Paul Thurber held the newborn baby in his arms, swinging him lightly back and forth. He cooed and made faces at the baby boy. Sonia stood next to him smiling in the afterglow of childbirth. She hadn't felt a twinge of "post-partum depression" that afflicts many women. Her happiness surprised her as she had always had bouts of depression.
In her eight-year relationship with Chad Knowles she would come close to breaking off with him every few months when a depression hit. With Paul she felt as if everything would be perfect forever. Being married to him was like Heaven. He had the perfect temperament for a husband. She knew he'd make a great father.
"He looks a little like Chad," Paul remarked, taking Sonia off guard. Where did that come from?
"Why would you say that?" she asked. "Chad's blond and blue-eyed, and the baby is brown-eyed and brown-haired."
"Just looks like him, that's - "
The doorbell rang, cutting off the rest of Paul's sentence.
"What was that again?" Sonia said. "I couldn't hear you over the doorbell."
Paul began to speak but the doorbell sounded again. "You might want to get that," Paul suggested. "I think it's the Montoyas."
The Montoyas! Sonia jumped up into a sitting position on the family room sofa. The T-shirt she was using to cover her eyes fell into her lap. The room was suddenly bright, very bright, as in late morning bright. A glance over to the TV set, which was still tuned in to Turner Classic Movies reminded her that she had fallen asleep during South by Southwest, probably sometime after 3 in the morning.
She thought it would be fine to have them come over at 10 - that seemed late enough, but she'd settled on watching the Cary Grant Marathon to keep her mind off her depression. It had been a difficult struggle to keep her spirits up in the four months since the plane crash. She knew Paul was gone and dreaming about him didn't do much good. When she awoke her depression would only be worse.
The doorbell rang again. That had to be June Montoya's doing. Bill would have rung it once and taken a seat in the love seat on the tiny porch.
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