Grace

“There.”

I let go of the zipper at the back of Nancy’s dress after pulling it all the way to the top and lead her in front of the mirror.

“Well? Do you like it?”

Nancy runs her fingers over the lavender dress, a ball gown that I altered to become a mermaid dress with a tiered skirt for her birthday.

“I don’t believe it,” Nancy gasps as she places her hand on her chest. “The dress looks so elegant, and it makes me look so… young.”

I smile. “No one will be able to guess your age, not unless you put the correct number of candles on the birthday cake.”

She looks at me. “Travis wasn’t lying when he said you were a genius when it came to altering clothes.”

I shrug. “I guess I had a lot of experience. We weren’t rich, so I had to find a way to make my clothes last longer and keep them interesting.”

Nancy holds my hand. “You really are such a kind and hardworking woman. I really am glad you came to Hope Creek.”

“It’s not so bad.”

She chuckles. “Though of course Travis seems to be the happiest man in all of Hope Creek. Why, I’ve never seen him with such a wide smile on his face.”

My own lips curve into a wide smile. I’m glad that he’s happy, because so am I. In fact, I doubt we’ve ever been happier than in the past few days.

“Tell me…” Nancy pulls me towards the bed and sits on the edge. “Does he show his affection for you?”

“Yes, he does now,” I answer. “He didn’t at first. I think he still hadn’t moved on from his first wife.”

Nancy nods. “Ah. Angie.”

“Plus he lost a baby, too.”

“That he did.”

“But now I feel like he’s learning to let go of the past. I feel like he’s let me in.”

Nancy squeezes my hand. “That’s wonderful. And what about you? Have you let him in? Judging from that look on his face, I’m guessing the answer is yes.”

My eyes narrow. At first, I feel puzzled; then, as I realize what she’s talking about, I blush.

“Oh, forgive me.” Nancy pats my hand. “I know I’m an old woman who’s no relation of yours. I mustn’t talk about such things with you.”

I glance at her and shake my head. “It’s alright. You’ve been like a mother to me.”

“Oh, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” She strokes my cheek. “And I don’t mean to intrude or anything. I’m just curious.”

“Well, we are husband and wife,” I tell her.

“Of course. And well, just between you and me…” Nancy leans towards me. “Do you think there’s a chance you might be pregnant?”

My eyes grow wide. Me? Pregnant?

It’s never even crossed my mind.

“I don’t…”

“I mean, did you get your period yet?”

“No,” I answer. “But it’s always been a little irregular, and I was under some stress just a week ago.”

“Right. And you don’t feel anything unusual?”

I shake my head. I’m just happy. Is that unusual?

“I’m not just asking these things because I’m a meddling old woman, you know. I’m also a doctor, and I want to make sure you’re in good health and you’re taking care of it.”

“Well, I think I am,” I tell her.

Nancy nods. “Well, if you ever want to tell me anything or ask me any questions about health or anything, don’t hesitate, alright?”

“I won’t,” I assure her.

She sighs. “I’m sorry. I guess I just miss being a mother.”

I feel confused. “You have children?”

“Had,” she answers. “But can we not talk about it? I’m afraid I’ll just get more emotional. I always do get emotional on my birthday. That’s why I told Phil I didn’t want a birthday party.”

“I think that’s exactly why he thought you needed one,” I say. “Maybe he’s trying to cheer you up.”

“And I seem to be more emotional this year, too. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis. I am turning fifty, after all.”

“You don’t look at it all,” I reassure her. “Not in that dress.”

“Well, I am turning fifty regardless, and fifty-year-olds don’t need birthday parties. Yet once Phil makes up his mind about something, there’s no changing it.”

“Then just enjoy the party.” I squeeze Nancy’s hand. “I know I will.”

She shrugs. “I guess I might as well.”

I smile. “That’s the spirit.”

She looks at me. “Shouldn’t you go home and get ready? There are only a few hours left, you know.”

I look at my shirt. “Well, I do need to change into something more suitable. I can’t look shabby when you look like a princess.”

“Oh, child. I’m sure you’re the one who’ll end up looking like a princess.”

~

And I feel like one, I think as I stand in front of the mirror in my powder blue empire waist dress.

It was already a beautiful dress to begin with, one of Angie’s favorite maternity dresses according to Travis, but I’ve stitched it here and there to make it tighter and trimmed the top of the bodice into a sweetheart neckline. Then I added some lace from an old curtain to the hem to make it reach the floor. As a result, the casual dress now passes for a gown fit for a bridesmaid. Or for someone attending a friend’s glamorous fiftieth birthday party.

Still, I can’t help but remember what it used to be, and as I recall Nancy’s words, I place my hand over my belly.

Could I be pregnant?

A whistle behind me interrupts my thoughts. I quickly place my hands at my sides and turn around.

“So?” I lift my shoulders.

Travis lets out a gasp. “What did you do to the poor dress?”

“I…”

I stop and shake my head as I realize he’s just messing with me.

“You are a devil.”

“You mean devilishly handsome in this tux that I found at the bottom of some old suitcase?” He turns around. “I know it needs dry cleaning, but we don’t have that here in Hope Creek, so…”

I look at him from head to toe. I don’t know what or whose suitcase he’s referring to, but the black and white suit looks beautifully made and fits him like a glove, making his shoulders look a tad broader and his legs longer. His necktie is impeccable, too, and he has his hair combed back.

