Vivian adjusted the bakery box in her hand.
“You know, Elena, I could come by whenever Daniel is working.”
“I know.”
“It would be easier if I did not have to wait for someone to answer.”
I looked at her purse.
“Are you asking for a key?”
“I am asking whether you really want me standing outside when you need me.”
“I can let you help without giving you a key.”
Her smile stayed in place.
“Why would you make a simple thing difficult?”
“Because it is my house.”
Vivian glanced toward the nursery again.
“Daniel’s house too.”
“Yes.”
“And the babies are Sterling children.”
“Yes.”
She lowered the bakery box.
“Then why should I need permission to come in?”
I did not answer immediately.
The question had arrived dressed as concern, but it was still a request for access.
“I will call you when we need you.”
Vivian picked
up the bakery box.
“That sounds very formal.”
“It is clear.”
She turned toward the steps, then stopped.
“After the birth, you may see this differently.”
“Maybe.”
She walked to her car without taking the box back inside.
I watched her carry it away.
The porch felt wider after she left.
At six twenty, Daniel was on the dining room floor with a screwdriver, working on the loose cabinet hinge that had been bothering him for weeks.
I read Vivian’s text from my phone.
“She says, ‘I need the hospital room number too.’”
Daniel tightened the screw.
“She already knows the hospital.”
“She wants the room number.”
He looked up.
“Did she say why?”
“She says she wants to be nearby.”
Daniel reached for another screw.
“I thought she was just trying to help after delivery.”
I put the phone beside the mail stack.
“She asked for a house key
this morning.”
“I know.”
“Now she wants the room number.”
He lowered the screwdriver.
“I should have realized those were connected.”
I watched him fit the hinge back into place.
“What did she tell you yesterday?”
“That she wanted to make things easier.”
“Did she mention Leo?”
Daniel paused.
“She said the family should have a chance to be close to him.”
“Only Leo?”
He looked at me.
“She said the twins.”
“That is not what you heard.”
“No.”
He turned the screwdriver again.
“I heard Leo.”
The cabinet door shifted slightly when he tested it.
“Daniel.”
“I know.”
He sat back on his heels.
“She keeps talking as if she has a place already decided for him.”
I picked up my phone.
“That is why I am not giving her the room number.”
Daniel nodded.
“Okay.”
Then his phone lit up on the table.
He reached for it.
“She
