Laughter rang through the catering hall as more and more costumes made appearances. Dogs, cats, firemen, ballerinas, construction workers. “It’s like baby Village People,” cooed Katie.
“There better not be baby chaps in here, Matt, seriously,” Miranda whispered.
Eventually they got to the bottoms of the bags and Matt smirked. Did they think it was over? Surely they knew better.
“Box,” Katie said as Austin leaned over to grab it out. Kent did the same.
“On three.” Matt raised his hands like a conductor. “One, two, three!”
Inside the navy blue box sat tiny pairs of mouse ears.
“Disney?” Katie asked, holding the sweet little ears over her head. “Infants in Disney?”
“Noooo. You can take them whenever you want. There’s a condo in Orlando with your names on the deed,” Matt said smugly. “Sorry, you have to share.”
Josiah, who’d been hovering around the piles of costumes with a delighted grin, looked up with his eyes wide. “Disney? We’re taking baby Mavan to Disney?”
Miranda’s face read shell-shocked. “You got us a vacation condo?”
“Got a good deal.” Actually Bennett sold it to him for a song; it probably cost the same as the robot Diaper Genies. “I figured this takes part of the worry out of figuring where you go on vacation.”
Kent shook himself out of his shock. “It’s really too generous—”
“Hey, you still have to buy the plane tickets and stuff,” Matt said, holding his hands up. “This is just a little something to help you out.” They hadn’t opened up Daisy and Bennett’s gift yet, and he knew plane tickets and Disney passes weren’t going to be a problem either.
“Help us out!” Katie put the mouse ears on her head and then pushed off the chair to give him a clumsy hug. “You’re nuts! You bought us nursery furniture!”
Matt pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “That’s from Dad and me. It’s practical,” he whispered. “This is fun grandpa stuff.”
When he let her go, Miranda was standing there, hands on hips.
“You’re crazy,” she said. “Literally.” She opened her arms and he went with a grin on his face; they were never going to be best friends, but every step closer felt special to Matt. Part of it was Evan’s peace of mind.
And part of it was ego. All would love Matt, all hail Matt.
He murmured that in her ear until she pulled back, punching him in the arm.
“Ow. I gave you a hot dog–shaped baby costume and real estate.”
“Wait, do we have to pay taxes on this property?” Kent was asking Austin.
“Disney,” Josiah said dreamily from the floor.
“WE NEED to buy those kids rocket ships for their first birthdays,” Griffin said to Jim as they watched the chaos. “Because we have been so upstaged.”
“I didn’t realize this was a competition.”
Griffin gave his husband a shocked face. “Matt and Evan gave Caroline a pink plane for her birthday.”
“Not a real plane.” Jim brushed crumbs off the nearly wrecked tablecloth. He smothered a cough; this cold was taking forever to go away. “I mean, if he’d gotten her a real plane….”
Caroline rushed up, breathing heavily. She ducked between her fathers, hair flying in every direction.
“Can I go to Disney with Josiah and Sadie and baby Shelia and baby Mavan and Uncle Matt?” she asked, sucking wind as she collapsed against Jim’s side. “Josiah said we could go with them, but you have to say yes.”
Griffin pulled her up into his lap. The shower was making him nostalgic, more than he’d thought it would. Did he miss diapers and 3:00 a.m. feedings? Were they worth it when you got bright-eyed little girls with perpetually messy hair and endearing personalities?
“Can we come with you?” Jim asked, making a halfhearted attempt to gather Caroline’s hair into a ponytail.
Caroline considered that for a moment. “I’ll have to ask Josiah and Uncle Matt.” She leaned around her father, spying Danny and Ollie. “You want me to ask if you can come too?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be inviting half of Queens on this vacation.” Griffin kissed her cheek, sticky with sugar. “We’ll talk to Uncle Matt, okay?”
Jim got her hair into a lopsided bun on the top of her head about a second before she slid out of Griffin’s arms and onto the floor. Like a cartoon character with a plume of dust behind her, she took off to rejoin Josiah and Sadie and their vacation plotting.
