She’s serious, Noelle. Let her be sentimental.
I laugh.
Me:
I am serious, sentimental, overwhelmed, pregnant, and very grateful.
Claudia:
Hormones are accepted as a legal justification.
Sofie:
There is no payback. This is a community. Get used to it.
Community. I truly feel it and love it.
I was alone for so long, and Lucy has been alone her entire life, too. I will always harbor some guilt for that, but I am so grateful that it isn’t more, that she is safe, that we have each other, and now Lenzin, and this amazing community.
Me:
I am so blessed to be part of it.
I glance at the time. Scotti will be here in twenty minutes.
Lucy has no idea her entire room moved, and Lenzin has no idea either. There isn’t much you can do for a man with such means, but I know how happy he’ll be that soon, wasn’t just an idea.
I grab my bag and lock the door behind me.
Today, I get Lucy, then Erin, and well, I have a lot to tell her.
Scotti drives through traffic at JFK like the pro she is.
“Arrivals are chaos,” she says calmly. “We’ll do curbside. I’ll circle once if needed.”
Lucy loves the airplanes, loves them, and is narrating their stories, and I hope I remember everything she says, because itwould be a cute little book that she can ‘work on’ while I am writing.
“That one is blue and has girls’ hockey players on it. They just won a game that only girls played. That one is going to Florida for sunshine.” She points to another. “That one looks tired; it’s going to land and rest awhile.”
I turn in my seat to grin at her and then spot Erin coming out amongst a dozen other travelers. She looks tired as she scans the pickup lane, phone in one hand, oversized tote on her shoulder, rolling suitcase behind her.
I open the door and wave. She spots me and hurries my way and then freezes as her eyes drop to my stomach and back up to my face, then right back down. “Oh, my God.”
Lucy waves wildly. “Ms. Erin!”
Scotti hops out first, smooth and efficient, retrieving Erin’s bag before Erin can process what she’s seeing.
Erin steps toward me slowly.
“Are you?—”
I laugh nervously. “I am.”
She drops her bag entirely and pulls me into a hug that is equal parts careful and crushing.
“I didn’t know,” she says into my hair.
“Either did I.”
