Page 111 of Child of Mine

Chapter 25

“Ginger East (Luellen onWeeks of our Lives) is doing the steady scene with a ruggedly handsome gentleman named Warren Hall. Sources tell us they’re making all kinds of plans together. Ginger may even be buying a weekend cottage in the country with her beau. Can the pair be thinking about middle-aisling it?”Soap Chat,September 1989

HENRY

The Friday night of Labor Day weekend, I’m in my favorite place in the world surrounded by my favorite people in the world—toes in the sand, kicking back in a beach chair, Tarheel baseball cap on my head, and an RC Cola in my hand. On my right, the woman I’m meant to spend my life with. On my left, my twin sister. In front of us, my little girl plays in the sand with her cousins. The kids range from three to ten, but they all get along. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that the first thing everyone did was throw her a belated birthday party, showering her with presents and serving her favorite flavor of cake. And Chinese food. (My mom knows how to do her research.) Ribsy’s even relaxing on a blanket under an umbrella, helping to keep an eye on the children.

My family has been going to Carolina Beach for Labor Day weekend since we were kids. My aunts and uncles and my parents would rent houses next to each other, and we’d spend the long weekend swimming, sunning, eating, and playing games. It’s tricky to find enough houses now that the family has expanded, but somehow, we managed to squeeze in last minute. We’re resting up for pre-dinner bocce after a rousing game of Nerf football. I was a little worried that a bookish girl like Lilah would shrink away from sports, but she’s jumped in on everything.

When my mom asks Bella for a book recommendation and the two scoot their chairs together for the discussion, my sister pokes me in the arm. “Ow.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be a wuss.”

“Don’t poke me. Just say my name like a normal person if you want my attention.”

She sticks her tongue out at me, but then she grins. Pointing at Bella, she whispers, “I approve.”

My brows go up, but I just waiting for the punchline.

“I mean it, Corny.” She jostles my knee. “She brought my brother back.”

I think I know what she means, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop messing with her. “We’re not moving to North Carolina, you know. We’re just here on vacation.”

Shaking her head, her expression shifts to mock pity. “So sad they dropped you on your head when you were born in the effort to get the best baby out.” Leaning closer, she whispers, “What I meant was you’re yourself again. I haven’t seen you laugh this much since…”

“Since dad died?” I finish the sentence when she doesn’t.

She takes in a breath but pauses for a moment to think before continuing. “No, since you moved to New York. You got all intense those two years, like you were trying to be someone you’re not. Whatever you’re doing now suits you.”

When I waggle my brows, she rolls her eyes. Again. “I didn’t saywhoyou’re doing, you horndog. I mean your work.” She lifts a finger. “But speaking of that, when are you guys going to get pregnant again? Because this time I want our kids’ ages to line up.”

Before I can respond to this, a tussle breaks out between a couple of the bigger boys. I’m on my feet, ready to wring their necks before they hurt my little girl, but Bella gets there first. She says something to the boys and then the rest of the kids, and they all follow her down the beach a bit, where she huddles with them for a few minutes. Then, she breaks away, moving in a wavy pattern across the sand. The kids follow, but they aren’t in a straight line, more of a clump. Suddenly, one of the kids is leading instead of Bella. She doesn’t seem upset about it. Instead, the look on her face is one of childlike delight. Another takes over, and the group zigs and zags over the sand, through the surf, and even around a couple of teens sunning on a blanket.

It’s almost a piece of performance art: oddly beautiful, even moving, and I reach for my camcorder—not as high-quality as the Super 8 film camera I still own, but more convenient to shoot vacation video with. I line up a shot I like, capturing a random guy joining the group for a few moments before continuing on down the beach with his pals. I stand, intending to get closer to the water to change up the camera’s perspective, but something has me hesitating.

For the first time in a long time, my desire to be a part of what’s happening is greater than my desire to record it. So I hand the camera off to my sister.

Growling, “Don’t drop it in the sand,” I jog over to the kids and Bella and slip into the group.

No one objects to grumpy old Uncle Henry joining in. Instead, Bella shoots me a welcoming smile, but I can’t linger on it. The bodies around me are sweaty in the hot sun, but the energy doesn’t flag and I have to pay attention to follow the shifts of leadership. When one kid challenges the group’s connection by breaking off suddenly, my body follows the group’s lightning shift in direction before my mind can catch up, and that’s when I feel it. Pure joy, like I haven’t felt since I was a kid.

When the group mind decides to fling itself into the ocean, the spell breaks. Some kids grab boogie boards, others—including Lilah—head back to the shade under the umbrellas.

Bella laughs when a wave knocks us both in the back, and I grab her hand as we stumble through the surf toward shore. “What was that?” I ask softly.

Her grin wide, she looks like the girl I first fell for so long ago onscreen, in my living room. “That was a game we played onBoom.”

“Is it called school of fish?”

“It is,” she says, her voice high and light. “How did you know?”

I shake my head. “That’s just exactly what you all looked like.”

Nodding, she adds, “I’ve played it in acting classes too, but it was never quite like that.”

“Magical?” I ask.

“Yeah, like this whole weekend.” Turning back to look over the horizon, she lets out a deep sigh that’s full of both relief and weariness. “I needed this.”

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