“I just feel like you should have it,” Sasha said with a shrug.
“I’m truly honored,” Angeni said.
“Let’s make sure it fits,” Sasha said. “I can always have it adjusted if need be.”
She had no idea how to go about having a ring adjusted and wasn’t sure she could follow through on such an offer, so she was grateful to see that it slipped onto Angeni Luna’s middle finger for a perfect fit.
“It’s like it was made for you,” Sasha said.
Angeni stared at the ring on her finger, tilting her head one way and then the other, considering.
“I love it,” she said.
She placed her hand in front of the baby’s face, showing it to her. “What do you think, Freya?”
Freya just stared with those eyes of hers, a small smile on her chubby face.
“She’s adorable,” Sasha said. She was glad to mean this, wasn’t sure how many lies she was capable of telling.
“Thank you,” Angeni said. “Do you want to hold her again?”
There was a type of triumph in holding this woman’s baby, her prized possession, especially after all Angeni had taken from Sasha.
Daphne, this woman is a fool, see?
“Sure, I’d love to hold her, if that’s okay with you.”
Angeni placed Freya in Sasha’s lap, the weight of the baby atop Sasha’s thighs. Her skin was so soft. Was all baby skin this soft? Had Theodore’s skin been this soft? Sasha felt her throat constrict as she thought about Theodore. She must have seen the baby on that horrible day, but her mind had taken the memory from her. She wished she’d been able to touch him.
Now would be an appropriate moment to shift the conversation to what Sasha really wanted to say.I was supposed to be an aunt recently. My baby nephew died. That’s actually the real reason I’m here ...Her palms started to sweat. Before she could muster up the courage to speak, Angeni said, “So what’s your sign?”
“My sign?” Sasha asked.
“Your astrological sign.”
Sasha had never been a believer in astrology. Seemed like a bunch of hocus-pocus to give people some semblance of control over their lives. There was no science to it—how could there be? She knew Angeni was very into astrology. She often talked about planetary shifts and other bullshit that people seemed to eat up with the same gusto with which they ate up her views on conscious coupling and motherhood.
“I’m a Scorpio,” Sasha said, because of course she still knew her sign, even if she thought it was meaningless. She also knew that Scorpios were said to be obsessive, with a venomous sting when wronged. Maybe it wasn’t wholly inaccurate.
“I knew it,” Angeni said, looking smug.
“You did?” She was genuinely curious what nonsense would come out of Angeni’s mouth in explanation.
“You’re a water sign. Just like Freya. Freya’s a Pisces. Water signs have such an affinity for each other. I can tell you two just ...connect.”
“Oh, well, it’s easy to connect with such a sweet baby,” Sasha said.
“Have you done your Human Design profile?” Angeni asked.
“My what?”
For the next half hour, Angeni helped Sasha determine her Human Design profile, which was 6–3, the same as Freya’s, according to Angeni. Angeni read aloud something on her phone: “You are someone who spends her life in experimentation. You may feel restless, always searching for the right thing. You are responsible and wise. Your challenge is learning to balance the structure of what you’ve learned with the natural ebbs and flows of being human.”
This all sounded extremely abstract to Sasha, but she said, “Oh wow, that tracks.”
“It’s incredible that you and Freya have the same profile. I feel like you two are meant to have met, that you were meant to have come here today.”
Iwasmeant to come here today,Sasha thought to herself.I planned it, in fact.
