Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 23 of 70

The blog shoot went up on Sunday, and by Monday morning Lymber had a graduation gown hanging on the back of the bedroom door. It was the same gold as her homecoming dress, but cheaper, thin polyester that wrinkled if she sat wrong. Violetta was six months old now and could hold her own head up. Paul had a matching gown draped over the kitchen chair. He had done the online credits to catch up, and the school had let him walk with her class. Lymber fed Violetta on the couch and watched Paul iron his cap flat with a coffee mug because they did not own an iron. He said, we should leave by nine. She said, I know. Polly came across the road at eight-forty with a small bakery box and a camera she had borrowed from someone. She did not knock. She opened the front door and set the box on the counter and looked at Violetta in the bouncer. She said, I'll drive. Lymber said, we can drive ourselves. Polly said, you'll want your hands free for the baby. Lymber looked at Paul. Paul nodded once. They went in Polly's car. The gym was full. Folding chairs on the court, families in the bleachers, a stage at the free-throw line. Lymber sat in the C row with Violetta on her lap in a white dress. Paul sat beside her with a bottle in his hand. When they called Lymber Craft, she stood up with Violetta on her hip and walked across the stage, and the gym did something she had not expected. People clapped, then some of them stood, then more of them stood. A few of the mothers in the bleachers were crying. The principal shook her hand and touched Violetta's foot and said something Lymber could not hear over the noise. When they called Paul Craft, Paul walked up with the bottle still in his hand and forgot to leave it on the chair, and the gym laughed and clapped harder. Lymber watched him from her seat and felt her throat go tight. She had not thought a whole room would be happy for them. After the ceremony they stood on the front steps of the school for pictures. Polly took one of Lymber and Paul in their gowns with Violetta between them, and then handed the camera to a stranger and stepped into the frame herself. Lymber did not stop her. In the car on the way home, Violetta fell asleep against Paul's chest, and Lymber leaned her head on the window and watched the town go by. She had walked out of that gym once with a crown and a secret. She had walked out today with a diploma and a daughter and a boy who had stayed. She thought, that is the harder thing, and I did it.