “Papa,” Little Cub said, “will you forget about me?”

  “Never!” Papa said. “God gave us you. Now he’s given us two!”

  “No one will ever take your place,” Mama said. “I promise. Now come out—I need a good-bye hug from my sweetest Little Cub.”

  Little Cub spent the day fishing with Grampa…

  And baking cookies with Gramma…

  Playing checkers with Grampa…

  And hide-and-seek with the animals…

  …until Papa came home.

  “I have a surprise for you, Little Cub,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You have a baby sister!”

  “I do?”

  “And a baby brother!”

  “I do?”

  “Yes, Little Cub, God gave us two!”

  “No, Papa,” Little Cub said proudly,

  “God gave us three!”

 

 

  Lisa Tawn Bergren, God Gave Us Two

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