Mabel walked silently towards the barn, the sound of the guitar luring her closer. She didn’t want to disturb Cooper, she knew he used this time to clear his head.
Approaching the boxwood tree, she could see him sitting on the rock beyond, handsome in the moonlight.
The song changed, a ballad she recognized as one he’d written for her when they’d dated. He’d spotted her.
She joined him on the rock, leaning her head on his shoulder as his beautiful voice washed over her.
Flawed as he was, no one had ever filled her heart with love like Cooper.
Rian was always known about town for looking a little bit lost. Meandering about at all hours of day, away from his carpenter’s workshop, expression still a bit vacant whenever he made the occasional sale. Even the arrival of two new builders in town—two new competitors—didn’t seem to ever faze him.
But ever since Dan-bi had done the unthinkable—take some time off as her pregnancy approached that fated due date—people started noticing a different kind of lostness on Rian’s face.
Mabel was one of the first to realize.
She caught him pacing around in a large loop from his house, down the tunnel, back up Main Street, and around to his house again, slightly hunched over with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his pants. Every loop took exactly 2 rows to knit on the onesie Mabel was knitting in her lap as she rocked back and forth in front of the ranch home. While the metronome was nice to keep her mind steady and focused, she was starting to get a little worried.
On loop 5.5, she decided to call out. “Rian… Rian, sweetie!”
The carpenter jolted suddenly, head whipping around to see who was calling for him. Mabel set her knitting down on the table beside her and got up to meet him halfway.
Rian looked over as she approached, eyebrows raising. “Oh, hey Mabel. What’s up?”
“Yer just about carvin’ a trail in the sand down this road, sweetie,” Mabel said with a sympathetic smile. “Somethin’ eatin’ on yer mind?”
“Well…it’s… Er— Um—” Rian hunched even deeper into his shoulders, his face screwing up with the same kind of look he got whenever anyone questioned why he wasn’t working smack dab in the middle of a Thursday afternoon. “Y’know…Dan-bi’s finally staying home all day…unless she has to go to the clinic for something… Even when I tell her that I can just bring the doc back home, she still walks all the way there and—”
“Yer worried, right?”
Rian’s mouth snapped shut. “Uh. Y…yeah.”
Mabel let out a good-natured chuckled. “Oh dearie… I remember when Coop was feelin’ much of the same before Elsie came along! Pacin’ ‘round in circles, yammering so much he ain’t never stop to take a breath! Almost passed out several times, he did…”
“Yeah, I felt like I was gonna pass out at least twice today…and yesterday…” Rian sighed, rubbing the palm of his hand into his forehead. “I asked the doc about everything…and he told me…and then he told me again and made notes ‘cuz it was a lot… Dan-dan’s been good at keeping track of all these things she needs to eat and how much she moves around and when she should see the doc and everything… And I’m just here still trying to keep up.”
Mabel nodded. “Mhm…havin’ a baby ain’t easy. Although I will say, Rian dear…you’re doin’ jus’ fine.”
“Wha? Really? I’m just standing around…nothing’s honestly changed for me. Except I’m worried and stuff now.”
“That’s exactly why!” Mabel laid a hand on Rian’s arm. “As long as you care ‘bout Dan-bi, as long as yer tryin’ to help her out where ya can… That’s the best anyone can ask for, ain’t it?”
“I dunno… I just feel like I’m not doing enough? First time in my whole life…”
“Well, y’know what they say…takes a village to raise a child! You don’t needta take care of everythin’ by yourself, dearie! Dan-bi’s been talkin’ with me an’ Catori an’ Krystal ‘bout all this too.”
“W…wait, she has?”
Mabel nodded. “Uh-huh. We all’ve been through it all before, remember? The mothers know best.”
Rian blinked. “I…I didn’t even realize. Aw shoot, I didn’t even realize…”
“No, no, sweetie! It’s not like that!” Mabel shook her head. “What I mean is…everythin’ yer feeling? It’s natural. An’ you got all of us to help you!”
Rian still looked uneasy. “I know…and that’s cool and all… But still. I’ve been thinking a lot these days. While Dan-dan’s resting up. And I think…I gotta try something different.”
“Different? Different like how?”
“Something different than…this,” Rian said, gesturing to the whole of himself. “Y’know, only making one simple per…month. At the game center whenever I run out of materials. Putting off getting materials so I can go to the game center.” He sighed, looking off into the distance. “Dan-dan’s always worked hard at everything in her life…but I see her working hard at this and I think…this is something that we’re both making. Shouldn’t I be working just as hard on it?”
“Aw…” Mabel said, her smile growing fonder. “Havin’ a kid really changes ya, don’t it? But don’t strain yerself, now… Dan-bi needs you now more than ever!”
“Yeah…” Rian nodded again, still ruminating. “Dan-dan needs me…”
Both were silent as Rian stared at the ground a little longer. But then he looked up, a slight smile at the corner of his lips. “Thanks, Mabel. Still got a lot to think about. But this was nice.”
“Of course, dearie. Like I said, all we can do is our very best. Don’t be too hard on yerself, mmkay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, don’t worry. I feel a bit better now.”
They parted ways after that, Rian finally breaking his loop and heading back home, and Mabel back to her knitting.
She sat back down with a sigh, kicking off the rocking chair once again with a smile. She had to make this onesie real nice, for sure. After all, in just a few weeks, Rian would be putting it on his and Dan-bi’s new little one.
