“Can we call Nadia over today?” Ella asked from the back seat.
“Maybe,” I told her noncommittedly. “It’s a school night,” I explained to her. “Her parents might not like her to go out on a school night.”
“But I’m outnumbered,” Ella said sullenly.
“Have they been picking on you?” Rachel asked teasingly.
“No, but,” Ella stuttered. “They fart and are smelly.” She reasoned as only a 7-year-old could.
Jemmy giggled, “That would never change.”
“You fart,” I said with a teasing grin.
“Ugh!” Ella groaned in frustration.
Rachel reached over and squeezed her hand. “They’re family. I know what it’s like to be the only girl, but one day when or if they’re gone, you’re going to miss them.”
I could hear the pain in her voice as she looked at Ella pointedly.
“How would you know?” Ella scoffed.
“Well,” Rachel said hesitantly. “I lost my brothers, and as annoying and smelly as they were, I miss them every day.”
“But they’re not all gone,” Ella said mutinously.
“Ella,” I said with warning. “Rachel’s brothers were taken from her, and we have to be respectful of her loss.”
Ella rolled her eyes as if we were dense. “But they’re not gone. Not all of them.”
Rachel’s head snapped around. “What are you saying, Ella?” she said her voice filled with hope and despair.
“Herman is alive,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, and your dad.”
A pin dropping could have been heard in the vehicle. “Ella, did you see this. When does it happen?” Rachel asked eagerly.
Ella shrugged again, her little eyebrows knitting. “I don’t know.”
“Ella do you ever see the same visons twice?” I asked gently.
She nodded. “Sometimes. I saw Chip and you together all the time.” She grinned at me. “Now you guys are!”
“Ella, can you tell me next time you get that vision, if you get it again? Maybe you can remember more details if you tell me right away.” Rachel sounded almost dejected.
Ella nodded. “Sure.”
I don’t think she realized how much she had changed the mood in the car.
When we finally met the guys for lunch, we had already made two trips back to the car. In true Rachel fashion, she had shaken her forlorn thoughts and had dove head first in our shopping expedition. She seemed happy not to look at price tags as she picked up a complete wardrobe and then some. I remembered when I had been shocked at Jemmy’s blasé attitude with money. I had hated when she insisted on loading me down with clothes. Ella and Rachel had no such reticence.
The longer I spent with them the more natural it felt to be with them. We fell easily back into the way we use to be. I wasn’t crazy about going shopping, but I was happy to feel closer to normal again.
It was as we were heading towards the food court that Jemmy stopped in front of a Halloween store. “You know Halloween’s in a few weeks,” she smiled at us suggestively.
“It is,” Rachel said excitedly. “Oooh, look at that Harley Quin costume!”
“I was thinking more of that cat woman costume!” Jemmy exclaimed. “Come on, let’s get our costumes. We can all be super hero characters!”
“Two things,” I tried to stop them. “Super heroes, don’t you think that’s slightly cliché, and where in the world and when would we wear them?”