San Diego - love comes in many forms

by Aj Harmon

  The social worker encouraged her to bond with the baby, something Mr. and Mrs. Peters questioned on several occasions. But they were told that they’d found that it helped the mother deal with the loss better, rather than never having seen or held the baby as was the practice previously. So Natalie spent the first day in the hospital with the baby and now she was back to say goodbye. It was much harder than she’d anticipated.

  The nurse opened the door and pushed through the crib holding the most perfect baby girl Natalie had ever seen. Ten fingers and ten toes with a head of dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. Pink pouty lips sucked on her thumb as she slept peacefully.

  “Here you are,” the nurse smiled. “Just knock on the door when you’re done.”

  Natalie nodded and scooted to the edge of her chair and placed her hand on the silken head of her child.

  *****

  William pulled up in front of the address his brother had sent him. It was a small ranch house with an old truck in the driveway. Some scattered bushes and almost-green grass was the extent of the landscaping and there was mail sticking out of the mailbox attached to the front of the house beside the front door.

  “Can you wait, please?” he asked the driver as he climbed from the backseat. William strode purposefully to the door and knocked three times and waited. He pushed the button and heard the chimes inside. He knocked again, this time hitting the door five times. Still nothing. With a sigh he slowly walked back to the cab and climbed in. He gave the driver the address of the funeral home and made his way there, hoping that his brother would be there early so they could have their initial conversation, or confrontation, in private, without interested eyes and ears around.

  Rounding the corner in front of the funeral home William took a deep breath. There was Lewis standing by the door talking to a man dressed in a black suit, presumably the funeral director. William paid the driver and walked up the sidewalk and stopped a few feet from his brother.

  “I don’t expect more than thirty or so,” Lewis was saying. “A few friends and some family.” He turned to see William. “Hello. You’re early.”

  “I stopped by your house so that we could talk but there wasn’t anyone there so I came straight here.”

  “No, I was here.”

  “I see that.” William wasn’t comforted by the way the conversation was going. It was civil but clipped. “Maybe we can have a chance to catch up before anyone else arrives?”

  The funeral director nodded to Lewis and left the two men alone, heading inside the building. Lewis looked down at the ground and shrugged. “You’re a doctor, I’m a mechanic. I still live here and you left for New York. Does that about sum it up?”

  “Technically, I suppose it does. How are you?”

  “Let’s see. Dad’s lived with me for the past six months which ruined my social life but gave me time to get to know him again, so I guess it all worked out okay. And then one morning I went to tell him I was leaving for work and he’d died in his sleep. Since then it’s just been making the final arrangements, although he’d done most of it already.”

  “If I can help out, you know, financially, I’d be happy to…”

  “We don’t need your money, William. We did just fine before and we’re…I’m doing just fine now.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” William began.

  “I know,” Lewis sighed. “It’s fine.”

  The two men looked as uncomfortable as they both felt, neither making eye contact, neither knowing how to talk to their own brother.

  “How’s the shop doing?” William finally asked.

  “Good. Business could always be better but it pays the bills.”

  More uncomfortable silence.

  “Did you ever remarry?”

  Lewis looked up. “Did you ever get an invitation to a wedding?”

  William shook his head.

  “Have you seen Erica or James or anybody from school?” Lewis asked.

  “I just got in yesterday,” William replied quickly. “When would I have had time?” Erica! She’s all he’d thought about. Was it that obvious?

  “Well, I just figured you hadn’t been here in years and you might want to get in touch with some of your old friends, that’s all.”

  “Oh, well, I only came for the funeral. I hadn’t planned on being here long.”

  “Oh.”

  William thought that perhaps he heard disappointment in Lewis’ reply, but then again, maybe he just imagined it. Lewis hadn’t made any attempt to contact him in years so why would he be disappointed they didn’t spend any time together now? Yet, the thought persisted. “I do have some vacation days though,” he added.

  Lewis looked up. “Perhaps after the funeral’s over we could grab a drink.”

  “I’d like that,” smiled William.

  *****

  “Sign here, here, here, and here.”

  Annie signed first and then Evan after her.

  “Is that it?” Evan asked.

  “That’s all the paperwork for now,” Barbara said. “But I wanted to also talk about what’s going to happen this afternoon.”

  Annie smiled. “Okay. We’ll do whatever you ask of us. We want to make this is as smooth as possible.”

  Shuffling the papers in her hands, Barbara looked up. “Natalie is with the baby right now, at the hospital, and…”

  “Has she changed her mind?” Annie gulped, tears already filling her eyes.

  “No, no,” Barbara tried to put her mind at ease. “She’s preparing to say goodbye to her baby. You know, I have a great admiration for these girls…young women who give their babies up for adoption…loving them enough to understand that there is someone better situated to give them all that they can’t. Natalie has made it very clear that she wants the absolute best for her daughter and she has chosen you. That is a huge compliment, one you should not take lightly.”

  “No,” Evan said humbly. “We certainly do not take her gift to us lightly.”

