Mary must have sensed my disbelief:

“I know.  You wouldn’t be the first one to doubt what happened.  How do you think Joseph felt?

“Within days I knew I was pregnant, that a life was growing inside of me, and I realized that Joseph would have to know.

“I still remember the look of shock and betrayal when I told him I was pregnant, and then the anger.  He asked me how I could do it and demanded to know who the father was.  I kept telling him about my visit, and that I was still a virgin, that I hadn’t given that gift to anyone else.

“And he just shook his head and told me we were done, that first thing in the morning he’d talk to the Rabbi and arrange for a divorce. 

“That night I couldn’t sleep at all.  My entire life had come unravelled, the wedding I dreamed of was in shambles, the man I loved hated me and how could I possibly raise a child by myself?

“I must have drifted to sleep because the next thing I knew, my mother was in my room telling me that Joseph wanted to see me. She couldn’t understand why he had woken everyone up, he wouldn’t tell her what he wanted, just insisted that he had to see me right away.

“I quickly got dressed, splashed some water on my face and prepared to face Joseph’s fury again.  But that wasn’t what greeted me in the kitchen. 

“Instead, when I came through the door Joseph rushed to meet me, wrapping me in his strong arms and whispering to me, “I love you so much, I don’t know why I ever doubted you, please forgive me.”

“Later that day he told me about the visit that he had from the angel.  How he had been told that my child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that the Father was God himself.  That we were to name him Jesus and raise him as our child, and how someday he would be the savior of the world.

“There was so much to take in and so much to do.”

I didn’t know what to say, if what Mary told me was true than that changed everything I thought and believed about Jesus.

I knew he was special, I knew God had a special plan for him and that he was the chosen one, but, the Son of God?” 

Mary smiled at me and said, “Well that’s enough to shake your world, I’ll tell you more later.”  And with that she got up and walked into the darkness.