Page 12 of Defending Our Ever After

Holding my hands up, I introduce myself in American Sign Language just as my daughter lets out a cry that carries from upstairs. Smiling, I take a moment to explain that I have a newborn, so she’ll understand why I’m distracted.

“And you’re pregnant?” Trisha asks, turning to Julia just as Mike and Jace walk inside.

“WHAT?” Jace bellows, his expression teetering somewhere between livid and nauseous even as Julia’s eyes widen, and she starts laughing.

“Oh, God, no!” Julia says, waving her hands in front of her and just like that, the light blush from the cold day flames scarlet on Trisha’s face.

In an effort to ease her embarrassment, I cross the few feet to our guest and try to block Jace, Julia, and Mike from her sight; forgetting that I haven’t gained back all my excess weight and see her eyes occasionally drifting to the exchange that’s carrying on behind me.

In my haste to sign that it’s Julia’s mother who is pregnant, I know that I stumble over more than one word, but I still see the understanding in her eyes, besides the smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

“You’re a little rusty, but you’ll do,” Trisha tells me, grinning up at me and I know she sees the relief on my face.

“We really need you here.” I sign back to her, clearly mouthing the words as I go. “But I understand if you don’t want to be away from town and your family.”

“My sister is seven years younger than me, so we’ve never had much in common—not even the same father, as far as we know.” She awkwardly speaks along while her hands swiftly tell the same tale in her other language. “And you obviously haven’t been to town lately if you think that’s preferable to this.”

“She’s right,” Dale says, standing beside me so Trisha has a clear view of his mouth. “Things are getting worse down there every day. Being on the outskirts, like we are, we’re not in the thick of things, but Steve moved his family to my fishing cabin. We were going to try to hold out until Spring, when we can build another structure on the land, but I don’t think that’s feasible now. It’ll take me a few days to pack up my old Ham radio and the antenna. In the meanwhile, they’re going to work to fortify what’s there.”

“Have you gotten it working yet?” Mike asks him.

“No, we’ve been trying to find the parts I think I need to repair it. At the end of the day, I think it will work in my favor that it wasn’t in working condition before the flare.” He runs a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration. “Really, getting around town and trying to find the parts? Well, it used to be that I didn’t want to spend the money on excess things—now? Everyone’s so damn suspicious, I don’t want to be attacked by people I’ve known my whole life.”

“Dale, if you need to move up here, we’ll figure out how to make it work,” Mike starts, though he looks overwhelmed at the thought of another family coming to live at his place. I turn to Trisha to let her know what they’re talking about; slowly getting into the rhythm of signing again.

“A large group of people left town last week, Trisha’s sister and brother-in-law amongst them, trying to walk to the Air Force base near Wenatchee,” Dales responds. “They thought it best to look for help from the government. I warned Trisha’s people that they’d be fighting for any supplies with all those that left Seattle, but no one wanted to hear that. I waited until I got Trisha aside before I told her how you could use her help up here, since I didn’t want too many others getting wind of it.”

“I understand there’s an infant and a baby on the way, so I can be helpful there. Plus, I’m a really good cook,” Trisha says, tearing her eyes away from my hands and trying to make her case as if we don’t need her more than she needs us. “My mother was a nutritionist and taught me early on, how to balance each meal.”

“Well, we take turns cooking,” Mike says, facing her and talking distinctly. “Now for sleeping arrangements, I think we’ll move Jace and Dylan from the bunk room down to where Elsbeth and Rachel have been sleeping in a room with two twin beds. Then you ladies will have your own beds in the bunk room.”

I can see that Trisha’s head is spinning with all the names being thrown at her, so I motion to Julia and her to follow me and I turn to the hallway that leads to the stairs.

Rachel is coming toward me with Sara in her arms and looks relieved to hand her off, not even stopping long enough for an introduction as she continues on to the living room.

Upstairs, it suddenly occurs to me that I can’t communicate with Trisha and hold my daughter; Julia realizes it at the same time and snags her from me. A smile tugs at my lips, knowing how lucky I am that Sara is chill enough to be constantly handed around without freaking out.

“Please correct me when I am wrong.” Is the next message I relay to Trisha, trying to focus on her eyes and not her lips. “This is Mike’s home, his bedroom is downstairs. My daughter and me are his guests, we sleep in this room right here. Mike’s daughter, Shelby, is Julia’s mother, her father is Jace. They have a teenage son named Dylan, but are divorced. Got it?”

“Yes. How do you know them? Or are you related?” Trisha asks me.

“I was in the military with Jace and, once upon a time, we were tight enough that he made me Dylan’s godfather.” I quickly explain my connection. “I ran into Shelby and Dylan the day after the lights went out, but waited until Sara was born before I followed them here.”

“I’m sorry, can I ask about…” Trisha’s eyes dance between Sara and myself as she nervously tries to put together our background.

“Sara’s mom died giving birth to her.” I tell her, saving her from figuring out how to dance around that topic. “We were nevertogether-togetherand honestly, I have no way of knowing if I really am Sara’s biological father, but I’m sure as hell her dad.”

Trisha’s eyes flash at my statement and once she nods, as though clearing her thoughts, I continue to explain how Elsbeth, Rachel, Aiden, and Russ work into the equation.

I try to keep a smile to myself thinking we need to create a diagram of who everyone is before I finish telling her about the current sleeping arrangements, and then onto the types of bathrooms and the shower schedule.

“Is this something you’re comfortable with?” I ask, before weaving my fingers together and bending them all backwards until most of them let out a popping sound. I feel like I went from zero to eighty in terms of diving back into sign language, but am confident that I got most of the words right.

“And Dale said you were studying to be a nurse?” Trisha turns to question Julia.

“Yes, but I was only starting my second year. Just core classes and working in the school’s medical center,” Julia tells her. “I’ve been studying my grandmother’s notebooks since I got back here, she was really into holistic remedies. Unfortunately, the assigned texts for my classes were all eBooks so I don’t have access to those.”

“Ugh, I hadn’t thought of that. If you want to continue learning, I could go through the notebooks with you and make additional notes,” Trisha offers, reaching out to stroke Sara’s cheek before stopping herself when she notices that her fingers are dirty.

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