Rainbows Ever After

by J. J. McAvoy

  “Sounds like my brother.” She nodded, drumming her fingers on her stomach. “Is it only the baby holding you back from the wedding or…”

  “It honestly is the baby.” I wanted to be with Levi. I was with Levi. “I never gave much thought about the wedding I wanted … mostly because I never thought I’d find the right guy. And now that I have him, I want everything to be like this storybook.”

  “Totally like my mom.”

  “Shut up!” I laughed.

  LEVI

  Tristan sat beside me, looking around the nursery as he drank one of juice boxes we’d stolen from the kitchen down stairs. “Somebody is definitely going to need to come and redo this shit.”

  I lifted my phone to show him I was already way ahead of him. I was many things, but apparently not a painter.

  “A-for-effort, though,” he replied, handing me a juice box. “You going to tell her you’re hiring people?”

  “Hell no.” He had no idea what type of person Thea was. “She’d say it was a waste of money, and then try to do it herself just to prove it. She’d fought me on getting movers, telling me she’d pack herself. A week later, we had only three boxes done, and I’d learned my lesson.” Get her to agree, and then get it done as quickly as possible.

  “I still can’t believe you moved out of the city, so quickly.”

  “Weston isn’t that far.” It was thirty-minute drive at most back into the city and while I loved Boston, I didn’t want to raise my kid there. I wanted…something closer to what Thea told me about living in Maryland with her grandmother and sister. How she’d roll down the grass in the backyard, or they’d have BBQ and look up at the stars. I wanted the white picket fence.

  “How much this place cost again?”

  I groaned and looked at him. “Don’t ask. Between the main house, and the project out back, my wallet is hemorrhaging.”

  He laughed. “My father used to tell me the American Dream comes with a hefty price tag, which is why they call it a dream … to make people feel better about not getting it.”

  “Your father has a talent for making everything depressing.”

  “Doesn’t he? ” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I have no idea how his wife has put up this long.”

  “Third time’s the charm.”

  “Fourth.”

  “What?”

  He held up four fingers. “She’s the fourth, and a year younger than Thea.”

  I stared at him and he nodded.

  “How did I miss that wedding…?” I paused, thinking. I’d been to the other two with him and Bethan… “You didn’t go.”

  He nodded. “The only wedding I’m going to is yours. After that, I’m done.”

  “And your daughter’s?”

  “She’s not get married … ever,” he shot back seriously, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You laugh, but in my mind, she’s staying four … forever.”

  “I wish you no luck.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if Bellamy stays four, that means Thea stays pregnant … and is that really what you’re wishing on me?”

  “Fine,” he replied, thinking for a second. “Bellamy gets to eight, your kid gets to four, which means he can talk, walk, and at least want to use the toilet by himself. Then we stop this whole aging business.”

  “Deal.” We knocked juice boxes as I leaned back against the one wall we hadn’t painted. “What if he doesn’t like baseball?”

  “Keep having kids. Statistically, one of them must like the sport.”

  “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”

  “You aren’t keeping me around, your sister is. You…Well, let’s just thank God I’ve built a tolerance to your ego, oh great and mighty Levi Black.”

  I cracked my jaw to the side glaring at him, his smug face so proud of his witty comment, apparently forgetting I was both petty and a sore loser. “Maybe it was that tolerance of mine, which made my father think you were peculiarly strange and not the right fit for Bethan.”

  He glared back eyeing me carefully. “Bullshit. You’re trying to get under my skin.”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged. “Maybe not, ask my father directly…if you can.” I grinned sucking on the straw of my juice box.

  “You are a terrible person.”

  At that, I laughed. “You knew that and still tried to pick a fight with me.”

  He opened his mouth, most likely to curse me out, when all of a sudden, he was up and running toward the voice now screaming, “DADDY! DADDY!”

  He was out of the room before I stood, and when I got into the hall, my sister pushed me out of the way, rushing toward the spare room. Tristan already had red-faced Bellamy in his arms as she cried hysterically. Thea was at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me wide-eyed.

  “Sweetheart, what is it? What’s wrong?” Bethan wiped her face.

  Bellamy’s lip quivered, and she sniffed. “I didn’t know … where … I … I was … I … didn’t … see you, Mommy.”

  Tristan exhaled, relaxing, and kissed the side of her face as she hiccupped. “We came to Levi’s house.”

  “This … no uncle’s house.” She pouted, rubbing her eyes.

  “Uncle Levi moved to this place now. So we can get ready for Auntie Thea’s baby.” Bethan brushed her hair. Bellamy reached up to hold on to Tristan’s neck.

  “We should go,” Tristan said to me, and Bethan nodded.

  “Bye, princess.” I smiled at her when they came closer to me.

  She didn’t talk, just buried her puffy face into Tristan’s chest.

  “Once she’s like this, there is no talking to her,” he explained, placing his hand the back of her head. “We’ll come back another time when she’s fully awake, and we can finish our conversation.”

  I’d gotten under his skin.

  “Of course.” I nodded to him, letting him walk down first, followed by Bethan who carried Bellamy’s shoes. Walking behind them, Thea came back out with a few boxes of cookies.

