“Right. Still on the same page.”
“Good. Here she is.”
“Hi,” Rainbow said.
Ronnie felt her shoulders drop and her body relax. “Hi, babe. Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you doing? I know the last three weeks haven’t been easy for you.”
Silence. Rainbow didn’t want to say. Talking about feelings was awkward.
Ronnie swallowed. Now is when she would have given her daughter a hug if she could. “I’m hugging you through the phone. How have kids been at school? Have your mates been there for you? Do you talk to them about stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“I emailed your teacher. She seems nice.”
“Do you know if it was a girl or boy?”
What?“Who?”
“The baby.”
Oof…Ronnie was not prepared for that one. “It was too early to tell, babe.”
“I dreamed about him.”
Bloody hell...Ronnie glanced over at Nev, who had closed her laptop and was reading James Baldwin again. “Right. Sometimes things like that happen in dreams. What was he like?”
Rainbow hesitated. “His name was Riley. He was cute.”
“That’s…” Ronnie swallowed. “You know I’d never in a million years have named it Riley, right?”
Rainbow snorted.
“I have to stick to the theme. It has to sound good with your name.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Can you take me to the mall?”
“You know I hate the mall, babes.”
“I need pants.”
“Mama doesn’t buy you clothes? Fine. If you go to the aquarium with me.”
“Deal.”
“Will you go to the aquarium with us?” Ronnie asked Nev. Nev shook her head. Ronnie turned back to the phone. “You’re a great kid. I’m so lucky to be your mum. I’m sorry this happened. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. It was super early, and it was never viable. It wasn’t in the right place so there was never a chance it would develop. Some people in this situation are sad about it. Others don’t think about it that much. Some people brush it off. And that’s all right, too. You can be sad about it or not. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said.
“What are you feeling?”
“It’s a lot.”
“Yeah.”
