Sarah understood.
Emma asked:
“How did Mom get it?”
Daniel looked toward Sarah.
“You don't remember?”
She shook her head.
“You gave me the box when Emma graduated college.”
Sarah thought.
Then it returned.
A quiet afternoon.
Daniel had handed her a small paper bag.
“I think this belongs with you.”
She had opened it.
Ring.
No speech.
She had placed it in a drawer.
Forgotten.
Emma held out her hand.
“Can I see?”
Sarah gave it to her.
Emma turned it over between her fingers.
“Is this weird?”
“Yes.”
Daniel answered immediately.
Sarah laughed.
Emma looked at both parents.
“Does it make you sad?”
Daniel said:
“A little.”
Sarah thought.
“Not exactly.”
“What then?”
She searched for the right word.
“Grateful.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“For the marriage?”
“For parts of it.”
“For you.”
“For Emma.”
“For the fact that we eventually stopped hurting each other.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
Nora placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sarah continued:
“But I’m also grateful I took it off.”
Emma nodded.
“No contradiction?”
Sarah smiled.
“Life gets easier when you stop demanding that everything be one thing.”
Emma returned ring.
“What will you do with it?”
Sarah closed the box.
“I don't know.”
David said from stairs:
“Please do not melt it into anything weird.”
Everyone turned.
“How long were you listening?”
Sarah asked.
“Long enough to know I should have brought wine upstairs.”
Later that evening, after dinner, Emma asked Sarah to walk outside.
Snow had begun.
Light.
Dry.
The neighborhood glowed beneath porch lights.
They walked without coats for only a minute before regretting it.
Emma hugged herself.
“I have something to tell you.”
Sarah’s stomach immediately tightened.
“What?”
Emma smiled.
“Nothing bad.”
“Lead with that next time.”
“I’m pregnant.”
Sarah stopped.
Emma’s smile vanished.
“Mom?”
Sarah covered her mouth.
For one second she could not speak.
Then she grabbed her daughter.
Emma laughed.
Sarah cried into her shoulder.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eleven weeks.”
“Does Aaron know?”
Emma stared.
“No, I thought I’d tell you first and surprise him in seven months.”
Sarah laughed through tears.
“Sorry.”
“He knows.”
“Daniel?”
“Not yet.”
“David?”
“No.”
“You told me first?”
Emma smiled.