“I just want a healthy baby.” She sounded tired as she said it. She has a busy schedule over the next few weeks, her studying wasn’t over, not by a long shot. She had another state exam she had to take to get her license to work as a registered nurse and things I didn’t even want to think about to get through.
Now she had a baby to worry about on top of that. Life would be hard, but I knew I’d be there to help her through it. We wouldn’t be that far apart, at all. After I came back from Vegas that is.
Graduation was in two days, then I’d fly out from Charlotte for a couple of days, then come back. I’d see her when I got back, for sure.
“You know I’ll be there to help however I can, Brook. You aren’t alone.”
“Oh, I know.” She sniffled as she looked down at the picture. “Stuart is so excited he can barely stand it. He has a job down there, now.”
“Doing what?” I’d always wondered what kind of job you could with an art degree. I couldn’t think of anything other than teaching.
“He’s going to work with a new publishing company. They’re designing comic books, things like that.”
“That sounds lucrative.” I blinked at her waiting on more.
“It is, more than I thought it would be.” She sounded relieved. “I love that boy and his poet’s soul, but I wondered what he’d be able to do.”
“It’ll all work out then, Brooklyn. No worries, right?” I hugged her again and she nodded with a blank stare at the wall.
“I hope so, Nic. I really hope so.” She let her torso flop back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. “Graduation is almost here, and we’ll be heading back home. I guess we need to pack up soon, don’t we?”
“I’m a little sad about it, actually.” I looked around at the room we’d made our own. Soon, somebody else would be in it and we’d be in our new grownup homes. Well, she would be. I’d be at Mom’s for a little while. I’d decided to stay in the area and not go to Atlanta because Mom and Brooklyn both meant a lot to me.
Mom still worked hard, so I rarely had time to talk to her, but I loved her. Now that I knew about the baby, I wanted to be around for that too, so maybe when I’d saved up enough money, I’d move Mom and me closer to Charlotte.
If she wanted to go with me, that is.
She might not, I thought as I walked to my final exam for the day. My final class, ever, as far as this degree went. I was a little melancholy about that, but at the same time, I was really glad it was over. My grade was so good in the last class that I didn’t really need to take the final, I’d pass anyway, but I wanted to make sure I kept my GPA up. I was a bit of a stickler about it. An old habit from high school that I couldn’t break.
I got through the exam without any problems, I knew all of the answers and walked out of the class to head to the library. Tonight, was my last night of working there, and I wanted to say goodbye to Mrs. Lawson.
“You didn’t have to come in, Miss Howell,” she said with a sad smile. “But I’m glad you did. Come back to my office, won’t you?”
“Sure,” I agreed readily, always glad to help her out.
“Surprise!” She called softly as she opened the door. “Every few years I get to do this, but not very often. Congratulations on your graduation, Nicolette. I’m very proud of you.”
I stared at a cupcake on her desk, a large red velvet cupcake with a sparkler lit in the middle and a banner she’d hung up over her desk. There was a small present beside the cupcake on a plastic plate, and I knew it was for me.
“Oh, Mrs. Lawson.” I felt tears well up in my eyes as she shook my hand and leaned in a little. “Thank you.”
“You’ve been a wonderful helper, Miss Howell, and you’ve worked hard to get through this degree. I’m really quite, quite proud of you.”
She pulled away before it turned into a hug, always so formal but letting loose a little, before she patted my shoulder. With a wide smile, the older woman handed me the present and I opened the pink paper up to see a book. Not a surprise, but what was a surprise was the title.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. I flicked through it and saw that it was full of illustrations that looked very humorous. I’d enjoy reading it, I thought as I closed the book and looked at the head librarian.