Page 19 of Big Island Neighbors
“Just about,” she said.
“Can I go look for eggs?”
“You might want to wait for the sun to get a bit higher. How about some breakfast?”
He slumped back onto his pillows. “I’m not hungry.”
“Hot chocolate?” she suggested.
Kai nodded. His little face was serious. “Yeah. I think I need some hot chocolate.”
Emma kissed his forehead and stood, stooping slightly to avoid hitting her head on the sloped ceiling of his room. There was another full-sized bedroom available, but Kai had opted for the cozy little nook that shared a wall with Emma’s room - that is, when he finally agreed to sleep in his own bed.
They walked down the narrow, creaking stairs and into the kitchen. The air was warm with the smell of lemongrass and ginger from a broth that she’d left to simmer overnight.
Emma used the last of yesterday’s milk to make a cup of hot chocolate for Kai, and then she settled him with a blanket on the bench outside and went to milk the goats.
The rhythm and routine of her morning chores steadied her, soothing the ache in her soul and the quaking in her hands.
She had dreamed of Adam too. Not a nightmare like Kai’s, but an unbearably sweet dream that made the real world feel harsh and cruel.
A few months back, a dream like that would have wrecked her. It still did, to a degree. But not so much that she couldn’t function, couldn’t jump out of bed to soothe her son and milk the goats.
This new life of theirs was good medicine.
By the time she brought the milk inside, Lani and Rory were up. The newly minted five year old had demanded hot chocolate just like Kai’s, and Lani accepted the fresh milk with relief.
“Hot chocolate,” Rory moaned. She was on the floor, draped over Dio. His tail thumped uncertainly. “Help. Please. I need hot chocolate.”
“What’s that on the table in your favorite mug?” Emma asked.
“She made it withwater,” Rory said with deep disdain.
Lani gave Emma a long-suffering look, and she bit back a laugh.
“I see.”
A rooster crowed just outside the door, making her flinch. Dio leapt up and ran outside to investigate, dumping Rory onto the floor.
“My pillow!” she wailed. For a moment she sprawled dramatically on the kitchen tiles, and then she jumped up and raced out the door after the dog.
“That kind of morning?” Emma asked.
Lani smiled wanly. “I’m already exhausted. But you two were up even before us, and we came downstairs at dawn.”
“Kai had a nightmare.”
Lani’s liquid brown eyes filled with compassion. “Adam again?”
“Most of my dreams about Adam are good.” Emma took a deep breath. “And that’s its own kind of hard. But with Kai, it’s nothing but abandonment. I’m scared he’s forgetting him already.”
“What have you been doing to keep his memory alive?” Lani asked gently.
“Not much.” Her throat tightened with guilt and unshed tears. “It just hurts so much to talk about him. Especially with Kai. I don’t know why.”
Lani crossed the kitchen and put a hand on her back. “It’s okay. You don’t have to carry that alone. I’m the one who grew up with him, me and ‘Olena and Kekoa. We should be telling more stories about him too. Everywhere I look around here, I see Adam. I’ll work on sharing more of those stories with Kai.”
The tears that she’d tried to hold back spilled down her face. “Thank you.”
