Sally chopped a bunch of spinach before moving onto carrots and zucchini.
"Today, I'm going to show you how to sneak vegetables into your children's diets." She said to the camera.
"I may be the mayor's wife and my children are perfect, but there are times when I have to be creative and hide their vegetables in their food."
Chop. Chop. Chop.
"I've chopped these mushrooms and blanched these carrots and broccoli, which means you just boil them until they are soft, and I'm going to puree them and put them in this tomato sauce. The kids will not know there's vegetables in it."
Sally did just that. It was nice to record herself cooking, without anyone hanging on her person or asking for a snack every 5 minutes.
Ned had proved himself to be a good house-husband. J. J. was getting along without her.
Sally suddenly felt sad.
But she had to compose herself.
She was still on camera.
"Just cook this for 30 minutes on low heat and you've got a go-to tomato sauce for any dish that requires it. They get a tasty meal, you got your kids to eat their vegetables. It's a win-win. Thank you for joining me on this cooking tip, and I'll see you next time! Buh-bye!" She waved to the camera.
After the video was done, Sally sat down and pulled out her locket. She opened it and saw Ned's picture. On the other side was JoJo's.
She spread the locket open more and, like a paper doll, it revealed more photos. Every single daughter was in it. And at the very end, was a photo of J. J.
Sally felt her heart flutter. Her baby...
Her last baby.
Sally sighed.
She glanced at her purse and decided to look at them. She dug out her wallet. Wedged between credit card and driver's license, she pulled out a folded up square of paper. She unfolded it and looked at it.
Sally ran her finger over the white blobs on the black background.
It was an ultrasound of her twin boys. The ones who died in her womb.
A tear filled her eye at the horrid memory of that dreaded day her doctor removed her babies from her.
Every single birth she had was natural. They did almost every birth plan imaginable. Bed births, water births, at the hospital, at home, even in other places.
JoJo was born at the hospital. She had planned for that not long after she found out she was pregnant. And it was a good thing she got all the paperwork done, because a month and a half before he was due, Sally went into early labor. After a small stay in the NICU, JoJo was fine.
That birth was planned accordingly. Some weren't.
Their daughter, Hildegard, was born in Who York. Sally was sure she wasn't due for another 2 weeks, but her contractions started during that anniversary vacation with Ned and she came home with a deflated tummy and a newborn baby.
Hanavas was almost born at the grocery store. As Sally pushed a cart full of 9 kids and Ned pushed the cart of groceries, her contractions happened as she looked at the different brands of paper towels. Ned had to rush that shopping trip, less she leave the store with more than just her shopping.
"What do you want the baby to be swaddled in? Paper or plastic?" She joked.
Henrietta was born at Who-U. Sally had been offered a small fortune to allow medical students to watch her give birth. The dean even went as far as to give the child in question a full scholarship.
Ned was hesitant, but Sally agreed.
Henrietta skipped 2 grades. At age 12, she was in the same grade as her older brother.
Holiday was born 3 days before Christmas. While Sally was wrapping up presents, she water broke on the bed and Ned rushed her to the hospital.
They came home 2 days later and Sally decided to swaddle her baby in bright red and green christmas wrapping paper and stuck her under the tree before the kids woke up.
That was a surprise for all the kids to see a brand new baby sister under the tree with boxes of toys.
"Look what Santa brought!" Ned said when he made a show of unwrapping the babe from her impromptu swaddling blanket to show his kids their new baby sister.
JoJo wasn't fooled, for he saw the hospital band on Holiday's wrist, but decided to go along with it.
Each birth was special.
But this one with her twin boys was painful for her. Yes, she had them by c-section, but they never got to hear their cries, never got to bond with them, never got to introduce them to their huge family.
"Mommy's sorry, babies." She whispered. She held the ultrasound to her chest.
"If only I could've saved you two."
After a good cry, Sally folded up the ultrasound and put everything away.
She decided to go home and spend time with her baby. J. J. deserved that much.