Smooth Sailing

October 4, 2002

October 4, 2002

Memories began to flood Holly's brain as Chad drove the family's rental car towards the house that she had grown up in. She had a whole life in Clearwater Lake - parks that she had played in as a young child, friends that she had made in middle school, books that she had spent her free hours studying as a teenager - but she thought that she had left that all behind when she moved to Portland. So many things were out of place now, from the brand new Culver's next to her mom and dad's house to the mere presence of her husband in this small town. She wasn't sure what had changed - her, Clearwater Lake, or both.

"Holly, are you okay?" Chad asked. "You look stressed."

Just the fact that Chad had asked about her made Holly feel a little bit better. She always seemed to find comfort in Chad's kind, brown eyes, dark brown skin, and his sweet, gentle words. "I'm fine," Holly said as she looked out the window.

"Okay, Holly," Chad said with a smile. "I just hope that the baby's okay."

"The baby's fine too," Holly said as she rested a hand on her stomach. She went back to looking out the window, and she watched as waves crashed against the shore. It had been a while since she had been to Clearwater Lake, and a part of her missed it. She hadn't even been on a sailboat in years. Holly wanted to jump right onto Phil or her dad's sailboat and blow off some steam by circling around the lake, but that might be tricky with the baby. Growing up, Holly had never seen pregnant women sailing - then again, why couldn't she be the first?

"Mommy!" Scott cried from the backseat.

"What is it?" Holly asked her son.

"Look!" Scott said. "Duckies!"

"Yes, those are ducks," Holly said, noticing the ducks waddling along the shore of the lake in front of her parents' house. "Maybe your grandma and grandpa will let us feed them."

Scott cheered as Chad parked the car in front of Holly's parents' house. For over half of her life, Holly had lived in that house too, but now, it was impossible to think of Clearwater Lake as home. Portland was her home now, and she had Chad, Scott, and the baby to share it with.

All of them climbed out of the car, and Holly knocked on the door. "Hi Holly," Mom said as she opened the door. "It's so good to see you."

Holly hugged her mother and said, "It's good to see you too. How are things going?"

"Well, your grandma's not doing too well," Mom said. "We thankfully managed to bring her here, but ever since Grandpa died, her health has really declined. We're worried that she might not make it much longer."

Holly's heart broke when she heard this. She knew that Grandpa's death had been hard on Grandma, but she didn't know how much of a toll it had taken on her physical health, even though he had passed away four years earlier. Holly couldn't imagine losing her grandmother too, but she was worried that it might happen sooner rather than later. "That's really sad to hear," Holly said.

"Don't bring it up to her though," Mom said. "She's still convinced that she'll recover eventually."

"I won't," Holly said.

"We do have some happier news though," Mom said. "Sylvie's here." Holly smiled at the mention of her nearly six month old niece. She hadn't met Phil's new daughter yet, but she looked forward to seeing the newest addition to the family for the first time. Mom then turned to Scott and said, "Speaking of children, how's my favorite grandson doing?"

Scott, who still hadn't figured out that he was Holly's mom's only grandson, gleefully answered, "Good!"

Mom grinned and told Holly, "It's nice having one grandson and one granddaughter, but that's all going to change soon. When's the baby due?"