by H. P. Munro
Epilogue – Part One
The warm oppressive air hit her as she opened the door. She balanced a cardboard tray with two tall cups of ice tea in one hand as she held the door open for an elderly customer. “Why young Jessica, you get more like your mother each day,” the woman smiled patting the young girl’s shoulder good naturedly.
“Which one?” Jessica asked. The woman looked perturbed momentarily, before Jessica broke into a wide grin. “Mama, Mrs Willis is here for ice cream,” she yelled, turning her head back into the coffee shop. She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “The chocolate flavor rocks.” Jessica wedged the door open with her foot and turned and gave a quick wave towards her mom before stepping out into the heat that had been taunting her since she’d opened the door.
She walked along the sidewalk falling into a now practiced routine of stepping onto the cracks of the paving as she went, consciously not looking at the two filled cups. She had made this journey enough times in all seasons, and weather, to know that looking at the cups was sure to result in the contents spilling onto her hands. She smiled as she remembered the first time that she had walked along this sidewalk flanked by her mom and Maddie, her stride had been shorter then and punctuated with giant leaps as the two women had swung her into the air. She recalled talking nonstop to Maddie as they walked to Ben’s naming ceremony. Nowadays her stride was longer and she didn’t have to almost jog to keep in step with the tall doctor. The nonstop talking, however, remained the same.
There had been a period of adjustment for all of them as Maddie settled into her new home and role; she had initially moved into the Anderson house before all agreed that she should move in with Alex and Jessica.
Alex, for her part, took time to adjust to sharing her living space and life with someone other than her daughter. As for Jessica, she had perhaps the biggest job of all; for the first time in her life, she had to share not just her mom but also her dad, as his relationship with Lou blossomed. The adults in this rag-tag family held their breaths waiting for the enormity and unusualness of the situation to hit the child and for the inevitable fall out. However, as the weeks became months and months became years, their apprehension lessened. Unbeknown to any of them a certain nurse had made a pre-emptive strike on their behalf only a few weeks after Maddie returned to Grace Falls.
***
Three years earlier
Mack spotted Jessica sitting on the steps of the clinic waiting for Maddie to finish, armed with the knowledge that Maddie was still completing her now weekly checkup of Emmett Day. Mack took the opportunity to speak with the young girl. “Jessica,” she smiled, pushing open the screen door and stepping out in the early evening’s warmth.
“Hey Mack,” Jessica squinted up towards the woman.
“Mind if I keep you company?” Mack asked, plonking herself down before Jessica could respond. She let out a relieved sigh at finally giving her legs a rest. It had been a busy day at the clinic and Mack realized that this was the first seat she’d had since before lunchtime. She leaned over and nudged her arm against Jessica’s, “So how’s things?”
Jessica glanced up then returned her attention to her feet, “Good.”
Mack sucked air through her teeth and regarded the girl through narrowed eyes, “Lewis was telling me that some things have been said in class.”
Jessica’s head shot up in surprise.
“Now don’t be mad at him,” Mack soothed. “He’s just worried ’bout you.”
Closing her eyes Jessica gulped. “They said that my family isn’t normal, that I’m not normal,” she said quietly.
Letting out a ‘humph’, Mack looked up at the darkening sky. “Hell Jessica, no family is normal when you scratch the surface, especially the families in Grace Falls. It’s like this town is a breeding ground for the weird and wonderful,” she dropped her gaze to look at Jessica. “And I include my family in there,” she added with a soft nudge. “But let me tell you something about your family,” she said, taking Jessica’s hands and resting them both in her lap. “Your parents love you so much, and they wanted you so badly that they had to overcome obstacles to get you. Big boulders that most folks don’t have to come across. Do you know how lucky you are? I’d say fifty percent of your class are on this earth because of one too many at the Sports Bar. In fact a number of them are here just ’cause their parent’s team won the Iron Bowl that year,” she stopped and looked wistfully into the middle distance. “Good times,” she muttered under her breath, recalling the circumstances of an Auburn victory that lead to her own pregnancy. She shook her head to get back on track, “Your parents love you and that’s the most important fact in your life.”