“She can fly her pink plane down there,” Jim said wryly.
“Don’t say that in front of Bennett. He’ll probably buy her one.”
EVAN STOOD in the center of the catering hall as Matt’s gift brought down the house. Fortunately Cornelia and Beverly had saved it for last, knowing full well nothing normal would be popping out. He felt a mixture of love and exasperation, as the costumes were delightful and so Matt, and the condo was…
Crazy.
Expensive and crazy. He wanted to be practical, ask to see the paperwork because what was he paying? They were paying—shouldn’t this be a discussion between them?
“Oh my God, your face,” Matt said, kissing him on the cheek. Evan startled.
“What?”
“Stop doing math. Please. You know I am impulsive and ridiculous, but you also know I am a responsible adult.”
Evan squinted. “Responsible.”
“Shut up. Bennett sold it to me for next to nothing. It’s a good investment because now we have a place to go on vacation, a place to take the grandkids, of which we now have three, not to mention Sadie and Caroline and the other grandchildren that will pop up once Danny and Elizabeth are allowed to procreate. Also it was a surprise I didn’t want to be talked out of.” Matt gave his most innocent face—and Evan tried not to kiss him on the mouth. He couldn’t resist that face.
“How many bedrooms?”
“Five.”
Evan blinked. “How big is this thing?”
Matt waggled his eyebrows dramatically. “Down, boy. We’re in public.”
IN THE end (“That’s what he said!” Matt was on a roll) Evan got numbers—real numbers, numbers that didn’t make him twitch—and moved on from Matt’s clutches. Calm now, Evan set him off on the rest of the room, reminding him to be nice and not dirty.
“I make no promises, I’ve had a lot of sugar,” Matt said with a salute and then went to charm Beverly’s cousins.
In the gift corner, Danny and Ollie had been recruited to bag up the gifts under the direct supervision of Elizabeth, Jane, Cornelia, and Beverly. Evan skirted past the taskmasters, ducking to where Miranda and Katie sat, admiring their bow hats.
“I don’t understand the bow hat tradition or why I couldn’t use a knife to cut anything,” Katie said as Evan pulled a chair up to sit with them. “Also your husband is nuts.”
Evan kissed her cheek. “No comment.”
“Dad, you can be honest. Can you guys afford this? And the furniture?” Miranda fussed with a few of the streamers attached to the back of the hat. “It’s a lot if there was one of us, and there are two!”
“We will be totally fine if you need to drop one of the gifts, seriously.”
“You know me, I’m being honest when I say it’s fine.” He reached out to take Miranda’s hand. “Matt got a deal, and he’s right, it’s a great idea for us to have a place to stay that can accommodate this huge pile of people.”
Miranda and Katie exchanged looks.
“How did he convince you to do something this crazy?” Katie asked.
Evan ducked his head. “Uhhhh….”
“Oh my God!” Miranda snorted out a laugh. “This was a surprise? I wish I’d known—I’d have had the guys take video of your face.”
Katie gave him an expression of pure awe. “Who are you and what have you done with our uptight father?”
“I got old and chilled out, apparently.” Evan tilted his head to one side. “Chilled out—do people still say
that?”
“So old,” Katie mouthed to her sister.
“Okay, one more present,” Evan said, looking over to the gift table.
“No, absolutely not.” Miranda stomped her foot. “You’ve done too much already.”
“Stop. This didn’t cost me a thing.” Evan got up and went to the now empty table. The pictures were in a small bag he’d left underneath. He took a deep breath as he returned to sit with the girls again.
People like to cry at showers.
“So, not real estate, but, uh, I thought you’d like these for the nursery.” Evan took out the wrapped squares, a rosy pink for Miranda and a shiny green for Katie.
He waited quietly as they opened the paper slowly. No mistaking them for anything other than pictures; Katie gasped a little as she turned hers over first.
“Oh man.” Her eyes began watering instantly. “Look how young Mom is,” she whispered as she trailed her fingers over the photo. Evan had it memorized; Sherri’s triumphantly tired smile, the yellow cardigan over her hospital gown because she was cold, blonde hair falling over her eyes. “I look terrible,” she’d laughed as Evan wielded their camera. They were exhausted, giddy, and too happy to be terrified. Young parents with a toddler and an infant. Evan walking a beat, Sherri cutting coupons so they could eat dinner.
