We Cry the Sea by Glenn Quigley

Author:Glenn Quigley [Quigley, Glenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA+, Action/adventure, Age-gap, Bears, Bartenders, Established couple, Illness/disease, Over 40, #ownvoices, Pirates, Sailors, Tattoos, Fishermen, Criminals, clockpunk
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2021-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Edwin stood at the door to Iris’s bedroom, trying to compose himself. He’d been given the nod from Mrs. Whitewater on her way past, letting him know it was safe to go in. He ran his hand over the back of his neck and was certain the floor beneath his feet had begun to tilt.

“Are you coming in or not?” Iris called.

He politely knocked on the door and let himself in. Iris was in bed, holding both babies in her arms. How tiny they were. She was beaming. Edwin wobbled his way across the room and sat as softly as he could on the bed. Iris leaned forward and he took the sleeping children from her. Not a single sound escaped from them, or from the world at large, as far as Edwin could tell. It was as if the universe held its breath so as not to spoil the moment. Both of his children had hair like a warm autumn day and he kissed them on the forehead. His children. He started to laugh.

“I can’t believe it,” he said.

He was whispering to the fullest extent his excitement and bewilderment would allow.

“I’m actually holding them. We actually did it. They’re so beautiful. They’re amazing. You’re amazing. Doctor Cranch is amazing…”

Iris laughed. “You’re blathering, Edwin. Seems to be the day for it.”

“Am I? I can’t help it. And you, are you…well?” He wasn’t entirely sure if it was a stupid question or not. He suspected it probably was.

“As well as can be expected,” Iris said. “I have been confined to my bed for the foreseeable future though.”

“You scared us,” he said. “For a second, I feared the worst.”

“I knew all would be well,” Iris said.

“Truly?”

“Not a doubt in my mind. Well, perhaps there was a mote of a doubt in there. Somewhere. At the back.”

“I wish my Dad had lived long enough to meet them,” Edwin said.

His late brother, Ambrose, had two children. After his death, Ambrose’s wife had taken them with her to live on Blackrabbit. Edwin knew his father missed them terribly, even if he never admitted it. It would have meant so much to have his father there. He sniffed away some tears. Iris lightly rubbed his arm, then lay her head against it.

“I hoped Robin would be back by now,” she said. “Fighting those pirates in the asylum, chasing after them, it all seems so dangerous.”

“He thought it was the right thing to do, so whatever the outcome, he had to do it. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t really be Robin.”

“You’re correct, of course. Still…”

“Don’t worry,” Edwin said. “There’s no finer sailor on the sea. He’ll be back safe and sound before we know it. He’ll be fine.”

Iris laid her hand on his arm and looked him in the eye. “I wonder how many more times you’ll have to say that before you start to believe it,” she said.

*

Edwin had stayed with the babies for hours before Eva insisted he get some rest. She had offered him a room at the lodge, one which had been made up especially for him.

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