Page 59 of Big Island Weddings
“Bye,” Nell called up.
Everett reached towards his sister, eager to be up in the tree with the big kids. She chuckled and pulled him closer before he could topple out of her arms.
“Not just yet, little man.”
Cassie had always been a clinger, what the locals called opihi for the limpets that fastened themselves to tidal rocks. Everett was the opposite, anxious to do everything that his sister could do, eager to run before he had even taken his first steps. He was constantly trying to launch himself out into the world, confident of a soft landing.
Nell hitched him up higher on her hip, wondering if she should try to wrestle him into a carrier before walking over to Tara’s house. Cody usually loaded the van for her, and she would only have to take Everett out of the carrier and wrestle him into his car seat a few minutes later, so she wasn’t eager to try it… which reminded her, she still needed to transfer his car seat from Emma’s car to Tara’s van. That was a whole lot of hullabaloo for a five-minute drive.
“Headed out?” Emma asked. She popped up out of her herb garden, where she had been hidden by enormous basil plants. Dozens of bees hovered around the white flowers, creating a soothing white noise that sounded like summer. The smell ofbasil and tomato plants rounded out the scene, taking Nell back to the kitchen garden that her parents had tended when she was little.
“I’m just taking Tara’s weekly meal donation over to A Place of Refuge. Cassie’s going to hang here, if that’s okay. She’s up a tree with Kai and Jun.”
“Of course. I’m here all day. Do you want to leave Everett here too?”
“Really?” Cassie was one thing; she was about as easy as a kid could be. Everett, on the other hand, was a tiny tornado in need of constant attention.
“Sure.” Emma held out her arms. “We love Everett.”
“If you don’t mind.” Even as she got ready to hand him over, her arms tightened reflexively around her baby. After having her kids with her day and night for years, occasionally handing them over was something she was still getting used to.
“The kid is twenty pounds of pure sunshine.” Emma stepped closer, and Everett launched himself out of Nell’s arms. Emma caught him with a laugh. “Of course I don’t mind.”
“Closer to thirty these days.” Nell stretched her aching shoulders, feeling immediate relief in her spine even as her heart ached to have the weight of him back in her arms.
Being a part of the community – true community, friends and neighbors who looked out for each other and worked together to raise the next generation – took some getting used to, but she was so endlessly grateful that Pualena had taken them in.
“Can you wave bye-bye to Mama?” Emma asked.
“Buh buh buh!” Everett grinned and waved his chubby hands with so much energy that they blurred.
“See you soon.” Nell blew him a kiss and gave Emma a grateful smile, then walked out through the front gate and over to Tara’s place.
The usual menagerie greeted her at the front gate. Tara had downsized in recent months, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the place.
Honking geese and curious goats swarmed around her as she closed the gate behind her and crossed the front yard. Dogs barked, more in greeting than anything else, and Tara had the front door open before Nell could knock.
“Nell! Hi! Come on in. Not you,” she told a goat sternly.
Nell managed to slip through without admitting any barnyard animals, and she breathed in the rich aromas that were coming from Tara’s kitchen. Caramelized onions and roasted tomatoes seasoned the air along with a warm undertone of something carby and sweet - probably boiled breadfruit.
“It smells amazing in here.”
“Does it?” Tara grinned and adjusted the bandana she wore over her hair. “That’s good. I can’t really smell it unless I go outside for a while, and I’ve been cooking all day.”
“Is there anything I need to carry out to the van?”
“No, Cody loaded it up already. But you’ve got some time, haven’t you? Come on in and sit a minute. You can try my breadfruit marinara.”
Nell followed her through the living room and took a seat at the kitchen counter.
“How have you been? You’re just on the other side of the fence, but it feels like we haven’t seen each other in weeks. How are things going with Hugh?”
“I’m good. He’s good. We’re just taking things slow.”
“That’s the best thing you can do, I think, with kids in the mix.”
“It’s so hard when he has split custody. I keep waiting for him to tell me that he’s moving to Honolulu to be closer to his daughter… there’s even a part of me that wishes he would, because she needs him more than I do. She deserves to have herdad there with her. It makes me wonder if our relationship can ever go anywhere, or if I’ll always be waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
