Page 13 of Coming Home for Fall
“I can see why,” Sasha said. “I’d probably spend a lot of time out there too.”
“I hope you do spend time out here while you’re staying with us!” Callie said with a bright smile. “David and the kids never appreciated this house as much as I thought they should’ve. But then again, that meant more space for me, right? Oh, but I’d love it if you and Dot came outside with me inthe mornings. That’s when it’s the best. Everything is so quiet—except the birds—and you can really convince yourself that you’re someplace exotic.”
“That sounds so nice,” Sasha said, her voice cracking a bit. Callie glanced at her with a concerned look, noting her sullen expression. “You and David are lucky. Your kids are even more lucky. I can’t imagine how nice it would’ve been growing up in a place like this...”
Callie took a deep breath, trying to understand what had caused this sudden shift in Sasha’s mood. Was she expressing jealousy? Or sadness? What had her own childhood been like?
But before Callie could ask any of these questions, the young woman stood up and took the baby with her. “I—uh—I’m gonna see if Dot’s ready to sleep for the night. This is usually when she gets tired.”
“Oh, alright. Do you want any help?”
“No, it’s better if I just do it. We kinda have a whole routine.”
Callie smiled and nodded. “Understood. I know how important routine is when they’re young like that.”
“It’s the only way she’ll sleep.”
“Well, there’s a TV in your room if you want to wind down for the night alone, but feel free to join me in the family room later on, if you’d like. I’ll be catching up on some episodes I missed of this dumb medical drama I’m addicted to.”
“I’ll probably just go to bed,” Sasha said. “I’m really tired.”
“Sure. Of course. Sleep well.”
“Yeah, you too.” Sasha turned on her heels and marched out of the room without another word. Dot was staring over her mother’s shoulder at Callie, but the baby also made no noise.
*
“Callie, wake up. It’s Taylor.”
“Taylor?” Callie groggily rolled over onto her back and blinked up at the ceiling. Her husband was gently shaking her shoulder, and the lamp on his side table was turned on. She sighed and listened, hearing her baby crying from across the room. “Isn’t it your turn?”
“I tried to calm him down,” David said. “But nothing’s working. I was hoping you could try.”
She groaned. “What did you try?”
“Everything.”
“Really? Everything?”
“Well, everything besides asking politely, I guess,” David joked, even though his wife was not in the mood for a laugh.
Callie rubbed her hands over her face, trying to will some life back into herself. “Okay, I’m going. I’m going. But this means you do the dishes in the morning, deal?”
“Deal.”
She slowly forced her tired body upright and swung her legs around the other side of the bed. It was when her feet hit the carpet, however, that she paused to think.
They’d ripped that carpet out over a decade ago, hadn’t they? Her room was now hard wood, wasn’t it?
And the baby crying… It couldn’t have been one of her children. They were all grown. So then—
Dot’s shrill cry shattered through the haze of Callie’s dream, and she jolted awake. Throwing off her blankets, she jumped out of bed and rushed down the hall. But when she reached the door to Mallory’s old bedroom, she hesitated. All was quiet for a moment. But then she heard it again—the wail of a fussy baby—and her instincts kicked in. Not only did she want to soothe Dot, but she also wanted to give Sasha a break. She was mothering on two-fronts at the moment, and it felt good afternot getting to stretch these muscles much the last twenty years or so.
Turning the handle slowly, she tiptoed inside the room. Sasha lifted her head and squinted briefly in the dark, mumbling something incoherent from the bed.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Callie whispered. “It’s just me. You go back to sleep, I’m just checking to see if Dot needs to be changed.”
Whether it was because Sasha was too tired to argue or she was starting to trust Callie, she allowed Callie take little Dot from her crib and out into the hallway. At first, Dot seemed a bit confused, probably aware that she wasn’t being held by her mother, but she calmed down once Callie changed her diaper and got her a bottle. The clock on the stove read 2 a.m., and it was a chilly night, but she was craving a breath of crisp, forest air. Grabbing the socks and blanket she’d left on the couch when the baby was overheating, Callie bundled up Dot and then slipped through the sliding glass door.
