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She laughed. “All the time, Hollie. I read to you, sang to you. The baby can hear you.”
I drew in a breath. How could I word what I needed to ask without my mother thinking I’d gone insane?
“No, Mom, I mean did you communicate back and forth with us?”
She paused. “No. But I do remember my grandmother saying she could hear my mother’s thoughts, but only until she reached a certain point in her pregnancy. Why? Can you hear the baby’s thoughts?”
Chewing on my lip, I said, “I’m almost positive she just told me she wants to be named Charlotte.”
“Oh, Hollie, sweetheart! That was your third great-grandmother’s name. Or was it your fourth? I can never remember. She was named after her father’s sister who passed away when she was young.”
“How do you know this?” I asked with a slight laugh.
“It’s on the family tree and in the family book. There’s a family legend that Charlotte’s mother gave her daughter her favorite dolly while she was in labor with her third child. It was a rather difficult birth, and Charlotte had heard her mother crying out and was scared. So, her father gave her the doll and said that Charlotte’s mother had asked her to watch over it and practice being a big sister. Sadly, both her mother and the unborn child died in childbirth.”
“Mom! That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Why in the world would you tell me that!”
“Hollie, you’re going to be fine. Anyway, Charlotte’s father gave her a locket after her mother passed. On the outside was her name, and on the inside was a picture of her mother.”
“Does anyone have the doll or the locket?”
Mom paused for a moment. “Let me see if I remember the story. Charlotte’s brother kept a journal, but I cannot for the life of me remember his name. I believe the house burned down with Charlotte and her father inside. Her older brother had gone into town to the market, and he was the only survivor.”
I put my hand to my chest. “My goodness, that is heartbreaking.”
“It is. But the name is lovely!”
Frowning at the phone, rolled my eyes. Leave it to my mother to put a positive spin on a story like that. I saw Lucas pull into the driveaway. “I need to go, Mom. Lucas just got home.”
“Okay darling, have a good time tonight, and let’s meet for lunch tomorrow.”
I smiled even though she couldn’t see me. “Sounds good. Bye, Mom.”
After hanging up, I rushed over to the door to open it. I could practically feel the negative energy coming off of Lucas.
“Hey, how was your day?” I asked as he stopped to give me a kiss.
“It was…strange.”
I shut the door and followed him toward the bedroom.
Lucas sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at me.
“Okay, you’re kind of freaking me out,” I said. “What’s going on?”
He drew in a long breath then exhaled.
“Something happened today, and I don’t really know how to explain it. I need a minute to get my thoughts in order.” He smiled up at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “How was your day?”
“It was good, but it must be a day for strange happenings. Do you know how I can sometimes tell what people are going to say before they say it?”
He nodded.
“I think it happened with the baby today.”
Lucas’s eyes went wide as saucers. “What do you mean?”
“Well, earlier the baby moved and I put my hand on my stomach and said, ‘Hello, little Charlotte.’ I have no idea why I called her that. She moved again, and I laughed and asked if she liked the name. She kicked hard, and I had the strangest sense come over me. Like déjà vu. It was so strange.”
