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but he’s my friend. Except for you and Anne, I don’t have anyone from outside the church to talk to. So that’s my secret. Rather anti-climactic. I didn’t tell you because it sounds so trifling.”
    “Well, thank you for doing so. I’ll leave you alone...for now. We just got through the anniversary of father’s death and now today arrives. How are you?”
    “I know this day affects you and Michel. It certainly hurt father, but I only reflect upon it mildly. I obviously can’t recall it.”
    Catherine strained to remember their mother, strained to remember that fateful day. The Saint-Laurent household had buzzed with excitement because the promised baby was soon to arrive. She and Michel heard over and over about the responsibility they had in helping raise it and comforting their mother after the birth. Catherine and Michel had waited patiently in the adjacent room to their mother’s quarters when suddenly, the nurse raced out and shouted for the butler to get a doctor. Soon thereafter, their father ran through the room without looking at them. When he got into the bedroom, he roared with grief. It was the first sound they heard from behind the door, their father wailing and beating his fists against the wall.
    The nurses pushed him out of the room, and he fell into a chair, broken, his hands limp at his sides.
    Then Catherine heard the baby. She recalled vividly, the memory burned into her young mind. A baby was crying.
    The nurse brought the small bundle into the room. “Monsieur, he needs you,” she said to their father. “More than before, this baby will need you. Take him.” She thrust the child into his arms and retreated to the birthing room.
    Tears streamed down his face as he clutched the babe in his arms. Michel sat at attention in the corner, bewildered. Not Catherine. She had had enough and slid off the sofa, going toward her father. She crept up to him and glanced at the baby.
    “Papa? Who is it?”
    Her father, despondent, gathered his senses and looked at her. In retrospect, she realized that at that moment he accepted the responsibility of caring for these three children on his own. He smiled through his tears and held her hand. “This is Xavier, darling. Michel, come here and meet your brother.” Michel had plodded across the room and gazed at the baby. With one arm holding the baby, their father embraced his other two children in a hug and resumed crying. And then he told them that their mother had not survived.
    Catherine’s eyes misted as she thought about the soft-spoken woman who had raised her with love and devotion. She still missed her. But, if God took her away, He had left a perfect replacement in Xavier. Michel, her father, and she had embraced the new baby as the reincarnation of their mother and silently vowed to raise him as she would have, with patience, love, and reverence.
    Catherine wiped at her tears.
    “I’m sorry.” Xavier hugged her and the warmth of his embrace eased her pain.
    “It’s a pity, that your birthday is also that day. We tried to give you all of the attention, but—”
    “And you all did a marvelous job. I didn’t know the meaning of this day for a long time, not until I could comprehend what it meant without guilt. I didn’t mean to be flippant before. I just never knew her.”
    “Oh, this is silly,” Catherine said. “I know that, and you needn’t worry. If you don’t mind, let’s talk about something else. I can revel in the misery by myself later, when you go see your friend.” She could not resist teasing, and Xavier smiled, as if he wanted to speak further on the subject but a heavy footstep across the hall startled them. Catherine recognized the cadence and leapt to her feet as a man appeared in the doorway.
    “Michel!” She ran across the room into his arms, his frame solid like a rock against her. “My, don’t you cut a dashing figure in the king’s uniform?”
    “I’ve missed you,” Michel said with a laugh. He turned and