Chapter twenty four: Welcome Andrew Boyd
"Charlotte?"
"Huh?"
"Charlotte sweetie."
"Go away, I'm tired."
I could feel a warm hand on my head; I opened one eye to find my mother standing next to me, brushing the hair slowly from my face.
I felt pain resonate through my entire lower half as the sensation began to return to my body. "What happened? I feel like I was hit by a Mac truck!"
My mother laughed. "It's going to feel that way for a couple of day's sweetie. You just gave birth to a very healthy, very heavy baby."
"Did I? Is it over?" I asked groggily.
"Yes honey, you did great." My mother squeezed my hand gently.
I shot up suddenly and frantically looked around the room. "Where is he?"
"Right here." Michael walked in holding a lumpy blue blanket. His face had a large abrasion on the left side but he made no mention of it as he walked over and slowly laid the bundle in my lap.
"Is this him?" I asked as I took a whiff of the intoxicating new smell.
"Yup Charlie, this is our baby boy." Michael beamed as he looked down at the baby in my arms.
I followed his gaze and pulled back the blanket, uncovering the yawning little human. I warily touched the tiny wrinkly face, easing as I noted how soft the skin was. My hand trailed up through the soft brown hair; feeling each individual silky strand. The baby's lips scrunched into a small pout as he balled his little fist up at me. I inserted my pinky finger into his small hand and felt the strength that had grown inside of me these nine months.
I glanced back up and watched in awe at Michael's pure adoration for his son, it was as if his eyes could not look away. I looked back down at the soft wrinkly bundle in my arms and understood instantly what he was feeling. In that moment I felt my heart swell with a kind of love I had never felt before; as if my life started over at that moment.
"Do you have any idea what you want to name him?" Michael asked, his eyes filled with pride.
"I don't really know, do you have any preferences?" I asked.
"I was kind of hoping you would let me name him after my grandfather, I mean if that's okay?"
I pondered this as I considered the hope on Michael's face. My heart understood before I knew I was going to say it.
"Of course Michael."
"Andrew." Michael whispered lovingly to a now sleeping bundle "Andrew King. Hi Andrew my son."
"Andrew Boyd." I corrected Michael.
"We don't have to make a decision right now." He answered under his breath.
"Andrew? Hm... Andy." My mother rolled it around like she was tasting the words. "I like it."
The baby hiccupped and suddenly his eyes shot open. I gasped as a pair of stormy grey eyes focused on me, blinking slightly as they tried to adjust.
"He has your eyes Michael." I stated in adoration.
"Yeah, he does." Michael said dreamily. He reached down and caressed the baby's arm in a way that convinced me he was comfortable with his new status as a father.
"Is Jolene Junior in here?" Jolene came running into the room as my mother sat down in the corner.
"Jolene Junior?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, well the nurse asked what we had decided to name him and since you were out for the count I piped up." Jolene gave me a wicked smile as she lifted the baby from my lap.
"Is that true?" I asked my mother who just shook her head in response.
"We already named the baby Jolene." Michael responded blankly, his eyes following Jolene as she danced back and forth with the baby in her arms.
"Oo! What is the little babe's name?"
"Andrew." I started.
"King." Michael finished.
"Are we not going with Jolene Junior then" Jolene asked.
"No!" Michael and I answered at the same time.
"But I already told everyone at work he was named Jolene Junior!" Jolene pouted, as my mother cracked up.
"About work, heard anything about Phillip yet?" I asked concerned.
"Well the bad news is the board gave Phillip the choice of early retirement or... "Jolene trailed off as she cooed at the baby.
"Or...?" I asked waiting for her to continue.
"Let's just say Phillip is now a happily retired." Jolene laughed.
"Oh no, does that mean Alicia is our new boss?"
"No, that skirt must have lucky charms up her bum because she is one of the luckiest yanks I have ever met." Jolene cursed.
"What does that mean?"
