Chance Encounter

by Jerry Cole

  We talked about the year before that night in bed, and the cat we planned to get Gram. It fell through last year when one of the volunteers took her in after finding out that she was sick. “Do you want to do it this year?” I asked, stroking Hayden’s chest with my fingers.

  “Does she want that? It’s a big responsibility,” he sleepily replied as I considered his answer.

  “She does have Ava to keep her busy and a baby soon enough.” I thought aloud as I pictured her tree. “That tree, too.”

  “Let’s talk to her about it down the line. She’s gotta want this.” Hayden turned to me, cuddling into my chest. “I love you.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hayden

  Despite working days, we all went to see The Grinch play at the theater one night. Mari held Ava on her lap, laughing as the little girl took in everything around her.

  The play involved adults and children this year. They were kids who came from the theater down the street that only did children's plays. We liked to include them around the holidays.

  The play started, and I reached for Gray’s hand as the lights went out. I still thought back to the night that we met often, thankful every day. Ava made it halfway through before falling asleep, wrapped in Mari’s arms, and I offered to carry her to the car. Ava was a solid kid, particularly when she was sleeping.

  Becca kissed both of them at the coffee booth, promising that she’d be home soon. We all headed back, where I carried Ava to bed before telling Mari a good night.

  I went home when I was done, finding the house dark apart for our bedroom. Wandering back, I saw that Gray was dressed in pajama pants and trying to find a movie. “Hey.”

  “Did she go down, okay?” He asked, smiling at me.

  “That kid sleeps hard. I can’t believe that she slept through the songs!” I said, digging for my pants. I changed and dropped to the bed, falling back against my pillow. “I’d never miss a play, but working all day and going back at night is exhausting.”

  “I worked a lot on my stuff today. I get it,” Gray told me, turning off the light. Gram cooked an early dinner so nobody would be hungry.

  “I have tomorrow off. Let’s sleep in a bit.” I waggled my brows at Gray as he started laughing,

  “Do you want to get frisky with me?” He asked, moving closer to me for a kiss. “I’m not that kind of guy. I’m waiting until marriage.”

  “A little late for that,” I smirked, kissing him again. We made love tenderly, holding each other close when finished. “I love that I met you at the theater. I love that we’re still together, and attending plays there with our family. I love everything about us.”

  “That’s a lot of love, but I agree. Our little family is great.” We talked about Christmas in a week, and how much we had to do before then. We bought gifts that still needed to be wrapped, plus we were waiting for a couple of other things to be delivered. It was always crazy at work this time of year, while Gray got a break with a lot of podcasts talking a holiday break. He helped a lot by cleaning and feeding me, mostly from Gram’s kitchen.

  I was the wrapper in the family. I bought tons of paper, taking my time with it. A tree should have pretty presents underneath it, particularly one of ours. I even went as far as to wrap everyone’s gift in one style, so it was easier for me to remember. Gray often told me that I’d be a great parent to multiples.

  We got through the week, having another long weekend off for Christmas. Everything was wrapped and ready by Christmas Eve, and we carried the gifts downstairs to add them to the pile. Gram had friends over for ham and sides, and we’d open some of the presents tonight. According to Ava, they should all be opened tonight. The girls kept telling her to stop touching everything, trying to distract her with toys so everyone could focus on the evening. Gram’s friends all loved the baby, telling them she could do no wrong.

  That made Becca and Mari laugh, but the women called Ava an angel. We knew that while she was a sweet child, she also had her moments where she could show a different side.

  The next morning, we did something different. We woke up early to go upstairs so we could watch Ava open Santa Claus presents, heading down to Gram’s after that for the same thing. The kid had no idea what all of the fuss was about, but she loved it.

  After that, we had a small breakfast and opened more family gifts before getting down to dinner prep. Amy opted to rest on the couch again, while the girls and Gram cooked prime rib and a turkey. Gram begged for a double oven, and with the promise that she’d cook for the landlord, got her wish.

  They made a lot of sides, as always. Pies were ready to go once the meat was cooked. Snacks were placed on the tables as a few more friends dropped by with gifts or cookies, making me feel like I was in a dream again., I’d never get used to these family holidays, something that meant even more with a little girl running around in the kitchen to help.

  We sat down to dinner, stuffed into the apartments with a few fresh faces. Nobody cared, and we laughed and talked all through the meal, enjoying drinks when we were done. The entire town knew about the theater and the progress it was making, complimenting me on it. I told everyone that the cute couple on the couch were the ones that had the original idea, making Amy blush as she hid her face in Jackson’s shoulder.

  The night ended with pie and hugs, as Gray carried a sleeping Ava to her bed. The girls followed, near tears with love and support they received from everyone about their daughter. She had way too many toys for any one apartment, due to that generosity, but we were going to split them up between the four of us. Ava spent time at each apartment, and it would be like new toys at each one.

  We talked about a New Year’s Eve party again, but since the baby shower was scheduled for the next day, we decided against it. Amy’s family was flying in secretly the day before, getting hotel rooms until the day of the shower. Becca and Mari were meeting up with them to go over the last details of the party that was to take place in a quaint little coffee shop around the corner.

