Page 93 of Unlucky Like Us
“Should Jane be camping?” I ask since she hasn’t been home from the hospital for long.
She’s only a week or so post-partum, and even though she has a glow to her freckled cheeks and maintains her natural upbeat energy, she still just birthed a human being. Sleepless nights with a newborn haven’t just been on the horizon. She said,they exist.
I wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at her.
Donnelly and I think she’s powered by Cobalt fuel. It’s inexhaustible stuff. But strangely enough, Thatcher is wired the same way. He actsfinewith only a few hours of sleep.
I’d be an exhausted roly-poly wanting to curl into myself. I’m powered by Hale fumes. Running on empty. But maybe it’s potent stuff too. Just in a different way.
“I can camp,” Jane says brightly, eyes widening and alight. “We can play charades around the campfire. Or truth or dare. Never have I ever.” Jane loves group activities, and I guess that wouldn’t change with a baby.
“Oh fuck charades.” Sulli loves the actual wilderness. “Last time we played was fuckingawful.”
Jane smiles with the tip of her head, glancing briefly at Maeve in a blue sling against her chest. “You were the one who decided to announce your relationship via charades. It’s not ruined.”
“It is tainted.”
“I refuse to believe so. Charades are a staple.”
They’ll both be amazing moms. It’s all I can really think while I stroke Ophelia on my lap.
I can feel them staring at me, then exchanging a cagey look, maybe realizing I’m too quiet.
My hermit habits this past week haven’t gone unnoticed by my roommates like I thought they would. After Donnelly and I had sex while wearing masks this morning, I spent most of the day reading comics and rewatching episodes ofBeneath a Strong Sentiment. By nighttime, Jane and Sulli whisked me out of my bedroom.
Sulli wanted to go out.
Jane even offered to go toabrewery.“Anything you want,” they keep saying.
Sulli’s threat level is so high being pregnant, and Jane’s has only grown now that the media are salivating over pics of Maeve. When Jane finally left the hospital, it’d been a zoo of paparazzi and press to a dangerous point.
Maximoff and Farrow are now rethinking strategies for Millie Kay Miller, their surrogate, when she gives birth. Everyone is worried about traffic and reaching the hospital in time.
In Maeve’s nursery, I look between Sulli and Jane, realizing they’re ready to brace the world more than I am. I like sneaking out, so I never thought I’d hide away. But it feels safe.Easy.This is also an opportunity for me to be more helpful. If I stay out of sight for longer, then there can’t be any “Luna likes Donnelly” theories in the mainstream media. I’m making Donnelly’s task of infiltrating his family much easier.
Anyway, I told them I’d rather just stay home, so we’ve been hanging out in the nursery. Besides the catnip-stuffed mice I brought in for the energetic calico cats, everything is put away and orderly thanks to her husband.
“Hey, Luna,” Sulli nudges my side on the loveseat. “Camping was just an idea. We can do literally anything for your birthday.”
“Yeah, I know.” I slide a brush through Ophelia’s white fur. “Out of everything we’ve brainstormed, it’s my favorite.”
“Really?” Sulli grins and bumps my arm.
I bump hers back, grinning too. The remnants of our days rooming together in the townhouse are like fairy dust, making me soar higher. I’ve never been closer to Sulli than back then, but times like this remind me that our bond hasn’t totally disappeared or been broken.
“Really, really,” I nod. “No media, just all the people I love in the woods, and we can pretend we’re all on another planet together.”
“So it’s settled.” Jane steeples her fingers like a giddy mastermind. “Camping with an otherworldly space theme for your 21st.”
My excitement gives way to concern. “Are you bringing Maeve or letting your parents babysit?”
“I’ll likely bring her with us since she’s so little,” Jane notes, her hand on Maeve’s head. “I wouldn’t miss your birthday.”
Maeve was too early to be born exactly on my birthday, no cosmic timing after all, but now that she’s here, I thought Jane would pass on birthday festivities.
I think she’s so used to being present foreveryone, kind of like Moffy but in a much different way since she has so many siblings. Maybe she’s not ready for this aspect to change. She’s one of the most reliable, dependable people in the family, and I wonder if she’s scared a newborn will make her flaky.
It’s okay if it does.