Angie laughed. “Oh, stop.”
Valerie met Angie’s gaze and continued to bob at the knees. “I’m so happy for you.”
Angie took a seat on the sofa and watched Valerie pace around the room with Ethan. “It’ll be your turn soon.”
“Yes. How was the labor?”
Angie made a face. “It seemed to go on forever, but now that it’s over, it feels like nothing. You know how when you wake up in the morning and you remember a dream—then it fades from memory as the day goes on? It’s like that. It doesn’t matter at all, and all I want to do is have another one.”
Valerie laughed. “You’ve found your calling?”
“Maybe so,” Angie replied.
Ethan began to squirm in Valerie’s arms, so she sat down on the sofa and handed him to Angie. “Maybe he’s hungry?”
“I doubt it. I just gave him a bottle before you came. Maybe it’s gas.” Angie raised him over her shoulder and patted him gently on the back until he let out a loud, gurgled burp.
Valerie and Angie laughed.
“Well done.” Angie turned him in her arms and cradled him on her lap. “How clever you are.”
“That was the cutest burp I’ve ever heard.” Valerie offered her finger to Ethan, and he gripped it tightly. “He’s amazing.”
“Yes,” Angie replied. She kissed each of his soft cheeks.
Valerie sat back. “What does Joe think? He must be proud.”
“Proud as a peacock, giving out cigars at the station as soon as the doctor told him it was a boy.”
“He wasn’t at the hospital with you?”
“No, he was working a shift. But it was fine. We talked about it beforehand. He hates hospitals, so I told him he didn’t have to hang around in the waiting room.” Angie ran her thumb lightly over Ethan’s forehead. “He looks tired. I think I’ll put him in his crib. Come and see his pretty mobile. It arrived last week, just in time.”
Valerie rose from the sofa and followed Angie to the nursery. It was painted yellow with a wallpaper border and teddy bears on a red checkered background.
Angie bent to lay Ethan in the crib. She spun the mobile: more teddy bears on a train, going round and round. “Isn’t it adorable?”
“Gorgeous,” Valerie replied.
Angie sang a lullaby until Ethan drifted off. Then they backed away from the crib and tiptoed out of the room.
“How long will he sleep?” Valerie asked.
“At least an hour. Maybe more,” Angie replied. “But Joe thinks I shouldn’t let him sleep so much in the day.”
“Why not?”
“Because the past two nights he woke up and cried to be fed, and it was exhausting. For Joe, at least, because he had to get up early for work. It doesn’t bother me so much because I can sleep when Ethan does. That’s what my mother told me to do.”
“Maybe you should be sleeping now?” Valerie asked.
She linked her arm through Valerie’s. “Not a chance. I haven’t seen you in a dog’s age, and there’s so much to talk about. Come to the kitchen. I’ll make tea.”
She filled the kettle at the sink and turned on the stove, then dropped a couple of tea bags into the teapot. While they waited for the water to boil, Angie sat down at the table across from Valerie.
“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Drew?”
“Not a word. I finally gave up writing to him. I haven’t written a letter in three months.”
