13. Emma #2
“All for you,” Emma assured her. “Keith had to teach, but he dropped by with a couple of botanical gifts. I’ll show you later.”
Behind them, the sound of Cody and Ethan making small talk eased Emma’s heart.
A moment later, the sight of Tara embracing Juniper did the same. Even Cody looked about ready to cry in relief. It had been an emotionally fraught time for both families, and Emma felt deeply grateful that everyone had come together that day to show their support for the new parents.
“You’re not mad at me anymore?” Juniper asked in a small voice, too quiet to be heard beyond the circle of their immediate family.
Tara’s eyes went wide. “I was never mad at you.”
“You weren’t?” she asked skeptically.
“No! I was… mad at myself, maybe. Disappointed in Cody, if I’m being honest. But mostly upset with myself for not being around more. I was scared for you, for both of you. But I was never angry. I’m so sorry if I made you think that I was.”
Juniper nodded. She looked near tears, overwhelmed by relief and exhaustion and hormones.
Tara put her arms around Jun, who leaned into her and let out a small sob. The older woman looked at Emma, her expression laced with guilt and grief. But when she spoke to Jun, her voice was soft and calm.
“Why don’t you sit down over here? I’ll bring you something to eat.”
“We just had a picnic,” Jun said, chuckling and blinking away tears at the same time.
Tara glared at her son. “You knew I was cooking for the baby shower.”
“I had to get her away somehow. What was I supposed to do, not feed her?”
Juniper laughed again. “It’s okay. I’ll be hungry again in a minute anyhow. I’m always hungry these days.”
“With good reason,” Tara said. She still had an arm around Jun’s shoulders.
“How about some lemonade?” Emma offered.
Juniper caught sight of her big glass drink dispensers and grinned. “Sure. Sounds great.”
Tara settled Jun in the throne they had constructed from an oversized beach chair and blankets and cushions, and Emma joined them a moment later with a tall glass of pink lemonade.
The baby shower was a success, with all of their community in attendance, plus a crowd of friends that Cody and Juniper had made working the farmers markets all up and down the island’s eastern coast.
The market crowd presented the young mother with all sorts of local goodies, including big bags of macadamia nuts and gallon-sized jars of honey.
‘ōlena, heavily pregnant herself, gave Jun a basket full of practical everyday essentials.
Fern announced a postpartum yoga class that would start the next month, and Tara promised a lifetime supply of island-grown meal deliveries.
When Juniper opened her card from Ethan and read what was inside, she burst into tears. Cody’s eyes went wide, and he knelt next to her chair.
“What is it?” He had one hand on her shoulder and the other on her knee, like he could shield her from the world. “What’s wrong?”
Juniper couldn’t speak. She just shook her head and handed him the card. He read it quickly, then looked at Ethan with a solemn expression.
“Thank you.”
Emma moved closer to Ethan and gave her twin a questioning look.
“I paid for her midwife,” he said quietly.
“Ethan, that’s lovely.”
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t want her to have to worry about money, and she’s lived through too many tough days in hospitals with her mom to ever feel comfortable in one. It’s no big deal.”
It was an expense of thousands and thousands of dollars that Juniper had been working hard to be able to afford.
Now, with that weight off of her shoulders, she had a sizeable nest egg and room to breathe.
It was a big deal. But Ethan looked uncomfortable enough already, so Emma just squeezed his shoulder and turned her attention back to Jun.
The expectant mother had staunched her tears and was unwrapping another present, a hand-knitted cotton romper sent by a friend in California.
That friend and much of their family on the mainland had been looped into the baby shower through a video chat, and now Juniper was talking animatedly to the people on screen.
After the gifts had all been opened and the crowd had dispersed, Tara stayed behind to help with cleanup. The parents-to-be were still in the orchard, with Jun on her makeshift throne and Cody sitting in the grass at her feet.
The wind had picked up, and the greenery all around them was alive with movement. Juniper’s shoulder-length curls danced along with the grass and the leaves.
“Do you have any broth?” Tara asked as they carried another load of dishes into the kitchen. “Jun looks exhausted.”
“Yeah, I’ve got some chicken stock in the freezer.”
“Perfect. Let’s warm that up for her.”
“Good idea.”
Emma started the stock warming, and for a while they worked quietly side by side, washing and drying a pile of plastic plates that they had used for the party.
“Am I forgiven?” Tara asked quietly, out of the blue.
“For what?”
“For disappearing. For adding to Juniper’s emotional load instead of helping her carry it.”
“You’re forgiven,” Emma said, handing her another plate.
Tara swallowed. “Thank you.”
“It was a shock. And you had a lot going on.”
“Maybe. But the two teenagers handled the whole thing a lot better than I did, and that’s embarrassing.”
“It’s easier to stay positive when you don’t quite know what you’re in for.”
She let out a tired huff of a laugh. “I guess that’s true.”
“I’m glad you came today.”
“So am I. Thank you for staying steady through all of this.”
“It wasn’t hard.”
“It was for me. I mean, obviously. And I don’t think Jun’s dad had an easy time with it either.”
“No,” Emma admitted. “He didn’t.”
“You’ve been her rock when we were too weak to support her. I’m embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to catch up, but I’m grateful she had you. Has you.”
Emma nodded thoughtfully.
“How did you stay so steady through all of this?”
“I fell apart when my husband died,” she said, slowly soaping a plate. “Next to that, everything else seems… small. Manageable. It’s one thing to fall apart when the person you love most is gone. But adding a person? One more little human to love? That never seemed like a catastrophe to me.”
“No,” Tara said quietly. “I suppose not.”
They were quiet for a moment, and Emma went to check on the stock.
“A baby,” Tara marveled. “I can’t believe I’m about to meet my first grandchild.”
“Life likes to throw curveballs.”
“It certainly does. Is the broth ready?”
“Yeah. I’ll fill a thermos.”
“I’ll take it out to her, if that’s okay?”
“Of course.”
Tara carried the broth out into the orchard. Emma stood watching from the kitchen sink, finishing up the last of the dishes. She could just see the young couple through the trees as Tara approached, and a deep peace settled into her soul when she saw Jun smile.
Everything was going to be alright.