“They stopped everything.”
“That doesn’t mean you ruined anything.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I didn’t want everyone staring.”
“I know.”
“I just didn’t understand.”
“I know.”
Ryan stood several feet behind her.
“Annie.”
I looked at him.
“Not yet.”
He nodded.
Then Amelia said something I wasn’t expecting.
“Everybody keeps saying there were seven of us.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Our family.”
She started counting on her fingers.
“You.”
One.
“Dad.”
Two.
“Me.”
Three.
Then her siblings.
Four.
Five.
Six.
She stopped.Family
Her little forehead wrinkled.
“But there was going to be one more.”
Nobody spoke.
My heart broke all over again.
Amelia looked at Ryan.
“Does the baby still count?”
Ryan’s face changed.
I looked away because suddenly I couldn’t bear to watch him.
He crouched in front of her.
“Yes.”
Amelia studied him.
“Even though the baby died?”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“The baby still counts.”
Amelia nodded.
That was apparently all she needed.
Then the garden door opened.
Lina stepped outside.
My sister.
In her wedding dress.
