The Struggle Of Our Lives

Chapter 24, continued.

After all, what 11 year-old is going to want to cook meals on the stove? 

--

It was finally time to hang out with Yasmin and Daniel at the library. I had helped Teddy get ready, as he was desperate to look good for his crush, and Charlotte and I looked through Yasmin's Instagram again and again to review her overall aesthetic. She typically went for a bohemian vibe, with lots of patterns and colors complimenting each other. We picked out yet another outfit together. This time we made a comfortable yet attractive outfit, with a granny's knit headscarf, a black tank with a large auburn butterfly on it, and a long brown maxi skirt with small, embroidered daisies. Plus, I wore my usual slides with black socks then helped Lotte get dressed. 

Once the three of us were finished, it was time to take care of the baby. I cleaned her up, gave her some milk, burped her, and dressed her up in a little yellow onesie with daisies to match my skirt. Finally, we were all ready, and we set off for the library. I texted Yasmin to let her know we were on the road, and she replied with 'same!'

The bus ride to the library was suspenseful. Theodore kept fixing his hair in his seat and looking out the window impatiently. Lotte and I were cooing the baby, and talking about how fast she was growing. We had just gotten her a new pair of shoes a month ago in a large size so she could have them longer, but she had already grown out of them, so we donated them before she even got the chance to wear them. I held her carefully in my arms, reassuring her when we hit a bump in the road. 

The bus driver Desmund and his wife Nancy had met September a while back and would give her kisses every time they saw her. Nancy told us that once Ember was old enough for solid food, she planned to give her little candies and lollipops. I thanked her for her kindness and remembered that their children had moved out of their house several years back, and the twins and September were the closest thing she had to grandchildren. And Desmund recently began giving the baby raspberries on her tummy, which made her laugh a little, much to my surprise.

We finally reached the library and thanked Nancy for the free ride as per usual and met the stairs in front of the library. It was an old building with paint chipping, rusted metal pipes, and thick ivy growing around the red-brown brick of the old fireplace they dismantled. I came up to the door and like the little gentleman is was, Teddy opened the door for me and the girls. The two of us thanked him as September became restless. She didn't seem too happy about being woken up by the creaking door to the main hall. I gently bounced her on my shoulder and calmed her down when I heard a voice.

"Terry? That you?"

I turned to my right and saw Yasmin and her little brother looking at some non-fiction books. I greeted them and asked how their travels were. Teddy introduced me to Daniel and the cute little boy reached up to shake my hand. I shook it and thanked him for being so kind to Theo. Teddy nudged me for this, as to say, "Shut up! You're embarrassing me!" I took the hint and decided not to pester the poor boys. "You two have fun," Yasmin said, shooing them away. She turned to me and noticed my surprise. "Don't worry," she started. "They can't get into any trouble here." 

She took me by my left hand and lead me to a separate room with large cedar bookshelves that grazed the ceiling. There were tables lined up against the two smaller walls and work benches in the middle of the room. She led me and Char to one and sat her bag down, which looked thrifted. Lotte didn't sit with us, but instead looked around at the fiction books. I sat in the uncomfortable wooden chairs and sat Tember in my lap, while lifting my knees to support her neck. Yasmin noticed this and asked to hold her. I agreed and helped her get situated. She rocked her to and fro, whispering little things to her along the way. 

While she wasn't looking, I took a few pictures of this and made a mental note to send it to her later. Eventually, Lotte found an interesting book to read, and Yasmin handed my daughter back to me. "You've got a cute kid," she mentioned. "Thanks." She looked over to Lotte and asked her what book she was reading. "Alice in Wonderland," she replied. "Oooh, I love that book. Have you read it before?" Lotte shook her head and mentioned how she'd seen the movie and the live action films. As they talked, I thought about how lucky Charlotte was to make friends everywhere she went. 

The three of us talked for a while before Lotte excused herself to go to the bathroom and check on the boys. As she left the room, Yasmin turned to me. "Can I ask you something?" I figured it was about the baby. "Yeah, sure." 

"September isn't your baby, is she?"

---

"No, she's not." I replied. "Can I ask who's she is?" I laughed, "That sounds like I stole her from somebody." This made her laugh, as she apologized for the way her question sounded. "No, it's okay," replied. "It's just a heavy topic, and I don't want to scare ya off." Her interest peaked, and she leaned forward in her chair while resting her elbows on the table. "Don't worry about me." I took a breath and explained the basics of it. "Lotte was taken advantage of by a teacher at her school- But don't worry, he's in jail now." I interrupted myself. "And we got September out it." She tilted her head and leaned onto her elbows with her hands on her cheeks. "How did y'all name her?" I laughed a little and replied, "Actually, Lotte gave me free reign over her name, and I just thought about the order we were born in. The twins were born in May, my older brother in June, myself in July, and the baby in August."

"So why didn't you name her August?" She responded. 

"Because I've met people named August, it's a pretty common name. I've never met anyone named September." She leaned back in her chair and nodded in agreement. "Good point, neither have I." We continued talking about this for a while until Lotte came back. "The boys are ok," she started. "Just talking about dinosaurs and bones or something." We sighed, laughing about the interests of little boys. "Does Theodore have a crush on Daniel too?" Before I could answer, Lotte interjected, "wait, Daniel likes him back?" She nodded ecstatically, "I thought he'd never like someone! That boy must be really special." 

Lotte flipped her hair at this and replied, "That's cause we're twins."