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NINE MONTHS LATER
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“OH MY GOD, HEATHER!”
Heather sprints up the stairs and dashes into Evie’s room. Mitch and Evie are sitting on the rug in the center of the room, playing with her dolls. Mitch is wearing a pink boa around his neck and has a child’s size plastic princess tiara on his head.
“What? What happened?” she gasps.
Mitch smiles.
“Oh, we just wanted to remind you that we love you.”
Heather throws her head back in frustration and lifts two fingers to her neck to feel her racing pulse. “You have got to stop doing that!”
Evie laughs furiously and claps her hands. It’s her favorite prank. Scare Mommy. Her beautiful, perfect, angelic laugh is all Heather needs to forgive Mitch for his nonsense. She walks over to him, removes his tiara, and puts it on her head. He stands in retaliation and wraps his arms around her, blowing raspberries on her neck as she laughs uncontrollably. Evie continues to clap and scream with laughter.
“Okay, okay, I love you guys, too!” Heather screams, begging Mitch to stop tickling her neck with his lips. “I have told you that I hate being tickled, Mitch Miller.”
“And I have told you that nothing makes me happier than hearing you girls laugh, so I guess I win this argument.”
Heather rolls her eyes and kisses Mitch on the cheek and leans over to do the same to the top of Evie’s head.
“Okay, I just need you guys to stay up here and be quiet for the next twenty minutes. Fair?” Heather asks.
Mitch looks at Evie and asks her if she agrees. She nods and holds her index finger up to her tiny pink lips. Mitch does the same and smiles.
“Thank you, my loves, I’ll let you know the minute I’m done.”
Heather dashes across the hall to check her appearance in the master bathroom. She begins to obsess over the zit forming on her chin and the crease in her hair from her ponytail this morning, but she decides to ignore them both. She’s doing this. There’s no going back.
She pads down the stairs and retrieves her phone from the kitchen counter. She responds to a text from Quinn about their plans to go shopping in Green Bay this weekend and a text from Meryl about dinner at her and Frank’s house tomorrow. She smiles when she glances at today’s mail, which Mitch has thrown on the island. The latest issue of People Magazine is lying face-up, with Matt Harstead on the cover. He’s sitting on the front steps of the rehabilitation center he just moved out of, with the word Survivor written underneath. Quinn, Jessie, and Jim are sitting on the steps behind him. Jessie has a beautiful diamond engagement ring on her left hand.
She nearly changes her mind for the millionth time before walking into the living room and sitting on the couch. She takes a deep breath, opens the Instagram app, and clicks “reactivate account.” She tries to ignore the rapid beating of her heart as she snaps the phone into her tripod, which is set up on the coffee table in front of her. She clicks a small plus symbol in the top right corner and then selects “live” from the drop-down list.
She smiles, fidgets with her hair for a moment, and exhales.
“Hi everyone. It’s Heather, live on Ogden Avenue. It’s been a while, and boy, do I have a lot to catch you guys up on, so buckle in. I’ve missed you.”