Forever & Ever

by Tere Michaels

  “You need an intern,” Evan said absently, leaning forward as the door opened again. Kent, red-faced and sweaty, stuck his head in.

  “Pushing, we’re pushing. She’s pushing.” He took a breath as Cornelia and Blake rushed to give him a hug. “Shouldn’t be long now.”

  The room erupted in cheers.

  EVAN GAVE up the pretense of calmness, pacing in large looping circles around the waiting room. He dodged the balloons, Cornelia and Blake, his children, and Matt, who was reading a Woman’s Day from last June in between texting Griffin.

  “How long has it been?” he asked.

  Danny looked up from his phone. “Fifteen minutes.”

  Mumbling to himself, Evan did another loop around the waiting room. Were the walls closing in? He was starting to think the room had gotten smaller. Fifteen minutes—was that enough time to push out a baby? He racked his brain to remember each of Sherri’s labors.

  When he recalled Katie taking almost three hours of pushing, he felt a little faint.

  God, waiting—not his strong suit.

  “At least you’re not Kent,” Matt commented as he did another pass through the room. “I imagine he’s a lot more stressed out right now.”

  “That doesn’t actually help.” Evan kicked at Matt’s sneakers. “I’m worried about him too.”

  Matt patted the seat next to him. “Please sit down. Please.” He pulled a chocolate bar from the bag next to him and then waved it enticingly. “Have some candy?”

  “Your sex games are really disturbing.” Katie, or rather Katie’s belly, squeezed between them. She plucked the candy from Matt’s fingers.

  Evan gave her a sideways hug. “How do you feel?”

  “Hungry. And impatient. I want to meet my niece.” She lowered herself back into a seat, rubbing her side. “Just think, everyone, you get to do this all over again three weeks from now!”

  ANOTHER HOUR ticked by. Matt fed Evan chocolate and parsed out the rest of his treats to the group as if they were crashed into the side of a snow-covered mountain. A rousing game of paper football broke out, boys versus girls, but that got curtailed when another family of seemingly normal people came to wait. Their bacchanalia was over.

  “I hate having to behave,” Matt muttered. He texted everyone in their friend circle who was not in this room, sharing his tale of woe.

  Evan tapped his feet until even Elizabeth began to glare.

  “Oh, this is driving me crazy,” Cornelia said loudly, startling everyone in the room. “Sorry, sorry.” Blake drew her back down, wrapping his arm around her.

  Katie shifted in her seat, then struggled to stand up. Danny gave her a hand, steadying her as she tried to gain her balance.

  “Elizabeth, walk me to the little girls’ room.” She held out her hand for her sister. “Given the law of averages, as soon as I sit down to pee, that baby will be born.”

  “Damn, why didn’t I think of that?” Matt watched them go, contemplating a trip to the vending machines for more caffeine. He’d drifted into a sugar/soda walking coma, both incredibly awake and sleepy at the same time. Maybe the other family wouldn’t mind if he lay down on the floor and took a little nap—

  The door flew open, setting the whole room into an uproar.

  Matt had never seen Kent show that much emotion. Still in sweat-stained scrubs, he burst in, grinning from ear to ear, vibrating with joy.

  “Shelia’s here, she’s here.” His voice broke as Cornelia enveloped him into a hug.

  EVAN STOOD up as soon as Kent entered the room. For a second he couldn’t react—everything just seized up inside him. Then he opened his mouth to speak… and nothing came out.

  “Congratulations, Grandpa,” Matt whispered, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Breathe.”

  A quick intake of air; then Evan cleared his throat. “Miranda…,” he managed.

  “Oh.” Kent pulled away from his parents for a second. “Oh, she’s amazing. Just amazing. I have to get back to her. God. But she’s fine. She did great.” Kent collected himself and then kissed his mother one more time before ducking back out.

  Evan nodded, letting himself be folded into a tight embrace from Matt. He held on, struggling to keep himself in check. His firstborn was a mother. Little Shelia was here, and God, he couldn’t wait to hold her.