  We all just watched movies with Gram, sipping beer but not to get drunk. Gram made it to midnight and promptly went to bed, kicking us all out. We got Ava upstairs to bed and stayed with the girls to chat about the following day. Amy was already asleep next door.

  They were meeting at the cafe at one. Amy expected a few local friends to attend, but that was it. She thought a small shower here with a bigger one at home in about a month. She was told it was being planned. Her family of twenty was going to hide around the corner, coming in all at once to surprise her.

  Jackson said he was going to stop by just to say hello, and we decided that we’d all be together as if we were going somewhere else. I couldn’t resist seeing the look on her face when the family showed up with gifts and hugs for the soon-to-be mom. Amy loved us, but we all knew that she missed them desperately.

  The next day, the girls headed over half an hour early to set up. It was a Winnie the Pooh theme since that was one of Amy’s favorite shows as a kid. She wanted to decorate the nursery like that, something that all of the guests knew. The party was being held in a large private room filled with balloons, small sandwiches, and finger food, as well as a gorgeous cupcake tier in a frosting of blue, green, and a soft yellow. Amy settled in on a love seat in the corner while the girls fussed over every detail to make it perfect.

  We arrived a few minutes before one. Jackson went to kiss Amy as she expressed her surprise, while we just said we were headed to a bar with him to hang out. Ava was with him, and she climbed into Amy’s lap to give her a hug and the baby a kiss. We decided just to bring her since Gram was coming and it wasn’t a stiff or formal party.

  Gram and the expected guests filed into the room with presents, and Amy greeted them warmly. They took their seats once they finished, and Becca got the gifts to a corner table. We were all talking when Amy froze, her mouth wide open. Her parents came in first, followed by sisters. Amy started to cry as she hugged them, shocked even more by aunts and uncles immedia
tely. Cousins followed them, and she was a weeping mess fifteen minutes later.

  Jackson wrapped an arm around her for support as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. She grew angry with her friends for hiding this from her before crying all over again. She hugged Jackson when she found out that he paid for flights and hotels.

  “He’s that rich?” I asked in Gray’s ear as we watched the festivities from a table with Gram.

  “So rich.” He smirked as Gram cried about the generosity of her boy.

  “Let’s not worry about the beach house. He’s got it,” I laughed as Gray joined me. He relaxed about that a lot since we talked to him, and even Jackson took him aside and told him to chill out.

  Everyone ate and mingled, getting to know each other as Amy held court at her couch. She beamed as she talked animatedly with her hands, eating a few bites in between gestures. Jackson sat beside her, smiling at his wife and entertaining Ava as she made her way around the room to visit everybody.

  When it came time to tackle the giant table of gifts, Amy cried again. She sat in an oversized chair near the presents, opening them as Becca handed them to her. Mari was on Ava duty, but her smile showed that she didn’t mind. Jackson stood near her, shaking his head at the clothes and blankets soon stacked in front of him. There were toys for younger babies and stuffed characters from Winnie the Pooh. The bigger items were a green chair for the nursery, a changing table, and a few things that Moms swore by to get a few minutes of peace. Amy’s dad assured her that the crib was in the nursery and that he and Jackson would put it together on this visit.

  “I don’t think we need anything.” Amy looked at everything as she held onto Jackson. “I can’t believe that you brought them all here. I can’t believe you and the girls hid this from me!”

  “Anything for you, baby.” He kissed her, melting the hearts of everyone in the room as he did at their wedding.

  We all helped to get the items back to the apartment. As promised, the box with the crib was against the wall. We made neat piles of clothes, blankets, and toys in one corner. The other boxes went into a corner to be put together as Jackson pretended to complain.

  Luca Thomas was born two weeks early, but healthy as could be. He weighed in at nine pounds and was twenty-two inches long, and one of the most beautiful baby boys we’d ever seen. The parents were beaming, and Gram cried at the sight of her first great-grandchild.

  Amy’s family came again for the birth, filling the apartment with love and laughter as they helped the new parents. Becca and Mari marveled at the size of a newborn, even a big one. They clung to every experience that they could for when it was their new baby they were caring for.

  I couldn’t believe that the wedding was inching closer and closer. Everything was booked and planned, and all we needed to do was show up at this point.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Gray

  As the summer grew closer, I got more excited about marrying the love of my life. Hayden and I were going strong, and marriage was everything that I wanted.

  The baby was already coming up on three months old, happy, and chubby as could be. He looked like Jackson with his nose and jawline, but he had Amy’s green eyes and a soft smile. Ava was going to be two and the sweetest and most mischievous child I’d ever met. She looked a lot like her mom, and a little like her father, but I ignored the hatred I felt for him.

  Ava was not Ryan.

  The girls were engaged now as of the beginning of summer. It happened at sunset on the beach when we visited Jackson’s newly purchased beach house in-you guessed it-Port Townsend. Mari dropped to her knee with Ava by her side, and they both asked Becca to be their forever, though Ava was more of a toddler language. Becca cried, promptly said yes, and wrapped her arms around her girls. The ring was a band of diamonds and caught every light, including the waning light of the sun the night it was first slipped on Becca’s finger.