  Barbara proceeded with the afternoon’s itinerary. They would all meet at the hospital at two o’clock. The Wilders would have an opportunity to meet Natalie and they would get to know each other for a few minutes before Natalie would be given the baby to then give to the Wilders. Barbara said this was the best way for it to happen. Annie nodded, ready to meet her daughter.

  On the way out of the office building, Evan looked over the list in his hand. There was a lot of stuff they needed to get in the next three hours. “Off to Target?” he asked.

  Annie nodded and hand in hand they headed off to buy diapers and everything else the baby department had to offer.

  6.

  THERE’S SOMETHING VERY DECADENT about lying on a beach in the middle of the workday and having a waiter bring you drinks and chips and salsa without having to be asked. Jill relished the time in the sun, as once she returned to Chicago the sun was a thing of the past, at least for a few more weeks. In a comfortable silence she and Greg relaxed on the private beach of the private resort, two guest passes given to them by one of Greg’s clients on the west coast.

  “This is perfect,” Jill sighed, peering over the rim of her sunglasses at the waves lapping the white sand. “I’m thrilled you decided to surprise me.”

  “Are you? Really?”

  “Of course! I figured you’d be working while I was gone.”

  “But it’s our anniversary. I didn’t want to be on opposite sides of the country.”

  “Most men wouldn’t have even remembered this anniversary, let alone dropped everything and flown to San Diego for forty-eight hours.”

  “I’m not most men.”

  “No,” Jill replied as she gazed at the man lying beside her. “You’re not.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  Jill shook her head. “I had a big breakfast, remember?” she chuckled. “But order something if you’re hungry. I’ll watch you eat. I’ll watch you do anything,” she grinned.

  Greg summoned a waiter and glanced at the
menu before ordering a burger and onion rings. Jill watched the ease with which he interacted with everyone. It didn’t matter if it was a three hundred pound linebacker from the NFL, a celebrity with a new fragrance line, or a waiter. He treated everyone with kindness and respect and Jill had learned a lot from him that had helped her in her own profession. She remembered coming back from a particularly harried flight and throwing herself on the sofa and whining about how all people were horrible and how she had the worst job in the world. Greg had handed her a Ferrer Roche chocolate, he kept them on hand for moments such as that, and sat beside her. “People aren’t horrible,” he explained, “just misunderstood. Give them a chance. They might just surprise you.” From that day on she had enjoyed her job much more. He really was a great guy and a phenomenal human being.

  “What are you smiling at?” Greg asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “You,” she admitted. “I’m a very lucky woman.”

  “I’m the lucky one.”

  “Well, maybe you’re a little lucky, too,” she grinned.

  *****

  It was a quiet affair, simple and short, just the way Mr. Nestor would have wanted it. He was quiet and simple, living his life going to work and spending the evenings and weekends at home. He’d never remarried and after his boys left home he spent his spare time maintaining the yard and building bird houses in the garage, some of which he gave away to neighbors and the rest filled the back yard, attracting all kinds of birds that had come to visit and never left.

  William stood next to Lewis and graciously accepted the offers of sympathy and kind words and memories about his father from his friends. Vaguely remembering a couple of them, William smiled and made small talk before the line would back up and he’d politely end the conversation. It became very apparent that he didn’t know his father at all in the latter stages of his life. He knew nothing of the birdhouses until a neighbor spoke of them. He didn’t have a clue that his father could name practically every shrub and flower in the cul-de-sac where his house was. He didn’t know that his father was a history buff, studying all about World War II and collecting memorabilia from eBay. By the time William watched the casket being lowered into the ground after everyone had left the cemetery, the deep sense of loss overwhelmed him. He wasn’t mourning the death of his father, but rather the life that he’d distanced himself from…purposely.

  Lewis stood several feet from him, conversing with the funeral director. William vowed there and then that he wouldn’t repeat his mistake. There was no way to go back and capture all those lost moments with his dad, but he could fix his relationship with his brother.

  *****

  “I’ve loved you since the day I found out about you,” Natalie whispered as she rocked the baby in her arms. “We’ve spent the last nine months together and now it’s time for us to say goodbye...at least for a little while.”

  The child in her arms wriggled and blinked a few times before opening her eyes and looking straight up at Natalie. It was as if she wanted to hear the words Natalie needed to say.

  “All my friends told me to have an abortion…that it was the easiest thing to do. I could have my life back and still do all of the things I loved to do. They said I didn’t want to be a mother…that I was throwing my life away. It would have been easy to listen to them.”

  Reaching her hand out, the baby grabbed onto Natalie’s finger and clung tight.

  “But I could never do that. Never. You are a human being and deserve life. I created you and I need to give you a chance. I owe you that much. I need to give you the same opportunities that I’ve had. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. I love you so much that I know you deserve much more than what I can give you right now. You deserve a family who will love and cherish you and I know they will.”

  A tear escaped and fell down her cheek, but Natalie wasn’t sad. She was at peace with her decision and was glad that her baby would have a happy life with her new parents.

