Rebirth by Michael Poeltl Page B

house and breathed deeply. Looking back at me his gaze lingered. “You’re not coming, are you, Sara?” He smiled sadly then.
     
    A journey like that was not something I could manage while pregnant. Open to the elements, food and shelter uncertain from day to day. “I’ll miss you, Sonny.”
     
    “Don’t,” he said, before he turned and entered the house for the last time. I would never see Sonny again.
     
    Chapter Fourteen
     
    Caroline had not recovered from the attack, and her deep depression left Sid with little to work with.
     
    “I don’t know what’s going on, Sara. Caroline won’t so much as let me touch her. Has she said anything to you?” Sid sat with me on the edge of my bed, where I huddled and fought back pregnancy-related nausea.
     
    “The episode.” I kept up the lie. “She’s still shaken from her episode last week. She’d never experienced anything like that before and she’s afraid it could happen again.” I was becoming an excellent liar. Not something I was particularly proud of, but necessary to keep a promise to a friend.
     
    “I can’t seem to reason with her and it’s scaring me you know? I feel like Connor must have felt when Julia was so depressed.” Our friend Julia, a former resident of this home and my very best friend, had cut her own wrists months ago to avoid bringing a child into this world. This memory haunted me more than ever, having now become pregnant myself and experiencing the same sad thoughts.
     
    “Sidney, give her some time. I’ll continue to talk with her, you just be her rock until she can open up to you again.”
     
    “I guess. I miss her though.”
     
    “I know you do. I miss the old Caroline too. Be patient, okay?”
     
    “I will. Thanks, Sara.” Sid left me to my thoughts. I was sitting up in bed, caressing my ever expanding stomach. What would my baby look like, I wondered. God I hoped it would be healthy. Who knew what the last few months could do to a fetus. I put those thoughts out of my mind and decided he would be a he, and that he would look like Joel. Ten fingers, ten toes, bald, and terribly handsome. I smiled and realized I was looking forward to meeting him. But what would I call him? I had no names picked. Should I call him Joel after his father? No, I decided that would be too painful. Maybe I’d name him after my own father, Leif. That was a strong name, and he would need all the strength he could get.
     
    Just then Kevin appeared at my door. “Sara,” he said flatly, “Earl would like your ear.”
     
    “Then tell Earl to come see me. I’m not jumping every time he calls.”
     
    “I’ll let him know.”
     
    I wasn’t looking forward to facing Earl one on one. We were used to arguing with each other now over just about everything, but in front of everyone, never just the two of us. I felt an urge to get up and call Sid back into the room when Earl’s frame blocked the doorway.
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
    “Earl.” I greeted him uncomfortably. His hands were hanging from the top of the door frame and his feet jammed up against either side of the opening as if to fill the space completely.
     
    “Sara. Can we talk about this baby of yours?”
     
    “I see no reason to discuss that with you,” I shot back.
     
    “No reason? I’m the one protecting this house; you have every reason to discuss this with me.”
     
    “We’re all, all of us protecting this house, Earl. Not just you!”
     
    “Sara. Who’s in charge here? Who in your mind is leading this group now?”
     
    “Not you.”
     
    “Oh, no? Then who? Who lives in Skylab, keeping watch day and night?”
     
    “That’s your choice to live there. The rest of us are doing our part too.”
     
    “Let’s not just agree to disagree this time, Sara. I need you to acknowledge my leadership so we can move forward.” He motioned toward me, trying to intimidate me. I wasn’t scared of Earl, though maybe I should have been after what he did to Caroline