  “Thank you so much, Thea,” Bethan said with a hug.

  I couldn’t look away from them as Tristan put Bellamy into her booster seat, and Bethan went around the other side to sit in the back with her.

  “One moment Bethan was falling asleep on the couch,” Thea said softly beside me, “and the next, she was up and running for her life. I think I saw her get up before Bellamy screamed. Like her Mommy Senses were tingling or something.”

  “Tristan too,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “How do we upload those senses?”

  “Let’s hope they come when he comes.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed softly.

  “Let’s hope,” I repeated mostly to myself, waving at them as their black Porsche crossover pulled out of the driveway.

  BABY: DAY 38

  LEVI

  “Well!” she hollered, bouncing Ulric in her arms as he screamed his head off, which I didn’t know if it was better or worse than the coughing he’d been doing earlier.

  “98.9,” I said into the phone when I lifted the thermometer off of his head. He started to cough again, his whole face and body bunching up. I hated seeing him like this.

  “It's high ... shh.”

  “At 98.9, he has a slight—”

  “Can you not hear him? Doc, this isn’t a slight anything!”

  “Tell him we’re coming to the hospital,” Thea said, already reaching for his bag, and I moved to grab their jackets, as the doctor spoke.

  “Mr. Black, listen to me. If you bring him all the way here, or to another clinic, he’ll scream more, and the air is already cold and dry. Trust me for a moment.”

  I’d never realized how hard trust was when it came to a child.

  “What should I do? What?” I asked, desperately rubbing my forehead.

  “Take him to the bathroom, strip him down, and turn on the shower. He doesn’t need to get wet … just make sure there is enough steam. You understand?”

  �
�What is he saying?”

  “For how long?”

  “After a few minutes, he should calm down. I’ll stay on the phone with you.”

  “LEVI!”

  “I’M COMING!” I hollered at her, and I wished I hadn’t.

  “I know it’s difficult, but you need to keep calm.”

  Trying to acquit a woman of manslaughter when you knew she did it, that was hard … this … this was a special level of hell.

  “Hold on,” I said getting my speakers and turned to the both of them. “He said he needs steam. Take his clothes off in our room, so the shower gets hotter faster.”

  She rushed out the door and I followed behind, connecting my phone to speaker. “Dr. Cohen, you still there? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes, perfectly.”

  “I’m turning on the shower,” I said putting my phone and the speaker down in the middle of the dual sinks as Thea tried to take off his pants and onesie as he kicked her hands, twisting as he cried again.

  “Make sure there are no doors or windows open, you’re basically creating a sauna.”

  “Okay,” I said though I doubt I he heard me as I opened the shower door. I felt so weak…too weak to even talk. I made sure to close the bathroom door and put a towel at the bottom before taking off my shirt and jeans. I sat at the foot of the shower door, the water bouncing off the wall where I angled the shower head.

  “Give him to me.” I held out my arms.

  She came over, gently putting him in my arms and then took a seat right beside us and held his hand.

  “He’s still crying!” I called out, rocking him gently in my arms.

  “Give him a minute.”

  A minute felt like days. But finally, when it came, he took deep breaths, his chest rising. He even wiggled a little in my arms. But by the third minute, he’d settled down much more, putting his fist to his month.

  “Thank God.” Thea exhaled, her head on my shoulder.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. Yeah, thank God.

  “Like I thought,” Dr. Cohen voice came through the speaker, startling Ulric, who didn’t understand where the new loud voice was coming from. Which was good, he’d been crying so loud he couldn’t hear anything else. Thea got up and lowered the volume just a little bit. “He’s caught a small cold, which caused him to get a dry throat. Do you have a humidifier?” Dr. Cohen asked.

  “No,” Thea replied.

  “Since you don’t already have one, get a warm mist pediatric humidifier. For now, until his next check-up, always have it on around him. This weather hasn’t been helping, and while I’m sure the heat is on, that’s still just stagnant air.”

  “How long should we stay in here?” I asked.

  “Maybe another three or four minutes. Check his temperature again in a half hour; if it’s normal, then that’s all it is. If it’s climbing, then come in, and call me if you need anything. But from the sound of it, he’s feeling much better.”

  Ulric was now babbling, trying to put his fist in his mouth.

  “Thank you so much.” Thea exhaled deeply. “Thank you.”

  “That’s why I’m here. Try not to panic too much, all right?”

  Easy for him to say. She said goodbye for the both of us and then just sunk to the floor. She put her hand over her mouth and her brown eyes were fighting back tears again.

  “Come here,” I said to her. “Look at him.”

  Again, she took another breath before crawling over to him. When he saw her face, he giggled, lifting his hands toward her.

  “Apparently my arms aren’t as nice as Mommy’s,” I said.

  She stroked his face gently. “I thought…”

  “I know.” I kissed the side of her head. She had thought the worst … just as I did. It really felt and looked like he was dying.

  “Buy the humidifier.”

  I turned off the water before walking over to my phone. “I’m going to see if there are any I can pick up tonight.”

  “He said it was a warm mist pediatric humidifier,” she repeated even though I remembered. It was seared in to my brain the moment he said it.

