And We Will Live Happily
By Tamer Lorika
“Um…”
It was the way that Natalie said it that first alarmed Maura. That tone of voice. It was the same one that Natalie had used when she accidentally melted the laptop cords, or the one time she put bleach in the washing machine with all their jeans—she was not allowed to touch the washer unsupervised anymore—and it always spelled some kind of domestic disaster. Maura looked down to Camilla, who had just finished her bottle and burping, and was now blinking sleepy baby-eyes back at her. Well, at least she knew that this particular “um” didn’t have something to do with the baby.
Truthfully, though, Camilla was the only thing that Maura didn’t worry about around Natalie. The woman was like a bear, when it came to their daughter—as protective and
