“I hope they invite me again, and if they don’t, I’d plan something and invite them instead. Especially since I know about Theo’s sneezes now. Won’t be nearly so scary at four a.m. next time.”
“His sneeze literally starred in my wedding video. Itopensmy wedding video.”
“It’s different in real life.”
She shakes her head. “That I can agree with.”
We both smile.
“You’re serious about staying,” she says slowly.
“Completely serious.”
“You won’t miss acting? Traveling? Being in the public spotlight?”
“I would miss being here more.”
She rests her chin on one knee and stares at the chicken coop.
And it’s sopeaceful.
Soft clucks. The sun sinking lower, but not yet casting the deep shadows of dusk.
Yolko Ono purring like a cat. Swear on my lone Oscar, she’s purring.
Bash’s voice drifts down, singing a song I don’t recognize, but Emma could probably name.
I like my life.
I’ve never felt like anything was missing.
But when I’m here, I feel like I’ve found where I’m supposed to be.
Who I’m supposed to be.
Who matters.
“Was he an easy baby?” I ask in the stillness.
“What makes an easy baby?”
Huh. “I…don’t actually know.”
She smiles out at the chickens again. She gathered eggs and fed them while the rest of us were picking up the pizzas and cleaning dishes, so I don’t think she’s worried about them.
I think she’s contemplating how much she wants to share with me.
How much I’ve earned.
How much she believes I’m worth the time to let me a little further in.
“He was the very best baby,” she finally says softly.
“He wasn’t fussy?”
“Oh, he was. He loved being held. Hated being put down for even a minute the first couple months. If you put him down, he’d scream. And scream. And scream some more even when you picked him up, like he needed to tell you how terrible it was to not be held before he could settle down. But he wasn’t too picky about who held him. Unless it was Decker. If Decker held him, we had to play pop music or Bash would scream some more.”
“That must’ve made nights hard.”
