Lost & Found

by Raquel De Leon

  Laura scooped Ben up in her arms. “It’s the same as usual. So, yes, of course. Politicians are still dreadful and business is booming.”

  “Do you really have time to take off?” Selma frowned as they made their way to her BMW. Laura’s sports car would remain at her apartment complex, as usual.

  “I need time off, regardless what goes pear-shaped with those dimwits.” Laura’s words were a direct contrast with her tone, which was kept purposefully cheerful as she strapped Ben into his car seat.

  Selma bit her lip to quell a smile as she pressed the button for her trunk. Laura was in a mood.

  A minute later they were buckled in and ready to go. Ben was enjoying tablet time, something he usually only got for car rides and special occasions.

  “How’s Piper holding up?” Laura asked after several minutes.

  Selma let out a slow breath. “She’s managing. Dot gave them all a scare. I think right now she’s more frustrated with Dottie’s stubbornness than anything.”

  “It could have been worse. She could have had the stroke during the angioplasty.”

  “Yes. I don’t think Dot’s feeling very optimistic now, though.” Selma pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure how optimistic she would feel after losing functional use of half of her body. “Laura,” she asked after a pause, “not that I mind, but why’d you want to come along this weekend?”

  Laura fidgeted with her seatbelt and stared out her window. “I thought you wanted to give Emily a break.”

  “I do, of course, but we would have managed without another adult.”

  The car went silent for a long moment. “I haven’t gotten to spend enough time with Ben. I know that’s my fault, but.”

  Selma squinted. “I mean, of course, I can understand that but you normally don’t offer to babysit.”

  Again, the silence stretched out.

  Selma waited.

  “I think I might be pregnant,” Laura said in a rush. “So I wouldn’t mind a little practice before,” she gestured wildly with her hands, “you know.”

  Air swelled in Selma until it felt like she would burst. She let it out in a hard gush. “The father?”

  “An ill-fated one-nighter I attempted to get over this woman who wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

  Selma arched her eyebrows but didn’t comment. “Someone wouldn’t give you the time of day?”

  Laura perked up and twirled her hair around her finger. “We do have good genes, don’t we? But, yes. She was most insistently heterosexual. Maybe too insistent. A girl can only take so much rejection.”

  “We’re getting sidetracked. How sure are you about the baby?” Selma glanced away from the road. Laura was staring down at her hands with an enigmatic smile on her face.

  “Three tests sure.”

  Selma shifted gears as they merged onto the highway. “I’m surprised you’re so calm.”

  “You didn’t see me after I finished taking the third test,” Laura quipped dryly. “But after some fear and anger and a rather embarrassing crying jag, I think I might be looking forward to this.”

  “I’m glad.” Selma reached over and squeezed Laura’s hand. “And whatever you need, I’m here.”

  “I know.” Laura squeezed Selma’s hand back. “That’s part of the reason I’m so sure I can do this.”

  They held hands for some time after, both taking comfort in the contact.

  *****

  “Almost there,” Piper grunted as Dot misstepped, resulting in more weight unexpectedly testing her grip around Dottie’s waist.

  Dot said something unintelligible. Piper kept her expression neutral. Dottie was having to learn how to do a lot of things from scratch all over again, and her speech was unrecognizable when she was upset. Dot had been upset a lot since her return from the hospital.

  Given how independent she’d always known Dottie to be, Piper could understand. “There we go,” she said with another grunt once Dot was settled on her wheelchair.

  “Hate this,” Dot gritted out, her features drawn with fatigue.

  Piper swallowed. “I know.” She leaned back and tucked her hands into her pockets. “But this won’t last forever, Dot. You just need time.”

  Dot closed her eyes and didn’t make a sound. Piper let her relax. Dot had already done her therapy for the morning, what little of it she could.

  There was a soft tapping at the door, and then Mark was stepping in. “Selma’s here,” he whispered as he observed the lightly napping Dorothy.

  Piper felt instantly lighter, her shoulders loosening their tense set. “Good.” She’d thought she’d heard the knock but hadn’t been sure. “Why don’t we let Dot have a few minutes of peace before wheeling her out for company?”

  Mark nodded, his eyes wandering to the lightly snoring Dot.

  “Hey, Mark,” Selma said as soon as they joined her in the living room. “Laura was thinking about walking Ben to the playground. Do you want to join them?”

  Mark tilted his head and gazed at Laura. “Sure.”

  Laura, looking as casual as Piper had ever seen her in khakis and a white halter top, hopped to her feet and grinned. “Great, let’s go. I don’t want to be around for all the smooching.”

  “Laura,” Selma reprimanded as she put her hands on her hips.

  Mark giggled and grabbed his backpack from the side of the couch. “Our playground is so cool,” Ben explained to Laura, “Ben loves it.”

  Laura tutted her approval, following after Mark with Ben’s tiny hand clasped in her own much larger grip.

  “Laura babysits?” Piper asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

  Selma bit her lip but a smile peeked out anyway. “She does now.”

  Piper shrugged. “Huh.” She shook herself and extended her arms. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  “Me too,” Selma said as she stepped forward to accept Piper’s open invitation.

  “Just what I needed.” Though her words were muffled by Selma’s shoulder, Piper was certain she’d been heard. She inhaled slowly and let the warm, tingling feelings sweep through herself.

  “She’s pregnant,” Selma admitted once the hug ended. “And she wants to practice with kids before the baby comes.”

  Piper’s eyes widened. “Wow. Huh. Cool.”

  Selma grinned, her nose and eyes scrunching up with her joy. “I’m certain she’s going to be an excellent mother, but she’s coaxed a promised of assistance from me anyway.”

  “As expected,” Piper said as she reached out to lightly tug at the ends of Selma’s hair, “from one of the greatest moms I know.”

