Page 62 of Eternally London

She takes off down the hall, pushing her babies and speaking gibberish. I watch her, a content smile on my face. Every day, I have to remind myself that this is my life. I have the perfect husband and daughter. Just having them both is more than I could have ever hoped for. Yet, on top of that, we have an awesome house, family, friends, and flexible jobs that we love. There’s happiness, and then there’s having a mega, amazing, superb, kick-ass life. And that’s what I have.

I grab my phone off the table. I’m starting to get worried. Loïc hasn’t texted me back, and my parents’ plane lands in an hour. It’s not like him. Loïc is often late, as stuff always comes up with work. But he’s great at letting me know. He really is an awesome communicator. That thought makes me smile, as I think back to how horrible of a communicator he was when we first started dating.Gosh, we’ve both come such a long way.

Lindi hands me a toy baby bottle.

“You want me to feed your baby?”

She nods her head. I sit down on the floor across from her, and we each feed one of the babies a bottle.

“You’re a good mommy, Lin. You take such good care of your babies.”

I smile to her. She smiles back at me, beaming with pride.

“What are your babies’ names? I forgot to ask. What’s her name?” I hold up the doll that I’m feeding.

“Ga,” Lindi answers.

“What’s her name?” I point to the doll in her lap.

“Do.” She grins.

“Ga and Do?” I say excitedly. “What great names!”

Lindi giggles, and my phone rings from the kitchen.

“I have to get that, Lindi Blue. Here, you take Ga. I’ll be right back.” I set the doll in front of Lindi and jog to the kitchen.

The number on the display isn’t one that I know. I would usually let it go to voice mail, as it’s probably a work inquiry. But the area code is a local one, so I pick it up.

“Hello? Yes, this is Mrs. Berkeley.”

A woman speaks. I hear the name of the hospital. I know she’s trying to tell me something, but nothing she’s saying is resonating. My ears are ringing. My brain hurts. I drop the phone and fall to my knees, grasping my head. I’m sobbing.

Only three words that the woman said penetrated through to my conscience.

Husband.

Shot.

Surgery.

Yet those three words are more than enough to render me completely helpless. My hands gravitate from my head to my chest. I rock back and forth. I can’t breathe. God, I can’t breathe.

A small touch on my shoulder brings me back to myself. I look to Lindi. She holds a scared expression. It isn’t one I’ve ever seen on her, and the guilt that I caused it hits me in the gut.

“Ma?”

“Oh, Lin. I’m sorry. Mommy’s fine. Mommy’s fine,” I repeat, plastering a fake smile on my face. I pull her onto my lap. Wrapping my arms around her, I continue to rock.

“We just need to…”God, what do I do?I can’t think straight. I need Loïc here to tell me what to do. I can’t do this without him. I can’t do life without him. “We need to go for a drive, Lin, and check up on Daddy.”

“Da?” she asks sweetly.

“Yes.” I pull in a deep breath. “We need to go see your daddy. He’s fine. He’ll be…I know he is. He will be fine. I know…I know it. He’s strong, your daddy, like a lion.” I’m having a hard time getting my reassurances out.

Lindi roars.

“Yeah, baby girl. Daddy’s strong, just like a lion. Let’s go see him.”

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