Rosaline stood and said, “I know carving out these two hours was a hardship on your schedule, but it was so good to see you again.”
“It was worth every minute. And dinner was amazing. I’ve heard rumors about your cooking,” Kristen said. She bent and hugged Alex. “You stay right there. Get that leg better.”
Brad spoke up. “Before you all leave, I’d like to pray over Wade and Kristen.” He held out his hands. Valerie took one, his father took the other, and soon everyone held hands in a circle. “Father God, we love You, and we love the chance to spend fellowship time with Wade, Kristen, and Evan. God, lay Your hand over this campaign. Guide Wade’s thoughts and actions. Instill in him pure wisdom beyond his years, and give him the power of Your Holy Spirit as he maneuvers through the quagmire of racism and intolerance. Protect Kristen and the kids the way You have protected Wade, and instill in their team a strength to get through even the roughest times. Amen.”
Daisy appreciated the power behind Brad’s words. When she raised her head, she looked around the circle and thanked God silently for bringing her into this fold. She remembered the way Brad and Ken had immediately taken Jon to the airport when Jon called them. She prayed that if she ever had to lean on them, she would remember their strength of character and know that they would follow through with anything in their power to help.
Stuffedas full as she had ever felt, Daisy stretched her arms up and twisted her body. She ran her hands along the sides of her stomach and said, “I shouldn’t have had that second slice of pie.”
Alex chuckled. “If Rosaline didn’t make such good pie, we wouldn’t have this problem.”
“I’ve been eating Auntie Rose’s pies my entire life. The problem is not the pie.” Valerie rubbed the swell of her stomach. “The problem is having to share some space with the pie.”
Daisy looked around at the women in this room who had taken her in as their family. Alex had come home permanently about three weeks ago. She spent the last two weeks of Wade’s campaign with him and finished her contract by capturing the incumbent’s concession speech.
The door opened, and Rosaline wheeled in a cart with a teapot and several cups and saucers. “Tea, ladies?”
Daisy groaned. “You can’t possibly expect me to fit anything else in this stomach.”
Rosaline’s eyes crinkled in the corners when she smiled. “You should’ve seen what it was like to have three little guys making themselves at home in there.”
“Pshaw,” Valerie said, waving her hand in her mother-in-law’s direction. “All of your pregnancy stories feel like the old, ‘When I was a kid, we had to walk uphill both ways barefoot in the snow.’”
Everyone laughed. “That’s probably fair.” Rosaline shook her head. “I don’t mean to be that way.”
“Of course, you don’t,” Alex said. “I can’t imagine having three babies in here right now. You, woman, have every bit of my respect.”
Rosaline’s cheeks turned red. “By twenty-six weeks, I was in bed. I couldn’t have eaten a Thanksgiving meal if I had tried.” She poured herself a cup of tea and very gracefully perched on the edge of the cushion of the wingback chair. She wore cream-colored pants and a soft brown sweater. “I had to just snack and graze, like eat little meals all day long. But I was starving. All the time. And I have never been so thirsty, ever.”
Daisy snorted. “Me, too.” They all laughed. “Did you decide to keep working for Wade after he’s sworn in?”
Alex rubbed at her thigh almost absently. Daisy wondered if she could feel the scar from the shooting through her skirt. “I told him I was going to stay home for a couple months, but to keep me in mind for the inauguration. After that, I think I need to wait and see how I feel. He and I talked about after the baby. I think that would be a fun job, don’t you?”
Valerie raised an eyebrow. “You mean, being an official photographer for the President of the United States? I think it would be a hardship, but, you know, someone has to do it.”
Alex laughed. “I really enjoyed working with him and his wife. But right now, I need to focus on Jon and me, and on our family. It was hard to leave just a couple weeks after we got married. We’re just now getting into a rhythm with life.”
Daisy ran her gaze over Valerie’s face. She knew Valerie struggled physically with the way her body changed with pregnancy. After her fall from the second-floor balcony, she had required a hip replacement. She shifted in her chair and rubbed her hip. Daisy wondered what labor would look like for her. “Is the doctor going to let you go natural?”
Valerie nodded. “She says no problem. She said there might be some residual pain afterward that would require an adjustment to the prosthetic. But otherwise, we’re good.” She shifted again. “My hip aches almost all the time, though. I was told to expect that, but I didn’t realize how distracting it would be. I wouldn’t complain if this baby decided to come a little early.”
Daisy wondered when they would all have their babies with just two weeks between all three of their due dates. “Did the boys come early?” She asked Rosaline.
Rosaline set her empty teacup on the table next to her. “Pretty early. I was thirty-three weeks when they were born. They just finally got to the point where they were too big for me.”
“You should see the pictures,” Valerie said. “Her stomach was gigantic.”
With a nod, Rosaline said, “It was. Very uncomfortable. So, I went to a doctor’s appointment, and he sent me straight to the hospital, and they checked me in. None of the boys were a full four pounds, but Jon came close.”
Daisy tried to imagine having three infants but couldn’t picture it in her mind. “You must’ve been exhausted.”
Rosaline shrugged. “We had been trying for a long time. I had lost a couple of babies. Every single exhausted moment was precious to me. They were in the NICU for three weeks. My mom came and stayed a month after the boys came home from the hospital. So, by the time I had my groove, I’d had enough help to not feel completely exhausted.”
Alex grinned a sheepish smile. “Who was the best baby?”
With a chuckle, Rosaline said, “Oh, let’s see. Jon was the one who always needed me to touch him. He was fine as long as he was being touched, which wasn’t as much as he wanted since there were three of them. Brad did everything harder and hated failure. Ken was the one who was completely fine just to be left alone. It was a beautiful experience.”
Daisy gestured at Valerie. “Then you added another.”
