“We’re excited too,” he said. “That’s actually why I’m calling, I just wanted to make sure it was okay that our flight gets in late on Saturday night. Or actually, I should say it gets in really early Sunday morning. We didn’t book our tickets on time, and there were only red-eyes left.”
“No worries.”
“Well, don’t say that before you even find out what time we’re getting in,” he said with a short laugh. “We’ll get a cab from the airport, so you don’t have to worry about picking us up in the middle of the night, but that means we’re going to be coming into the house at an ungodly hour. Probably before the sun rises.”
“That’s fine, honey!” she said causally and then recalled that she wasn’t just speaking for herself, David, and Mallory—none of whom would’ve cared if Taylor and Erica woke them up. However, there was a tired mother and her baby to take into consideration now. “Uh—well, actually, now that I’m thinking about it, do you know what time you’d be getting in?”
“Our flight lands at four a.m.,” he said. “So, by the time we get our bags and catch a ride, we’d probably be getting to the house between five and six in the morning. Is that alright?”
“Yes, that’s alright!” She said more confidently this time. Sasha was usually awake by six anyway, so this wouldn’t be much earlier than her normal day-to-day. “That’s not too crazy.”
“For Mallory it is.”
“Maybe, but your sister could sleep through an earthquake,” Callie joked. “Don’t worry about her. She’s not going to wake up.”
“Do you remember when dad would make pancakes and set the fire alarm off nearly every weekend? Mallory didn’t even open her eyes to the sound!”
“Of course, I remember.” Callie shook her head. “It scared the hell out of me. As a mother, you really like to think that your kids at least possess the most basic survival instincts, but Mallory… I guess she’s just always went to the beat of her own drum.”
“That’s a nice way of saying she’s a total weirdo. But anyway, I’ll let Erica know she doesn’t need to change the tickets. Should I send the itinerary to you or dad?”
“You can send it to me,” she said. “Your father is without a computer right now.”
“Oh no, did that dinosaur of a laptop finally burn out?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Callie said, not wanting to reveal that Mallory was the one who’d pushed it over the edge. “But he’s shopping for a new one this week. He’ll probably look for a good deal on Black Friday.”
“Not a bad idea. I’ll help him pick one out when I’m there.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” She said and nervously played with the heat-protectant sleeve on her coffee cup. “So, uh, did you end up talking to Erica about the news you heard from the doctor?” She knew this was an odd time to bring up this sensitive subject, but she was trying to buy some time before coming clean about Sasha. Besides, she’d been curious to get an update, and she felt this was important information for her to have before Taylor and Erica came to stay—in case she was going to be cursed with the weight of yetanothersecret.
“Yeah, we talked about it a little bit,” he said. “You were right. She’s not upset with me or anything, but we decided to notworry too much about it until the new year. We just want to take the next two months to relax, and we’ll figure out the baby stuff when we’re ready to look into alternatives.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said.
“I think it wasyouridea,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh, well then, I’m even more on board with it.” Callie smiled to herself. “And I’ll do what I can to make Thanksgiving a relaxing week… But in order to do that, there’s something I have to tell you before you and Erica come to town.”
“What’s up?” He didn’t sound particularly uneasy, which gave Callie the courage to rip off the band aid.
“So, a little over a month ago,” she began. “Your father and I decided to sponsor a young single mother and her child. She’s been staying with us for a while now, things are going really well, and uh, yeah. She’ll be here with the baby when you’re in town for Thanksgiving, so I just thought I’d let you know.”
“Um… Okay. What do you mean you’re sponsoring her? Like, what does that mean?”
Dang it.
Callie had a feeling that would be the word that he fixated on. She knew it wasn’t the right term to perfectly encapsulate what she was doing for Sasha and Dot, but she also didn’t know an exact word that described the situation perfectly. “It’s nothing too crazy. We’re, uh, just letting her live here and we’re taking care of her living expenses. And the living expenses for the baby as well I suppose.”
“You’re paying for stuff for her and her baby?”
“Well, yeah, but only while she’s staying here, we’re covering the groceries, and I bought her a new stroller since the one she had was unsafe. I couldn’t in good conscience let her continue putting her baby in it. But that’s about it.”
“I’m confused... Is this something you signed up for through some sort of organization? How did you even find out about this woman?”
“She was living at a shelter that I used to regularly donate to,” she explained. “And when I heard that she needed a safer, more stable place to stay with her nine-month-old, I offered up one of the extra rooms we have in the house. They’re just sitting empty, you know, so it was an easy decision. Your father and I have way more space than we need, and to sit idling by while people in our community are struggling… It’s just wrong, don’t you think?”
“Sure... In theory.”
