Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 46 of 70

Lymber woke on Violetta's third birthday with her belly pressing against the sheet in a way it had not the week before. She stood at the mirror in her underwear and turned sideways. Eighteen weeks. Two babies. The bump sat high and round and would not be hidden by any dress she owned. Paul came in with coffee and set it on the dresser. He said, You look pregnant. She said, I know. He said, Wear the blue one. It fits. Maggie arrived at ten with a bag of paper streamers and a wrapped box. She looked at Lymber's stomach and said, You popped. Lymber said, Overnight. Maggie said, Twins do that. She took Jett from the playpen and set him on her hip like she had always done it. Violetta ran in wearing her pink polka-dot dress with the skirt already twisted sideways. Maggie fixed it with one hand. Polly showed up at eleven with a sheet cake balanced on her forearm. She looked at Lymber and said, Well. There it is. Lymber said, Mom. Polly said, I'm just saying. People will count again. She set the cake on the counter and started slicing strawberries without being asked. They drove to the park at noon. Lymber had picked the gazebo herself. Paul had asked her twice if she was sure, and she had said yes both times. It was the place he had proposed and the place they had almost married before the girl with the camera scared them off. Lymber wanted Violetta to have it clean, without her mother's version of the story attached. She walked up the three steps holding the puppy's leash in one hand and Violetta's hand in the other. Her back already ached. A woman from two streets over stopped at the rail and stared at Lymber's stomach. She said, Again? Lymber said, Twins. In February. The woman's mouth opened and closed. Lymber turned away and knelt down to Violetta, slowly, with a hand on the post. She said, Come blow out your candles, baby. Violetta ran to the table. The woman kept watching. Lymber did not look back. Violetta blew out three candles in one breath and clapped for herself. Paul cut the cake. Maggie handed plates. Polly took a photo on her phone and put the phone away without checking it. Lymber ate a strawberry and felt one of the babies move, low and definite, for the first time. She put her hand there and kept it there. Paul saw. He didn't say anything. He just put his hand over hers on top of the dress. On the drive home Violetta slept in her seat with frosting on her cheek. Lymber said to Paul, The whole town knows now. He said, Let them. She said, Okay. She meant it. The counting would happen without her this time.