Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sammich had slept in Aasia’s arms all night.
He slowly removed himself from the warm nest, stretched, and meowed.
“Let me guess. You’re hungry.” Aasia lifted herself up on her elbow.
As if he understood her, he hopped down, pranced to the door then stopped to look back at her to ask “Are you coming?”
Pushing back the covers, Aasia grabbed her robe off the end of the bed, pulled it on, and followed Sammich down the hall, to the stairs and into the kitchen.
Aasia about came unglued when she flipped on the light and found Phoebe sitting at the table.
“My God, Phoebe. You almost gave me a heart attack. When did you come back?”
“Sorry. I came back a few hours ago. I saved you some coffee.” Phoebe looked tired. Frazzled. There were dark circles under her eyes. Next to her coffee cup and sketchbook was her phone that dinged. repeatedly.
Phoebe didn’t seem happy.
After pouring a small amount of cat food into the bowl for the impatient kitten and pouring herself coffee, Aasia sat down at the table. “You okay?”
“Does it matter?” Phoebe said sarcastically.
“Of course it matters.” Aasia didn’t want an argument, especially before ingesting a sufficient amount of caffeine. She’d tossed and turned most of the night.
“Really? Last I heard I was annoying and unwelcome.” She flipped her phone face down.
Aasia sunk back into the chair. “I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. I think it’s time we buried the hatchet.”
“Do you now?”
Sammich curved his way around Phoebe’s ankles then hopped up onto her lap. Instead of pushing him off, she lifted him up and held him close to her chest, scratching his head. He seemed very comfortable with the attention. When Phoebe realized she was being watched, she asked, “What?”
“I just didn’t think you liked cats,” Aasia said. “Or any animals actually.”
“Just because I don’t like to get up before sunrise to feed pigs and milk cows doesn’t mean I don’t like animals. I like animals just fine, especially Sammich here.” She nuzzled her chin against the kitten. “It seemed disrespectful to keep calling him Kitty. I’m glad you named him finally.”
“Well, I took care of that. He likes his new name.”
Phoebe lifted the kitten and examined his face. “Sammich, huh?”
The scent of strong coffee permeated the air, an aroma that usually Aasia found comfort in but today she felt stressed.
She traced the rim of her mug, careful to examine her words with an internal microscope before she said them aloud.
Things were already as taut as a harp string between her and her sister.
They hadn’t really had a conversation since the last time they were in the kitchen, bickering over coffee and unspoken demons.
“I’m being serious when I say I want us to smooth things over. ”
“I’d honestly like that too.” Phoebe smiled. Some of the tension between them eased up. “But…”
“What?”
She gave a small shrug. “You need to realize I’m an adult now. I’m no longer a child.”
Aasia set her cup down with a click. “I realize you’re an adult. I guess old habits die hard. I felt more like your mother than your older sister.”
“Point is,” Phoebe features were strained. “I need a sister not a mother. The time has passed for that. Have you heard that Mother is getting married…again?”
“She might have mentioned it the last time we spoke, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
” If she was completely honest, Aasia didn’t care one way or another.
They were more like distant cousins than mother and daughter.
The one thing Aasia and Phoebe could agree upon was that the time to have a maternal relationship with their mother had passed.
At least they had each other. “I see you’re still sketching.
” Aasia jutted her chin at the sketchbook.
She had no desire to discuss their mother.
Her sigh seemed to carry the weight of the world. “I try. It’s therapeutic.”
“Is there anything I can see?”
Phoebe blinked twice like she couldn’t believe Aasia was asking. “You really want to see?”
“I do.”
Turning the book to a page, Phoebe held it up. Aasia gasped in shock. There was a lovely pencil drawing. It perfectly captured Aasia’s features. “That’s me.”
Phoebe smiled. “Yes, it is. At least it’s good enough that you can see the likeliness.” She closed the book and pushed it away.
“It’s…beautiful.” Aasia worked to keep from showing too much surprise. “Your technique, your talent, it’s amazing.”
“And you seem very astonished.”
“I’ve always believed in you and your art.” The smirk on Phoebe’s face felt like a stab to Aasia’s chest. “I did, Phoebe. It isn’t a surprise that you’ve become an amazing artist.”
“Do you remember when we found all those paint markers thrown into the dumpster and we grabbed them. We used them to paint the walls of our bedroom.” A genuine laugh escaped her. “We thought it was a Picasso. Mom wasn’t impressed.”
“Mom was never impressed with anything except her next high.” Some of the tension returned.
“We had a lot of fun together in those days, you and me. We didn’t have toys, so we had to be creative.
