Lucas was driving to another city, but there was a baby that wouldn’t stop crying on his bus. He reached one of the stops and decided to scold the parents for not doing anything about it. That’s when he realized the baby was alone and had to do something he had never imagined.
The crying had been going for way too long on the bus, and Lucas couldn’t imagine how his passengers were tolerating the noise at this point.
Lucas was driving the bus from Miami to Orlando, a course that took around three hours. For almost the entire trip, a baby had been crying in the back. It wasn’t a big deal at first, but it was getting on his nerves now. He couldn’t stop the bus until he reached Orlando because it was part of the protocol that he could only make specific stops in Miami and then several in Orlando.
He hoped one of the passengers would tell the baby’s parents to do something, but nothing happened. That poor child kept wailing for the entire trip. He was almost too relieved to reach the next stop at least.
“No, Maria! That’s crazy! She’s a stranger’s child. I can call social services or something. I can’t handle babies,” he responded, panicked.
He stood up from his driver’s seat and started treading to the back. “Hello, passengers. Can someone tell me who the crying baby’s parents are?” he announced to the people sitting close to the back.
Some of them looked relieved that someone was finally addressing the issue, but no one spoke up. They looked around as Lucas did, and eventually, their expressions turned to puzzlement. “Hello? Who are the baby’s parents?” he asked again, hoping for an answer. But again, no one replied.
“Sir, I think that baby is alone,” someone at the back spoke up, pointing toward one of the seats. Lucas frowned and walked to the seat where the crying baby’s carrier was situated. He discovered the baby was a girl and there was no one beside her.
“Are you sure? Could her mother be in the bathroom?” Lucas asked the passenger who spoke up.
“I don’t know. I only noticed that the baby was alone when she started crying. But I’m not good with babies so I just ignored it,” the passenger stated and shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s crazy! Did someone abandon their baby on a bus from Miami to Orlando? What is going on?” Lucas wondered, and another passenger chimed in.
“I can watch her for a while. I have grandbabies, and I can put them to sleep. I didn’t say anything earlier because I had no idea what was going on, but I can help,” a kind lady offered, picking up the baby carrier to take it to her spot.
“Thank you, ma’am. We’ll find out what’s going on soon, hopefully,” Lucas expressed his gratitude and went back to his seat to resume driving.
Worried about the baby, Lucas decided to call the central office and discovered something he had never imagined. Apparently, the child’s mother had been making a fuss at the office, trying to get answers about her baby.
She was on the bus with the baby when she decided to help an elderly lady get off the bus with her groceries. Unfortunately, the bus doors closed before she could re-embark and that’s why the baby was alone.
“Jesus, that’s crazy!” Lucas told the secretary, Maria, who had taken his call. “So what happens now?”
“Unfortunately, yours was the last bus to Orlando today so the lady won’t be able to get to her daughter soon. Lucas, you’re going to have to keep the baby until her mother picks her up tomorrow,” Maria stated, making Lucas’ jaw drop.
“No, Maria! That’s crazy! She’s a stranger’s child! I can call social services or something. I can’t handle babies!” he responded, panicked.
“Lucas, you can’t do that. She’ll get in trouble and it wasn’t her fault. She seems like a lovely lady. She was so worried. Please, can you help her out? I’ll give her your address. She’ll take the first bus to Orlando tomorrow. Please? Sometimes, we have to help each other out, right?” Maria pleaded, and Lucas finally caved in.
When he completed his route, Lucas picked up the baby carrier and took the child home. His wife, Julie, would be stunned, to say the least. For several years, he had expressed his dislike for children and how he didn’t want to have them at all. The idea saddened Julie, but she loved him and wanted him to be happy.
***
“What’s going on?” Julie said when her husband walked in with a baby carrier. He explained everything that happened, and she finally smiled.
“Wow, darling. I’m shocked. I can’t believe you agreed to something like that,” she said, her grin getting wider.
“I know, right? But well, Maria convinced me that it was the right thing to do, and I mean, it’s my day off tomorrow. I can certainly wait for that mother to come pick her up,” he added with a chagrinned smile.
Surprisingly, that night with the baby was one of the best of Lucas and Julie’s life. She was so tiny and vulnerable, but she smiled as they cooed at her. Luckily, she was also all cried out, so she slept soundly when they put her in a tiny makeshift bed in their guest room.
The baby’s mother, Cynthia, arrived bright and early the following morning with tears in her eyes. “Thank you! Thank you so much! I’m such an idiot! She’s a newborn, for God’s sake! I shouldn’t have traveled, but I wanted to visit my mother. Then I saw a woman struggling to get off the bus with her groceries, and I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to help her,” she scolded herself.
“Don’t worry. Your baby is a delight, although Lucas said she cried on the bus so much,” Julie said, patting the new mother’s arm. “What’s her name, by the way?”
“Oh, it’s Darla,” Cynthia replied, cooing as Julie passed her the baby carrier.
“Yeah, she was fine as long as someone paid attention to her. But then, she fell right asleep,” Lucas chimed in, smiling.
Cynthia thanked them again and left with her baby. When they closed the door, Lucas turned to his wife with pursed lips and a glint of something in his eye. “You know… having a baby wouldn’t be so bad….”
Julie’s eyes widened in surprise, and she jumped into his arms. A year later, they had their own daughter, Darla, named in honor of the baby that had changed his mind.