Page 49 of Free to Fall

Liam opens his mouth, but Bailey’s little voice holds notes of exasperation as she wheels toward the dining room. “Laura, it’s barely June. You can’t think about Christmas now.”

“With my family, Christmas is like doing homework. You have to study your adversaries, take careful notes, and prepare well in advance for the final exam,” I call after her, my voice raising.

Her giggles are my reward.

I slow my steps a bit before murmuring to Liam, “This is so sweet of her.”

He slows. “She’s a fantastic child, Laura. Between her mother’s death when ...”

Comfortable since he didn’t protest before, I reach up and squeeze his arm through his suit jacket, offering comfort. I can’t imagine what he must still be feeling after losing Bailey’s mother in an accident. I try to put myself in his place, having witnessed the breakdown of such pain in the ER—how broken Liam must feel. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m trying my best to understand.”

His smile is wan. “I’m grateful there’s no way you ever could.” Before I can ask what he means, he gestures for me to precede him.

I do, only to find Bailey wheeled up at the table—crayons and papers scattered around her. “Were you drawing, Bailey?”

She glares at her father. “Did you spoil my surprise, Daddy?”

He grins. “Buttercup, if you wanted it to be a surprise, you should have hidden the evidence. Haven’t I taught you better than that?”

Her smile reappears instantly. “Oh, right. Here, Laura. This is for you.”

Bailey holds up a piece of paper and I’m stunned. It’s a fairly crude picture of four people at a table with a big colorful bowl in between them. If I didn’t recognize the colors of the bowl, I’d be hard pressed to determine if there were green balloons in the sky or if they were lanterns that float on a string from the patio outside the Bodega Taco Bar. But I’m stunned when I recognize a person in the colored drawing has hair and eyes like mine and she’s at an angle next to a man with an arm that looks the length of an octopus wrapped around her.

He’s trying to drop something into her mouth.

Her companions who also sport snake arms—God, Kalie and Grace are going to absolutely love this—are hugging each other.

Only half joking, I ask, “Are you psychic, Bailey? This ...”

“Happened! Daddy and I saw you with your boyfriend and friends. I asked if we could say hi, but he said we should give you some space.”

I can’t resist. I lean over, press my cheek to the top of Bailey’s head, and scrub my face back and forth. “I’m going to treasure this for the rest of my life. Do you know why?”

She grins at me. “No, why?”

“Because you showed the exact moment my brother was making me laugh so hard I was crying, and when I’m sad, I can look at your picture and remember how happy I felt right then.”

Her eyes grow wide. “That was your brother?”

I nod solemnly. “My twin brother, Jon, made a special trip from New York City just to see me. Do you know what a twin is?”

“You were born on the same day, right?”

“Exactly. Jon is six minutes older than me.”

Even as Liam mutters, “Your poor mother,” Bailey shrieks, “That’s so cool! Daddy, can I be a twin?”

He runs his hand over his daughter’s hair and says in a grave tone, “Sorry, Buttercup. That’s a physical impossibility.”

She shrugs, not offended in the slightest.

I point to her rendering of Kalie and Grace. “And those friends you saw?”

“Yes?” There’s excitement in her voice.

“They’re more than just friends too. They’re my cousins and my roommates.”

“Wow!”

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