“Why?” he asked. “Did you have to read to them, like you do with me?”
I laughed softly. “No. But not everyone keeps their books in their house, like we do. There are whole buildings that are full of books, because in the world, there are billions of books. Too many for any one person to know them all, even me. But I tried my best, so that when people came to me and wanted a book, I could help them pick a good one.”
My daughter handed me the fishing pole back, looking at me with wide eyes. “A billion?” she gasped. “Who thought up that many stories?”
“Oh, lots of people,” I replied lightly. “Books have been written since the beginning of time. Even if only a few people write books, that’s still a lot. And many of them write to teach us things and pass on their knowledge. That’s why they’re so precious, and why people spend so much time taking care of them and sharing them with other people.”
“Like you,” she said, nodding seriously.
“Yes, like me,” I agreed. “Knowledge is the most valuable thing in the whole world.”
“Even more valuable than lunch?” my son chimed in.
“Yes,” I replied sagely. “Because books can teach you how to make lunch. And more.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Well, I could just ask Mom,” he argued.
“Ask Mom what?” a voice called from behind us. I turned to find Claire a few feet away, approaching us on the riverbank.
Even after all this time, my breath still caught in my throat. The sun sparkled on her dark hair. Her skin was tanned to a lovely shade of gold from all her time outdoors. She wore a long, flowy dress. It looked great on her, but more importantly, it was the kind of dress that she found most comfortable in this late stage of pregnancy.
Her belly was round, and we knew that baby number three would be arriving soon. By our guesstimate, there should’ve been another two weeks or so. But here on the mountain, it was hard to tell precisely, and we also knew that babies could be unpredictable. Our daughter had arrived a week later than we thought, and our son nearly a full week earlier. Perhaps that meant this one would be right on time.
I had to shake myself out of my thoughts, distracted by how much I loved her in that dress. I knew she didn’t wear it just for me, but I certainly wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. She was looking at me expectantly, waiting for a response, but I had already forgotten the question.
“Ask you to make lunch,” my daughter tried to explain.
I drew in the fishing line and walked to greet Claire, kissing her soundly on the lips as the kids tittered behind us.
Lacing her arm through mine, Claire looked at her quizzically. “It’s time for dinner.”
“No, not make lunch now. He means that he can ask you about lunch later. At lunch time.”
Claire turned to me with her brow furrowed, still confused. I just shook my head, indicating that it was best to let this one go.
“Oh. Right. He can ask me about lunch at lunch time,” Claire agreed, having no idea what we were talking about.
“Did you come to try your hand at fishing?” I teased. “Or perhaps you’d like to show me your best handstand, like the kids?”
She giggled, patting one hand over her belly. “No handstands for me. I’m not as young as I once was.”
“But you’re more beautiful than ever.” I kissed her again.
She winked. “You better stop while you’re ahead. That’s why I keep ending up like this.” She gestured again to her round stomach.
“Are you just visiting?” I rephrased my earlier question.
“Basically,” she agreed. “I was thinking you guys had been gone for a long time. And I was starting to miss everyone. Plus, I’m hungry. Let’s take the fish back to the house and start cooking dinner.”
“No,” the kids both objected in unison.
“I didn’t get my last turn,” our son argued.
“I hardly got any turns,” our daughter commented, trying to one-up him.
The truth was that both of them had had plenty of opportunities to fish. But they were having fun. I was in no rush to call our little expedition over, but I looked at Claire, trying to see how she felt. If she was hungry, I certainly wasn’t going to make her wait for dinner.
She caved almost immediately, a clear hint that she had come by more out of loneliness than anything. I had taken the kids fishing to give her a chance to relax and have a little peace and quiet. But she was so used to having them around that, frequently, she seemed to be at loose ends without us.