wristwatch. “It’s a little after eleven. You didn’t have much breakfast so we can have an early lunch if you like.”
“No, no, if I eat lunch early, I’ll want an early supper, and then I’ll be hungry at bedtime. I can’t eat at bedtime. I get heartburn.”
Suzanne already had heartburn. Dear Father, how will I last two months? But she smiled. “All right then. We’ll wait until Tanya gets back from town. Do you know what you’d like?”
“Yes.” Mother narrowed her gaze and stared fiercely at Suzanne. “I’d like to know how you have a daughter when, right now in Sommerfeld, your cousin Andrew and his wife are planning a wedding for the baby I thought you gave up for adoption.”
Her baby girl was getting married? So many feelings swept through her at Mother’s blunt announcement—regret for having given her baby away, desire to know her, fury at her mother for the demands she’d made twenty years ago—she couldn’t decide which took precedence.
“Alexa told me she turned nineteen on the third of December. The same birthday as Andrew and Livvy’s Anna-Grace.” With each statement, Mother’s voice grew softer in volume yet harsher in tone. She nearly grated out a question. “So what I want is to know, is Anna-Grace your daughter or not?”
An acidic taste flooded Suzanne’s mouth. She swallowed. “Yes, Mother.”
“Then how do you also have a daughter with you?” Mother pressed her palms to the mattress and sat upright.
Suzanne’s answer came easily, the words having been uttered to Alexa countless times as assurance of her place in the world. “God gifted me with Alexa.”
Mother’s eyes widened. “Twins?”
Suzanne closed her eyes for a moment, gathering strength. Then she turned a pleading look on her mother. “In all honesty, this conversation is pointless. Discussing something that happened twenty years ago doesn’t change a thing. I did what you asked me to do—I gave Andrew and Olivia the chance to be parents. Can’t you simply accept Alexa’s presence with me and let it go?”
For long seconds Mother stared into Suzanne’s face, her expression unreadable. Then she released a noisy huff and tossed her covers aside. “I want out of this bed. It’s ridiculous for me to have to stay here all day just because I had a little fainting spell. I’ve taken worse tumbles in my lifetime and didn’t take to bed over them.”
Suzanne could have argued that in the past Mother had possessed two good legs to support her, but why argue? Mother won every battle. Fighting her was useless. And if she was willing to drop the conversation concerning Alexa and Anna-Grace, Suzanne would humor her. She hurried to the corner and retrieved Mother’s wheelchair.
She reached to assist her into the chair, but Mother slapped her hands away. “I’m not helpless. I can do it.” She transferred herself from the bed to the chair, landing at an awkward angle on the padded seat. Grunting a bit, she pressed her elbows on the armrests and righted herself. Once she was settled, she fired a smug I-told-you-so look at her daughter.
Suzanne responded with a tight smile. She released the brakes on the chair and aimed it for the doorway. But before she rolled the chair through the opening, Mother held up her hand and barked, “Stop!”
She shifted around to look into Suzanne’s face. Scowl lines marched alongside her mouth. “I gave Alexa my locket. You’re the oldest daughter, so it should have gone to you before being passed to the oldest granddaughter. But it would eventually be hers anyway, and her initials match mine, so I gave it to her.”
Although Mother’s face and tone were angry, Suzanne found the gesture touching. The gift indicated Mother had already accepted Alexa as a member ofher family. But it could cause problems with her siblings. She placed her hand on her mother’s bony shoulder. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
Mother snorted and faced forward again.
“No, no, if I eat lunch early, I’ll want an early supper, and then I’ll be hungry at bedtime. I can’t eat at bedtime. I get heartburn.”
Suzanne already had heartburn. Dear Father, how will I last two months? But she smiled. “All right then. We’ll wait until Tanya gets back from town. Do you know what you’d like?”
“Yes.” Mother narrowed her gaze and stared fiercely at Suzanne. “I’d like to know how you have a daughter when, right now in Sommerfeld, your cousin Andrew and his wife are planning a wedding for the baby I thought you gave up for adoption.”
Her baby girl was getting married? So many feelings swept through her at Mother’s blunt announcement—regret for having given her baby away, desire to know her, fury at her mother for the demands she’d made twenty years ago—she couldn’t decide which took precedence.
“Alexa told me she turned nineteen on the third of December. The same birthday as Andrew and Livvy’s Anna-Grace.” With each statement, Mother’s voice grew softer in volume yet harsher in tone. She nearly grated out a question. “So what I want is to know, is Anna-Grace your daughter or not?”
An acidic taste flooded Suzanne’s mouth. She swallowed. “Yes, Mother.”
“Then how do you also have a daughter with you?” Mother pressed her palms to the mattress and sat upright.
Suzanne’s answer came easily, the words having been uttered to Alexa countless times as assurance of her place in the world. “God gifted me with Alexa.”
Mother’s eyes widened. “Twins?”
Suzanne closed her eyes for a moment, gathering strength. Then she turned a pleading look on her mother. “In all honesty, this conversation is pointless. Discussing something that happened twenty years ago doesn’t change a thing. I did what you asked me to do—I gave Andrew and Olivia the chance to be parents. Can’t you simply accept Alexa’s presence with me and let it go?”
For long seconds Mother stared into Suzanne’s face, her expression unreadable. Then she released a noisy huff and tossed her covers aside. “I want out of this bed. It’s ridiculous for me to have to stay here all day just because I had a little fainting spell. I’ve taken worse tumbles in my lifetime and didn’t take to bed over them.”
Suzanne could have argued that in the past Mother had possessed two good legs to support her, but why argue? Mother won every battle. Fighting her was useless. And if she was willing to drop the conversation concerning Alexa and Anna-Grace, Suzanne would humor her. She hurried to the corner and retrieved Mother’s wheelchair.
She reached to assist her into the chair, but Mother slapped her hands away. “I’m not helpless. I can do it.” She transferred herself from the bed to the chair, landing at an awkward angle on the padded seat. Grunting a bit, she pressed her elbows on the armrests and righted herself. Once she was settled, she fired a smug I-told-you-so look at her daughter.
Suzanne responded with a tight smile. She released the brakes on the chair and aimed it for the doorway. But before she rolled the chair through the opening, Mother held up her hand and barked, “Stop!”
She shifted around to look into Suzanne’s face. Scowl lines marched alongside her mouth. “I gave Alexa my locket. You’re the oldest daughter, so it should have gone to you before being passed to the oldest granddaughter. But it would eventually be hers anyway, and her initials match mine, so I gave it to her.”
Although Mother’s face and tone were angry, Suzanne found the gesture touching. The gift indicated Mother had already accepted Alexa as a member ofher family. But it could cause problems with her siblings. She placed her hand on her mother’s bony shoulder. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
Mother snorted and faced forward again.
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