I don’t get very many days off, “busy as a bee” doesn’t justify exactly how busy it is sometimes. It’s bad enough that I often take on too many workshop orders, but late Spring is really important for the harvest festival to go without any problems. Nevertheless me and my cousins always manage to come out of Spring okay. Earning quite a lot of free time in the process.
For me, free time is best spent with friends. We all usually take turns deciding what we all do together, and today it was my cousin, Beatrice’s turn to decide. She enthusiastically asked all of us on a big shopping day. Which I gleefully agreed to, since I was needing new clothes anyway.
I awoke to a gentle knock on the door. Amber started stirring too, but once she noticed I was the one awake, she adjusted back into bed and quickly fell back asleep. I gave her a gentle kiss, and got out of bed. It was kind of cold for a morning in spring, but that was because I was still naked from the day before. Taking one of Amber’s overshirts from the floor to cover myself up, I went to check the front door. I did my best to gently crack it open to peek out, but was met with an excited “Darbee!” as Beatrice jumped at me with a hug almost taking the both of us to the ground.
“Trix, h-hi to you too! – The door’s wide open!” I screamed, further covering myself in the hope nobody was flying by.
“Oh, wow. I’m so sorry!” she said, covering her mouth as she got out of the way letting me close the door.
“In my defense, how was I supposed to know you were gonna open the door naked?” she asked, crossing her arms with a slight pout.
“By not barging in when I crack the door open? You goofball. You could have hurt the both of us,” I said, still making sure Amber’s shirt was covering me.
“Look, please just sit down, I’m going to get dressed then we can go meet everyone at the Flats, okay?” I said, pointing to the couch.
I walked back to mine and Amber’s room to get dressed, leaving Beatrice softly humming to herself on the couch. Beatrice is the kind of person that you need to take in doses, being extremely excitable over almost everything. Her gait is also just bouncy enough, it’s almost like she skips along everywhere she goes. A lot of her sisters call her Bubbles sometimes because of this, and it’s certainly an apt nickname.
In the time that I had almost been tackled at the front door, back in our room Amber had somehow ended up stretching out and taking up the whole bed. There was no way she was comfortable in the position she was sprawled out in, but she obviously was. I took some time to find a nice shirt to go under Amber’s. I don’t usually tie off outfits with anything of hers, but seeing as I was already wearing it what’s the harm, right? It by no means fit me, as baggy as it was on her, it could be worn like a dress on me if I really wanted to. Albeit though, it’d be a rather short dress compared to what I usually wear. It still smelled enough like her that I didn’t mind.
After some time had passed, I returned to the living room to see Beatrice herself had been in the kitchen helping herself to some of my treats. I didn’t mind, I let her do it often. Her sweet tooth was almost as bad as mine and us bees can practically taste sugar in the air sometimes. Nonetheless she seemed very happy to see me, as we both went on our way to the Flats.
The Flats, as most of the Garden had come to call them, was an enclosed group of tree stumps cut off at different heights and sections of. On them was a series of shopping centers, with stores of all kinds. We were greeted by the rest of our group, Antoinette, and Silvia, who were already sitting around at the top of one of the stumps on a bench, near the food courts. Antoinette, an Argentine ant was sitting around on her phone, probably talking to her younger sister. I was honestly surprised Vera wasn’t there, Enette’s sister is usually glued to her hip. Maybe she’s gotten old enough to not need a constant babysitter, I thought to myself. Silvia was also there, she was also a Honeybee, but she wasn’t from the Garden’s hive. She’s always been kind of secretive and avoidant about where she came from. Not that we minded, or ever felt like prying.
“Took you long enough, it’s not that long of a flight is it?” Enette asked, her eyes not even looking up from her screen.
Antoinette is in the middle among her many sisters. Most of her older sisters were alates, which set her apart. Her lack of wings never seemed to bother her, well. Nothing ever really seemed to bother her at least from what any of us could tell. She spent a lot of her time at home, not having to work but instead taking care of her younger sister, Vera, while her mother did colony business. The two of them were usually inseparable otherwise because of how often they’ve spent together.
“Sorry! I didn’t think it’d take so long to get ready today,” I said, giving Trixie a knowing side-eye.
She just nervously giggled, I had agreed not to mention that she got distracted and flew right into a small branch along our way to the Flats and fell all the way to the ground. She’s the epitome of klutz most days, and I’m often the one who has to help pick her up when she falls. There’s a shocking amount of Beatrice shaped holes around the Garden that we do our best to cover up or hide.