Devilishly handsome, huh?

Well, I can’t deny that.

“You look great,” I admit. “The lack of dry cleaning suits you.”

I turn around. “Now, seriously, how do I look?”

Travis shakes his head. “I don’t like the dress.”

“You don’t?”

“No.” He shakes his head again. “I think I’d rather take it off.”

He walks towards me and places his hands around my waist.

I push him away. “Not yet. We have a party to go to.” I glance at the clock as I grab my purse. “And we have to go right now, actually, or Nancy and Phil are going to get mad.”

“And we can’t have that,” Travis says. “We can’t piss of Hope Creek’s favorite couple.”

I turn to him with furrowed eyebrows. “I thought that was us.”

“We’re a runner-up. They have years on us, after all.”

“Oh.”

He offers me his arm. “Shall we, my fair lady?”

I take it and smile. “Yes, good sir. Off to the ball we go.”

~

The party starts out mellow. The venue is the gym of Hope Creek High, which has been transformed into a wonderland by strings of fairy lights and paper lanterns.

In a way, it reminds me of my high school prom.

As the evening goes on, though, it becomes livelier as more people arrive, the men in their dress shirts and slacks or tuxedos and the women in their dresses. Nothing couture, but all elegant. The music shifts, too, and the dance songs of the 80s and 90s take over from the ballads.

“It seems like everyone’s here,” I tell Travis as I look around the crowded gym.

I spot Jen and Sean holding hands and wave at them.

“It does seem like that,” Travis agrees. “Even Mrs. Pensworth, who rarely leaves her house. Have I told you she has the best flower garden in all of Hope Creek?”

“No,” I answer as I look at the middle-aged woman in the yellow dress that he’s pointing at.

“And there’s Jerry Hamilton.” He gestures to a man in a dark blue tux. “He’s the mayor.”

I nod. “I see.”

“Can you excuse me for a sec? I just need to talk to him for a bit.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

I watch him go over to the mayor as I lift my glass of punch to my lips. Nothing alcoholic, and a bit on the sour side, but still enjoyable.

“You’re Travis’s new wife, right?” A woman in her twenties wearing a black dress walks up to me. “The one who lost her memories?”

“That’s me,” I acknowledge. I stretch out my hand. “I’m Grace.”

“I’m Wendy.” She shakes my hand. “Nice party, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Though I bet you’ve seen better,” Wendy mutters.

I lower my glass to the level of my waist. “Why would you think that?”

“Because they say you’re a Pioneer, and everyone knows Pioneers were either geeky or rich. You don’t look like a geek, so you must have been very rich.”

I lift my eyebrows. “A Pioneer?”

What on earth is that?

Suddenly, the music dies and I see Phil go up onto the stage with the mic in his hand. I finish my punch and put it down on a nearby table before moving closer.

“Good evening, everyone,” Phil says. “And thank you for coming. I hope you like the punch. It’s Nancy’s recipe.”

“It’s more of a jab,” someone says.

Someone laughs.

“Speaking of Nancy, it’s her birthday today, so let’s all allow her to say a few words, alright?”

He gestures to Nancy, who shakes her head. At first she doesn’t seem to want to take the mic, but after some convincing from Phil and a few good-natured encouragements from the crowd, she gives in. The gym bursts into applause as she takes the stage.

“Good evening,” she says. “Like Phil said, thank you all for coming. This party was all his idea, as most things are, but I am glad to see you all.”

She pauses to take a deep breath.

“Since you’ve asked me to say a few words, then just allow me to take this opportunity to look back on the greatest things that have happened in the fifty years of my life. I grew up in a world that was still full of life, crazy but wonderful, and with so much food.”

Some people laugh.

“And I became a doctor, which I always wanted to be.”

“The best doctor ever,” someone shouts.

“Why, thank you, Ryan,” Nancy says. “Do remember that the next time I ask you to take your pills.”

Again, the crowd laughs.

“Then I met Phil, and I…”

She pauses and silence falls over the room.

I hold my breath. Somehow, I know what she’s going to say next.

“I had three… wonderful children,” Nancy says with a shaky voice. “And not a day goes by that I wish the world hadn’t changed as it did, that the Icebreaker hadn’t come and taken them from me.”

My eyebrows furrow. The Icebreaker?

“I’m sorry.” She sniffs and wipes a tear. “I guess I’ll take this moment to remember them and all those we’ve lost.”

Suddenly, I remember the graves in the woods.

Did all of those people die at the same time?

“But let us not forget that without Martin’s dome, we would have lost more,” Nancy continues.

Martin Schwarzschild? What dome?

“I think we should go.” Travis suddenly grabs my arm. “Toby might be feeling lonely in the car.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “What’s the hurry?”

“Nothing,” he says as he ushers me towards the entrance of the gym. “The party is over, isn’t it? Everyone will go home soon.”

I’m not convinced. Something is going on.

I jerk away from him after we’re outside the gym.

“Travis, what’s going on? And what was Nancy talking about?”

“Nothing,” he says again.

“Why are we in a hurry to leave?”

“You want to know the truth?” Travis asks.

I nod.

“Because I can’t wait to take that dress off of you,” he says.

Before I can get another word out, his mouth falls on mine.