Free The Yellow Braid by Karen Coccioli Page A

Caro asked Tommy.
    “Hong Kong.”
    Livia tore at the wrapping, searching her
aunt and uncle’s faces with a curious and touching gleam.
    “Go ahead,” Nina urged. “We have no
idea.”
    Livia undid the catch of a jewelry box and,
holding the gift close to her heart, peeked in. She gasped and her
eyes came open like pale moons as she picked out a jade bangle. She
slid it on and again, pressed it to her. “This is just like the one
that George got Mom. Now I have one, too.”
    Caro asked, “Who’s George?”
    “Stepdad,” Tommy said.
    “It’s beautiful,” Nina said, as she twisted
it around her niece’s wrist to get a closer look.
    Tommy said, “Mom made a good choice.”
    “Certainly did,” Caro agreed.
    “May I call her?” Livia asked.
    Tommy calculated the difference in time on
his watch. “Yeah, give her a buzz. It’s a little after nine in the
morning there.”
    Livia waited for the long-distance
connection to go through, all the while staring at her bracelet,
and smiling. “Mom, I just opened my gift, and I love it! It is so
beautiful. I think Aunt Nina and Caro are very jealous,” she
teased.
    “We are,” Nina called out for her sister to
hear.
    “Happy birthday, darling, and I’m thrilled
you’re happy with it.”
    “I am, very much,” Livia said.
    “You’ll have to thank George,” Carmen said.
“It was his idea. He remembered how much you admired mine.”
    “I will,” Livia said.
    “How was your party? So nice that Caro came;
you’ve mentioned her so much in your e-mails.”
    “Where are you?” Livia asked.
    “Hong Kong. In fact—”
    “I mean are you in the hotel?”
    “Yes,” Carmen said. “But I can’t stay on
long because I’m meeting George for breakfast. He had to leave
earlier for a meeting.”
    “I thought we were going to have a video
call for my birthday,” Livia said, her voice dropping in
disappointment. “Later can we?”
    Carmen let out a soft laugh. “Of course
not, precious. Later will be
your middle of the night. Remember I’m twelve hours ahead of you,
so my morning is your night and your night is my morning next day.
Maybe tomorrow, I’ll see how late I get back to the hotel
tonight.”
    “But then my birthday will be past.”
    “It’s okay. I love you,” Carmen said.
    “Tomorrow,” Livia said in a small voice.
    “Hopefully, yes. No promises though.”
    When Livia put down the phone, she went over
to her uncle and smothered her face in his chest. Moments later,
she said in a teary voice, “Least she doesn’t promise anymore.”
    After Livia excused herself for the night,
Nina said, “Wonder, if ever, when Livia’s old enough if she’ll
accept her mother’s wandering lifestyle. Because the way it is now,
Livia has expectations of Carmen, like the video call, only to be
totally let down.”
    Tommy wiped his palms as if to disengage
himself from the subject, and then refilled his wine glass.
    Caro thought of Abby so far away in London.
“Abby did,” she confessed. “You don’t ever think it’s going to
happen, and then one day it does, and your daughter’s gone. I feel
bad for Carmen without even knowing her, as I do for Livia.”
    “Don’t,” Nina said. “Carmen’s choosing her
life.”
    “I did, too, because I felt that I had no
options. I always believed that I was a writer first and a mother
second. Or maybe a wife second, and a mother third. I don’t even
know. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy being with Livia so much.
Reminds me of what I missed with Abby.”
    “And I appreciate the fact that Livia has
you in her life this summer. My sister’s other marriages didn’t
upset her as much as this one, or not that I could tell.” Nina
piled the dishes. “Come help me with coffee,” she said to Caro.
    When they were in the kitchen, Nina said,
“Tommy and I agreed to try and put off any further discussion about
Livia until she’s gone. So I didn’t tell him I submitted the photos
to Art
World .”
    “Nina, you