In a Book Club Far Away(15)

“A plan?”

“Yes.” Adelaide slumped in her seat and snatched her planner, turning it to a bookmarked page. A self-professed paper planner and journaler, she was met with an intricately doodled page after a night of insomnia. She heaved a breath, then lifted the page up to the monitor. “See.”

He squinted as he read, tilting his head back—her poor husband needed reading glasses. “‘Write an SOS. Get them to stay.’ Well, looks like step two got you stumped.”

She closed the book and dropped her gaze to the desk in front of her. Her mama used to say, “Plan it and they will come,” and that was what she’d done. Sheepishly, she said, “Well, I’ve got one here, at least.”

“What’s the rest of the list say?”

“‘Get them to bond.’ And then ‘get them to make up.’”

“Easy peasy, right?”

That gave her a chuckle. When she looked up, the screen was frozen, with Matt’s mouth rounded into an O. Darn these old houses. She had a Wi-Fi extender plugged in for the upper floors, but somehow the connection was still glitchy.

The picture righted itself. Adelaide’s heart melted a little at the sight of her hubby, who had broken out into a grin. It was adorable and mischievous, with a slight curl that made his dark eyes light up. Matthew Chang was wearing his brown T-shirt; he’d just gotten into his quarters from work, and while the lighting on his end was dim, Adelaide noticed the slight bit of shadow on his chin. It was his cozy look. She could almost feel herself nuzzled up against him, her nose at the crook of his neck. Usually, by the end of the day, he no longer smelled of aftershave but of a little bit of sun and a hint of bar soap.

God, did she miss him.

“You broke up there. What did you say?” she asked.

“I said, I’m thankful Sophie stayed, then.”

“Honestly, the only reason Sophie’s staying is for Genevieve. But she hasn’t come out from the guest room.”

“How is my little girl?”

“Good, still asleep.” Adelaide eased at the change of subject, leaned to the left, and tilted the laptop screen so it centered the Pack ’n Play within its view. Genevieve had a glorious nursery that Adelaide had painstakingly decorated when they moved in, but her daughter preferred to nap near her.

Which was perfectly fine by Adelaide. Genevieve wouldn’t be a baby much longer.

Their baby. She and Matt had waited a long time for her, an exorbitant feat interrupted by the Army’s needs, but there they were. A pang shot up through her, at the bittersweetness of it all, that after the struggle to conceive, Matt had spent most of their daughter’s life watching her grow through a computer screen.

“Man, I miss you guys,” he said, cutting through the beginning of her emotional avalanche.

She smiled. “We miss you, too. One month, right?”

“I’m counting the days. The seconds.” His gaze flickered downward. “I can’t believe she’s turning two next week.”

I can’t believe you’re going to miss it was her first thought, though she bit back the words. She pried more gracious ones out of her mouth, peeled them from the enamel of her teeth. “I caught her the other day toddling right up to a Lab puppy being walked. Remember how she’s normally so scared of anything on four legs?”

His face brightened. “Wow, that’s great!”

“She kept patting it right on the top of its head.” She smiled at the memory. “Pretty sure she’s going to want her own puppy. I can tell.”

He narrowed his eyes in jest. “Or maybe it’s her mama who wants a puppy?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged flirtatiously. It had been a couple of years since their last dog had passed, a geriatric bull dog they had adopted, the third foster in about a decade. And while she was ready for another fur baby, Matt wasn’t keen on account of his allergies. But, like oil, the truth always rose to the surface. “A dog would keep me company.”

“You know what would keep you company? Another baby.”

“Um, no. Not when it’s me who’ll do all the work,” she quipped, then bit her lip.

His grin fell into a frown.

“I’m sorry for that,” she said. Matt had been feeling extra guilty and awful for not being able to come home for Genevieve’s birthday or Adelaide’s surgery, and she didn’t need to lay the guilt trip on thick. Currently, he was on an eight-month unaccompanied tour in Germany, which would take him out of the next cycle of deployment. It had been the better of two options, though he still lived away from home. She worded her next sentence carefully. “It’s because… I know we talked about two children, but with the pain I’m… I already feel awful having surgery when I know that Genevieve still wants to be carried and held—”

“No, you’re right. You shouldn’t have to do this surgery on your own. I’m sorry. I’m just excited to keep growing our family.”

She nodded, though inside, a white flag waved. She didn’t know when she would be ready. She had just started to feel more confident at being a mom when her gallbladder pain began, and the procedures, the journey of IVF… she couldn’t fathom it right now.

She was raising Genevieve on her own. It was so easy for him to discuss children when it was she who had to live with the procedures, the prodding, and then the raising.