Trevor
This fence is gonna take a lot longer than I was led to believe. Say the word, and I’ll come back.
Me
I’m fine, Tre. About to hang out with Maya
*Trev
Trevor
You can call me Tre if you wanna, since we’re about to be family.
Me
According to everyone here, I already am.
Trevor
Must be true then
“Okay, we have lots of choices here. Mom’s hobby is collecting craft supplies so we have everything from ‘beginner’ to ‘what the hell was she thinking buying this professional pattern?’”
“Definitely beginner. Between pregnancy brain and pregnancy clumsiness, I don’t want to press my luck while wielding a needle.”
“Isn’t the brain fog theworst?” Maya laughs as she digs through a blue plastic tote.
“It’s so bad. I used to be smart, and now I find my car keys in the microwave.”
“When I was pregnant with the twins, my husband Ben would follow behind, replacing anything I put in the wrong place. He’s on call at the hospital for the holiday, but he should be here tonight for Lainey’s show.” She smiles, her gaze falling into one of professionalism. “How are you feeling otherwise? Any complications?”
“Nope. Nothing besides the morning sickness, but that’s kind of died off too.”
“That’s good news. I was on bedrest for both of my pregnancies. My cervix just didnotlike holding them in there. Plus the whole ‘advanced maternal age’ aspect.”
I shudder at the thought. “I’d go crazy if I was forced to be in bed all day. How did you make it?”
“Cross-stitch.” She laughs and digs in the box, coming out with beginner and intermediate patterns. “And yet, I somehow didn’t master it.” Maya hands mine over and plops on the opposite end of the couch, pulling her legs up on the cushion. We take a few minutes of silence to read the instructions and sort the multicolored floss. I’m stretching my canvas over the plastic frame when Maya’s phone buzzes by her feet. She snorts. “Trevor told me to make sure you’re drinking enough water, like I don’t take care of pregnant women for a living.”
“Has he always been so attentive?”
“Yep.” Her nose wrinkles. “He was a super shy kid and needed to observe every situation before joining in. In foster care, he would watch everything from the corner, no matter where we were. The shyness melted away once we got stable here, but his protectiveness only got worse, as you’ve seen.” Her giggle reveals the slight impression of dimples on her cheeks. They’re not as deep, but I can see the resemblance to her brother. Well, toTrevor. Eli, on the other hand, looks completely different with his dark brown skin and black hair.
“Can I ask…you and Trevor look so much alike, but Eli…” My voice trails as I realize how personal this conversation is. Not everyone likes talking about their family business like this.
Her smile melts my worry. “Yeah, so T and I have the same bio mom and dad, and we take after our dad. Eli has a different dad, but he takes after our birth mom.”
“So your dad had the auburn hair too?”
“Yep. A Black man with red hair and freckles. Minus all the freckles that I got, T looks just like him, which was a big part of the problem…”
Nodding, I slide my gaze to the embroidery hoop in my hand. I don’t have the slightest clue what she means, but we’re crossing into some private history I have no business asking about until the information is offered up to me.
“He hasn’t talked about all of that much, has he?”
“I know the basics, but we don’t have to get into it. It’s personal.”
“Girl, you’re family now. You’re carrying a part of him. These are things you should know, if just to be able to pass the information on to your child.”
