She pulled up at the house and ran inside, as Plato padded happily to greet her.
โHello?โ she asked, desperately. โAsh? Molly?โ
She needed to see them. She knew she didnโt have long. She could feel the Midnight Library waiting for her.
โOutside!โ said Ash, chirpily, from the back garden.
And so Nora went through to ๏ฌnd Molly on her tricycle again, unfazed by her previous accident, while Ash was tending to a ๏ฌower-bed.
โHow was your trip?โ
Molly climbed o๏ฌย her tricycle and ran over. โMummy! I missed you! Iโm really good at biking now!โ
โAre you, darling?โ
She hugged her daughter close and closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair and the dog and fabric conditioner and childhood, and she hoped the wonder of it would help keep her there. โI love you, Molly, I want you to know that. For ever and ever, do you understand?โ
โYes, Mummy. Of course.โ
โAnd I love your daddy too. And everything will be okay because whatever happens you will always have Daddy and you will have Mummy too, itโs just I might not be here in the exact same way. Iโll be here, but . . .โ She realised Molly needed to know nothing else except one truth. โI love you.โ
Molly looked concerned. โYou forgot Plato!โ
โWell,ย obviouslyย I love Plato . . . How could I forget Plato? Plato knows I love him, donโt you, Plato? Plato, I love you.โ
Nora tried to compose herself.
Whatever happens, they will be looked a๎er.ย ๎ปey will be loved. And they have each other and they will be happy.
๎ขen Ash came over, with his gardening gloves on. โYou okay, Nor? You seem a bit pale. Did anything happen?โ
โOh, Iโll tell you about it later. When Mollyโs in bed.โ
โOkay. Oh, thereโs a shop coming any time . . . So keep an ear out for the lorry.โ
โSure. Yeah. Yeah.โ
And then Molly asked if she could get the watering can out and Ash explained that as it had been raining a lot recently it wasnโt necessary, because the sky had been looking a๎er the ๏ฌowers. โ๎ขeyโll be okay.ย ๎ขeyโre looked a๎er.ย ๎ขe ๏ฌowers have water.โ And the words echoed in Noraโs mind.
๎ปeyโll be okay.ย ๎ปeyโre looked a๎er . .ย . And then Ash said something about going to the cinema tonight and how the babysitter was all arranged and Nora had forgotten completely but just smiled and tried really hard to hold on, to stay there, but it was happening, it was happening, she knew it from within every hidden chamber of her being, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.
