For Better or For Worse (Wedding Vows)

by LeAnn Robinson

  “He said to contact our lawyer. He’ll be getting the paperwork soon.”

  “Did he say why?” Jason couldn’t admit this to anyone, but he secretly hoped it was because he had stood up to his father, and the old man had a new-found respect for him.

  Diane shrugged. “Something about that we’re back together.”

  “Oh.” Well, guess that was better than nothing.

  “No apology,” Diane said.

  “Well, that was my dad, you know.”

  Diane nodded, then forced her smile back on. “It doesn’t matter. I think he’s out of our lives for a while. And we have a good thing going here.” As she spoke, her expression went from fake to relaxed and real.

  Jason noticed that he was now smiling, too. “Best family ever.”

  EPILOG

  Almost a year later…

  It was almost time for the party to begin. Diane had dressed Ace in one of his cutest onesies, and the nanny had taken him to the informal dining area. The photographer had arrived. Mom was there, laden with birthday presents, and Dad sat nearby, chewing on a blade of grass.

  Diane walked to the kitchen, via the entryway, but when she was halfway across, there was another knock on the door. Diane and Henry exchanged glances, and Diane shrugged. Then she called out, “Jason, is there someone else coming that I don’t know about?”

  “No.” He stuck his head into the entryway, a puzzled expression on his face.

  Henry dutifully went to the door and pulled it open. Then he stepped back, looking like he had been hit in the face.

  “Henry?” Diane said, walking toward him.

  “May I come in?” a gravelly voice said.

  Diane recognized the timbre of the voice immediately. “Carl?” She hurried to the door, hands on her hips. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here after all the problems you’ve caused.”

  Carl’s eyebrows pulled upwards, dark eyes like a puppy dog. He was more bent over than last time she’d seen him, still wearing gray. But the deep frown was… softened. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice mellow, the edge gone. “I know what I did was wrong.”

  Footsteps sounded behind her, and then she was aware of Jason, standing behind her, hands on her shoulders. “Hello, Dad.”

  Carl glanced away for a moment, then looked beyond Diane, to his son. “And I owe you more apology than I can ever express.”

  “What’s gotten into you?” Diane said.

  His eyes returned to hers. “I took your advice. Got some counseling.” He lifted a paper bag with cord-like handles. “Now, I’d like to shower my grandson with presents.”

  Diane bit her lip. It would be hard to turn away all the resentment, try to forget the terrible hurt he had dealt her, in so many ways. But it was the right thing to do.

  She turned to Jason. “What do you think?”

  “Your decision,” he said. “I’ll support you, either way.”

  She frowned. Jason still occasionally deferred too much, when he should at least express his opinion, when those things mattered to him. It was a habit begun in childhood, a futile attempt to please his father. Now, sometimes, he did it with her. Not often, and it was getting rarer as he continued his counseling. But his answer sounded like he had done it again, probably influenced by the unexpected presence of his father. Normally, she would ignore it, but this was too important not to take his feeling into consideration.

  “I didn’t ask what we should decide. I asked what you think.”

  Jason nodded, an expression just sheepish enough that she knew he understood. “We’ve all made mistakes,” he said.

  She nodded, then turned back to Carl, stepping out of his way. “Come in then.”

  Carl let out a shuddering sigh, a wobbly smile trying to assert itself while tears filled his eyes. “Thank you so much.”

  Diane shuddered inside. She wasn’t so much concerned about the past, but what if Carl started causing trouble again?

  “I’ll take him to the dining area,” Jason said. “You go get the cake.”

  With that, Diane headed to the kitchen. Once she got there, Carl’s voice boomed from in the other room, his tone jovial. “Well, there’s my little Ace! Happy birthday, big guy.”

  A smile tickled the side of her mouth. Maybe things would work out all right, after all.

  “Lights are off,” Jason called to her.

  Diane came out of the kitchen, into the darkened dining area, carrying the round cake chef had made, beautifully decorated with Sesame Street characters, and a lone, lit candle throwing dancing light all around.

  Ace sat in his highchair, staring at the candle, transfixed. All around, his grandparents, aunts and nannies sang “happy birthday.” Ace clapped, grinning, and Carl, sitting on the other side of the table, beamed.

  “Oh, he has your grin,” Diane’s mom said to Jason.

  “A little charmer to the last,” Diane said, nodding in agreement. “He’s going to break a million hearts.”

  Jason’s face turned red.

  Diane set the cake in front of Ace, then “helped him” blow out the candle. A moment later, he got a piece of the cake set in front of him. Cameras whirred, lights flashed.

  Ace stared at the sweet concoction, his brow creased, like he wasn’t certain what he was supposed to do. Everyone held their breath. Finally, he grabbed the cake with one hand and… pulled the hand back, quickly, staring at his now frosting-covered palm and making a face.

  “Oh my gosh,” Mom said, “he doesn’t like getting dirty!”

  “Too good to be true,” Diane said.

  Ace touched the cake again and withdrew his fingers as quickly as before. He studied his hand, then pressed it against his mouth, as though he could put the whole, open hand in. But a touch of the frosting had made it to his tongue. He was clearly intrigued.

  “He likes it,” Carl said. “Now what’s he going to do?”

  A third touch to the cake, but still, the texture seemed to be something he didn’t like. What to do? Diane could see the gears turning in his head. Ace licked his palm again, but there wasn’t much left there.

  Then, Ace leaned forward and bit the cake, frosting smearing onto the end of his nose and even dotting his cheeks.

  Everyone laughed, and mom declared, “I’ve never seen a baby do that before!”

  After that, Ace got to open his presents, once again “assisted” by his mother. He mostly got clothes, but there were nice toys in there, too. And finally, it was time to put the baby down for a nap.

  Once that was done, Diane wandered into the library, where Jason sat at his computer. Jason grinned. “You’re raising a pretty cute kid there.”

  She walked over to him and put her hand on his cheek. “Mom was right, you know.”

  “You mean about his smile?”

  She nodded.

  He stood and took her hands in his, giving her his most intense attention. “I don’t think I ever told you, but I lost that smile when I was away from you.”

  Her brow knitted. “I don’t understand.”

  “I thought you would reject me and be angry with me. And then I couldn’t smile anymore.”

  “I would never reject… well, okay, at first I rejected the whole idea out of hand, but that was… that was before I got to know you.”

  He beamed. “I love you so much.”

  “And I you,” she said.

  They shared a warm kiss, and then she put her hand on his chest. “There is one thing I need to tell you.”

  “Oh?” His brows lifted and his eyes momentarily expanded.

  “I mean, of all the people here, you should be the first to know.” She watched curiosity flare on his face, increasing the sparkle in his eyes.

  “Tell me,” he said.

  “You’re going to be a father again.”

  “Again?” His face lit up with the broadest grin she had ever seen on him. “That’s fantastic!”

  “And you’re okay with this?”

  “I’m more than
okay.” He studied her face for a moment. “More than fine.”

  She nodded. “And I absolutely believe you.”

  THE END

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