Sixty-Five
before
Shiloh started her maternity leave two days before the doctor planned to induce her.
She was already a week past her due date, and her back and right hip hurt too much for her to focus on work. She decided to
bail out early and spend a couple days with Juniper.
Junie was three. She was happy to have Mommy home all day—but she wanted Daddy, too. “Daddy’s at work,” Shiloh said. “He’s
got a show tonight.”
Ryan’s spring musical— The Wizard of Oz —had its last show that night. They’d joked that the baby was waiting for his schedule to clear.
Junie kept asking for Daddy, so Shiloh told her they could bring Ryan dinner. Shiloh called and left a message, telling him
they were headed up to the high school.
They got there an hour and a half before the show. There were kids onstage doing last-minute rehearsing. Ryan was onstage
with them.
He spotted Shiloh and Junie as they were coming down the aisle. “Here come the beautiful people!” he shouted, grinning. Then
he sat on the edge of the stage and hopped off.
A woman standing ahead of Shiloh turned around—it was Erin, a part-time production assistant who’d been one of Ryan’s first
students. She was in her twenties now. “June Bug!” she called out.
Junie ran into Erin’s arms. Ryan brought Junie to weekend rehearsals—everyone here knew her.
Ryan put a hand on Shiloh’s stomach and another on her back. He kissed her cheek. “How are you?”
“Upright,” Shiloh said, leaning into him.
“You look gorgeous. Radiant. Fucking pomegranate lotus time.”
Shiloh laughed.
Erin had picked Junie up and was holding her on her hip. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Cass?”
“Oh my gosh, Shiloh.” Ms. Grand—Rachel—an English teacher who helped with productions, was standing on the stage. “You look like you’re
about to pop.”
“I feel like Violet Beauregarde.”
“I wasn’t even mobile at forty weeks,” Rachel said.
“I’m mobile,” Shiloh said. “I have a team of people who roll me around.”
“Mr. Cass?!” A woman was shouting from backstage. She walked out of the wing. It was Mrs. H, the music director. “Oh, hi,
Shiloh.”
“Hi, Naomi.”
“Mr. Cass, when you get a second, we have a trumpet situation.”
“If it’s urgent,” Ryan said, “call 911. Otherwise I’ll see you in fifteen.” He turned to Shiloh. “You want to sit down for
a minute?”
She nodded. Ryan grabbed Junie and led Shiloh out to the front lobby, where they could sit and talk while he ate the burrito
they’d brought for him.
They were only interrupted twice—by Kelly and Steph, the drama moms who ran the concession stands, and by Cassie, the high
school senior who was playing Dorothy.
“Daddy’s so busy, ” Junie said, sighing. Shiloh and Ryan laughed. Everything she said cracked them up. (According to Erin, a preschool teacher,
Juniper was very advanced, both verbally and socially.)
Ryan finished his burrito, then rubbed Shiloh’s shoulders and neck for a few minutes. “You want to stay for the show?”
“I can’t sit that long,” Shiloh said.
He kissed her, still rubbing her neck. “Okay.”
“I get kisses, too!” Junie said.
“Yeah, you do!” Ryan scooped her up and kissed her neck like Cookie Monster. “Take care of Mommy. She’s about to do something
magical.”
Junie’s eyes got big. “What?”
“Have a baby!”
“Oh, that, ” Junie said.
Shiloh and Ryan laughed again.
Ryan kissed Shiloh’s cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you, too. Have a good show.”
Shiloh took Junie home and went into labor the next night, without any help.
Ryan always kept his phone in his pocket and slept with it on his bedside table. If he was texting someone when Shiloh walked
up to him, he’d put his phone away and give her his full attention. If he wanted Shiloh to see a photo, he’d send it to her.
A few days after Gus was born, Ryan left his phone on the couch while he ran into the bathroom to help Junie.
Shiloh picked it up.
Shiloh would have guessed it was Mrs. H, the music director. But it was actually Ms. Grand, the English teacher. And Erin,
his former student. (A recent development, he assured her.) And Kelly, the prettier of the drama moms—but only via text.