Jessica leaned into Mack and rested her head against the nurse’s arm. “They said stuff about my mama and Maddie too,” she said, gripping Mack’s hand tighter.
“Sweetie, you’ve always known that your mama liked women. She’s never hidden that from you,” Mack said softly.
Twisting her head so she could look into Mack’s eyes Jessica shrugged, “My mama says I’m smart for my age and I know stuff, but she also says that knowing and understanding are different and the understanding bit can take longer.”
Mack smiled; she was always surprised when she spoke to Jessica by her insight and intelligence, which was beyond her years. The nurse suspected that her preference for the company of adults over children while she was growing up, and her ability to hold her own in conversation, was a result of being the first born into the tight knit group of friends. The adults in her life always treated her like a small adult, never babying her and always telling her the truth. It made Mack despair slightly when she compared Jessica to Lewis, who was only a couple of months younger than Jessica; and indeed had Jessica not been so eager to start her life early, would have been older than her. Only the week before Mack had returned home from work to be greeted with the joy of extracting yet another Lego piece from her son’s nasal cavity; what he was trying to do by continually thrusting the plastic pieces up there was beyond Mack. The nurse’s mouth quirked into a small smirk when she thought about her son; what he may lack in common sense and self-control when it came to Danish-made construction toys, he more than compensated for with the size of his heart, a heart that from the first day in kindergarten had boundless love for Jessica. It had been his return home from school the previous day with an arm full of scratches that had alerted Mack to the comments being made. Finally after much prompting the young boy had admitted that they had come as a result of his attempts to stop the guilty culprits from repeating their jibes.
“You’re right,” Mack said. “Always knowing your mama is gay is different from understanding what that means. Do you like Maddie?” Jessica’s face creased into the familiar Milne smile. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Mack smiled in return. “What it means is that your mama deserves to be loved by someone like Maddie and whatever anyone says to you, you remember that. She deserves to love and be loved just like everyone on this planet.” She put her arm around Jessica and pulled her close, “There is not one wrong thing about love. Hate through ignorance and intolerance, those are wrong but love, love is never wrong and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Jessica nodded thoughtfully weighing up Mack’s words. “I love you Mack,” she said, snuggling closer into her hug.
Mack chuckled and squeezed Jessica against her, “Good, ’cause I’m planning on being your mama-in-law, so just you remember you said that when I’m criticizing your Thanksgiving dinner.”
The two fell into companionable silence until sometime later the door opened behind them and Maddie appeared with Emmett Day.
***
The two cups of iced tea wobbled precariously as Jessica waved enthusiastically through the glass door of Sullivan’s Sports Bar. Her father’s broad smile was visible through the gloomy bar as he waved in return and walked towards the door to unlock it. He pulled the door open and reached for one of the cups, “One of those for me?”
“Nuhuh,” Jessica replied, smacking his hand away. “I’m going to the clinic.”
“I figured,” Sully replied, jokingly rubbing the back of his hand. “You coming over for dinner tonight? Lou’s made pecan pie and she can’t eat it so I could use some help.”
Jessica twisted her mouth considering the offer, “Can I use the computer?”
“Nope,” Sully grinned and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“You’re ruining my education,” Jessica grumbled as Sully slipped back through the door.
“We’re keeping you out of jail,” Sully countered from behind the glass door, he waved his fingers dismissing his daughter. “See you at six thirty or there will be no pie left.”
Jessica’s lips curled into a snarl. “Do something once,” she muttered as she turned to continue her journey to the clinic.
She pulled open the fly screen and entered the clinic building, the breeze from the ceiling fan doing nothing to take the edge off the stifling heat. She was glad that, following a period of fundraising by the town the defunct air conditioning, which the fans were admirably but ultimately failing to replace, was due to be removed and upgraded. This had been the cause of much celebration in their home. Maddie had ritually moaned her way through the previous two summers.