  “Shit,” I muttered scrolling through each sight.

  “All of them are sold out.”

  “Levi—”

  “Don’t worry.” I said already I dialing the only person on Earth who I knew could get me anything when I needed it.

  “Sweetheart?”

  “Mom, do you know where we can get a warm mist pediatric humidifier as quickly as possible?”

  THEA

  “Thea, you look amazing!” Denise said, hugging me quickly to then show me her gift. “I come with a gift.”

  “I want to kiss you right now,” I said, taking the humidifier, which was shaped to look like a toy Panda.

  “If anyone deserves a kiss, it’s me,” Walter shivered as he came into house, his silver hair brushed back and his glasses foggy. “I almost had to trade my liver in for that thing.”

  “Quite an exaggeration, as if anyone would want your ol’ liver,” Denise shot back, taking off her scarf, leather gloves, and jacket.

  “Old?” Walter said with a glare.

  “Thank you, Mom, and thank you, Dad. I’m glad your young liver was not needed,” I said to the both of them.

  He snickered, giving me one armed hug once he’d taken off his coat. “Where are the boys?”

  “Reading,” I answered, walking up the stairs.

  “Reading?” Denise questioned and I nodded to them as I pressed the code for the baby gate to slide up. Walter being the joker he was looked down as it beeped and closed automatically and said, “Denise look at all these gizmos and gadgets these kids get now, in our day—”

  “You were in the office and I was at trying to keep Bethan from taking off her diaper and throwing it in your family heirlooms and Levi was sliding down the stairs on pillows.”

  Denise: 2

  Walter: 0

  “You could have at least waited until I finished my statement” he muttered sulking as he walked into the nursery first. “Where is my grandson?”

  “Are you all right?” Denise asked, putting her hand on my cheek.

  I nodded. “It was scary. But his temperature is down, and his cough is gone. Now that I have this, I feel like I could sing on a hill.”

  She rubbed my shoulder, and then walked into the room. I followed and saw Walter holding Ulric, green eyes looking into green eyes.

  “So you’re the one who has me going across the city for a panda warm mist pediatric humidifier with lights,” he said the last part in a higher voice, which earned him a slap on the back from Denise before she stole Ulric from his arms.

  “Panda?” Levi questioned, and I lifted the box for him to see.

  “Didn’t you say you wanted the panda?” he asked, looking between us.

  Levi looked at me, but I shook my head.

  “I’m the one who wanted them to have the panda.”

  Walter’s mouth fell open, and his hands went to his hips as he glowered at her. “Tell me you are kidding. I found two other warm mist pediatric humidifiers, and you told me no, twice, that they had to have the panda warm mist pediatric humidifier with lights.”

  “They did, didn’t you, Ulric.” She cooed at him, and he giggled.

  “Why? Why? I had to give up the opening night game seats for a panda?”

  “You did what?” Levi frowned, taking the humidifier. “It’s nice, Ma, and I’m grateful, but any one of them would have done fine.”

  “Thank you,” Walter replied.

  She made a face and looked down at Ulric again. “As your grandmother, I’m telling you to pick any sport but baseball.”

  “Mom,” Levi said with a groan, pointing at me. “I’m already trying fend off her negative mojo.”

  “Hey!” I smacked his arm, then took the humidifier and walked it over to the table next to Ulric’s crib. “Thank you, Mom. I get, and I love it.”

  “Get what?” Levi and Walter both asked
.

  I pointed to Levi, and then back to myself. “White. Black. What’s both black and white … the panda and Ulric.”

  Levi made a O with his mouth as it dawned on him.

  But Walter was even more lost. “But pandas are Asian.”

  He said it so sincerely that I snorted, which one by one made them all laugh. Ulric just looked at us, unsure what was going on, but smiling anyway.

  “Have you been getting any sleep?” Denise asked when we calmed down.

  “Sleep? What is this magical thing she speaks of?” I looked to Levi.

  “Don’t remember it well; it’s been so long,” he played along.

  His parents shared a look.

  “Go get some rest; we’ll watch him tonight, and leave in the morning.” Walter stepped up beside Denise.

  “Are you sure—”

  “Go. It’s only a one-night break, and then you must pay your dues like the rest of us,” Denise said, and Levi took my hand.

  “Thank you, and holler if you need anything,” he said, already walking me out the door.

  “But…”

  “Come on.” He lifted me into his arms.

  LEVI

  “Are you sure it’s okay to just leave him with them?” she asked, staring at my parents on the video monitor.

  “I’m sure,” I said, taking the tablet from her and putting it on my bedside table before lying down beside her. The moment my back met the bed, I sighed happily.

  Until she reached over me for the damn tablet again. “But he could still be—”

  Grabbing her wrist to stop her, I looked up at her beautiful brown face. “Love, when was the last time you and I just held each other and slept?”

  She stared down for a second longer before laying back down. I pulled her close, so she was resting on me. We stayed like that for barely a second before she popped back up.

  “Something is wrong—”

  “Thea, he’s fine.”

  “No.” She laughed at me before reaching down and taking off her shirt, then her bra. “Take off yours.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. I took it off quickly.