She stood up and walked toward the window. She turned her head so that she was looking straight into the sun. She didn’t shift. She didn’t squint. Just stared straight ahead as though it did not affect her.

As though she was blind.

Therese

Therese knew she was carrying a girl.

She sensed it weeks before Leah ever mentioned it. But why was Leah so frightened to tell her? Why hadn’t the news brought her joy?

She shook off her concern and returned to her task. Tim was working late doing inventory and it was her responsibility to heat Barbara’s dinner. She scooped out a helping of spaghetti and sauce and tossed it into a pot. Tim was adamant that it not burn, and he taught her to first fill a lid with water and add it into the pot before covering. He insisted that she stir every three minutes so that it didn’t stick to the bottom. When she laughed, he brought out the kitchen timer and made sure she knew how to set it properly. Sitting obediently at the table, she reset it four times as he instructed. When it was heated, she slid the food into a large bowl and then balanced the basket of rolls he had prepared in her other hand. She brought it all to Barbara and placed it on the TV tray, but not before removing a half-eaten slice of chocolate cake that was still there from lunch.

Surprisingly, the television was turned off so that Barbara could devote full attention to consuming her meal. She twirled long strands of pasta into bundles, stuffed them into her mouth, and then used the roll to wipe the excess sauce from around her mouth.

“What do you think we should name the baby?” Therese asked, hoping to take her mind off thoughts of Leah.

“Huh?” Barbara swiped at her chin with a roll.

“The baby. What do you think we should name it?”

“Don’t really care. Name it whatever you want.”

“I was just wondering if you had any thoughts. How did you choose Tim’s name?”

Barbara glared at her. “What do you mean?” She hissed. “Why would you ask me that?”

The fork dropped and landed onto a bed of spaghetti.

“Just making conversation, Barbara.”

“I never had the luxury of sitting around thinking about names when I was pregnant with Timmy. Why don’t you go ask your own Mama about picking names?”

She retrieved her fork and went back to bundling strands.

“My mother isn’t really a help when it comes to this kind of stuff. She didn’t even realize she was pregnant with me until the day I was born.”

“What kind of idiot doesn’t know she’s pregnant?” she snickered.

“I suppose you knew the second it happened.”