“Beautiful and strong, like her amazing daughters,” Evan said softly. Next to Katie, Miranda stared at the back of her photo, not turning it over yet. “Miranda?”
“Give me a sec,” she muttered. “I’m trying not to embarrass myself.”
“Come on, join me,” Katie cried, half laughing as she leaned against her sister’s side. “Turn it over—Dad’s close and about to lose it.”
Miranda sucked in a breath, then turned the photo over. Tears began flowing, twin tracks down each cheek and staining the front of her dress as she trembled.
Evan dropped to his knees, taking Miranda’s hand in his. “Blame Elizabeth. She said people liked to cry at showers,” he choked out, suddenly fearful he’d miscalculated his gift.
Eighteen-year-old Sherri, newly married, vaguely terrified and clutching Miranda close to her chest. No poses or laughter, just quiet awe and unspoken panic until a moment when Sherri pressed her forehead to Miranda’s cheek and seemed to just… relax. “Hey, baby girl, I’m your mommy,” she’d whispered, and Evan snapped a picture as it dawned on him that he was that little girl’s daddy and they were a real family.
“It’s so beautiful. Thank you.” Miranda’s voice cracked as she wrapped her free arm around Evan’s shoulders. “I wish she was here,” she whispered in his ear.
“Me too,” he whispered back as his own tears fell.
MATT DISTRACTED anyone who spared a look into the corner where Evan and the girls huddled. He whipped the little ones into a Disney frenzy, leading them in a rousing—full of wrong words—rendition of “It’s a Small World” to the delight of the guests.
He knew about the pictures. Elizabeth couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
Sherri’s ghost and Matt shared an uneasy relationship. Sometimes he felt like he knew her and her life with particular intimacy. Other times he feared her memory left him only a tiny part of the Cerelli family to make his own. Those days were mostly gone; even right now, as he watched Evan pull napkins out of his pockets to dry the girls’ faces, Matt didn’t feel left out. This was a moment that didn’t belong to him.
It didn’t need to.
WHEN THE party space manager poked his head in the room, taking a dramatic look at his watch, Matt enlisted Jim and Griffin’s help in clearing the place out. They began to go table to table, herding folks toward a line forming near the exit. Tears wiped, the guests of honor kissed everyone goodbye, with thanks and promises to let them know when the babies made their appearance.
Kent, Austin, Ollie, and Danny lugged bag after bag of gifts into the waiting cars out back.
“Don’t forget the leftovers,” Danny said to Matt, as he walked past with a portable crib on his shoulder. “The caterers wrapped everything up in boxes. Don’t leave them behind.”
“He really needs to learn to get by with less food. I just bought a condo,” Matt said to Evan. “You okay?” he asked under his breath.
Evan smiled wanly. “Yeah. We were invited to cocktails with the other grandparents, by the way.”
“Great. I googled some fun facts about Kentucky bluegrass.”
Matt caught Ellie in a tight group hug with all four of the Cerelli kids near the door; his throat clogged a little as he watched them break apart, wiping their eyes in near synchronization.
“Let’s see if Ellie wants to come,” he said, clearing his throat. “And Walt. And the rest of the gang.”
“That’s a lot of people in the hotel bar, and what are we doing with the kids?”
Matt sniffled, then gave his husband a smirk. “Send everyone to the house.”
“Maybe,” Evan said, hoisting up one of the robot Diaper Genies in his arms, “you should have bought a bigger house here rather than Florida.”
“Well….”
“Matt!”
8: Don’t Answer the Phone
FOUR DAYS after the shower, Matt was still eating leftovers for late breakfast/early lunch—not that he minded. Pasta tasted better after a few days in the fridge—he knew this from his bachelor decades. It also meant he didn’t have to order in or, God forbid, cook. And maybe Evan was giving him side-eye across the dinner table when they ate the same thing again, but hey. Work-at-home-husband privilege. Also, it was delicious.