“Please tell me they’re what I think they are,” Mack asked looking over the top of the reception desk.
Jessica grinned, “Iced teas courtesy of Ruby’s.” She placed the tray onto the desk and frowned at the small boy sitting swiveling the office chair round in circles. “Is everything okay with Aunt Ruth?” she asked nodding toward Ben who was smiling broadly at Jessica as he spun around.
Mack took a long sip of the drink, letting out a satisfied moan. “She’s fine, it’s time,” she said. “We’re just waiting on the babysitter coming to take Ben here home.” Mack reached over and stopped the spinning chair that had picked up momentum and ruffled the boy’s dark curls.
“Mack!” Maddie’s head popped around one of the exam room doors. “Oh hey Squirt,” she grinned spotting Jessica.
“Hey Maddie,” Jessica replied. “I’ll look after Ben if you need to go,” she said to Mack. The nurse mouthed a thank you and squeezed Jessica’s shoulders as she passed by. “Hey Ben,” Jessica smiled, entering the area behind the desk. “You’re going to be a big brother soon.” Ben nodded, his eyes wide as he looked at the older girl. “You realize that being a big brother is a big responsibility,” Jessica continued as she lifted Ben from the chair and slipped beneath the three-year-old, plopping him onto her lap as she began to repeat the words that had been said to her recently. “Your little brother or sister will look up to you. You have to help show them what’s right and wrong, and computer hacking is always very wrong.” She chuckled to herself remembering her mother’s serious face during their chat, “You have to have their back, even though sometimes you want to kick them, they’re yours and you have to protect what’s yours.” Their heads lifted from Jessica’s chat, as they heard Ruth yell from the exam room. “Okay, I’m fairly certain that’s a don’t repeat word,” Jessica whispered tightening her grip around Ben as he squirmed to get out of her grip.
“Mama hurt,” he said, pointing towards the room.
“Nooo, Mama’s not hurt,” Jessica said. “She’s just excited that your brother or sister is coming.”
“’cited?” Ben looked at her questioningly.
“Yup just excited,” Jessica replied emphatically, “and anyway if she was hurt my mom’s in there with her and she’s awesome.”
Maddie stood around the corner from the reception desk, her hand clutching her chest, she’d come out to grab some ice cubes for Ruth when she’d heard Jessica’s voice repeating Alex’s words. She had been standing silently listening, proud of Jessica as she spoke to Ben, when for the first time she heard Jessica refer to her as her mother. She choked back the lump in her throat and gave a businesslike nod before making her presence known. “Okay I heard there’s an ice tea out here with my name on it,” she said brightly, striding round the desk to pick her cup up.
“Is everything okay?” Jessica asked.
“Everything is going to plan,” Maddie smiled, before her expression wavered as the door to the clinic burst open behind her and she spun around to see who had entered.
“It’s happening,” Sully’s excited voice boomed through the clinic. “Maddie, it’s happening!”
Maddie put her cup down. “Well, where is she?” she asked, leaning to look past Sully. Waddling up the pathway to the clinic was a heavily pregnant Lou, her hands clasped under her bump as if holding it up. “Sully!” Maddie yelled, slapping the man out of the way and stepping out to help Lou up the stairs to the clinic.
Jessica watched as Maddie guided Lou into an exam room. Her father practically tripped over his feet as he followed, he disappeared around the corner then reappeared a second later, a broad grin on his face. “It’s happening,” he repeated, as he leaned over and kissed his daughter’s head before disappearing again.
“Looks like we’re both going to have a brother or sister today,” she remarked to the boy sitting on her lap, before using her feet to spin them both round.
***
Two hours later and Ben was at home with the babysitter, unaware that he now had a little sister. Jessica, however, was still waiting to find out what sex her sibling would be. She had moved from the reception desk and was now lounging in the waiting room where she was joined periodically by combinations of Peter, Mack, her father or Maddie. She had started to pace back and forth counting the number of steps between the edge of the waiting room and the reception desk, twenty on the first count, twenty-two on the second. Her third recount was interrupted when the front door opened. She looked up and her eyes widened. “Maddie. Mack,” she yelled.
