WIP Wednesday: Everson & the niblings
Work in Progress Wednesday!
“Nibling is a gender-neutral term used to refer to a child of one's sibling as a replacement for "niece" or "nephew". The word is thought to have been coined in the early 1950s, but was relatively obscure for several decades before being revived in recent years.” (Thanks Merriam-Webster!)
Chapter 3
I kiss her palm.
I wish I could kiss away all her troubles. I know tonight was tough for Gracie. She’s surrounded by breeders. Her sister has three kids. My sister has six. Now her best friends Drew and Drew are having a baby. It’s got to weigh heavy on her heart.
I wish there were something I could do for her. I mean, other than the obvious.
We’ve talked about this ad infinitum, but perhaps it’s time to change the conversation. Maybe instead of talking about fertility, we should talk about fostering and adoption. This woman’s heart is so huge, I know she would be as excellent a foster mom as she would be any other kind of mom. In fact, I’m not sure why we haven’t talked about it before now. Except, I’m here in the backseat of this car, kissing her like we’re teenagers instead of having this talk. So, maybe it’s because I’m terrified.
The last thing I want to do is let Gracie down. And a baby is something she has wanted for so long. Our home is filled with photos of Grace holding our nieces and nephews as infants. Her face glows in every photo.
Faith “loans” us a son every month or so. We pick up Preston, 16, or Parker, 13, or Phoenix, 10, on Friday after school. Our routine typically involves ice cream first, where Grace and her Nephew Of The Month plan out the entire weekend.
She taught Preston to drive. She’s teaching Parker guitar. Phoenix is our quiet, thoughtful little guy—he always wants to hear her new songs and give her pointers on how to make them sadder.
We don’t return the object of her obsession until we drop him off at school on Monday morning. Unless it’s a three-day weekend, and then it’s not until Tuesday. Those boys are her whole world. From the first moment I saw her with them, I knew I wanted to fill her belly with her own little boys. And girls. Or whatever God has in store for us. I’m here for it all.
Which is why this hurts so effing much.
