Angelica had run out of the bathroom and had hidden in the closet in her bedroom. Her Mama B had found her right away.

“Pumpkin?”

Angelica had turned away, but her mother had crawled into the closet.  She had sat next to her daughter and had hugged her tightly.  “Pumpkin?”

Angelica still looked away.

“Well, you are such a big girl now that you know where babies come from.”

Angelica had nodded.

“I was going to tell you while we ate dinner that you are going to be a big sister soon.  Do you want to talk to your baby brother?”

Angelica had shaken her head “no.”

“Angie, I love you so much. More than you can ever know.  You are my one and only Pumpkin, and you will be my Pumpkin forever and ever. Nothing will ever change that.”

Angelica remembered going home that night to her Mama T’s and tearing to pieces the sonogram photo given to her by her Mama B.

~~

Alice and Shane had traveled together to the symposium, through a six hour flight and a three hour drive. For the ground portion of their journey, Alice had rented a roadster in which their luggage only fit by tying it down with bungee cords.  By the time they had arrived at the lodge, they were thoroughly sick of one another’s company.  At the registration desk, they had asked that their rooms be in different wings. 

Alice had driven, top down.

“Alice, it’s cold.”

“What’s the point of a roadster if you’re gonna keep the top up?”

“That’s the point—why did you rent a roadster?  It’s fucking freezing!”

“Don’t be such a pussy.”

“It’s the Fall.  We’re in New York.” 

“I never thought you’d be such a hothouse flower.”

“I’m from LA. I’m not used to the cold.”

“We’ll stop at a rest stop and buy you a sweatshirt.  One with ‘I heart New York’.  Maybe one with a beaver.”

“A beaver.”

“Yeah.  The Astors.  Beaver trading.  How they built their wealth.”

“Uh huh.”

“You didn’t read that New York guidebook I gave you for the plane.”