I think that was why you became an artist and I loved experimenting to see the results.
I loved science and biology. I couldn’t get enough.
It felt like it was the only place in my life that I felt like I had control over the results. ”
“Same with my drawing. It was an escape.” She sighed, another weighty one. “And then I destroyed everything by falling for the wrong guy.”
“He was quite the charmer, wasn’t he?” Aasia met Phoebe’s gaze.
“I think we were just young and looking for something bright and shiny in this gloomy world. He turned out to be a jerk. You were right.”
“Sometimes we need to experience things for ourselves to know,” Aasia said softly.
Phoebe laid her hand on Aasia’s. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. He was a big mistake.”
“Yes, but I’ve been thinking, maybe you needed him to help get you away from here. To spread your wings. I want you to know that I wasn’t angry because you left. It hurt because you left the way you did.”
Phoebe slid her hand back. “I knew if I told you goodbye you’d never let me leave. Honestly, I probably would have changed my mind.”
“You never did like it here. Since you were little, you had big dreams of moving to a city where there was always something happening. You need to experience life. You needed more than what this town could offer. I guess I’m shocked that you came back.”
All smiles left Phoebe’s features. “It seemed like the best place to be because…I needed to be close to family.”
“Because?” Aasia saw the trepidation in her sister’s eyes. Was she sick? Was she suffering or struggling from a travesty?
“If I tell you please promise you won’t overreact,” Phoebe said in a quiet tone.
“Overreact? When have I ever overreacted?”
“When there’s no coffee in the pot.”
Aasia snorted. “I thought we squashed that?”
“We have but you did ask.”
“I promise to not overreact.” Aasia stiffened as she waited to hear what Phoebe needed to divulge.
Phoebe smiled faintly, “Can I trust that?”
“You’re acting weird.” She picked up her cup and took a careful sip, her gaze fixated on her sister who was being silly.
“I’ve decided I want to go to college to become an art teacher. Pedora said she would help me with tuition at the community college, and I could live here. I’ve already applied to several jobs in Fin’s Creek.”
“That’s wonderful news, but why was that so hard to admit?”
“I’m pregnant,” Phoebe blurted.
Aasia laughed then realized Phoebe was dead serious. A sharp, choked gasp slipped from Aasia’s throat. The mug slipped from her grip, hitting the table with a cracking sound, splashing coffee onto the table and poor Sammich who jumped onto the floor to flick the wetness off his ears.
“You promised you wouldn’t overreact.” Phoebe plucked a napkin from the holder on the table and blotted the coffee from her face.
Three heartbeats of silence lingered between them. Aasia couldn’t seem to work any words around the clog in her throat. Finally, she managed… “You’re having a baby?”
“Well, it’s certainly not a puppy,” Phoebe joked.
“Are you sure?”
“That it’s not a puppy?”
“That you’re pregnant?” The news was a bit overwhelming to Aasia. She grabbed a handful of napkins from the holder and wiped up the spill.
“Yes, I am.”
Aasia jumped up from her chair so fast she knocked it to the floor with a loud bang. She launched herself over to Phoebe and dragged her in for a tight hug. Both started to cry—tears of joy. They clung to each other, realizing the magnitude of the journey ahead.
“What in tarnation is happening in here?”
At the sound of Pedora’s thunderous question, Aasia pulled back, looking at the older woman through more tears. “Sorry. Did we wake you?”
“Did someone break in?” Pedora pointed her gaze from the broken mug to the upturned chair to Aasia’s wet face.
“No. No one broke in.” Aasia looked to Phoebe, silently questioning whether she wanted to spill the news to their aunt.
Phoebe nodded and sucked in a breath of bravery. “I was just telling Aasia my secret. I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Pedora’s eyes widened behind the thick glasses. “You? Having a baby?”
“She’s not having a puppy,” Aasia said through laughter.
“For heaven’s sake. This calls for celebration.
I’ll grab the ‘shine. No, wait. That won’t work.
Not with a bun in the oven. I’ll make French toast. Just the way you girls like it.
Sprinkles. Whipped cream. Chocolate shavings.
” Pedroa raced around the kitchen gathering the ingredients she’d need to make her famous breakfast.
“Is she going to be alright?” Phoebe whispered, watching Pedora bounce around in a flurry.
“She’ll be fine. When she gets excited like this, she needs to work off all the restless energy.”
“Are you happy? Not angry?”
Aasia met Phoebe’s worried gaze. “Angry? Why would I be angry?”
Several expressions flicked over her features before she leaned in and whispered, “Because I don’t know if I’ll keep the baby.”