you.”
That was the first promise anyone had made me that day without attaching a condition to it.
By two o’clock, I was in the preadmission office with Daniel beside me, answering questions about medications, allergies, and emergency contacts. He carried the hospital bag in one hand and kept checking that the car seats were still in the Buick.
The clerk slid another form across the desk.
“Just this one.”
I signed where she pointed.
Daniel leaned over the bag. “I packed the blue blanket.”
“The blue one with the little stars?”
“That one.”
“You packed Luna’s hat too?”
“I packed both hats.”
I looked at him. “You are taking this very seriously.”
“I have been given a list.”
“By whom?”
He pulled a folded sheet from the front pocket.
“The nurse.”
That made me laugh, and for half a minute the room was ordinary again.
Then the door opened.
Vivian stood there holding a gift basket wrapped in clear plastic. She had not called. She had not
“I thought you might need fruit,” she said.
Daniel straightened. “Mom.”
She walked to the empty chair and set the basket down.
“I know, I know. You are busy.”
I looked at the fruit, then at her.
“We are finishing admission.”
“Of course.”
She smoothed the front of her cardigan and turned to Daniel.
“I only wanted to make sure Elena had what she needed.”
“I have what I need.”
Vivian nodded. “That is good.”
The clerk kept working at her computer. Vivian waited until she had finished typing before speaking again.
“After the delivery, there will be a few family matters to settle.”
Daniel glanced at me.
“What matters?”
Vivian touched the basket handle.
“Nothing difficult. We have all been discussing how best to keep the children connected to both sides
of the family.”
I closed the pen in my hand.
“What does that require from me?”
She gave me the careful smile she used when she wanted a request to sound generous.
“Nothing you should worry about today.”
“Then why bring it up today?”
She did not answer.
Instead, she lifted an apple from the basket and rubbed it with the corner of the tissue paper before setting it back.
“Babies make people think about the future.”
Daniel picked up the hospital bag.
“We should go upstairs.”
Vivian smiled at him.
“Yes. We should.”
She did not say where she expected me to be included in that “we.”
The family lounge was nearly empty at 2:35. Vivian arranged the fruit from the basket onto a white tray while Daniel stood near the window. I stayed beside him, one hand resting on the strap of my hospital bag.
“You really
