“Can you grab the other side of this?” I asked, stopping at the top of the stairs to catch my breath. “My left wrist is still sore from carrying Soleil all afternoon.”
I rubbed my left wrist where my watch used to be, a habit I could not seem to shake since the leather strap had broken three weeks ago.
Ryan did not turn around from the closet hanger. He adjusted the collar of a blue button-down shirt, checking the seam.
“I am right in the middle of packing, Shannon,” he said, his voice flat and defensive. “If I do not organize this now, it will all be wrinkled by the time we land.”
“It is just one basket,” I said.
He pulled a gray polo shirt from the hanger and laid it carefully inside the suitcase, smoothing the sleeves with the flat of his hand.
“You have to learn to manage your time better,” he said.
“I have been managing three infants alone since six this morning,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
He zipped the small mesh pocket inside the suitcase lid, the metal teeth clicking sharply in the quiet hallway.
“We both need a break, Shannon,” he said, finally looking at me. “I just happened to plan mine first.”
I carried the basket into the nursery alone, the plastic edge cutting into my fingers as I set it down on the floor by the white wooden cribs.
By eight the next morning, the kitchen smelled of old coffee and formula. My mother, Clara, stood at the sink, her hands buried in warm suds as she scrubbed the dried sweet potato from the high chair trays. She adjusted the collar of her cardigan, her fingers smoothing the yellow wool as she turned to look at me.
“You look like you did not sleep an hour,” she said, her voice steady and quiet.
“Luna woke up three times before dawn,” I said. “I think she is starting to cut her bottom teeth.”
“You need to rest while they are sleeping this morning,” Clara said, rinsing a tray under the tap. “The world will not fall apart if you leave the vacuuming for another day.”
“I should check the Elm Road farmhouse next week,” I said, pouring myself a cup of black coffee. “The roof might need looking at before the frost starts.”
