Forsaken: An American Sasquatch Tale Part 16

Liberty begged off, kept her voice level. "A good thing you mentioned it, then, because as soon as we get settled in, we're coming to Proem. And," Liberty pointed to the hatch, "lucky for Nathaniel and I, we're actually getting out just in time because Mitch's family is selling the woods to developers. The land will be timbered out soon."

When Katie and Deacon were finally gone, she rubbed her nose, thanked goodness she wasn't a wooden boy.

Nathaniel discovered Mitch had well prepared for their transition. Not only had he created new ident.i.ties and paperwork to substantiate it, but also funds to keep up the house. She'd laughed when he'd shown her their new IDs, the photos on them were the ones Becky had jokingly called mug shots.

An agent had called to set up a meeting to discuss the estate and investment strategies, so Nathaniel said they had a lot to learn in a short amount of time.

They talked a bit about how things had turned out with the bands, how things had gotten messed up and not gone exactly as Mitch and Ellie had planned. In a perfect scenario, Liberty would have gotten the first amulet, Nathaniel the second, and then by proxy, and not needing a band because she was their child, Sage would have transformed. Liberty hadn't fully accepted how things had played out, but never groused about it. Sage was alive, so she focused on that.

Two weeks later Liberty sat on the edge of the claw-foot tub, staring at the inside of the closed door of her pretty yellow bathroom.

Her bathroom. She still couldn't get used to saying it, and didn't imagine it would happen any time soon. She was a slow adapter after all.

The first day Nathaniel and she moved into the farmhouse bas.e.m.e.nt, she'd spent a good amount of time opening and closing the three doors. One opened into the bathroom, one into the bedroom, and one into the laundry room. She loved the soft snick they made when they latched.

A light rap sounded on the door, "Mom?"

Sage had already knocked once before, seemed more eager for an answer than she to give one.

"Yes?"

"Anything yet? It's been almost an hour."

"Uh uh, not yet."

"Okay," she heard Sage sigh, watched her shadow move in the gap beneath the door.

"Hey mom? I know you said you wanted to be alone, but I have something for you. I didn't know when would be a good time, but I figured probably now was as good as any to give it to you."

Liberty raised her brows as Sage pushed a book under the door. She leaned over and picked it up. Spiral bound and royal blue, a cartoon pink owl sat in the center of the cover over one word, DIARY.

"What's this?"

"Well, so much happened, you know, when I wasaaway. And Mitch had given me that book, thought I might want to write down my thoughts. So, after a while I did. I wrote stuff down since I couldn't talk to you. It helped."

Liberty heard something swish, watched the shadow grow larger as Sage sat on the floor on the other side.

"So, anyway, like, I knew I was going to see you again soon. Except Mitch hung on a little longer than we expected. Which was good, of course." She paused and spoke softly, sadly. "Even if you didn't know I was here, I knew you were there, so it made us not being together more bearable."

Liberty's eyes blurred as she flipped through the book. It was almost full, drawings and doodles were in some of the margins. Her nose started to sting from the tears she knew were coming. "Thank you, baby. I'll read it today."

Sage laughed. "Oh, you probably won't get it all read this afternoon, but, you're welcome." She paused, then added, "Anything yet?"

Liberty got up, dried her eyes on a velvety yellow hand towel, disengaged the lock, and opened the door. She nodded at Sage. She'd already known, but wasn't ready to come out yet. She tipped her head toward the sink.

Sage got up, stepped inside, picked up the stick and with wide eyes turned. "Dad! Come quick! I'm going to be a sister."

Sage threw her arms around Liberty and was still jumping up and down when Nathaniel appeared in the doorway.

She waved the stick like a magic wand in front of him. "Look! It's positive!"

Nathaniel looked at Liberty, a gentle smile on his lips. "Guess it's a yes then?"

Rubbing her belly, Liberty nodded. "Guess it is. And an answer to all the nausea and fainting." Truth be told, she felt a little faint then.

"I'm going to call Becky." Sage rushed out, already on the phone. "I'll tell her she's going to be an aunt," she called over her shoulder.

Nathaniel led Liberty to the adjoining bedroom, sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I suppose we have lots of plans to make, huh?"

She looked at her feet, wondered whether the baby would be a part of her, or Sage and Nathaniel's world. Wishing, hoping, for the latter. "It seems we do."

Sage bounded back into the room, the phone pressed to her ear. "Aunt Becky says congrats and she wants to know what you and Dad are hoping for."

She and Nathaniel looked at each other, and then back at Sage.

"A baby," they said in unison.

Laughing, they hugged each other. Maybe they were gathered together in a bas.e.m.e.nt, but it was a step up from the caverns. They'd take it, for a day, a week, a year. Perhaps, sometime in the future, there'd be another step up for them.

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