Mack stuck her head out of the exam room where she was with Lou. “What the hell you yelling for…” she stopped and allowed her mouth to drop. “You have got to be kidding me,” she shook her head at the sight of Douglas supporting a panting Teddy who had one hand protectively covering her large bump. Mack turned her face back into the room, “Doc, we got another one. Teddy and Douglas have decided to join the party.”
Jessica heard Maddie’s cursed response to the news. “Exam room three’s free,” Jessica smiled. “Why don’t I take you there?” She led the nervous expectant father and still panting Teddy towards the room, earning a wink from Mack before the nurse ducked back into the room to relieve Maddie.
One hour later Jessica had a little sister; she was taken into the room and allowed to hold her; as long as she sat still. When her dad placed the tiny baby in her arms, she gently kissed her new sister’s soft forehead. “I will teach you all the fun stuff, I promise,” she whispered. Maddie watched Jessica interact with her new sister and felt the lump that she had swallowed earlier reappear. She felt Sully’s arm circle her shoulder as the proud dad watched his two daughters acquaint themselves.
“Maddie,” Mack popped her head round the door. “Teddy’s close now and you probably want to get out here.”
Maddie nodded and gave Sully’s puffed out chest a pat. “You did good Daddy,” she smiled over towards a weary-looking Lou whose head was tipped to the side, her eyes never leaving her daughter. “You did better Mommy,” she grinned then slipped out of the door. The passageway between the examination rooms was empty save for a panicked looking Sam.
“Hey Sam,” Maddie greeted him. “Everything okay?”
Sam nodded wildly.
“Room four,” he pointed.
Maddie frowned and looked at the room then back to Sam who was still pointing, she walked slowly towards the room wondering what had Sam looking so worried, as she pushed the door open the reason for his expression was apparent.
“Oh. My. God,” Maddie exclaimed. Bending over clutching onto the bed rail with one hand, the other wrapped around her swollen belly, was Alex, her face contorted and sweat beading on her forehead.
“I tried to hold off coming, I heard the others were in labor, so I tried,” Alex started to apologize.
“Were you planning on crossing your legs and hoping our baby just didn’t appear?” Maddie replied, rushing to her side. “Besides if they’re all born today Sully owes me a thousand bucks,” she grinned as she helped Alex onto the bed.
“What’s the count so far?” Alex asked through gritted teeth as another contraction started to tear through her.
“Two girls,” Maddie answered, her mind focused on getting Alex settled so she could examine her. “Teddy’s just about to pop, that’s what all the yelling and swearing is about,” she said, referring to the ever increasing array of expletives coming from down the hall.
“Do you need to go?” Alex gasped, as she fought the urge to push.
Smiling Maddie placed a kiss on Alex’s lips, “Nope, I’m right where I need to be.”
“Actually, I think you need to be somewhere else,” Alex groaned and nodded between her legs. Maddie raised an eyebrow and was about to make a smart remark when Alex’s expression halted her. “I think your son is about to appear and it would be really good if you caught him,” she practically roared.
Maddie chuckled at Alex’s comment; she slipped Alex’s maternity trousers and underwear off and gasped as she spotted the baby’s head. “You weren’t joking! How long were you putting off coming in?” she looked wide-eyed at Alex who was biting her bottom lip and concentrating on trying to breathe through the contractions. “Well alright,” Maddie said. “C’mon little one you have two mommies who can’t wait to see your face.”
Five minutes later Teddy gave birth to a boy.
A minute later Alan Milne-Marinelli was born.
***
Alex watched through exhausted and tear-filled eyes as Maddie put their son into a grinning Jessica’s arms. “Hey little bear,” Jessica smiled, ignoring the sounds of stifled sobs coming from Alex and sniffing from Maddie. “I’m your big sister and these two crying wrecks are our moms. Welcome to our family.”