“Hmm,” Enette mumbled, as she went back to her phone. She started sipping on a cup of coffee beside her. She’s hardly ever seen without one, whether she has it from her personal flask of cold brew, or from the nearby coffee shop. There’s been days I’ve seen her with her own packets of instant coffee.
“Oh, come now, Enette. We have all day. It’ll be fine,” Silvia said, standing up with a stretch, “Though I hope the fall today wasn’t too bad, Bea? You’ve got one hell of a bump on your forehead.”
Beatrice, letting out the squirreliest of squeaks, started hiding her forehead with her hands. Silvia couldn’t help but start laughing, and Enette just let out a soft chuckle. Silvia was one of the most observant people I’ve ever known. I’m not sure why, but she’d always notice even the most subtle out of place things about those around her, whether it’s emotional or physical. She’s always been one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and seeing as the both of us were outsiders welcomed into the Garden’s big Honeybee hive, it was only natural we’d be friends.
“Anyway, it’s your day to decide what we all do. Where do we start, Bubbles?” Silvia continued, as she and Enette came closer to the two of us.
Trixie started to tap her lips in thought, before nonchalantly blurting out “I don’t know!” in the most singsong way she could.
The three of us pretty much groaned in unison as she began standing on her tiptoes looking all over the different shops around the Flats. It took us a good while to even notice she had already walked a good distance away from us, she had done it so abruptly. Honestly, I was impressed she could even be so stealthy. “So,” I began, “how are the two of you today? It’s been a busy Spring so far. I don’t think we’ve had the chance to hang out since the solstice.”
“Oh, you know. The usual business around the Garden of making sure no flower’s left unloved for us bees. I think I saw you napping almost every day in the daisies, Darbee? Honestly I prefer the violets, they smell much better” Silvia said.
“Imagine having time to nap? You bees are lucky. Mom’s been busy trying to make quotas for the supercolony, so I’ve been having to spend even more time making sure Vera doesn’t destroy the place. While everyone else has been working well into the night. I’ve been getting even less sleep than usual,” Enette said with a yawn.
Her yawn was contagious, and I couldn’t help myself. “Speaking of, I’m surprised Vera’s not here with you today? Did any of your other sisters agree to watch her today?” I asked.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah nah. She has some alate-whatever princessy stuff to worry about today, Mom needed her,” she said between coffee sips.
It had been a solid while of non-stop walking and the three of us were just following Beatrice hoping she’d finally pick a store to go into. “Bea, where the heck are you going? I thought you wanted to shop, not drop from exhaustion?” Silvia asked, slightly annoyed, “You could at least slow down and talk with us too, y’know?”
“Yeah, Trix, I thought we were all supposed to be hanging out, not playing follow the leader,” I teased.
She stopped dead and went back to tapping her lips and standing up and down on her tiptoes, “Sorry! I guess I got carried away,” she said with a nervous giggle, “Oh! Darbee, you said you wanted new clothes, right? Why don’t we go try a bunch on?” she asked, her wings fluttering almost fast enough to take flight.
“Okay, but all the clothes shops are all on the other end of the Flats. We’ve been following you the complete wrong way for that, that’s a really long walk now,” Enette said, finally taking her eyes off her phone.
“Oh, it’s no big deal, Enette. I can always pick you up and carry you,” I said.
That was enough to get her to stop looking at her phone and give me a sharp glare, and I couldn’t help but laugh in response.
“Walking’s fine, I’ve got nothing better to do today, and I wanted to spend it with you all anyway,” Silvia said, “Of course if how long it’ll take to get to the other side of the Flats is a problem, Enette, I could always pick you up instead.”
“Or me! I’m very good at carrying things!” Beatrice exclaimed.
Enette just let out a large sigh, turning around and starting to walk towards the clothing stores. “I’ll be fine walking on my perfectly capable feet, thank you, you’re all more than free to join me.”
“Whoops, did we touch a nerve there?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Silvia said, “she’s normally okay with jokes like that. Vera usually takes the first opportunity for any of us to fly with her since she can’t yet.”
“Maybe that’s the reason? She’s missing her baby sis? They’re never apart like this.” Beatrice added.
I shrugged and went to match pace with Enette, who had finally put her phone away and was staring at the ground as she walked. We all started chatting and talking about how our Spring had been going so far and it seems the most eventful it had been for any of us was Enette herself, who saw a lot of her older sisters leave the Garden to start their own colonies. A usual right of passage for alates. She didn’t say much beyond that, I wanted to speak up about it, but Silvia put a hand on my shoulder and motioned me to not say anything. I trusted her judgment on that. Beatrice took note too. If there’s one thing the three of us can understand, it’s the silent way we can still communicate with each other just by moving. It’s something all of us bees share that not many other bugs in the Garden pick up on.
