They arrived in Boston safely and on time and with no major discomfort for Penni, who took the window seat in the spacious first-class cabin and spent much of the flight staring at the ocean merging to sky passing by to their right. Jodie eased back the seat and closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep as the emotional and physical turmoil of the last few days finally caught up with her, here at twenty-three thousand feet. Her hand never left Penni’s, seemed now melded to that appendage after all these years, taking consolation as much as giving it.
When Penni squeezed Jodie’s hand to wake her as the other passengers began to stand and pull their carry-ons down from the luggage bin above, Jodie grinned sheepishly. “I never sleep on planes.”
“You’d earned the rest.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine! So much better than yesterday. Guess it’s the company.”
“Therapeutic for us both.”
Randall was waiting for them in the car at the Arrivals curb. After greeting his wife he gave Jodie a long hug. “Thank you so much for staying with her.”
“Making up for lost time.”
He drove them to their condo where Penni proudly showed off the four rooms to her sister, ending the tour at the elaborately decorated nursery. She’d recently added painted, hanging, and stuffed animals to her painted and stenciled walls of vegetation and painted ceiling of pre-dawn sky.
Jodie stood in the doorway with her mouth agape, utterly dazzled by the sight. “It’s a whole world in here!” she said finally, with a quiet voice as if it were a secret—their secret world.
“That’s the hope.”
“I had no idea you had such creativity.”
“I didn’t—until I was pregnant. Then I realized how narrow my world had been.”
“But not your daughter’s.”
“Not if I can help it.”
Randall ordered Chinese take-out and they had an early dinner. He’d swapped shifts with another resident so he’d be available to pick them up at the airport and would have to leave shortly to cover the overnight shift.
“Good,” Penni said. “That way Jodie doesn’t have to sleep on the couch. She can sleep with me.”
“You sure?” Jodie asked.
“Unless you’re afraid I’ll keep you awake. If so, you can have the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Jodie rolled her eyes. “You won’t keep me awake.”
“And tomorrow we can look into flights to get you back to Mom.”
“I’ll turn Dave loose on it,” Jodie said with a smile.