Page 58 of Big Island Moonlight
“There you are.” Cody’s voice was soft, barely audible above the coqui-frog chorus. “I woke up and you were gone.”
Juniper sighed, caught somewhere between affection and irritation.
“Was he crying again?”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry. I didn’t hear him.”
“You could sleep through a hurricane.”
“I can and I have.” He crossed the lawn and put a blanket around her shoulders. “Come inside. You need to rest.”
“If I put him down, he’ll wake up.”
“I’ll sit with him in the rocking chair.”
“It’s fine. I’m not sleepy anymore.”
“Maybe you don’t feel sleepy, but you need sleep.” He put a hand at the small of her back and gently urged her onward. “I’ll make you some tea. That nighttime blend of yours.”
“Okay.” She padded across the grass, sleepier with each step as the adrenaline spike induced by Wilder’s cries faded from her system.
When Cody went into the house, she stayed out on the lanai and watched clouds drift in front of the moon. The whole world grew dark, and she finally felt like she might be able to sleep.
Inside, she handed the baby to his father with trepidation. He stirred in his sleep and made tiny, adorable sounds – but he didn’t wake or cry. Juniper sighed in relief and picked up the tea that Cody had made for her.
“So,” Cody’s voice was whisper-soft as he settled into the rocking chair. “What sort of wedding do you want?”
“What?” With the warm mug clasped in both hands, Juniper went to sit closer to her little family.
“Courthouse? Beach? That’s… about all we’ve got in Hawai‘i, but I’m sure we could figure something else out if neither of those sound like you.”
“What about you?”
“It doesn’t really matter to me what the wedding looks like. It’s the marriage that matters. The relationship, I mean. Our family. You and me and him.”
A feeling of tenderness rose in her chest, and she reached out to put a hand on his knee. They sat there for a long while in the near darkness. She could just see the outline of Cody and Wilder in the faint moonlight that filtered through the clouds.
Finally, Juniper set aside her empty mug.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“You don’t think he’ll wake up?”
“I think he’ll be okay next to me.” She lifted Wilder carefully from his father’s arms and walked into the little bedroom, where she lay down with him nestled against her chest.
Cody crawled in behind her, his chest flush with her back. Being there between her son and his father soothed her whole body, right down to her soul.
With his arms around both of them, mother and baby slept straight through ‘til dawn.
21
Lani
It was quiet inside of New Horizons Community Center. Kids sang and shouted out on the playground, but the sounds barely filtered through to the rooms that Lani had painted with tropical fish and island animals.
She ran through the end-of-day chores mechanically, finding stray caps for markers and sweeping the floor while her mind wandered through everything she still needed to do.