  Her mind raced, however. With Dot needing help and Laura needing help in their own ways, she worried about what kind of time she and Laura might find for one another.

  “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.” Selma stepped forward and cupped Piper’s cheek. Her dark eyes seemed to trace Piper’s face as she paused. “Dottie called me yesterday.”

  Piper blinked. And blinked again. “What? What about?”

  Selma bit her lip and played with the collar of Piper’s shirt. “Starting tomorrow, there will be a nurse around to help with Dottie’s needs. Dot loves you and Shel, Piper, but if she’s going to accept help she indicated she’d feel better if it came from a professional.”

  “Oh.” Piper internally shrank from the revelation.

  Selma tugged sharply on her collar. Piper met her gaze out of reflex.

  “She loves you both, Piper. She doesn’t want to feel like a burden and, before you say she isn’t, I know that but that’s how she feels. Plus,” her thumb brushed over Piper’s cheek, “she doesn’t want you to see her this way.”

  Piper nodded because speech was impossible. “I love you,” she muttered just before she leaned down to kiss Selma.

  One kiss became three, and then Selma was panting softly against her lips and bringing their foreheads to rest against one another. “I know all this is scary,” Selma whispered, “but we’ll figure it out.
”

  For the first time in her adult life, Piper believed. Being with Selma seemed so certain and right that Piper couldn’t imagine not being with her. “You’re right.”

  And Selma smiled her special smile, making Piper forget her worries, just for a moment.

  Epilogue

  “Oh my god, please no more,” Piper whined from her spot on the floor.

  “Toughen up, buttercup, there’s more,” Laura announced primly.

  Selma wiped her forehead and didn’t bother hiding her grin. “Don’t worry, Piper. There’s only a few left.”

  Piper flopped backward, her limbs extended dramatically. “Why did I agree to help, again?”

  “Because I helped you move a few months ago.” Laura examined the label of her box, pushing it away after a moment and scooting another closer. She was in soft capris and a simple tank top; as her pregnancy had progressed, Laura had eschewed fashion for comfort. At eight months, she was huge so it made perfect sense. Selma would never say that out loud, however.

  Instead, she focused on the gentle argument between Piper and Laura. Laura had hired movers for the furniture and heavy items, but Selma and Piper had been roped into helping with the smaller boxes.

  “You did not help me move,” Piper said as she wrenched herself up into a sitting position again.

  “I gave you the number for the movers,” Laura deadpanned.

  Piper stared at her. “I rented a truck to move.”

  Laura shrugged and blinked her eyes coquettishly. “Well, that’s not my fault, is it?”

  “Ugh, I’m going home!” Piper said as she pushed up from the floor. The door slammed a moment later.

  Selma bit her lip. “I bet she had to use the bathroom.”

  “There’s three perfectly functioning toilets here.” Laura rolled her eyes as she dug through her box and began to pull knickknacks out.

  “It’s one of her quirks,” Selma said with a shrug. The first month living with Piper had been an adjustment, but nearly three months later they were comfortable. And happy, Selma acknowledged with a smile to herself.

  The room was silent for several minutes as she and Laura worked. There was a soft knock at the door and then Piper was strolling back inside. “Emily and Ben are fine.”

  “Don’t play it off, we both know you were in the loo,” Laura quipped as she continued rifling through her box. There was an impressive collection of kitsch already on the coffee table.

  “Selma,” Piper whined. “Do you have to tell everyone?”

  “My sister is everyone?” Selma inquired placidly as she tugged more books from her box. Laura was taking advantage of her need to organize.

  “Bah,” was Piper’s response. “Did you have to move in next door?”

  Laura inspected the mess she’d transferred to the table. “Shut up, you know you love me.”

  “What time is your mom coming again, Piper?” Selma delicately put the last book into place and turned, running one hand lightly through her hair.

  “Shel texted me a little while ago to tell me they’d already left. So,” Piper tugged her phone out to check the time. “I’m guessing 4, tops.”

  Laura collected an armful of her trinkets and began distributing them to different shelves. “One big happy family dinner.”

  Selma sighed as she began breaking down the empty box. “You can invite Mom too, Laura.”

  “You mean it?” Laura’s blue eyes were wide and watery, several small figurines forgotten and still resting on her arm.

  “Yes.” Selma almost lost her footing when Laura rushed over and enveloped her in a hug.

  “I love you.” Laura sniffled. Selma worried she’d get a kink in her neck, leaning over so far to cry on Selma’s shoulder.

  Piper peered up from the box she’d just opened. “Are you crying again?”

  “No. Shut up,” came the muffled response as Laura sniffled again.

  Selma narrowed her eyes at Piper, subtly warning her lover not to take the teasing too far. Though Laura’s sense of humor was intact, there was no telling what would set her to crying.

  Without warning, Laura straightened, one hand wiping at her eyes. “You didn’t invite Karen, did you?”

  Piper choked back a laugh.

  Selma rolled her eyes. “No.” She didn’t elaborate. Though they’d been trying to figure things out, Karen and Derek’s process of unlearning and relearning was proving to take a while.

  Laura grinned. Her face twisted. “Speaking of toilets, baby Whitby has decided to sit on my bladder. Be right back.”

  Selma sighed and looked around the townhouse. It was a near mirror of hers, floorplan-wise, but Laura’s taste in both furniture and decor couldn’t be more different. She grinned. They’d never gotten to live together as kids. She was going to love having Laura so close.

  “So,” Piper said from behind. Her arms circled Selma’s waist a heartbeat later. “I figure it takes her a minute to walk there, seven minutes to deal with her personal needs, another few minutes to get back since she’ll probably want a snack. Wanna make out?”

  Selma laughed. Yeah, she was looking forward to a lot of things.