Chapter 6
Later that evening, Willie sat between us on the couch.
Robert took a deep breath.
“So Aunt Claire has Ivy?”
“Yes,” he said. “Ivy is her baby.”
Willie looked at him.
“And Claudia?”
I took his hand.
“Claudia died at the hospital.”
His eyes immediately filled.
“So I can’t get her back?”
I squeezed his hand.
“No, sweetheart.”
He leaned against me and cried.
Robert wrapped an arm around us both.
For once, nobody tried to fix anything.
We simply stayed there.
A week later, Robert and I sat outside our first grief-counseling appointment.
He looked at me.
“Ready?”
“No.”
He gave me a tired little smile.
“Me neither.”
I reached for his hand.
“Good.”
He looked at me.
“Then we can stop pretending we have to be.”
Together, we walked inside.
That evening, I stopped outside Claudia’s nursery.
For two weeks, I had passed the closed door.
This time, I opened it.
The pale yellow walls remained exactly as we’d left them.
The crib stood beneath the window.
Willie’s stuffed rabbit waited on the shelf.
My chest tightened as I stepped inside.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
Willie appeared with his money jar.
“Mom?”
He looked at the rabbit.
Then down at the jar.
He picked up the stuffed rabbit.
“Can Claudia still keep him?”
My eyes filled.
“Yes, she can.”
May you like
I placed Claudia’s footprint card beside the rabbit.
Willie slipped his hand into mine.
