Sharon stared at me. Her smile disappeared.
“Please,” she said. “Not here.”
“You had no problem saying it here.”
For once, I didn’t wait for her to have the last word.
One of her guests shifted uncomfortably. Sharon glanced around, then lowered her voice.
“You’re overreacting.”
“I’m not, and it’s not a big ask for you to stop either way.”
For once, I didn’t wait for her to have the last word.
I felt Ava’s fingers slip into mine.
“Can we go see the spiders outside?” she whispered.
“Your mother hasn’t stopped.”
I wheeled Noah’s stroller into the backyard. We spent a few minutes hanging plastic spiders along the fence while he slept.
Mark joined us carrying a box of extension cords.
He glanced at my face.
“Everything okay?”
“Your mother hasn’t stopped.”
His expression tightened, but before he could answer, Sharon opened the back door.
“Dad always goes when Grandma calls.”
“Mark! I need you inside for a minute.”
He sighed.
“Coming.”
Ava watched him go.
“Dad always goes when Grandma calls.”
Ava and I went back inside when Mark’s cousin Julia arrived. Noah had just woken up.
She hugged me, then performed the trick for Noah.
Julia was a photographer who could make Noah laugh simply by raising one eyebrow.
She hugged me, then performed the trick for Noah. He rewarded her with a gummy grin.
Julia spotted Ava.
“There’s my favorite model. Remember our picnic pictures?”
Ava nodded.
“I had strawberry juice on my shirt.”
“Did you ever send everyone the pictures?”
“And you insisted we leave it in the photos.”
Julia laughed.
That picnic had been in August, one of the few days I’d felt good about myself since giving birth. Julia had taken pictures by the lake, and I’d liked several of them.
“Did you ever send everyone the pictures?” I asked.
“Right after the picnic. Actually, Sharon asked me for the full-size files again last week.”
“There’s a beautiful one of all five of you.”
“Again?”
“She said she needed one for a frame.”
Julia smiled.
“There’s a beautiful one of all five of you. You’re all laughing in it.”
I remembered. Noah had sneezed just as Julia raised her camera, and we’d all burst out laughing.
“That was my favorite,” I said.
“What’s in there?”
Before Julia could answer, Ava pulled her away to show off her costume.
As more guests arrived, I noticed Sharon had closed the living-room door. It had been open earlier while we were decorating.
“What’s in there?” one of the cousins asked.
Sharon smiled.
“A little surprise. You’ll see.”
Sharon disappeared into the living room.
By five, guests crowded the kitchen, dining room, and backyard. Children hurried between the rooms while the adults gathered around the food.
Then Sharon began calling the children over for photographs.
“Ava, honey, put your bucket down. You’ll need both hands.”
Sharon disappeared into the living room.
Ava followed, but returned almost immediately.
“She said only Dad and Noah can come in first.”
“Mom, Grandma says I have to wait.”
“Did she say why?”
“She said only Dad and Noah can come in first.”
“Probably setting up her camera.”
Ava frowned.
“Why can’t you come?”
“She said there’s a special family picture planned.”
