15. Lani
Lani
The white glare of the sky made Lani’s head ache as they walked across the lawn to ‘ōlena’s house. Rory tried to sprint ahead, but Lani reined her back in.
“I want to meet my cousin!” she demanded.
“You will, but let’s keep our voices down. The baby might be sleeping.”
“Okay,” she agreed in a stage whisper. “Let’s go.”
Lani opened the front door without knocking. Mahina had taken Luana and Kiki for the day, so there was just ‘ōlena grinning at them from the big sofa in the corner.
“Hi Auntie!” Rory whispered loudly.
‘ōlena chuckled. “Aloha, ‘ohana.”
“Can I see the baby?”
Rory tiptoed towards the sofa, and Lani detoured to the kitchen to drop off the huge tray of food that Tenn had prepared.
“Hey Lani,” Nate greeted her with a quiet voice and a huge grin. “Howzit?”
“Hey there, father of three.” Lani put the tray on the counter, and her cousin’s gentle giant of a husband enveloped her in a hug.
“You want some soup?” he asked when he released her.
“I’m good, thank you.”
“You see that baby yet?”
She grinned and shook her head.
“Go on!” He followed her into the living room, beaming joy at his wife and baby. “Soup’s on, Lei.”
“Mahalo.” ‘ōlena stood and moved towards Lani. “Do you want to hold him while I eat?”
“Of course I do!” She accepted the sleeping baby, shocked by how big he was.
‘ōlena’s newborn had rolls on his arms and weighed nearly ten pounds. He was like a six-month-old Rory. But he was still brand new, and Lani’s heart went mushy as she looked at his little face.
“Does he have a name yet?” she asked, trailing ‘ōlena into the kitchen.
“We named him Edward, after my father,” Nate said as he pulled out a chair for ‘ōlena.
“His middle name is Manō,” ‘ōlena added.
“Both of his grandfathers.” He rubbed her shoulders as she sat down and tasted a spoonful of soup.
“Edward Manō,” Lani murmured, rocking the baby from side to side. “I am so happy to meet you.”
“Can I hold him?” Rory whined, pulling at Lani’s shirt.
“Not today, sweetheart.” She sat down at the kitchen table so that Rory could see her little cousin’s face.
“But why not?”
“Not today. You’ll have lots of chances when he’s a bit bigger, I promise.”
“But he’s already big,” she said, and Nate laughed.
“Our little linebacker,” he rumbled.
“Absolutely not,” ‘ōlena said. “No football.”
“Our farmer, then.”
“Much better.”
“Where’s Lulu and Kiki?” Rory asked.
“They’re at Auntie Mahina’s house.”
“Oh.” She stuck her hands into the pockets of her shorts and sighed theatrically. “Can we go now?”
Lani’s lips quirked in amusement. “In a few minutes.”
Rory sighed and wandered off to play with her cousins’ toys.
They chatted until ‘ōlena was done eating, and then Lani relinquished the baby and left her cousins in peace.
“Tell Tenn I said thanks for the food,” Nate said as he walked them out.
“Will do.”
“We’ve been missing you guys. It’s been too long.”
“It has. As soon as ‘ōlena’s up for it, let’s do a beach day. We’ll handle the food. You guys just show up.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He clapped her on the back, patted Rory’s head, and went back to the house.
“That was boring,” Rory griped as they walked towards the truck.
“You wanted to see the baby, you saw the baby.”
“Babies are boring.”
“Do you want to get some shave ice before we head home?”
“Yes!” Rory leapt through the air and ran towards Haumona, which was just down the road.
They ate their shave ice in the sunshine, enjoying the one-on-one time. Rory chattered, Lani laughed, and her heart felt light. It was so rare lately that they got that time, just the two of them together.
For most of Rory’s life, it had been just the two of them.
Life was better now, exponentially so, but Lani still felt a low pang of loss when she thought of how much less time she had with her daughter each week than she’d had a couple of years before.
She wanted more time with Rory, more time with Tenn, more time together as a family… and she had no idea of where to get it.
When they were done, they got two more bowls for Olivia and Tenn and then headed home.
They walked in the door to the sound of a man’s voice speaking Italian.
“Babbo?” Rory asked, frowning in confusion.
The voice spoke again.
“That doesn’t sound like Babbo.”
“ Mi scusi, non capisco ,” the man said.
“ Mi scusi, non capisco ,” Tenn and Olivia chorused.
Lani walked into the kitchen carrying a paper bowl in each hand.
“Shave ice!” Olivia shouted, springing up from her chair.
“You caught us.” Tenn grinned at them and pressed a button on his phone, pausing the recording.
“I have lemon or strawberry,” Lani said to Olivia.
“Lemon, please!”
She put the bowl down and handed the other one to Tenn.
“Thanks.” He took the bowl and gave her a kiss on the temple before digging into the shave ice.
“What were you doing?” Rory asked.
“Learning Italian!” Olivia said.
“I didn’t have much patience for that app,” Tenn explained. “I wanted something that I could use while my hands are busy, so we started this audiobook.”
“Thank you,” Lani said thickly. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude and love for the man she’d married.
“ Grazie mille !” Olivia shouted, waving her spoon in the air.
Lani ran a hand up her husband’s back, smiling at him when he met her eyes. He was so beautiful that sometimes he still took her breath away.
“It means a lot to me that you want to learn,” she said.
Tenn shrugged. “It’s no big deal. We just didn’t want to be the odd ones out.”
“It is a big deal. Thank you.”
He just grinned and gave her a strawberry-flavored kiss.
“Does this mean we’re all going to Italy?” Rory asked, bouncing up and down.
Lani patted her head. “Someday, piccolina .”
“When, though?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“When you sell a thousand coloring books?”
She grinned. “Sure. When I sell a thousand books.”
“Sweet!” She pumped her little fist in the air and ran off to the living room.
“Did you choose a printer yet?” Tenn asked.
“I chose two! The samples should be here next week.”
“That’s exciting!”
“Can we bring them to school?” Olivia asked.
“You have them at school.” Lani had printed out enough copies of each page for every kid in the co-op.
“But not in books .”
Lani smiled. “Sure, we can bring them to school.”
“Cool! I can’t wait to show my friends that my mom makes real live coloring books!”
Heart full to bursting, Lani walked over and kissed her stepdaughter’s golden head. She straightened and shared a long look with Tenn, whose dark eyes shone with love and gratitude.
“Life is pretty good these days, huh?” Olivia asked casually, scraping the last of the shave ice from her bowl.
“Yeah,” Lani agreed, still looking at her husband. “Life is good.”