Before long we had found our way on one of the connected stumps with clothing stores all along the edges. Some of the trees in the Flats were cut from the middle and still had supports that allowed the trees above to still grow, the grafting supports also had elevators to help anyone who couldn’t fly or climb on to different levels. Beatrice once again started skipping ahead, and entered one of the boutiques to enthusiastically look around for things to try on. “You all go ahead, I’m good today,” Enette said, leaning her back against the wall just outside of the boutique.
“Oh, heaven forbid you ever wear something other than a black hoodie and skinny jeans once in a while, Enette,” Silvia teased, walking inside.
“Pleaaaaaase, Enette,” I pleaded, “I’ve missed all of you, I don’t want you to be lonely out here.”
She peeked at me through one open eye. Did she really intend to nap the whole time we were shopping? Looking at how darker than normal the bags under her eyes were, part of me wondered if she’d need the nap and I felt a little bad. She smiled warmly, and started walking into the boutique herself, where Beatrice was already twirling around in a summer dress, not too dissimilar from the one she entered the store with, with a modest pile next to her ready to try on.
The boutique itself wasn’t that large, but it had plenty of clothes to choose from. It was honestly a little too bright for myself, so I wasn’t exactly sure what Enette would try on. I think it’d be interesting to see her in something bright for a change, but I guess we’d all have to be satisfied with her at least browsing today. Silvia, on the other hand, didn’t seem interested in trying on new clothes, but was primarily looking into new shoes. She was the tallest of the four of us, so it was always a little shocking to see her try on heels.
Myself? I was sort of – stuck. For lack of a better word. I’d always freeze up looking for clothes before and early on in transition. Even now, as far in as I am? I still struggle to go into boutiques like this and try on clothes. I guess it helps that I wasn’t alone, also it’s not like anyone regularly clocks me too. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t going to stop me from freezing up and overthinking. It also helps that it was a very quiet day, and there didn’t seem to be anyone else but us, and the cashier, who looked like they were ready to fall asleep at any moment.
I had to have been there a good while, because Enette’s hand found its way just below my wings, giving me a nice shock back to reality. “Darbee, are you okay? Did your brain fly into a zapper or something?” she asked, pulling in front of me.
“Hmm? Oh, hi, Enette.” I said, snapping back, “did you need my help trying anything on?”
“Uh, no. You just looked like a moth in fog lights, and I thought you needed some help,” she said, putting her hands on my shoulders.
“Heh – No I’m fine, thank you, Enette. I–”
“Daaa-haaar-beeeeee!~” I heard a voice coo from behind me.
Oh great. This again.
“Aaaand!~ DRESS ASSASSINATION!” Trixie gleefully screamed, pulling me from behind with a dress still on a hanger, letting it drape over the front of me by the collarbone.
“Hmm, not sure it’s their color, Bubbles. Maybe try something else?” Silvia said, peeking over one of the clothing racks.
“Uh, guys..?” Antoinette tried to speak up, still trying her best to make sure I was okay.
And I was, all things considered. If I’m being honest, I think the pull back to reality was very much needed. This happens every time I go shopping with Trix. Even before I had come out to her, she had this almost instinctual “know,” and would always try to slide whatever dress she thought looked great on her, onto me. I’m not sure she expected the outcome when she first did it to me, but it’s been a tradition almost every time we go shopping together. Heck, even on days we aren’t anywhere near clothes she somehow sneaks a dress.
“Noooo I wanna see them wear it, they’ll look so cute!” she pouted, as she started to gently push me to get changed.
I gave a quick smile to Enette, who seemed to have gotten the memo that I was okay. She rolled her eyes, let out a sigh, and went back to lazily browsing through the store, occasionally checking her phone. I let Trixie guide me the rest of the way to the changing room, it felt like at any second she’d lift me up into the air by the hanger. Probably would not be the ‘dress assassination’ she was hoping for if that did happen. I made sure there was a hand firmly between the dress and my neck to minimize that risk even if it wasn’t going to happen.
“Trix, h-hey! Not so hard!” I exclaimed, as the two of us got closer to the changing room.
