Chapter 26 #2
“Beckett is going to call everyone to order and introduce an Elder who will give a prayer and then she’ll say a few words.
I talked to her about that last week, and she said she’s good to go.
Then I’ll talk about the history of this project and the specifics of how people can access the food.
Then some students from the school will sing a traditional song to close us out.
Are you sure you don’t want to say anything? ”
“I’m sure. Unless you need me to. This is your moment.”
“I appreciate that. It’s all of our moment though. Our whole community.”
“You’re right,” Rowan confirmed, tucking a strand of hair away from her face.
“The film crew for Diego Reyes Reports is here, and then he’ll interview us for the extended segment later?”
“They got in yesterday afternoon, and they’ll set up after this private event is over.”
Juniper turned to Wren. “Do you need any help organizing the students at all?”
“I don’t think so. They’ve practiced a lot, and they’re excited! They’re so cute. They got together to coordinate their outfits. The hand drummer even asked me to paint something similar to the mural on the back of his drum. They’ll be ready when you give them their cue.”
Juniper wrapped an arm around Wren’s shoulders. “Kuwumaras,” she said as she squeezed her.
“Kuwumaras,” Wren replied, her face lighting up as she squeezed the hand on her shoulder.
More and more community members filed in until the area around the pavilion was brimming with vibrancy.
Anita and Victor had brought camp chairs like this was going to be a full day affair.
They sat next to each other off to the side, old friends who couldn’t be more proud of the children they had raised up.
Victor gave them a thumbs up like he was prepared to watch them play a basketball game again, like it was high school.
When it was finally time to get started, fifteen minutes after the scheduled start time because it was a group of excited Natives after all, Beckett called the much larger group than expected to focus in on the front of the pavilion where they were standing.
She introduced an Elder from the community who gave a prayer of blessing.
Then she offered a few words of her own.
“Thank you, everyone, for joining us here today. A few months ago I was given the honor of shepherding a plan to expand our Tribal gardens through our Tribal Council’s review process.
What you see today is part of the results of that plan.
What you can’t see is all of the hard work, dedication, and persistence it took to make this moment happen.
Juniper Banks, as many of you know, has been working on this for our people for almost eight years now.
She started with nothing but a few seeds and a small tilled patch at the back of her mom Anita’s house.
What she grew from that will sustain our community for generations to come. ”
Beckett turned from addressing the crowd to looking at Juniper, who was biting back the tears she felt warming her eyes. Anita, on the other hand, was already using the edge of Victor’s unbuttoned flannel shirt to wipe her own.
“Juniper, you are a granddaughter, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend. Among all of those things, you are also a beacon of light showing the rest of us what we can do if we roll up our sleeves and try. You built something that will be a hub for our community. I know you’re probably embarrassed right now with all of this attention. ”
She paused. The crowd laughed. Juniper nodded her head, and Rowan handed her a tissue Gloria pulled out of their purse and passed to her for Juniper.
“But you deserve every second of this time that we want to honor you. Thank you for everything that you have done and will continue to do. You have all of our support, as much as you need of it. We will give it to you.”
The crowd cheered and clapped. Juniper had to take a moment to gather herself.
“Kenah (thank you), Councilwoman Lightfoot, and everyone else,” she motioned to the crowd. She looked at Rowan and gave her a quick smile. Her own separate thank you.
“Our Tribe, our land, our water, and our health sustains us. I am so thankful to everyone here for honoring the work that’s been done.”
She was careful, even still, to not claim herself as the sole doer of that work. She might have been at first, but not anymore. Not for a long time.
“When I came home from college without finishing my degree, I was so lost,” her voice almost broke but she continued, “and the way I found myself again was by growing a garden. I saw the purpose was twofold. I was able to contribute to sustaining life in our community, and I also knew that community would sustain me. I would like to say that I know it’s not always perfect here.
It’s hard for everyone to feel like they can find their place here, that they will be accepted for who they are, the paths they’ve walked, and how they want to contribute to our community.
We struggle in more ways than we admit sometimes.
But everything we need is right here, if we each believe and commit ourselves to finding a better way to do things and sharing that with each other. ”
Victor whistled through the fingers at his lips in agreement.
She breathed out a self-conscious laugh at first but straightened her posture and smiled.
