Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 62 of 65

Violetta woke in the recovery room to gray morning light. Eli was in the bassinet beside her bed, wrapped tight, one dark tuft of hair sticking up. Jordie slept in the chair with his hand still hooked through the bassinet rail. The clinic hallway was quiet. Her stomach ached where the doctor had cut. She turned her head so she could see her son breathe. A soft knock. Paul pushed the door open with his shoulder. Elowen rode on his hip in her pajamas, holding a juice box. Her curls were flat on one side from sleeping in the car. "Mama," Elowen said. She pointed at the bassinet. "Baby." Paul set her down carefully at the edge of the bed. "She's been asking since five," he said. His flannel was buttoned wrong. "I told her we had to wait for visiting hours. She did not agree." Violetta laughed and pressed a hand to her incision. "Come here, bug." Elowen climbed up slow, the way Paul had taught her, and pressed her face into Violetta's shoulder. Violetta smelled apple juice and baby shampoo. She held her daughter until Elowen wiggled free to stare at the bassinet. Jordie woke and lifted Eli out. He lowered him onto the bed so Elowen could see. Elowen touched Eli's foot with one finger, then his hand. "He's little," she whispered. "He's actually big," Jordie said. "You were smaller." Elowen frowned like she did not believe him. Lymber came in behind Paul with two coffees. She handed one to Jordie and kept the other. She sat on the arm of the chair and watched. Violetta looked at Eli. Eight pounds, four ounces. Full cheeks. A cry that filled the room. He had come out screaming and pink and finished. No tubes. No incubator two floors away. No fifteen days of waiting to hold him. Her eyes stung. She had not expected this part. "Mom," she said. Lymber looked up. "He's the opposite of her." Violetta glanced at Elowen, who was patting Eli's blanket. "Everything I was scared of last time. It just didn't happen." Lymber set her coffee down. She came to the bed and touched Eli's cheek, then Violetta's hair. "I know," Lymber said. "I keep thinking I can do it," Violetta said. "Two of them. The internship. A dress next season, maybe the one after. I could not think past today for months. Now I can." Lymber's eyes filled but she did not blink. "Then you will." Paul cleared his throat from the door. "For the record, I already told the coordinator you might enter next spring. Just in case." Violetta laughed and it hurt and she did not care. Elowen leaned over and kissed Eli's forehead the way she had been practicing on her rabbit for months. Violetta closed her eyes. The showcase moved from someday back to a date on a calendar.