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There’s no answer.
I clear my throat. “Probably just in the bathroom or something,” I say. “I’ll check.”
“We’ll be here,” my mother says, her voice disguised with a funny accent. She grins into my daughter’s face. “Don’t you worry about us, Daddy!”
I leave the nursery and head toward the bedroom. Laughter and voices drift off behind me and I hope for some other noise to take their place but nothing does.
“Jovie?” I ask the dark room.
I poke my head into the bathroom, then the kitchen and the laundry room.
No Jovie.
That old panic rises in me as I take wider strides toward the garage, the last possible place she could be — assuming she didn’t disappear into the night.
“Jo—”
I pause, seeing her brown hair blowing softly in the wind outside. She’s sitting on the Bolt in the driveway, her face illuminated by nothing more than the orange lamp on the outer wall.
“Jovie?”
She looks over her shoulder at me, quickly reaching up to wipe the tears off her face. “Hey,” she says.
I step out to join her, treading lightly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She sniffs. “Just hormones and all that crap. Got a little overwhelming.”
“It’s okay. You deserve a break. She’s surrounded by parents right now. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Surrounded by parents… and Tucker,” she says.
“Oh, in that case, we better get back in there.”
“Maybe.” She laughs and wipes her nose.
I take a breath of fresh air, my eyes lingering on her face. Smiling or crying. Laughing or screaming. It doesn’t matter what she’s thinking or feeling. She always manages to make me see something new and beautiful about her.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?” I ask.
She smiles at me. “No.”
I move in closer to the bike and she instantly shifts forward to make room for me. I sit down behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me as she lays her head back onto my shoulder. I keep my grip loose on her. Jovie might be made of cold, hard steel but she’s still human. She’s still recovering from giving birth and all the sacrifices that came with it. It’s my job to help her do that.
We sit still, silently gazing up into the dark sky. A few stars shine through but it’s a cloudy February night for the most part. At least it’s warm.
She lets out a soft chuckle. “I’ve been out here two minutes and I already miss her.”
I kiss her wet cheek. “Yeah. Me, too.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I feel like we’ve been asking ourselves that question a lot this week.”
“No kidding.” She twists around to me, her eyes full of awe. “I’m a mother.”
I nod. “You are.”
“Wow.”
