Echoes

Part 10

I was in the hospital for another several days, over the course of which Asher visited a few times. He always told me when he would be dropping by, and I made sure that Michele never ran into him. He seemed to have a decent understanding as to where he and I were. He would say hello to me and I would say it back, I would hand Giselle off to him and he would focus the majority of his attention on her. 

I mostly watched television, fooled around on my computer or my phone, or told him when she was hungry or sleepy. It wasn't as if we didn't talk. We did, but it was almost always about Giselle or whatever was on television. Occasionally, it was small talk. 

I learned that his current job was at a gas station, and that he did well enough at it that his manager spoke of promoting him once he'd been there for six months. Not what you'd expect from someone who had never worked a day in their life nor anticipated that they would ever need to until recently. 

He learned that our respective best friends were no longer dating due to constant fights involving the unpleasant situation that had been going on between the two of us, and I learned that his best friend was no longer his best friend. "Josh just didn't get me anymore," he said. "He didn't get what I was doing. He thought I should've just bailed out and gone on with life." 

He asked me if childbirth was as painful as everyone said it was, and apologized profusely when I recounted how it had been for me, to which I shrugged, saying that it was one of the few pains he had inflicted upon me for which I didn't hold him fully responsible. By the fifth visit, things weren't awkward anymore, at least not usually. 

Sure, it was strange not using pet names, referencing inside jokes, or being able to reference a mutual future with someone you used to have a million terms of endearments for, laugh with constantly, and who had been the main component when you imagined what your life had in store. But I didn't feel tense around him anymore, and he seemed to relax somewhat when he was around me.

"When are you going home?" he asked me eventually.

"The nurse said I can go home in two days if everything looks good tomorrow."

"Are you going to need a ride home, or can you drive yourself?" he inquired.

"I was planning on doing it myself," I replied. "Michele's busy and I'm two weeks postpartum. My incisions barely hurt."

"I could take you if you want, I can call off work or whatever."

I shook my head dismissively. "Don't. When do you get off?"

"At 6pm," he answered.

"Just come over after work," I said. "I'm sure I'll be tired, and Zoe won't be home for good till the end of August."

"Well, shouldn't I stay with you until then? I don't like the idea of you home alone like that just two weeks after having a baby."

He repositioned Giselle, who was sleeping like the dead on his chest.

"Michele's staying with me until she leaves for school," I said. "Don't worry about it."

"How often can I visit?"

"Whenever," I replied. "Just call first."

He nodded and we both went back to watching trashy talk shows in silence.

I took Giselle home two days later as the nurse had conjectured. Giselle was sleeping like a rock as I took her baby carrier out to my car. She was barely 15 pounds at this point, but she felt far heavier than she truly was. 

Getting her carrier into the car was easy; I had hooked the bottom part of it into the backseat of the car months ago so it snapped on easily. I took a few moments and just watched her sleep once I had gotten her safely into the car. I knew all mothers thought their babies were the most beautiful creatures that had ever existed, but Giselle was truly adorable. She reminded me a lot of Asher's baby pictures.