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“Is it always this dark?” Lenna asks, knocking into a chair leg.
“Yeah, keeps it cool. But here, let me get a light.”
She snaps on a lamp. Lenna’s eyes start to adjust. The inside walls of the room are painted with doodles, snippets of poetry and song lyrics, and growth charts. There are a bunch of couches and a lot of bookcases. The place isn’t messy, exactly—but it’s certainly lived-in. An ordinary living room, albeit one that houses a whole bunch of people and children and animals. A large sign by the doorway reads:Shake out your shoes.
Lenna points at it. “Why?”
“Scorpions.”
There is a tangle of various woven rugs on the floor, colorful and vibrant. One has a big chunk taken out of it. “Are there lots of pets?” The idea of animals cheers her. She’d always wanted pets when she was little, but her mother was allergic. Daniel thinks they’re too messy.
“I would say so.” Rhiannon waves her hand blithely. “Five, six dogs? Two cats. Well. Wehadtwo cats. One ran off.”
“Is that dangerous, out in the desert?”
Rhiannon glances at her son. “The kitty went to another home,” she says slowly, loudly. But to Lenna, secretly, she widens her eyes in a doomed sort of way. “That’s why we keep the other kitty indoors from now on.”
On one wall are pencil-marked half moons Lenna can’t figure out. She moves closer to them, squinting. One fits inside the next. Each moon is dated.
“That’s a pregnancy belly tracker.” Rhiannon points at it. “From when Melissa had her baby, last year. Cute idea, right?”
“Someone else here has a baby that young?”
“Yep, she’s the youngest one, and then Teddy. She was born last year. In the house!”
“Really?” Lenna thinks of the long drive from the road—and then the long driveonthe road.
Rhiannon shrugs. “Marjorie took some midwifery courses. It all worked out.”
“ButTeddywasn’t born here, right?” Lenna asks.
Rhiannon looks away. “No. He wasn’t.” Then she smiles and touches Jacob’s nose. “But like I said, all of us are used to babies! Even adorable crying ones with cute button noses!” Jacob hiccup cries.
“He’s really out of sorts.” Lenna’s voice is suddenly shaky again. Her emotions are such a roller coaster. “On the plane…in the airport…you should have seen the looks…maybe I shouldn’t have done this to him.”
Rhiannon shakes her head. “Lenna. Seriously. You did everything right. And this is what we’rehere for.To give you some help. Remember?”
Lenna tries to nod, but it’s like her emotional floodgates have opened. “I just feel like such a failure.”
Rhiannon scoffs. “You’re not.” Then she turns away, pointing at the pictures on the walls. “Look at that pretty lady, huh?” Rhiannon narrates, pointing to a figure drawing, then a group photo. “And that’s called calligraphy! And look! There’s me and your new friend, Teddy!”
Lenna peers closer at the photo. It was taken at the front of the property—she recognizes the leering sun artwork on the door. Women and children stand shoulder to shoulder. Lenna spots Rhiannon in the back, holding an infant Teddy.
“How old was Teddy when you came here?” she asks her friend softly.
Rhiannon squints at the image a beat. “About three weeks?”
Then she turns away. Lenna feels a lump in her throat. Shepictures who Rhiannon used to be. Despite her moment with the little girl in H&M, she had a low tolerance for the messiness of children. One time, they were having brunch and the waiter seated a family with two cranky toddlers next to their table. Rhiannon stood up before they even got their mimosas. “Can we move?” she asked wearily, wincing when one of the kids let out a shriek.
How did someone change so much? Maybe it’s different when it’s your child.
Voices carry from down a hall. First there are lower syllables from an adult, and then higher responses from kids.The pod people,Lenna thinks as her stomach drops.
“So how many kids live here, total?” she asks.
“Nine. My Teddy, Amy’s Matilda. Melissa has Casey, Marlo, and Susan—two of them were born here. Ann’s got four kids—Riley, Bear, Nickel, and Hester. Some people count Coral as a kid, but she’s over eighteen.”
“Does anyonenothave kids?”