  SECRETLY, MATT imagined being emotional when Katie gave birth, given their relationship. He and Miranda were good now, but it wasn’t the same as with the other kids, so he’d be happy but not… dramatic when she had her baby. At least he didn’t think so until he started tearing up as Evan hugged him back.

  “Oh crap” was all he managed as Evan chuckled weakly against his shoulder. “Wow.”

  A tap on the shoulder made him lift his head. Danny stood there, smiling with his arms outstretched. “Someone hug me, I’m an uncle!”

  “I told you!” Katie’s voice broke up the group as the door slammed open. “I went to the bathroom and Shelia was born!” Then she burst into tears.

  “Don’t go into labor, please,” Matt muttered as he and Evan hurried over to help Katie back into a chair.

  Evan left Matt to soothe her as he did the rounds of hugging Elizabeth, Cornelia, and Blake. From the other side of the room, the second family watched them with polite but concerned smiles.

  They would be so happy when this crowd cleared out, Matt thought.

  “Hey, kiddo. These happy tears or giving birth tears?”

  “Ha-happy.” Katie dug into her pockets for tissues. “Oh my God, Miranda had a baby!”

  Matt wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “True story.”

  “I’m having a baby!” She blew her nose loudly. “Oh my God!”

  One-handed, Matt texted Austin the good news, then recommended he find a way to get here. Soon.

  Neighbor’s watching Josiah. There ASAP.

  “I mean I knew it was happening, but oh my God….”

  Evan returned, settling down on Katie’s other side. “Hey, Katie? You okay?”

  She nodded, wiping at her eyes. “Miranda’s a mom. We’re going to be moms together. I never thought this would be such a great thing, after all the years I just wanted to drive her as crazy as possible.”

  WITHIN TWENTY minutes a cleaned-up Kent returned. “Who wants to meet Shelia?” he asked the crowded room. Two more families had arrived, and things were starting to get a little tense in terms of allocation of chairs and noise level. Evan began to get concerned they didn’t have enough air.

  “How many can you take in?” he asked eagerly. Part of him wanted to argue grandparents first, but Katie needed to get home before she fell asleep.

  “We can do everyone so long as we’re quiet.” Kent waved them out the door.

  He didn’t have to ask twice. They followed him down the hallway, Evan speed-walking to the front of the pack. Every inch of him vibrated with nervous energy; he wanted to cry and celebrate and then cry some more.

  When Kent reached the door, giving them one more shhhh before opening it, Evan felt Matt’s hand in his. From the doorway, he could see Miranda in the bed, a pink-blanketed shape against her chest.

  “Come meet Shelia,” Kent whispered as Evan pushed his feet to move.

  At Miranda’s bedside, Evan let himself drink in her smile, her tired eyes, her rosy complexion and damp hair. He could see Sherri in her so clearly as he reached out to brush his fingers across her cheek.

  “Congratulations, sweetheart,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I love you so much.”

  “Daddy.” Miranda’s voice wavered. She moved her arms slowly, gingerly, revealing the tiny face of his granddaughter. Little wisps of blond hair sat on the top of her head, her apple cheeks moving as she breathed in and out. “This is Shelia Cerelli Moran,” she said, breathless and proud as she gazed adoringly at her daughter.

  “She’s perfect.” Evan stroked the baby’s chin, seeing both Kent and Miranda in her features. “Absolutely perfect.”

&nbs
p; MATT LET go of Evan’s hand, letting him bond with the baby. The moment his husband got that little nugget into his arms, it was like a light was switched on from inside. He beamed with the joy of it, making Matt’s heart flip a few beats.

  He watched Cornelia and Blake meet their granddaughter, sniffling a little as a beaming Cornelia held her for the first time. Elizabeth and Danny were both rapt in their attention, marveling over her tiny hands and her tiny dimples. Then Katie sat on the bed next to Miranda, introducing Shelia to her bump—“This is your cousin, and you’re going to be the best of friends”—and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

  “YOU’RE NOT getting off the hook. Come meet your granddaughter,” Miranda said when she’d gotten a handful of tissues to clean up her face as Kent cuddled his daughter.