When she let go, I turned around holding the dress. She was just standing there with the brightest smile she’s had today. It took me a moment to realize she’d picked out a matching dress to the one she was already wearing. Again, a common trend when she picks dresses for me to try on. We looked really similar despite being as far removed cousins as we were, even more so than some of her other sisters. I understood that she wouldn’t stop glaring at me until I tried it on, so with a quick eye roll I turned around and entered the changing room. I could hear her giggle behind me, which I couldn’t help but smile at. She is infectious. It’s why you need to take her in doses, otherwise your heart might give out from the aura of giddiness she exudes.
I’ve honestly grown to enjoy how my body fits dresses now. It’s not like I had the most unfeminine figure before hormones, but honestly having more hips definitely helps. The dress Trixie picked wasn’t what I’d normally wear, but it was well within her usual attire. It had a nice rose pattern, and the red faded into black at the bottom, and was poofy on the top to help emphasize everything there. Not like Trixie needed emphasis up there herself, but I appreciated the assistance. The skirt of the dress was slightly pleated too, which really helped with shaping overall. It also gave it plenty of flow, it was really hard to not give a few spins in place to watch it twirl.
“Darbeee!!” I heard from outside of the curtains, “hurry uu-hupp! I want to see!”
“Okay, okay, Trixie! Hold on, one second,” I said, stepping out from the dressing room.
It wasn’t long before she started clapping happily, “I knew it! It looks great on you!” she exclaimed.
“See, Silvia. I knew it’d look great on them!” Beatrice said, grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling me in front of Silvia.
“Hmm, yeah I stand corrected. Red really is her color,” Silvia said, with a slight smirk.
I felt the moment hit me, and I decided to twirl around a bit, much to both of their amusement. Beatrice started twirling with me, and we both couldn’t help but giggle at each other’s antics. The fun moment was cut short, however, when I saw Enette sitting at the front of the boutique staring at her phone. I don’t think the three of us even noticed her shuffle there, but she was staring at it in horror. She looked at the verge of crying. It wasn’t long before it started buzzing, and she emphatically answered.
“Sí, ma? What?! – I mean, I don’t understand, isn’t she still just – Yes, mother. I – Claro. I’ll be home soon,” she said, hanging up, “damnit!”
Enette quickly got up and ran outside, and I began following but was stopped by a sharp “Darbee, wait,” from Silvia.
“But I–” I stammered, looking at her confused.
She motioned at me to turn around, as she ripped the tags off the dress I was wearing. “There, now go. I’ll drop your other clothes off at your house later. I’ll go ahead and buy this so you don’t get in trouble,” she said walking towards the counter.
“Right, sorry! Thank you, I’ll pay you back!” I said, before hurriedly running to find Enette.
She didn’t get far, and it wasn’t particularly hard to catch up with her. She never really was much of a runner, preferring to just walk instead. When I got close enough I could hear that she was crying between labored breaths. “Enette, wait I –” I said, reaching out my hand to her shoulder.
She swiftly turned and swatted my hand away. It hurt quite a lot, but the look in her eyes right after let me know she didn’t realize it was me. “Oh.. Darbee. I’m sorry I –” she said before just about leaping to me and holding me tight, “fly me home, please? I won’t be able to get there fast enough otherwise.”
I didn’t want to question her, the way she was looking into my eyes said it all. I had never seen her like this. Without saying a word I lifted her up and started flying to her colony. If I tried to say anything she’d probably start crying. I needed to be fast.
It wasn’t particularly easy flying like this, she was holding tight and it was a little uncomfortable. She was still trying not to get in the way of my wings, which I appreciated. It’s not like she needed to hold tight, I had her. But she wasn’t hiding very well that she had started crying, so I didn’t want to say anything.
I felt a tug on my shoulder, followed by a soft “Darbee?”
Her eyes were red, but she had mostly gotten herself together, but her voice was still extremely shaky. “She’s sending her away! She’s sending her away early!”
“What!?” I exclaimed, “Vera can’t even fly yet!”
“She knows, but..”
“Enette, why would your mom try to send her off early? It’s too dangerous for her to leave the garden, even with a royal party!” I continued to question and argue, but Antoinette just gripped my dress tighter.
I realized that in that second me also freaking out was doing the furthest thing from help. Taking in a deep breath and calming myself down, I noticed her looking back up at me. “It’s my fault, we had a fight last night and I–”
I stopped and cut her off. “No, it’s not. Whatever freak decision your mom’s making isn’t your fault, Enette.”
