Other People's Houses(76)

Sara didn’t answer, just raised an eyebrow and waited for Iris to be quiet. “Look, I didn’t mention this before because it wasn’t settled, but I’ve been offered a film.”

“A film?”

“Yes. A movie. A good one.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

“Where?”

“China.” Sara laughed, briefly. “All the money’s in China right now, and somehow the money for this film came attached to principal photography over there. It’s fine, it’s good, it’s a real studio, real people, it’s going to be great.”

Iris sat up and pulled another pillow onto her lap, holding it tight. She leaned over and picked up her coffee cup, only to find it empty. “Is it a good part?” She needed more coffee, although maybe she’d had too much already. Her heart was really loud.

Sara sat up, too, and knelt in front of her wife. She watched the way Iris held her cup, saw the tremor in her wrists, knew she was upset. Dammit, she should have waited till after the party. “Baby, this is what I’m saying: I want you and Wyatt to come with me. It’ll be three months. He’s only in first grade, he can easily catch up, you’re not doing anything.”

“I’m not?”

Sara shook her head. “You’re taking care of Wyatt, you’re taking care of me, you’re treading water waiting for something, I don’t know what. Come with me to China, it’ll be fun.” She waggled her eyebrows. “The studio’s paying for a house. I put it in the deal.”

Iris thought about it. Why did she feel so angry? She was married to an actress, a successful one. Traveling for work was par for the course, and had always been fun even if it wasn’t quite as fun as Sara thought it was. A lot of waiting around for her to be finished for the day, a lot of taking care of Wyatt without any of her usual equipment or surroundings. But a big movie would be great for Sara, for all of them. “What does Anne have to do with this?”

Sara looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“You said, ‘this stuff with Anne is making me think’ . . . ?”

Sara smiled, relieved. “Just that it reminds me how important you are to me, you and Wyatt.”

Iris sat very still, trying to get a handle on what she was feeling, and what she wanted to say.

Sara frowned at her, “What’s wrong? I’m just saying it would be nice to be together. You’ve never been to China, Wyatt’s a perfect age to go . . .” She studied her wife’s face, a little lost about why this wasn’t being greeted with the enthusiasm she had expected. Iris had always loved to travel. “We can get a tutor there, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“How long have you known about this?” Iris felt wrong-footed, as if something had just been sprung on her, but she also knew that was a ridiculous reaction. Why couldn’t she just be happy for Sara? Why couldn’t she feel good about this? She’d wanted to bring up the baby, wanted the discussion this weekend to be about her, about them. It was her birthday; it wasn’t fair.

Sara shrugged. “I don’t know, a week or two, maybe. I talked to the producer a month ago and forgot about it, mostly, you know what it’s like. It came back last week, we had some back-and-forth, I have to give them an answer on Monday.”

“You didn’t say yes yet?”

Sara leaned forward and looked closely at Iris. “No, sweetheart. Why are you freaking out? Talk to me.”

Iris took a deep breath. “I want to have another baby,” she said. “And I want to do it soon.”



* * *



? ? ?

An hour or two later they’d reached the silent stage. Sara was open to a baby, after China. Iris was open to China, after a baby was begun. They’d argued all through getting dressed, and now they were sitting out on the deck trying not to start the argument up again when the front door opened

Frances’s voice floated through the house. “Hey! Where are you hiding?”

Iris called out to her, and Sara got up to go greet her.

“I brought your kid back,” said Frances, who had also brought her entire family. “And a cake. I heard it was someone’s birthday.”

Iris raised her eyebrows and turned in her comfy wicker chair to see the cake. “That’s enormous!”

Frances grinned and put it down on the table. “I lost two pounds last week. I need to gain them back as quickly as possible.”

“I like your methods.”

The doorbell rang. Sara looked at Iris and shrugged a question. “Are you expecting someone?”

Iris made a face. Sara went to open the door and reappeared with Bill and Lucas. Lucas was carrying a present.

“Oh,” said Bill, looking around. “Are we interrupting something? We just wanted to drop off a present.”

Iris stood up looking surprised. “How did you even know it’s my birthday? That’s so nice of you! Come on in!” Lucas looked a little lost, but then Wyatt ran up to him and they sped off upstairs, presumably to begin disassembling something.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” asked Sara, trying to pull her shit together. All she wanted to do was pause time so she could work things out with Iris, but, of course, time was as uncooperative as it always was. You had to stay married in the brief pauses between being married, and those pauses so often had to be rescheduled.