"Well I guess she honestly felt the story on Lucky's grill would get her the notoriety she needed to take over Phillip's position, but the board didn't agree with her future plans for the magazine. So why she was hiding from the pitchfork carrying townspeople she received a phone call from the tattler. Apparently they liked the uproar she caused and offered her a ton of swank to come there and take an editor's position. She leaves for London in two days." Jolene walked over and gave the baby back to an awaiting Michael.
"So Alicia practically destroys the magazine with her lie filled article and she gets an editor position at a more syndicated magazine making more money?" I groaned. "Is there really good news?"
"Yes." Jolene smiled wickedly, rubbing her hands together. "I think the new Chief Editor is seriously considering you for the Features editor position."
"What? Why do you think that?" I asked curiously.
"Because I am the new Chief Editor." Jolene scrunched her shoulders up and smiled a ridiculously wide grin.
"WHAT!" I hooted "Oh my gosh! I didn't even know you were applying for it, why didn't you tell me?"
"They asked all the senior editor's to apply. I didn't think I had a chance, but I'll be bloody dead before I sat around and let Alicia take it." Jolene wrinkled her face up in disgust.
"Wow! Jolene that is amazing." I said excited for my best friend.
"Yeah, well you'll still have to apply and all. Can't look like I'm showing favoritism to the mum of my future godson." Jolene emphasized the godson part and then noisily cleared her throat.
"Okay, okay. You're the godmother, right Michael?" I looked over at Michael who was gently swaying back and forth with the baby. Jolene held her hands up in an innocent pose and batted her eyes in his direction.
Michael sighed and rolled his eyes at us. "Do I honestly have a choice?"
"Yay!" Jolene jumped up and down in glee. "I have to go call my mum! I'm sure she will fly out for the baptism. Who knows maybe I'll finally take her to Dolly world while she's here!" She said enthusiastically as she scampered out of the room.
"Thank you Michael." I said gratefully.
"Sure." He nodded as he rocked the baby in his arms.
We all sat in silence enjoying the soft sound of the baby breathing.
"Is it okay if I come in?" David's voice broke the silence. He stood in the doorway, his hands behind his back and one of his blue eyes surrounded by purple where a well aimed fist had landed earlier.
I braced myself for Michael's reaction. He looked up and grinned at David, relishing in the purple puff that was now David's face.
My mother was the first to move "Michael, will you bring Andy with me. I believe the nurse said that we had to bring him back for some additional tests." She placed her hand on Michael's arm, smiling at him while she led him to the door.
Michael stopped mid-step and handed the baby over to my mom. The room froze as he stared at David for a moment before walking back over to me and grabbing my hand.
"I know I made mistakes Charlotte, and I know I don't deserve to be forgiven. But I want to thank you, you gave me the greatest gift of all, and for that I will always love you." Michael gave me a long kiss on my forehead before turning back to a slightly stunned David.
"I'm not going to disappear David, I have Andrew to think of now." Michael took a step closer to David so that only he could hear the rest "And if you mess up, I'll be there for her. Remember all's fair in love and war."
David leaned in closer till his mouth was right at Michael's ear. "But you already lost the war Mike. I'm in love with her, and I'm not going to let her go."
Michael's head popped back up and he gave David a pensive look. David smiled and patted Michael's arm before walking up to the side of my bed.
"I'll be back Charlotte." Michael gave one last head nod to David and left the room with my mother, who had watched the whole interaction with amusement.
"Hi Charlie, Are you feeling okay?" David placed his left hand on the bed, inches from mine.
"Better, labor sucks." I chuckled, feeling the electricity in my fingers from David being so close.
"Sorry about earlier." He blushed a fantastic crimson.
"Was it true?"
"Why would you think it wasn't?"
"I haven't seen you in weeks David. You disappeared and suddenly show up at the hospital with a great declaration of love? I'm a little confused."
"I wanted to give you a chance to figure out who you wanted to be with."
"Me? Weren't you the one dating Alicia?" I huffed and crossed my arms. But after a sharp pain in my stomach, I slowly placed them back at my side.