“No, you don’t get it, Darbee. She doesn’t like how close the two of us are, she never has. I wanted to take her with us today, and we fought about it,” Enette reinforced, “she was going on and on about commencement stuff and Vera’s royal duties and –”
Her voice had gotten stuck in her throat, and she just started crying again when she saw how close we were getting to her colony. “Look, Enette,” I started, “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure this out, don’t worry. She’s barely older than a pupa, she won’t be able to start her own colony for years.”
“She doesn’t want to do that though, that’s part of the problem. She’s watched all of her older sisters leave, and she’s scared. I tried to tell mother that, and –”
Both of our attentions were taken by an incoming “BIG SIS!” from our side, seconds later a small bug making a b-line straight towards us. I didn’t have time to react before we collided, and the three of us were sent hurling down to the ground below.
Getting up and rubbing my head, sure enough the first thing I saw when I reopened my eyes was Vera, Enette’s younger sister. She hadn’t wasted any time after tackling Antoinette and me to the ground. She was holding onto the poor girl for dear life, crying herself. “H-hey, kiddo –” Enette said, strained.
“So much for not being able to fly,” I said, attempting to nurse a growing welt on my head, “If you could even call that flying.”
Vera only blew a raspberry at me in response, her eyes were more bloodshot than Enette’s. “She’s got the take off pretty okay, it’s everything else she’s been struggling with. Especially the landing.” Enette said, running her hands through Vera’s wavy hair. “Dale, hermanita, what’s the hurry?”
They were both rubbing their eyes, Vera very sniffly started saying “Mama’s upset and you weren’ home and she said I was supposed t’have comenciment next week like Clara and Lia did. But we haven’t seen either of them since they did their comenciments.”
I could only understand a few words with how fast she was speaking, while Enette seemed to be able to understand her perfectly like she normally does.
Clara and Lia were two of Enette’s older sisters, princess alates who had already been sent off to run their own small colonies connecting her family’s massive supercolony. They left this spring, and the year before even more of her sisters left the same. She had cousins, siblings, niblings, you name it, all across the continent by this point. However, there seemed to be next to no contact after the point of them leaving after commencement. What good would sending Vera off so early do? She’s still so little and hasn’t even reached puberty and she was being given a commencement ceremony? Next week even? This was all so weird.
“Look, I’m just confused by all of this,” I started, “don’t you think maybe if we had a talk with your mom we can figure all of this out. It sounds like you didn’t have much of a discussion last night when you two argued, Enette.”
“Maybe? Like I said, she’s been extra stressed lately. I’m just as lost as you are in all of this,” she replied before hugging Vera tightly.
We both jumped as Vera shrieked in pain, and Enette let go immediately. Then, I saw it. Vera’s wing had torn in the fall. It didn’t look too bad, but it certainly looked painful. “Gosh,” I tried to take a closer look but Vera flinched before my hands even got near it.
“Oh, just great. Mama’s gonna flip about this,” Enette said, rummaging through her bag for a bandage, “do you wanna help me real quick with this, Darbee?”
Bandaging her wing didn’t seem to cause Vera too much pain, but she certainly wasn’t going to be able to fly any time soon. Or practice falling like she does, at least. Which meant whatever ceremonies she’d have to take part in wouldn’t be an option. I could only worry about what her mother was going to say. She might even blame me.
“Lucky you, chamita, looks like you’re gonna have to stay here until that heals,” Enette said, lifting Vera back up carefully, “Sí va, vaina, let’s go face the music. Mama’s gonna be upset you ran off like that. Though she might be even more upset with me since I’m such a ‘bad influence’ to make this happen.”
“Wait, she called you that?” I said with confusion.
“No. She did,” Enette said, poking Vera’s sides causing her to giggle.
Her giggling was contagious, and I found myself joining in. Instant regret quickly set in since my head was still reeling from getting knocked by Vera moments ago. It was a given we’d have to walk the rest of the way to Enette’s home, luckily it wasn’t that far at this point. We were walking fairly quietly the rest of the way, and I could feel a growing anxiety from both Enette and Vera.
“Darbee? I think it might be a good idea if you head home now. Thanks for getting me most of the way,” Enette said, giving me a worried look.
“Huh?” I wasn’t sure where that came from.
“Look, Mama only kinda likes you because you’re not some ‘total punk’ like your girlfriend. I don’t want to risk any blame being put on you for Vera getting hurt,” she explained.
“What? After all that? It’s not either of our fault. I want to help with this,” I pleaded.
“Look, I get that you like to try and find ways to help when you think there’s going to be problems, but it’d be easier if I handled this. I’d rather you not get caught up in my mother’s bullshit right now with how high-strung she’s been.”
