She looked past me through the open door toward the nursery.
“Those shelves are already full,” she said.
“They are.”
She stepped closer without waiting to be invited inside.
I moved a stack of folded onesies from the entry bench. “The babies have enough clothes for now.”
Vivian smiled at the nursery.
“Leo will need more than you think.”
“Luna too.”
She turned back to me. “Of course. I only mean Leo has the Sterling family name to carry.”
I folded a tiny white shirt and set it on the stack.
“Both children have the Sterling name.”
Vivian adjusted the bakery box in her hand.
“You know, Elena, I could come by whenever Daniel is working.”
“I know.”
“It would be easier if I did not have to wait for someone to answer.”
I looked at her purse.
“Are you asking for a key?”
“I am asking whether you really want me standing outside when you need me.”
“I can let you help without giving you a key.”
Her smile stayed in place.
“Why would you make a simple thing difficult?”
“Because it is my house.”
Vivian glanced toward the nursery again.
“Daniel’s house too.”
“Yes.”
“And the babies are Sterling children.”
“Yes.”
She lowered the bakery box.
“Then why should I need permission to come in?”
I did not answer immediately.
The question had arrived dressed as concern, but it was still a request for access.
“I will call you when we need you.”
Vivian picked
up the bakery box.
“That sounds very formal.”
“It is clear.”
She turned toward the steps, then stopped.
“After the birth, you may see this differently.”
“Maybe.”
She walked to her car without taking the box back inside.
I watched her carry it away.
The porch felt wider after she left.
At six twenty, Daniel was on the dining room floor with a screwdriver, working on the loose cabinet hinge that had been bothering him for weeks.
I read Vivian’s text from my phone.
“She says, ‘I need the hospital room number too.’”
Daniel tightened the screw.
“She already knows the hospital.”
