Epilogue

Epilogue

T oday is Iris's third birthday.

Flora has organized a party for her, her first "real" birthday party, and Iris is thrilled. For weeks, she has been telling everyone she meets, "My birthday is coming off!"

And Flora laughs each time. "It's coming up, " she says, eyes crinkling with joy.

The guests are set to arrive in an hour. It's nothing fancy; Flora has ordered snacks and juice boxes in bulk, and she spent all of yesterday baking cupcakes with Esther. Connor found a pi?ata at the party store and now attempts to hang it from a tree in the backyard with Flora's father. Flora stands at the back patio door, watching as Connor balances on the ladder. She can't help but laugh at their struggle. How many capable men does it take to hang a rainbow-colored unicorn?

"Ready for the horns!" Esther calls from the kitchen.

The two women have been frosting the cupcakes, which are also unicorn themed. Iris really has a thing for unicorns.

Flora heads back toward the kitchen, wincing slightly at the stiffness in her right leg. For the most part, she has gotten accustomed to the prosthetic, but she sometimes feels residual pain when the weather shifts or the temperature drops.

"These look amazing," she says to Esther, dipping a finger into the bowl of pink frosting. She tastes it just as Iris comes barreling in from upstairs.

"I can't wait anymore!" she says. "I wanna see !"

Flora knew this would happen. They spent the morning opening family presents, and afterward they challenged Iris to play with her new toys upstairs while they prepped for the party. But she's three years old. Flora looks to the clock and realizes Iris lasted almost an hour. Impressive, actually.

"Come on in," Flora says, smiling and bending down to pick up her daughter. "Wanna taste?" She points to the chocolate cupcakes.

Iris nods enthusiastically, so Flora sets her up at the table with her treat.

Outside, Connor and Michael have finally secured the pi?ata to a low branch. Connor folds up the ladder and, when he sees Flora watching them through the kitchen window, gives her a big thumbs-up. We did it! Flora waves and smiles.

She watches her husband, pausing time as she often does these days to drink in the moments. His skin is tanned, as he spent most of the summer at the swimming pool with Iris. His hair is starting to thin and, though he denies it, gray. Flora loves the salt-and-pepper look, especially in the facial hair he has let grow the last month. She often runs her fingers through it, scratching the stubble playfully, and he pants in return like a happy dog.

Iris finishes her cupcake and smiles, her face smeared with pink frosting. "All done!" she sings. "Again!"

Flora laughs. "You can have another one at the party, okay?"

And though Iris frowns in response, she nods and climbs out of her chair.

"Okay!" she says, then runs out the back door and down the patio steps into Connor's arms. He picks her up and throws her in the air. Iris's laughter bubbles.

Flora's mother is still around, but in the ways one would expect to be haunted by a loved one. She feels her in the simplest of moments: when brushing Iris's teeth and singing Jodi's favorite song; when cooking scrambled eggs with cream cheese like Jodi always loved; when she can't get a stain out of Iris's favorite dress and wishes she could ask her mother how to treat it.

Jodi has also visited Flora in her dreams. Zephie is there, too. Flora doesn't often remember the details of what happened, but she always remembers the feelings. The peace. The love.

On the most recent anniversary of Zephie's death, Flora and her father buried the birth tusk together. Flora found a clearing in the woods of her backyard that was similar to the setting Zephie had created for the two of them. She even found a mossy fallen log, under which she dug a small hole in the soft dirt for the tusk.

"Are you sure?" her father asked before leaving the tusk behind.

Flora nodded. "We don't need it anymore."

As the group sings "Happy Birthday," Flora is hit with a wave of nausea. She instinctively brings her hand to her lower belly, where a new life is growing. They haven't told many people yet since it's still early. She's only eleven weeks. But the spirit in this one is strong: her nausea hasn't let up the last few days, and she swears she can already see a tiny bump.

She has new symptoms this time around. Patches of scaly eczema have appeared between her fingers and are just starting to itch. She also grew a sweet tooth in the last week. But every pregnancy is different; discrepancies are normal.

Iris blows out her candles, and the group claps in celebration. She smiles wide, showing off her front right tooth, which sticks out at a crooked angle thanks to her thumb-sucking habit. Her beautiful hair hangs in waves down below her breastbone because Flora hasn't had the heart to cut it even once since Iris was born.

Flora looks around at the group of people who have shown up for her daughter. She is so grateful for this tribe that has grown over the years. Friends, neighbors—even Wanda is here, whose company Flora has come to enjoy in small doses.

she did save my life after all

A few of Flora's clients are here, too. She has become one of the most sought-after postpartum doulas in the area, working closely with new moms. And she loves it. She has a purpose. She has a village. Turns out it really does exist, after all.

Flora helps Iris unwrap a cupcake and then grabs one for herself. As she takes a bite, she laughs, the intensity of the sugar in the frosting tickling her teeth. Iris laughs, too, and then runs to join her friends. Flora watches them blow bubbles with the long wands she purchased for the party.

"You need anything?" It's Belinda, who has become a strong fixture in their lives and a dear friend to Flora.

"I might sit down for a few," Flora admits. "Feeling a bit tired."

Belinda ensures that Flora is comfortable, then goes to help Connor and the others with the pi?ata.

Flora watches the festivities as she unwraps a second cupcake, licking stray icing from her fingertips. She takes a huge bite, the strawberry and chocolate and vanilla flavors igniting her taste buds.

And this time, when the frosting squeezes between her teeth, the shock of the sugar makes her right eye twitch.