by Beth Ehemann
Vince followed in right behind Jodi. “Hey, Michelle.” He reached down and gave my cheek a quick kiss. “This is my buddy Joel. He’s the one moving in across the street in a couple days.”
Joel stepped into the house and held his hand out with a smile. “Hi, Michelle.”
“Hi,” I greeted, not expecting to have a houseful of people so suddenly.
Joel was tall with broad shoulders and had short dark—very dark—hair. His eyes were almost a startling turquoise blue that made you forget whatever it was you were saying when you looked at them.
“Sorry for dropping by like this, but I was signing the lease over at the new house and stopped by to say hi to Vince, and Jodi insisted we come over and meet you guys,” he said nervously.
I waved my hand. “Oh, please. It’s no problem at all. Who’s this little guy?” I asked, leaning to my left and directing my attention at the small dark-haired boy hiding behind him.
“This is my son, Gavin. He’s not normally shy, but apparently he thought now was a good time to try it out.” Joel reached around and scooped Gavin out from behind him. “Gavin, be nice and say hello please.”
Gavin chewed on his fingers nervously and stared up at me with his father’s same beautiful eyes. “Hi.”
“Hi, buddy. Nice to meet you. I’m Michelle, and this is my son, Matthew.” I patted Matthew’s shoulder and he giggled.
“Hi!” Matthew said excitedly.
I leaned down a little closer to him. “Matthew, these guys are moving in across the street from us soon. Won’t that be fun to have someone your age in the neighborhood?”
He nodded but didn’t say anything else.
“We’re moving in this weekend, actually,” Joel added, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.
“Wanna go see my room?” Matthew blurted out, taking a step closer to Gavin. “I have Ninja Turtles in there.”
Gavin’s eyes shot up to his dad’s but he didn’t say a word.
“If you want to, buddy, go ahead.” Joel shrugged, reading his son’s mind.
Gavin looked back at Matthew and nodded, and with that, they both sprinted up the stairs.
“Hey, Matthew?” I called out. They stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face me. “Remember that Viper is napping. Keep it quiet, please.”
“Okay,” he hollered back just before they both disappeared down the hall.
“So much for him being quiet.” I sighed and rolled my eyes playfully as I bent down and picked Maura up in my arms. “You guys want something to drink?”
Jodi nodded and they all followed me to the kitchen.
“Sorry everything is kind of a mess. There just aren’t enough hours in the day lately.” I set Maura down and she ran over to play with her ponies that were still on the coffee table from earlier.
They sat at the island as I quickly cleared Matthew’s and Maura’s lunch plates. I grabbed the grapes and started to lift the bowl, but Jodi stopped me. “Leave those here. They look delicious.”
“Okay.” I laughed. “What do you guys want to drink? I have water, Gatorade, apple juice, beer—”
“Water for me,” Jodi said before tossing a couple grapes in her mouth.
“Me, too,” Vince added.
“I’ll actually take some apple juice,” Joel answered.
“Really?” Vince turned to him. “Apple juice? Are you five?”
He raised his hands defensively. “What? It sounded good.”
I grabbed two water bottles from the fridge and two mason jars from the cabinet. “It actually does sound good. I’ll have some apple juice with you.” I handed Jodi and Vince their bottles and poured apple juice for Joel and me.
“To new neighbors.” Vince raised his bottle and we all met in the middle.
I leaned on the other side of the island across from them and sighed, feeling a little guilty that Viper wasn’t with us. “Hopefully Viper wakes up soon so you can meet him, too.”
“I’m sorry, but who’s Viper?” Joel cringed. “I should probably know this, sorry.”
“Michelle’s boyfriend,” Jodi answered before I could. “He had knee surgery a couple days ago, so he’s been napping a lot.”
More like all the time.
“Oh, okay.” He nodded. “Knee surgery. That’s rough. What kind was it?”
I set my glass down and licked the apple juice from my lips. “He tore his ACL.”
Joel hissed in through clenched teeth. “Ouch! I’ve heard that’s rough. My brother had that done and was out of commission for a while.”
“Yeah, well”—I looked at the ceiling—“don’t say that too loud. He’s been told he won’t be back on the ice for six months and is already freaking out about that. Any longer and I’ll probably have to institutionalize him.”
“On the ice?” Joel’s eyes moved to each one of us. “I missed something.”
“Sorry.” I shook my head quickly. “He’s a hockey player . . . for the Wild.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Like a real hockey player?”
Jodi laughed and threw a grape at him. “No, a fake hockey player.”
“I didn’t know,” he said defensively. “I don’t really follow hockey. I’m more of a football guy.”
“Oh no, hockey is life in this house. Has been for a long time.” I thought back and I couldn’t remember a time where our lives didn’t revolve around a hockey season or a road trip or playoffs.
The doorbell rang out. “Speaking of hockey . . . I think I know who that is. I’ll be right back. Help yourselves to whatever,” I said on the way out of the room.
As soon as I rounded the wall, Brody’s smiling face was pressed up against the glass. I grinned and rolled my eyes as I pulled the door open. “Hey, crazy man!”
