Page 149 of Even Robots Die
But what if she says no?
I can’t stop myself from wondering, and it’s driving me mad.
I need to breathe.
I need to stay calm.
I wipe my sweaty hands against my pants and look at Sophie, who is playing on the ground next to me.
She is our first born, and she’s barely four. She is the quiet kind that loves to draw and likes to play on her own, but today she is going to help me.
I know. I’m not playing fair, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
And I’m desperate.
Maybe it’s not a life and death matter, but every time I thought it was the right moment to ask something happened.
The first time I tried to ask Cassiopé, she had something to tell me, too, and I ended up being carried away by the fact she was pregnant.
It was for Sophie.
The second time I got down on one knee, she actually threw up on my shoes, and I didn’t get time to ask the question I had on my lips.
It was for Marius and Camille.
Twins.
And now we’re expecting a fourth baby. Like for the other three, we refused to know the gender, so no name has been picked yet, even if Cassiopé is six months along already.
At least it’s too late in the pregnancy this time for her to cover me in puke.
“Baby girl,” I say to Sophie, so she stops drawing for a second. “It’s time for the surprise. Can you go pick up mama?”
There is a big conspiracy smile on her face that is all the answer I need.
Cassiopé
I’m supposed to go on a date with my daughter this afternoon. Whatever that means.
So I’m not surprised when Sophie comes into my room and looks at me like I’m already late.
She does that often. She’s not much of a talker, but everything that she thinks is written directly on her face.
I finish putting on my mascara and get up.
I tried to make an effort with my outfit—this is a date after all—but it wasn’t the easiest with the way I’m so freaking round.
I have on a long dress—that hides that I’m not flexible enough anymore to shave my legs—with flowery patterns and flip-flops. They’re not the best looking shoes, obviously, but the hem of my dress falls just right and no one can really see what shoes I’m wearing, so it works.
Sophie holds her hand out, and I take it before following her.
When I get out of the room, I’m greeted by rows and rows of flowers creating a path to our living room.
We left Notre Dame a long time ago to buy our own house, much like the one we shared with Léandre in the south of France, but with electricity and all the amenities we missed there.
And bigger.
We hadn’t planned to have so many kids so fast, but did plan for having a lot of them, which means we currently have six rooms and enough kids to fill half of them.