  It was our wedding at the beginning of July, though. It was our day and our trip, and nobody that we loved wanted to take that away from us. We took an earlier flight to the island to get settled in and check up on the final details, but Gram was flying with everyone else. The babies gave her more energy than ever, and she kept up just fine with Ava these days. She loved spending time with Ava and watched her frequently so the girls could have date nights.

  She also spent time with Luca, but Amy was almost always there as the worried first-time mother. She did keep him so Jackson could take Amy on dates and get her away from the chaos of motherhood. Amy worried the first few times but realized how much she loved alone time with her husband so they could reconnect.

  Our room at the resort was spacious, with a stunning view of the beach. It was the honeymoon suite and offered a hot tub, shower for two, and a beautiful deck where we could have coffee in the morning and drinks at night. It was everything that we hoped for and more, and it made Hayden cry.

  We had dinner at one of the restaurants overlooking the beach, watching the sunset as we talked about the ceremony that was taking place in three days. Family and friends were arriving tomorrow to settle in, and we had a true luau planned for everyone to show them the traditions of the islands. We planned to just spend time on the beach after that and relax until the evening ceremony.

  I didn’t sleep a wink the night before the wedding. Everyone had a great time at the luau and the places we’d gone to, totally against our beach plans. I didn’t care, but everything was racing through my mind tonight.

  I was getting married the next night. Married.

  Fucking married.

  I was in disbelief and awe of the man that I was giving my life to. Hayden was kind, giving to the family that I loved, and he called me out for my shit. He gave me a niece, as well as two sisters, and I gave him a mom figure and a brother and sister.

  I tossed and turned, getting up to walk on the beach in the morning to watch the sunrise. The girls had a salon trip today with Gram to get manicures and hair done, and we had brunch at a restaurant to have some drinks and eat with Jackson to relax. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to see Hayden the night before the wedding or morning of, but fuck that. I needed him.

  I saw a little girl and a pink-haired woman ahead of me on the sand, grinning as Ava started screaming my name.

  “What are you doing up?” I asked as I picked the newly turned two-year-old up.

  “This one knows that there is an ocean and a pool just a few feet from our room. Mari stayed up late last night, so I figured I’d give her some peace. What are you doing up?” She gave me a knowing smile.

  “I didn’t sleep for shit,” I admitted, glazing apologetically at Ava. She was picking up on what everyone else was saying now, making us all watch our mouths. “Oops.”

  “I hope that you’re just nervous and not getting cold feet. Hayden is my best friend, you know.” Her eyes shimmered in the sun, and I shook my head.

  “Never. Just amazed.” She nodded.

  “I can’t believe that we’re here for your wedding. It’s beautiful. I can’t believe that I’m here with my daughter, or that I have a nephew a few feet away from me right now.” She shook her head. “Hayden is getting married!”

  I hugged her with Ava in my arms, feeling the tears in my eyes. “Nor can I.”

  We chatted for a bit before getting coffee at the stand just outside the lobby. My phone chimed, and I pulled it out of my pocket, seeing Hayden’s name. “There he is,” I answered the phone, assuring him that I was just getting coffee with Becca and Ava.

  He told me he’d be right over, showing up in ten minutes in board shorts and a t-shirt, looking hot as hell. “Hi, babe.” He kissed me, and Becca shook her head.

  “You are supposed to be spending time apart, guys. Where is the tradition?”

  “I already woke up without him. Did you sleep at all?” He asked, giving me a curious look.

  “Not really.” Becca and Hayden laughed.

  “You won’t tonight either.” She gave
Hayden a high five, and they laughed again.

  We enjoyed coffee and then headed back to our rooms for family time. Mari planned to have breakfast with Becca and Ava before the salon, and I was going to take a walk on the beach with my man before brunch.

  We talked about everything that got us here as we walked, holding hands. It started one night at a theater when I was taking Gram to see a play, and the fire was lit when we met at the bakery. I knew that things moved fast for us, but it was just meant to be that way.

  We headed back to the room to dress for brunch, leisurely eating as we sipped beer. Jackson was beaming the entire time, happy that I was taking the plunge. He assured me that it was a happy time, even once there were kids involved in the situation.

  His son was with Amy in the salon. She was just carrying him in a wrap through the process and having someone else hold Luca as needed. He was a great baby that just wanted to be held when he didn’t need anything else. She planned to get through the wedding the same way.

  We headed to our rooms to wind down and get ready for the ceremony. Hayden and I still broke the rules, doing it together as we chatted and laughed. We did refrain from anything sexual, saving it for later that night.

  At six that night, we headed to the gazebo where the wedding would be held. Our guests were seated and waiting, and we hugged everyone involved in the ceremony as we thanked them for being there.

  Gram and I started walking first, watching as everyone smiled at us. Mari and Ava followed, holding hands as Mari clutched her flowers, and Ava dropped clumps of rose petals. That made the small audience laugh. I stood by the pastor, watching as Hayden approached me with Becca on his arm. I saw him last night, this morning and in his tuxedo earlier, but he still took my breath away.