AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Besides loving you, I have to say that I appreciate you talking to me about Dylan and not flying off the handle. I’ve dated women who have flipped out over less,” Aiden replies perfectly. “All in all, I’m really happy you’re going to be my baby momma.”
Almost perfectly.
“Jerk,” I say, grabbing the thermos with a smile on my lips as I get on the ATV to head back to the house.
Jace opens the door to wave me over as I approach and I see Dylan pushing out behind him, hurrying toward the barn.
“I’m going to take Dylan with me to talk to Lee,” my ex informs me, barely making eye contact after our earlier exchange. “He’s grabbing some helmets for the ride.”
“Sure, just wait a minute and I’ll send Aiden’s breakfast with you to leave with him on your way out,” I reply, and his eyes widen when I don’t make a comment about him taking Dylan.
I know my son is at that age where he isn’t quite a man, but he’s not a child anymore either. Not that I like it, but I’m not going to know where he is every minute of the day, and I’m willing to accept that, as long as he makes an effort to respect our rules.
Emptying out the rest of the fresh coffee Jace made into the thermos, I realize how much coffee we went through already today, especially with visitors, and know that we have to cut back. No one has brought it up, but my dad must be aware that the day we’re out of coffee beans is going to be ugly.
Creating a sandwich out of the pancakes and eggs that Elsbeth had left in the still warm oven, I wrap it in a dish towel and get the items out to Jace.
“Dylan, do what your dad tells you, understand?” I ask and get identical looks of annoyance from my son and my ex. “Jace, keep calm with Lee, I have a feeling we’re going to need his help down the road.”
“I will and Mom gave us a few jars of honey and jam, so we wouldn’t show up empty handed.” He nods, waiting for Dylan to slide onto the seat behind him. “Now, I just have to get him to agree to a sit down with your dad.”
Watching them ride off, I wait until I see Jace hand the food and fresh coffee off to Aiden before I turn to head back inside. Pausing inside the doorway, I smile at the sight and sounds of my dad and his friends sitting around the table laughing like they did before the world—froze.
I often struggle with what the proper term is for what happened.
No one we’ve been in contact with has any true idea of how far spread the impact of the solar flare was, but I’m certain that HAM radio operators will piece it together eventually and somehow that information will trickle back to us. That it was a solar flare hasn’t even been confirmed yet, but remains our best guess since there was no warning of any attack prior to the outage or during Russ and Julia’s trip here.
The one thing we are certain of is that if anyone was able to help or start putting society back together, we would have heard from them by now.
“Shelby?” My dad’s voice is laced with concern and I turn back toward him, realizing that the men had asked something of me. “Dale wants to know if there’s anything you need from town?”
“I’m going to need pre-natal vitamins, sooner rather than later,” I answer without hesitation, not missing the look of surprise that Dale and Steve exchange. “Dad has a blood pressure cuff, but Elsbeth has a list of items she wants on hand for the birth. Not the least of which is a medical professional, but that seems like reaching for the moon right now.”
“Congratulations, Shelby!” Dale says after a brief pause, standing and walking toward me with his arms out for a hug before pausing for a moment. “Um, I’m assuming it’s you that’s pregnant—or is it Julia?”
He continues when I place my hand over my stomach.
“Damn if I didn’t have déjà vu—seems like just yesterday I was at that table when I heard about you being pregnant with your first!”
“And it seemed catastrophic for different reasons, didn’t it?” I ask, surprising him with my bluntness.
“Well, I’ll look into those vitamins for you, but I do have some good news about an obstetric nurse,” he says, drawing back from his quick hug, and surprising me with the proper title for the nurse. “Not long before this happened, a young couple rented the house next door to us. Diane is the woman next door—her sister flew in about two days beforelights outand is, of course, still there.”
“Ha! I’m sure David would be thrilled if you’d take Trisha off their hands all together,” Steve contributes, chuckling at the idea. “It’s a small two-bedroom house and apparently, Diane and Trisha don’t get along terribly well.”
“I’m sure the town is happy to have an extra medical professional on hand though, surely someone will offer her a room somewhere?” My dad helpfully suggests, since I know his first concern is taking in more people. Especially someone we don’t know.
“Trisha had hearing aids, which, of course, were destroyed with everything else that day. There are a couple people in town that know some sign language, but none as well as Diane,” Dale tells us.
“And when Diane’s pissed at Trisha, she won’t relay conversations. Reading lips or handwritten notes is not exactly ideal when there’s an emergency or nuances that Diane doesn’t know are important enough to communicate,” Steve picks up the rest of the story.
“I know sign language.” Eddie’s voice comes from the entryway to the back room. “My cousin was deaf.”
“How well would you say you know it?” my dad asks him, instantly interested in gauging Eddie’s skill level.
“Very.”
Eddie’s concise answer makes me snort, but I give my dad a nod to confirm my belief that Eddie wouldn’t say that if he wasn’t certain of his ability.