“Crazy? You put up with Viper voluntarily and you’re calling me crazy?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick squeeze.
“Touché!”
“How’s the patient doing anyway?” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
I shrugged. “He’s fine.”
Brody narrowed his eyes and stared at me in silence.
“What?”
“I’ve been married a few years now, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that fine is never good. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I defended. “Really. Everything is great.”
“You’re a liar.”
I pinched my bottom lip in between my teeth and stared out the front door, trying to decide if I should even say anything.
“Just tell me what it is,” he said, as if he were reading my mind.
“This is just . . . hard. He’s being very weird with me, very short. He won’t let me in. He doesn’t come downstairs . . . ever. He doesn’t eat. I just don’t know how to bring him out of this.” My voice started to crack so I cleared my throat.
Brody nodded slowly, taking in all I’d just said. “Let me talk to him. See if I can get him to open up at all. I know Viper is a tough nut to crack—he always has been—but maybe I can big brother some sense into him.”
“Thanks.” I sniffed and quickly blinked away the sting of tears that I’d been holding in for over a week.
“You hang in there.” He stood and cupped my head, pulling it against his chest. “I’m gonna talk to him, but ultimately you’re the one he needs. Don’t give up on him.”
Brody let go and I gave him a tight smile. “Never.”
“I’m assuming he’s in your bedroom now?”
“Yep. He was sleeping, but he might be awake now. I don’t know.”
“I don’t care. I’ll go wake his ass up.” Brody wiggled his eyebrows up and down and hustled up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
I went back into the kitchen and Maura was sitting on Jodi’s lap, babbling on and on about Matthew and him taking her favorite pony a couple days before.
Jodi chuckled and looked up at me. “I feel so bad. I don’t understand half of what sh
e’s saying.”
“Me either,” Vince added.
“I didn’t get it all, but she said something about Matthew and Rainbow Dash and the pantry . . . I think?” Joel’s eyes slid from Maura to me for confirmation.
“You got it. A couple days ago Matthew took her favorite pony and hid it in the pantry. Clearly she’s still not over it.” I reached over and took a grape out of Maura’s closed fist. “Hang on, let me cut this for you.”
“How did you know that?” Jodi asked, looking at Joel incredulously.
“I have a kid.” He shrugged. “Granted, we all understand our own kids best, but sometimes we can get bits and pieces of other people’s kids, too.”
“That’s true,” I added with a laugh as I cut up a handful of grapes and put them in a plastic bowl for Maura.
We all sat and chatted for a little while longer and eventually, Brody and Viper appeared.
“There he is!” Jodi called out as she stood quickly and gave Viper a quick hug. “How ya feelin’?”
“Shitty,” Viper replied in his new normal, grumpy tone.
“Well, perk up because we brought your new neighbor over for a visit.” As soon as she acknowledged him, he stood and walked over.
“I’m Joel,” he said as he extended his hand for Viper.
“Hi, Joel. Viper.” He shook his hand with a nod.
“My son, Gavin, is the one upstairs playing with Matthew,” Joel added, trying to avoid awkward silence.
“Thank God. I thought Matthew was in there talking to himself,” Brody joked as he patted Viper’s shoulder. “All right, I’m out. You call me if you need anything, and everyone else”—he turned to the room—“it was nice meeting you, seeing you, whatever. Bye!”
Brody left and shortly after Jodi, Vince, and Joel decided to go, too. I walked them to the front door as Joel called Gavin down from upstairs. As he trudged down the steps, with Matthew following, he whined that he didn’t want to go.
“Guess that’s a good sign that they got along, huh?” Joel laughed as he threw a mopey Gavin over his shoulder. “Gavin, can you please tell Matthew’s mom thank you for having us over?” He turned halfway so Gavin faced me.
“Thank you for having us over.” He giggled, his face turning beet red from being upside down.
“You’re welcome, big guy. Once you guys are in and settled you can come back and play, okay?” He nodded and Joel turned back toward me.
“Thanks again,” he said. “I’m looking forward to finally being neighbors with some cool people, and not the weird guy who collects worms and old water bottles in the apartment next to me.”
I laughed hard and touched his arm as he headed out the door.
“See ya,” Vince said as he followed Joel out the door.
“Bye, babe!” Jodi pulled me in for a quick hug. “I’ll call and check on you tomorrow. Remember, if you need anything, let me know.”
Thankful for my friend, I squeezed her back. “I will. Thanks!”
I closed the door and skipped back to the kitchen, excited that Viper was actually downstairs for once.
He was sitting at the island, staring down at his phone.
“Well that was fun, huh?” I said cheerfully.
“Sure.”
I sprayed the counter and wiped it with a paper towel. “I just mean . . . having a new neighbor, especially one with a son Matthew’s age. I’m excited about it.”
“I can tell,” he said dryly.
I set the bottle down and turned slowly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What?” he finally looked up at me.
“I don’t know. You said ‘I can tell’ with a tone.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t really care for the guy. So he has a kid . . . great.” He blurted out, then returned his attention to his phone.
“What is the matter with you?” I finally blurted out, feeling days and days of frustration well up inside of me.