I knew at this point there was not talking her down, Enette was as stubborn about stuff like this. Truth be told, from what she just said, it sounded like she was not so subtly trying to tell me I was only going to get in the way and exacerbate things. Which is always the last thing I want. “Okay, I guess I’ll let you take it from here. But please keep me updated on what’s going on?”
She nodded, and I let the two of them go on ahead. I went about finding somewhere nearby to sit down and get myself together. My headache had only gotten worse, and sitting down was the only thing that made sense to ease the pain. I started reaching into my pock– wait, this dress doesn’t have pockets. I let out a loud groan that made Enette in the distance stop and turn back for a second. All my stuff would have to be back at mine and Amber’s home by now, if Silvia brought it back.
Swallowing what little was left of my pride I started the trip home. I was hoping for a nice calm day and all I got out of it was a dress covered in dirt and a welt on my head. While not being the worst day I’ve ever had, I’m glad I could help Enette at least. The whole flight home, my mind was on Enette, I don’t think I’d ever seen her like that. I was worried, but I couldn’t check on her until I got to my phone.
Outside on our balcony was a bag from the boutique the three of us were shopping at earlier in the day, with a note from Silvia saying “you’re welcome, you owe me.~” I shuffled through to find my keys, only to be met by an already unlocked door. Amber was already inside, having moved everything off of the coffee table in front of the couch with a guitar laying across it.
“Oh, hey, babe,” she said without taking her attention away, “welcome home. Silvia said you might be a bit.”
“Yeah, I – Wait isn’t that?”
“Tori’s guitar? Yes.”
“And she’s letting you touch it?”
“After Nick thought it’d be funny to snap a few of her strings trying to tune it today, she’s letting me put new strings on.”
I was on autopilot by this point, sliding onto the couch and resting my whole head on Amber’s shoulder. I must have dozed a bit because the next thing I know I’m falling into the cushions while she got up to put the guitar back in Tori’s case. “I’ll let her tune it, she’d had enough of other people getting that thing so high-strung it snaps without warning.”
“High-strung? –” bolting up I started rummaging through the boutique bag again for my phone to see if Enette had tried to message me or anything, “crapcrapcrap, Enette!”
I had a few missed calls and texts, but none from her. Bea was worried sick about if I got home safe or not, and I made sure she knew I did. I wanted to text her, but I figured she’d rather let me know herself. Amber sat back down next to me and pushed my phone screen down, “Darbee, you have to trust that she’s going to be okay? I only know what Silvia mentioned, but Enette’s going to be okay. Whatever this is will be sorted out, just give it time.”
She kissed my forehead, making me wince slightly. It still had the wanted effect of calming me down, though despite the bit of pain. She was right, I needed to learn to trust that people can work through their own issues by themselves sometimes. Otherwise I’d probably be arguing with Enette’s mother right now. Not going to lie, I was still going to worry until I got some bit of news. I let out a noise you’d expect from some unknown monster in the outside forests, and Amber just looked at me with both horror and concern. I know it wasn’t what she was trying to do, but I still burst out laughing, “I have had the longest day, can you just hold me for a while?”
“Maybe after you change and get all that dirt off of you, that dress would look way cuter on you without it,” she teased.
“Aw, I thought the look suited me after I lost to Bea in a ‘falling-out-of-the-sky competition,’” I snarked back.
“A new champion rises from the dust and dirt!”
That earned a playful push, as I went about standing up to change. We’d spend the rest of the evening just lazing about together until my phone started going off. It was Enette, I wasn’t going to waste any time answering. “Hello? Enette? Is–”
Enette almost immediately interjected. “Hi, Darbee, yeah everything’s fine. We were committing the world’s biggest cases of assumicide today,” she said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Mama, she’s retiring. Vera isn’t leaving. I don’t know there’s so much going on I need to call you later when I’m not so overwhelmed,” she said, sounding extremely exhausted and emotionally spent.
Our call didn’t go far beyond that, I thanked her for calling me to update and then I let her go. I sat there in shock for a while, before taking in a deep breath and went right back to cuddling Amber. “I was right, wasn’t I?” she asked.
“You were, for once,” I said, wrapping myself around her just a bit tighter.
“Don’t you mean always?” she said, nudging me softly.
“Yeah, sure, for today at least,” I said with a laugh, “thank you.”
Enette seemed okay, and it also seemed like a lot was about to change. Don’t know if it’s for better or worse quite yet. I’m not going to let that get to me, though. For now I was more than happy to enjoy the nice calm moment I feel I earned after a day like today.
