Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 22 of 65

Elowen came home at fifteen days. She weighed five pounds two ounces. The nurse signed the papers at ten in the morning and Jordie carried the car seat out with both hands, careful on the curb. Violetta sat in the back next to the seat and watched Elowen's chest rise under the yellow blanket. The drive took twelve minutes. Violetta counted every one. Jordie pulled into the driveway and Violetta saw the cars first. Paul's truck. Her mother's sedan. Jordie's parents' SUV behind them. The house had balloons tied to the porch rail. She looked at Jordie. He said his mother had asked and he had said yes. Only Paul, Lymber, and Missy had met Elowen at the hospital. The rest of the family had waited two weeks. Inside, the front room was full. Jett and Max stood behind the couch. Missy sat on the floor with the puppy in her lap. Jordie's parents held a wrapped box. Lymber came forward first and took the car seat from Jordie and set it on the coffee table. She unbuckled Elowen and lifted her out. She passed her to Jordie's mother, who cried without sound. Missy stood on her toes to see. Violetta let it happen. She sat on the arm of the couch and watched her daughter travel from one set of hands to the next. After an hour Paul stood up and clapped his hands once. He said the nursery was three-quarters done and he wanted to finish it before dark. He asked Jordie for the key to the second bedroom. Violetta followed him down the hall. The crib was built but the shelves were still in flat boxes and the curtain rod leaned against the wall. Paul said he could have it done by seven if she moved the bassinet into the main bedroom for tonight. Violetta agreed. Jordie carried the bassinet in and set it beside their bed. Violetta placed Elowen inside it and stepped back. The room felt smaller and correct. The family left by four. Paul stayed and worked. Violetta stood in the doorway of her sewing room and looked at the purple fabric on the cutting table, the pattern paper pinned in place, the scissors where she had left them four days ago. She closed the door. She walked to the bedroom and sat on the floor beside the bassinet and watched Elowen sleep. The dress could wait one night. The showcase was still eleven months away. She had brought her daughter home. That was the work today.