“Nothing is the matter with me,” he sputtered. “So I didn’t care for your new friend, big deal.”
“First of all, he’s not my new friend . . . he’s our neighbor. Second, you talked to the guy for maybe five minutes and in that time you decided you don’t like him?”
“Yeah, I did. Nowhere does it say I have to spend at least an hour with someone to determine if I like them or not.” He shook his head, put his phone in his pocket, and grabbed his crutches. “I’m going upstairs.”
I swallowed a huge lump in my throat and let him go.
Michelle didn’t talk to me when she came to bed that night. She changed into her pajamas, quietly brushed her teeth, and slipped under the covers . . . all without one single word. I almost reached out at one point and put my hand on her hip, but I could tell by how far away she was that she didn’t want to be touched. Not that I blamed her.
In the morning, she got up before me and again . . . silence. She showered early, and then I heard her quietly talking to the kids as she got Matthew ready for school. Before she left, she popped her head into the room. “I’m gonna take Matthew to school and run to the pharmacy and fill your prescriptions. Do you need anything while I’m out?”
“No thanks,” I answered without rolling over. I wasn’t sure if I didn’t want to look at her or if I didn’t want her to see me. They sounded the same, but they were two entirely different things.
“Okay. I’ll be back shortly.”
I heard her footsteps head down the stairs, and a minute later, the front door shut.
Though I really wanted to take a shower, I decided to make something to eat while the house was empty, then do my exercises from Sherman, then shower. With the way things had been going, I’d probably be ready for a nap again after all that.
I left my crutches leaning against the island and cruised along the counter like a toddler, trying to find something that sounded even remotely decent to eat.
“Maybe I’ll have her stop and get me some food,” I said out loud to myself. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I leaned my hip against the counter and hit the button to call her. Her phone rang out loud in the kitchen and my eyes searched the room until I saw it . . . lying on the table.
“Shit! There goes that.” I put my phone back in my pocket and limped over to the pantry. My eyes scanned the shelves of chips, soups, and cupcake mix, looking for anything that sounded edible.
I wandered back over to the fridge and decided that even though it was early, a turkey sandwich would be good enough. As I pulled the turkey and mayo out and set them on the island, Michelle’s phone rang out again. Hobbling over, I glanced down at the screen. I didn’t recognize the number, but I worried it might be Matthew’s school or something important, so I picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Good morning. Is Michelle Asher available, please?” a woman asked in an annoyingly cheerful voice.
“No, she’s not here right now. Can I take a message?”
“Can you please just let her know that Greentree OBGYN called to confirm her appointment for tomorrow morning at ten thirty with Dr. Brookes? And that if she needs to cancel or reschedule to please give us a call before six p.m. tonight.”
“Uh . . . okay,” I mumbled, hanging up the phone as she was saying good-bye.
Why does she have a doctor appointment?
Why didn’t she tell me?
She would tell me if something was wrong, right?
Thoughts started pounding against my brain like punches to a punching bag, making my head hurt instantly. I got up and started to pace the kitchen, but that made my knee throb and I needed to sit again. Maybe she had told me in my sleepy drug haze and I just didn’t remember?
Thankfully, I heard her key in the front door a few minutes later, so I didn’t have to wait long to find out what was going on.
She walked into the room with Maura on her hip and dropped the bag from the pharmacy on the counter. “Hey! Surprised to see you down here. I forgot my phone. Did you need something?”
“N
o.” I shook my head. “But it did ring.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, setting Maura on the island to take her jacket off. She hung the jacket on the back of the chair and put Maura down, laughing as she sprinted off like a rocket to find her toys. Looking back at me, she shivered. “It’s actually a little chilly out there this morning.”
“I answered your phone.”
“Okay. Who was it?” She pulled the paper bag open and set my pills on the counter, reading through the paperwork that was attached.
“It was your OBGYN’s office. They said you have an appointment tomorrow.”
Her body froze and her eyes slid to mine. “Oh.”
I turned in my chair to face her. “Why do you have an appointment? Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m fine.” She set the paperwork down and walked to the table to pick up her phone.
“If you’re fine, then why the appointment?”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, sitting down in the chair next to me. Her eyes danced around the table for a minute, avoiding mine, but finally she looked up at me with a strange look on her face. “I’m going for the OB part, not the GYN part.”
“I have no idea what that means.” I tossed my hands up in the air and let them land with a thud on the kitchen table.
She chewed on the inside of her cheek and stared up at me with big eyes. “An OB is an obstetrician, a doctor who delivers babies . . .”
“But why do you need to go see a—” Her words registered with my brain like a semi crashing into a gas pump. “Wait. You’re pregnant?”
Her eyes softened and her lips spread into a tiny smile. She nodded.
“What? How? When?” I asked all at once.
“Well, the when part would probably be when we had sex. That pretty much covers the what and how, too.” She giggled.
“But you’re on the pill.”
“Yeah, and remember a couple months back when I caught Maura’s horrible chest cold and went on antibiotics, and I told you that we needed to be more careful while I was on meds? Well, apparently we weren’t careful enough.”