David sighed. "Yes, I dated Alicia. That day I was waiting for you I shared with her that I was considering buying Lucky's. Thomas wanted to retire and was willing to offer me Lucky's at a great price as long I kept it the same. He felt that it was a part of the community and trusted me to keep it that way. Alicia had offered to write a promotional piece on the diner that would bring in more business. We worked together for weeks while she dropped hints here and there. One night we were talking and drinking..." his voice trailed off.
I couldn't do anything but stare as his words tried to penetrate my understanding. I nodded at him to continue.
"When she saw how I reacted when you went into the hospital she went ballistic, and I guess changed her mind about the article. She ran that crap she wrote early knowing that I was on the verge of signing the deal. Needless to say Thomas Lucky rescinded the offer, after sending me a threatening email from his lawyers." David ran his hand through his sandy hair in defeat.
"Wow!" I mustered.
"Charlie, you have to understand, Alicia doesn't matter. The reason she got mad is because she saw right away what I was always trying to hide from you. I was always honest with her. I told her how I felt from the very beginning. I guess she figured it would change when Mike came back." David stopped and looked at the door.
We sat in silence as we both wondered how to best break the awkwardness that had penetrated the room.
"I saw the baby, he's gorgeous."
"Yeah, he is."
"I brought him something." David's glanced down at his shuffling feet.
"What?"
David slowly drew his right arm from behind in his back and held up a small stuffed panda. "I read that babies can only see black and white in the beginning. I figured he has blue to play with when he gets bigger. Checkers here can take care of him and his mama till then." He said, blushing a deeper red.
I felt my chest tighten as my heart felt like it was going to burst. I slowly took the bear from him and smiled. "Thanks, Andrew will love Checkers."
"Andrew? That's Michael's grandfather's name right?" He paused for a moment, his left hand moving a little further away.
"Yes, Michael asked if he could name him. He really is in love with his son; he looks at him like..." I stopped midsentence while I made sense of my realization. "He looks at him like he never looked at me, like he's really in love."
I closed my eyes to fully take in what I had just said. I could remember how I had once entertained the idea that Michael may not love me, how much that thought had pained me, taking the breath from deep inside me. I felt at the time that there was no way I could ever feel that way again, that I would never allow myself to feel that way again, until...
"You still love him." It was meant as a question but I could sense the fear in David's statement.
I opened my eyes and stared into David's beautiful confused eyes.
"Charlie, I know you have been through a lot. If you need me to I can back off a bit?"
"You want to back off?"
"No, I don't want to. I don't want to go anywhere; the only place I ever want to be is by your side. I just understand that you still have feelings for Michael. And with Andrew... I just think maybe you need more time to figure it all out." His eyes dropped as his fingers drew circles in my hand.
"No."
"What?" David asked confused.
"No. I don't have feelings for Michael." Even before I said it I knew it was true. "I know now Michael is capable of really loving someone, and now that I know what that looks like on him I know he never really loved me. And somehow, I think I know I was never really truly in love with him." I felt a weight lift from me as I released the truth into the air.
"Never?" David looked skeptic.
"I know I loved him, I know I always will because he's the father of my son. But I don't think I was ever IN love with him, I just don't think we wanted to admit that we were both wrong."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I know what true love feels like now." I smiled at David.
He leaned in close to me, his blue eyes staring deep into mine and I felt my heart begin to race. "Oh?"
"Yes, I know I always will love Andrew, with every fiber of my being."
"Oh!" David looked down at my feet as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.
I laughed as I watched him avoiding my gaze. "And I know that I will always love..." I grabbed his head and turned his gaze back to me, holding his face just inches from mine. "I know I will always love you David."
A beaming crooked smile took over all of David's face as I felt his hand squeeze mine, our heartbeats racing together in our palms.
"Always is a long time Charlie, I plan on holding you to that." David leaned in, his lips brushing mine as I felt my breathing stop.
"I'm counting on it." I whispered, moments before David's lips sealed over mine.
Did you ever love somebody; I mean love somebody so much that you can't remember your life before them?
I have, and he just entered my life.