  Rubbing his hands together, Matt presented himself bedside. “I have all the balloons to give you, but I forgot them in the waiting room.”

  “She doesn’t care, and I’m happy you’re here.” Miranda’s eyes filled up again, and Matt crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Stop that.”

  “Say hello to her,” Miranda ordered, starting to cry again.

  “You’re doing this on purpose.” Matt put his arms out, trying to remember when he did this with Caroline and Sadie. Support the head, hold the butt.

  Kent deposited little Shelia into his arms, and Matt fell in love.

  “POPPY.”

  “No.”

  “Grandpappy?”

  Evan leaned back against the headrest. Having adult children meant getting driven home from the hospital, so Elizabeth was at the wheel of his car while Danny followed behind in Matt’s car.

  Matt sat in the back seat, throwing out honorariums.

  “We need to come up with something.”

  “There’s time!” Elizabeth laughed as she turned down their street. “She can’t talk yet.”

  “Miranda and Kent are very smart. You don’t know how quickly Shelia is going to pick things up.”

  Evan and Elizabeth shared a quick smile as she pulled into the driveway.

  “I think we have a few weeks, at the least,” Evan said, unhooking his seat belt.

  “Until Mavan is born, and then we’ll be out of time! We have to pick something before Fred and Blake get the good ones,” Matt insisted as he got out of the car.

  Elizabeth laughed as she walked around to the other side of the car. “Dad, you can’t sleep in the car.” She offered her hands. “Come on, Gramps!”

  “See, Gramps, I like that.”

  Evan let Elizabeth pull him out of the seat. “I will be Grandpa Evan. That’s what Josiah calls me. That’s what Shelia and… Mavan… will call me. I don’t see why we have to get fancy.”

  Danny joined them on the walkway. “That’s you, Dad. We’re talking Matt here. Grandpa seems so… pedestrian.”

  It was hard for Evan to miss Matt’s triumphant expression, and impossible to miss the fist pump over his head.

  MATT SLEPT ten solid hours, missing Evan’s departure for work and both the kids leaving for the day for their summer break activities. When he rolled out of bed, he found a ton of texts and missed calls, mostly from Griffin.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, halfway into his pants when Griffin picked up.

  “Nothing. Sorry, do I call too much? I was trying to find out about the baby,” Griffin rambled, not taking a breath. “We’re home, Jim’s home. In bed, where he’s staying until I tell him he can leave.”

  “He just got out of the hospital—curb your crazy sex games.” Matt dropped his pants, then got back into bed. “I’ll be up there in a few hours.”

  “No, don’t. You have family stuff to do.”

  “Tell him to stay home!” Matt heard Jim’s voice in the background.

  “I’m offended by how you think I can’t do two things at once in two different places.”

  “Um, you can’t?”

  “Put your husband on the phone, please.” Matt rolled himself in the sheets, settling into his comfortable groove in the mattress.

  “Hey.”

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I was coming up so we could talk about… stuff.”

  Jim sighed, a noisy exhale that ended with a slight cough. “We can do this now.” He cleared his throat. “I’m retired, but I don’t want my investment money back. That’s yours, to run the company.”

  “James.”

  “Matthew.”

  “I’m not taking your money. We’ll dissolve the partnership, you’ll get your—” Matt didn’t get very far.

  “Matt!”

  He blew a raspberry into the phone. “Fine. You can be a silent partner and my sugar daddy. But you can’t work.”

  “Fine.”

  “I’m going to come up and get all the files and the desktop, and I will be changing the email password so you can’t get in.”

  “Fine,” Jim said, but Matt could feel his grimace as clear as if they were in the same room.

  “Okay.” Matt pulled the sheet over his head. “You mad?”

  “If I had the strength, I’d get up and throw this couch through the picture window.” Jim sounded like himself again, and for that Matt was grateful, even if this sucked. “Daisy said I had to get a hobby.”