He licked his fork as he read over a series of emails; the security business was good at the moment. People feeling financially secure? They want to protect their assets. People feeling financially insecure? They want to protect their assets. Recommendations fleshed out their roster of clients; money came in on the regular—Matt couldn’t ask for more from this little business, particularly with grandchildren due in a few weeks and the twins having two more years of school.
And now with Evan moving forward with retirement, for real this time, it looked like Matt’s income would be their primary support.
Not a problem. He planned to use it to leverage more sex.
Between the office and the kitchen, plate in hand, Matt heard his cell phone ringing back at his desk. He hesitated, thinking voicemail since it was his general ring, but something made him pivot.
When he saw Griffin’s name on his phone, he didn’t panic.
When he heard the voice of Georgia, the housekeeper, speaking breathlessly about Jim, he dropped the plate and grabbed his keys.
IT TOOK him almost two hours to get to the house, due to an abnormally busy Taconic Parkway, pushing the speed limit and generally driving like a cop chasing a suspect. In the back of his mind, he knew he needed to let Evan know what was going on, but his hands gripped the wheel a bit too tightly to grab his phone.
When he reached Jim and Griffin’s house, he found the driveway and front of the house full: their cars, Daisy’s Volvo, and a dark sedan he didn’t know but suspected belonged to the housekeeper. The lack of an ambulance settled his heart rate a bit.
From the car to the walkway, Matt texted Evan, giving as much information as he had now.
Jim’s not well, Griffin freaking. At the house.
Evan texted back immediately. Let me know if you want me to drive up after work.
Matt sent a heart in response, then finished the trek to the front door. Two knocks later he heard Daisy yell, “Come in, Matt!”
He walked into subdued chaos. Daisy and Shane sat in the living room, each with a tumbler of far-too-early-in-the-day brown liquor while raised voices drifted from upstairs.
Throwing his keys onto their foyer table, Matt chose the living room.
“Hello, Matthew, welcome to the Thunderdome,” Daisy said drily, saluting him with her glass.
By her side, Shane vibrated like a nervous purse dog.
“The housekeeper said Jim was sick.�
� Matt settled into Jim’s chair, a giant leather monstrosity that he coveted. “His lungs sound okay.”
“Griffin dropped the girls off at school, picked Shane up from the train station, and they came back here to work.” She indicated Shane should continue.
Eyes wide, he leaned forward, clutching the glass in both hands. “We were writing at the dining room table, and he was like—where’s Jim? And went upstairs, and then all I heard was freaking out. Jim was sick, so Griffin went, you know.”
“Ballistic,” Daisy added. “Which led to me being called, which led to Georgia being told to call you.”
“But not an ambulance.”
Daisy squinted at him. “You’ve met Jim. He refused to go to the hospital despite having trouble breathing and feeling light-headed. Griffin told Georgia to get you up here, indicating you are the big guns.” She air quoted the last two words with one hand.
“We’ve been sitting here for two hours listening to World War III,” Shane added.
Matt relaxed only slightly. “So I have to walk into the middle of the battle? Into the middle of my best friends’ marriage? I did not wear a cup.”
Daisy indicated her drink. “You want one?”
“After.” Matt took a deep breath and forced himself out of the truly comfortable chair. “Only come up if you hear a series of thumps and crashes.”
“We love you, Matt,” Shane said gravely. “Godspeed.”
Matt gave him the finger.
AT THE top of the stairs, Matt followed the sound of Griffin calling Jim a “fucking stubborn son of a bitch” and knocked on their bedroom door like he was serving a warrant.
The fighting paused.
Matt clearly heard Jim say, “You called Matt!” and turned the knob.
Inside, Matt discovered pillows on the floor, Jim on the bed in a bathrobe, and a wild-eyed Griffin pacing around in circles.
“Hey,” Matt said, clearing his throat as he shut the door behind him. He gave Jim a critical look, returned the withering stare he got, and then crossed his arms over his chest. “You look like absolute shit. Why aren’t you at the hospital?”
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