Isaac was sheepish when I got to work. I wanted to tell him I was fine with Nan spending the night at his place, but I couldn’t think of how to word it so it wouldn’t sound like I was giving him permission. Instead, I put my best effort into acting like everything was normal, and eventually, our awkwardness faded.
Isaac played Mos Def for most of the morning. After we finished the orders, he helped me work out the details for Nan’s costume.
When I got home, Nan and Bitsie were in the living room, shouting. Nan had Woo Woo on FaceTime on her phone, and Bitsie had Audrey on hers. They’d swiped my computer, and a woman I assumed to be Hannah was on that screen. Bark was wedged between Nan and Bitsie on the couch, whipping his head back and forth, trying to figure out which one he should watch. It was so much chaos that none of them heard me come in.
“I think there’s a better way to do this,” I said. The three of them looked up. Bark jumped off the couch to greet me.
“It’s working fine,” Nan said, holding up Woo Woo to Bitsie’s phone so she could say hi to Audrey.
“Look at you!” Audrey said to Woo. The volume was turned all the way up to static on both phones. “This is amazing!”
Bitsie chimed in, smushing my computer into the mix. “Audrey! It’s Hannah!” I don’t know if they could even see each other, but Audrey and Hannah let out shrieks of excitement. They didn’t have a high expectation of clarity from these magic moving picture phones.
I laughed. Nan and Bitsie turned the phones and computer to face me.
“Oh my god!” Audrey shouted. “Is that your granddaughter, Nannette?”
“Yes!” Nan said, turning the phone back to look at it.
“She’s a grown woman!” Audrey said.
“She has your nose,” Hannah said, nodding.
“Hi! Thank you,” I said, feeling a bit dazed. It was strange to see them in action after studying the pictures of their mermaid days so carefully.
“Tell them what you need,” Nan said.
“I need you to send me your measurements so I can make the costumes. I’ll show you where to measure. And then we can talk through the photo requirements.” I still had my tape measure from work in my pocket. I pulled it out and measured my hips, waist, and bust in the fake kind of way a flight attendant gestures through the motions of putting the oxygen mask on yourself first.
“Why don’t we come there for fittings?” Woo Woo said.
“Well, since this is for a fundraiser, we thought it would make sense to keep costs down by doing it this way,” I said. “I don’t think it will be hard to get someone to measure you. Do you have a local tailor—”
“Pish,” Woo said. “I want to see you ladies!”
“That would be much more fun!” Hannah said.
The conversation derailed into possible travel plans and who could stay where. I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. When I got back, Nan was asking Hannah about the political accuracy of Scandal. Audrey and Woo Woo were holding up photos of grandbabies while Bitsie made a fuss over their chubby little toes. There was no jumping back in.
* * *
A few hours later, I got a Facebook message from Audrey.
Please tell the others I can’t make it. I’m starting chemo this week. It was so nice to see their faces. I hope you’ll send pictures.
I wrote back, Of course. And added a heart. I’d break the news to Nan later, once the excitement died down.