  “You don’t know how to do anything.”

  “Therein lies the problem.”

  EVENTUALLY MATT got dressed. He answered approximately a thousand texts, sharing Shelia’s adorable pictures with everyone whether they asked or not, all while finishing the last of the shower food, which felt fitting on Shelia’s first official day on earth. He checked in on Katie—then checked in with Austin to get the straight talk on Katie.

  “She’s fine but very emotional still. Also she’s making Josiah help her clean out the linen closet, so uh, I’m sticking close to home today,” Austin said with a nervous laugh. “I suspect we have entered the nesting stage.”

  “I’ll be home all day. Holler if you need anything. Grampy is here.”

  Austin coughed.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m still working on it.”

  When he finally sat down at his desk, Matt’s emotional high took a direct hit. With Jim sick and Matt being at way too many hospitals in seventy-two hours, his work emails were backed up, and several proposals sat unfinished on his desktop. Jim’s expertise and ability to handle all the stuff Matt hated left a huge void, even beyond the “I won’t be hanging with my best friend all the damn time” loss.

  “What the hell am I going to do?” he muttered before tackling his work.

  Two hours passed in irritated work mode before he heard the front door.

  “Matt!”

  “In here.” He printed out another proposal, his eyes dry from staring at the screen without blinking.

  Elizabeth plopped down on the armchair in the corner of Matt’s office, looking tan and lithe in her bathing suit top and shorts.

  “Why aren’t you wearing more clothing?”

  “It’s summer.” She leaned over to grab the papers out of the printer. “What are you doing?”

  “Eh, proposals for some clients. Jim’s, uh—well, Uncle Jim has been having some health problems, so he’s retiring, effective now.”

  “I thought it was pneumonia, not anything really serious.” Elizabeth fussed with the papers, lining them all up with straight edges. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “Yeah. He just needs to have a stress-free life.” Matt sighed as he turned his chair to face her fully. “Has to happen, but I’m feeling a little bummed.”

  She gave him her sweetest sympathetic face, then looked at the proposal. “I can imagine. I mean, you guys are best friends, but you know you’ll see him just as much and….” Her voice trailed off. “Um, is this the final?”

  Matt’s gaze narrowed. “Yes. Why?”

  “There’s some typos,” she said, looking almost guilty. “Can I give it a look over?”

  He sighed, then
motioned for her to go ahead. “Please.”

  WORK WENT faster with Elizabeth. She corrected his typos and grammar and rewrote entire paragraphs for efficiency. Setting up with her laptop at the desk next to him, Elizabeth tried to explain why she’d made the changes, but Matt just waved her off.

  “I know what I’m paying for your education—I trust you.”

  He concentrated on floor plans until Elizabeth leaned in, scooting her chair a bit closer.

  “What are you doing, exactly?”

  When she started making suggestions, Matt got an excellent idea.

  EVAN APPRECIATED the hearty dinner of steak and roasted potatoes that night. He also enjoyed the bottle of wine that came in the “congrats, Grandpas” basket of treats Daisy and Bennett sent.

  “We have the best friends,” he said, cutting into his perfectly prepared steak. “What did you guys do today?”

  “Worked. Ollie and me went to the gym. I showed everyone the picture of me and Shelia.” Danny eyed the wine. Evan moved it farther away from him as soon as he noticed. “Nothing much.”

  Matt and Elizabeth seemed to be sharing identical grins, which should make Evan nervous, but the house was still standing and Grandpa Evan was in a good mood, so….

  “And you two?”

  “Why do you sound like you need a pipe and sweater with those patches on the elbows?” Matt asked, reaching for the ketchup. “Is that a new voice?”

  “Grampy voice,” Danny muttered.

  Evan ignored them, spearing a potato on his fork.

  “Matt and I had the best day,” Elizabeth burst out. “I helped him with his proposals and worked on some floor plans! It was just really interesting and….” She gestured for Matt to continue.

  “And I have a new paid intern.”

  They high-fived each other as Evan rewound the conversation.

  “You’re working with Matt?”