Then she launched into the history of the gardens and how the community could start accessing the food, thankful to be able to divert the attention to the work they did together, before the students closed out the event with a song.
Rowan wrapped her arm around Juniper as they walked over to talk to their parents.
“Junie, Junie, Junie, wow. Look at you. Rowan, how did you get so lucky?”
Rowan shook her head and laughed. “I honestly don’t know, Dad.”
He winked at them both. In reality, they were both lucky to have found each other, to have found this second chance. Anita held her hands out, and Juniper leaned over to her. She took her face in her hands.
“I don’t know what I did to grow a baby up to be a woman like you. I am so damn proud of you, Juniper.”
She brought her in for a hug and brushed her fingers through her hair. Juniper closed her eyes and savored it.
“So tell us about this trip you both got planned,” Victor said, crossing his arms.
“I hear they’re going out of the country in a couple weeks,” Anita joined in on the teasing, throwing an elbow in his direction.
Juniper and Rowan’s eyes darted toward each other’s, and the biggest smiles spread across their faces.
Victor narrowed his eyes. “That seems suspicious.”
“What? We can’t be excited to go to Costa Rica? It’s kind of a work trip anyway. We’re going to see an ecotourism business some friends of mine started… you know, to get ideas to bring back here,” Rowan said, narrowing her eyes back at Victor before smiling.
“Mixing business and pleasure, I see,” Anita teased.
“Okay, that’s way more than enough from you two. No more sitting together.” Juniper wagged a warning finger between the two of them. Then she linked her arm through Rowan’s, and they turned back toward the pavilion. “Why are they so wild?”
They made it a few paces to the pavilion before Rowan stopped them. “By the way, what is going on between those two?” She asked.
They looked over at Wren and Beckett who seemed to be deep in conversation, each standing on opposite sides of one of the pavilion poles. Beckett swiped at her bottom lip with her thumb while Wren narrowed her eyes at her saying something they couldn’t hear from where they were standing.
“I don’t know,” Juniper said through a laugh.
“Is Wren into women?”
“I didn’t think so. Some people do figure it out a little later in life. As much as I’ve grown to love her, I still don’t know if I trust the General’s intentions though.”
Rowan laughed at that. “Honestly, I think she’s just a big flirt. Driven by ego.”
“Ya think?”
“Before we get distracted by anything else. I have a little surprise of my own to share with you.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a key. “Now that you’ve given me your official answer.”
Juniper watched Rowan’s face falter with what she thought looked like nervousness. Juniper took the key and slid it into her back pocket.
“Are you okay, babe?”
“Um, the paperwork has been set up to add your name to the deed for a few weeks now. I couldn’t do it without your permission, and I wouldn’t have anyway. But it’s all ready. I know this probably makes me sound fucking insane, but I wanted to show you that I would take care of you forever.”
Juniper blinked at her several times with an open mouth.
“And you can kick me out whenever you want. Although, please don’t do that.
This took a lot of paperwork. Have you ever seen the process to get a land plot in your name?
Plus, I love you. And it’s big enough that we can have a couple of kids.
But we could also expand it if you want more.
I know you always wanted a lot of kids.”
Clearly Rowan didn’t hear Juniper calling her name out multiple times through her rambling. Instead, Juniper grabbed her shirt collar and tugged her forward to kiss her.
“Shut up for a second, please. You bought us a literal fucking house.”
“I did.”
“You did,” Juniper sighed contentedly.
“I did.”
Juniper playfully narrowed her eyes. “You went over my head to get this done?”
“I did.” Rowan seemed to regain her confidence as a slow smile tugged the edge of her lips. “Although, I seem to remember you liking me over your head. And I am technically over you. I’m kind of your boss after all.”
Juniper laughed. “We’ll have to discuss that with Theo more at a later date. And two kids sounds like a good balance, but not for a couple years. I want to enjoy my time with you alone first.”
“I like the sound of that. You know what else I like the sound of?”
“What?”
“Calling you my wife.”
Juniper jammed her hand into her hip. “Are you proposing to me Birdsong? I have to admit, even with the house, this feels underwhelming.”
“Oh, no, you’ll know when it happens.”
“You really are something else, Birdsong.”
Rowan smiled. “That’s a good thing?”
“A very, very good thing.” Juniper smiled back.