  “One day, when you’re old enough, your new mommy and daddy are going to tell you about me and maybe you’ll want to meet me and we can be friends. I’d like that. And maybe by then you’ll have brothers and sisters and we can have big dinners together and you can call me Natalie and tell me all about your life in Oklahoma. I’d like that, too.”

  Natalie gently placed her baby back in the crib and knocked on the door, signaling the nurse to come and take her back to the nursery until the Wilders arrived.

  “I love you. I’ll always love you.”

  *****

  With the help of the taxi driver and the bellman, Annie and Evan unloaded their purchases from the car and took them up to their room, covering the bed and a lot of the floor with plastic bags full of baby paraphernalia and a giant box that held the stroller and car seat combo.

  “That was the quickest indoctrination into the world of parenthood on the planet,” Evan laughed as he stood in awe of all the stuff they’d just purchased. “Visa is going to love us. I think we just made customer of the month!”

  “And this is just the stuff to get us by until we get home!” Annie sighed. “Just as well we have the mall within driving distance back home.”

  Evan tried to not think about the money they were spending…the money they didn’t have. It was all going on credit with the hope of being able to tighten their spending once home in order to pay for it all, but he knew that a child would only bring more expenses and he was prepared to do whatever it took in order to have a family. If he had to take a second job delivering pizzas at night and on the weekend, so be it. He’d gladly do it in order to care for his family.

  “We have just over an hour before we are due at the hospital. Will you order room service and I’ll start getting this stuff in some kind of order?”

  Evan nodded and walked to the desk to find the menu. “Burger?”

  “Sure thing. No fries and a coke.”

  Evan picked up the phone and placed their order while Annie searched through the bags for the very chic diaper bag she’d picked out. It was a light tan color with pink piping around the edges. It looked kind of like a feminine messenger bag. Annie said it meant Evan could carry it and not feel like his masculinity was ever being threatened. She ripped the tags off it and pulled the wadded paper from inside, filling the garbage can under the desk. Using the coffee maker, she boiled water and sterilized the new baby bottles and called the hotel laundry service to wash a load of the new baby clothes, giving specific instructions because they were for a newborn.

  “Just as well we are in a hotel that caters to finicky clientele,” Evan grinned as Annie closed the door after handing the bag off to the employee.

  “I didn’t imagine doing all of this in a hotel. I guess we should have been more prepared,” she frowned.

  “We didn’t have enough time to be prepared,” Evan replied. “We’re lucky we got here at all.”

  Annie packed up the diaper bag with diapers and burp cloths and formula and freshly cleaned bottles and a pacifier. Evan opened the giant Graco box and began pulling out the car seat and then the pieces to the stroller. It would only take a few screws and it would be ready, as it came mostly put together. The knock on the door brought their lunch, which Evan quickly ate, Annie just picking at it and drinking her Coke, and then looked at the clock. It was time to leave. Evan grabbed the car seat and Annie the diaper bag and with a deep breath, a hug and a lingering kiss, they were ready to go and meet their daughter.

  7.

  GREG CLARK HAD MADE it. He’d hit the jackpot and was set for life, even if he lived to be ninety years old. He’d been in the right place at the right time doing the right thing and he’d never looked back. Now, he’d achieved the kind of freedom most only dream about, but he experienced it in reality. If he didn’t work another day in his life he’d still be a wealthy man.

  Divorced from his first wife many, many years ago, Greg hadn’t felt the need to seek out another companion. He enjoyed his work and it kept him challenged a
nd busy and he was comfortable being alone. The day he met Jill Delaney however, changed his opinion, and changed his life.

  He’d gone to San Diego on business, meeting with clients he was collaborating on a new venture with. Jill was an attractive woman, there was no doubt about that. She had a sparkle in her eye that captured his attention instantly. He realized, as they sat on the shuttle heading to the same hotel, that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He checked for rings on her left hand and to his relief, there were none. So when he found himself in the elevator with her on the way up to their rooms he took the chance and asked her to dinner. Her immediate hesitation had him frantically coming up with reasons for her to say yes and so he offered to stay in the hotel, dining in the restaurant off the lobby where she could safely assess if he was an asshole or not. That had her smiling and though still reluctant, she agreed.

  He was mesmerized pretty quickly. Jill was articulate with a wicked sense of humor. He was hooked before the check arrived. They were both shocked to discover the other lived in Chicago and Greg took that as a sign that fate was playing her hand. Miraculously, Jill gave him her number and told him when she’d be home next. Greg promised to call her and take her to dinner and he did. Giordano’s was the place of their first official date and a few weeks later they were dating exclusively, now celebrating a year together. Broaching the subject of marriage on occasion, Jill laughed it off, saying that her schedule was not conducive to marriage and only a fool would be crazy enough to put up with it for the long term. Greg was certainly no fool, but he didn’t want her to get away either.

  These two days in San Diego were not just to celebrate their anniversary. Greg needed to know if Jill could move to the next stage. Could she commit to him completely?