Return to Sender - 19. Chapter 19 - Adam

Chapter 19 - Adam

I’d slipped upstairs when Kai went to greet the new visitor - this was all a bit too much at once to process. I needed some time to myself after making sure Megan would be okay with it.

It’s not as if I‘m not used to visitors, absolutely not: I like receiving and entertaining guests. But I’d like to know of their coming at least a day or two in advance, so I can prepare. Ready rooms, get groceries, stock up, that sort of thing. In this case, the rooms would not be needed, but I hadn’t made enough breakfast for four! What would they think, looking at my meager table. That I was incapable?

That wouldn’t do. It’s not how I am. I’d like to think I’m a good host, with food to spare and drinks in plenty. Which is maybe also my error - I did tell Megan and Kellan that they were welcome anytime. Yet I stocked up, prior to Kai’s coming, for just two. Well, not knowing how much Kai consumed, I’d erred on the side of caution and bought enough. So I did have enough food for now, but I’d have to visit the stores again if this happened more often. And when they showed up with the children yesterday, I realized now I had nothing in the house for them. I’d need soda, popsicles, crunchy stuff, candy maybe?

I shaved in what was for me record time while I made lists in my head. I felt a little rushed and cut myself on the chin, using an alum styptic pencil to staunch the tiny bleed. I rarely cut myself! I hissed when afterwards applying aftershave and it came into contact with the cut.

Then, I quickly dressed - I’d already chosen clothes before going to bed, and hung them out: a white linen shirt and beige long shorts plus sandals, no socks. It was going to be warm today, according to predictions.

All in all, I was done in about fifteen minutes, which is an absolute record for me as I would normally easily take an hour or more. Then, one last glance in the mirror, check the bleed (it stopped), fingers through the hair and done.

When I arrived downstairs, Kai was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. He motioned to the backdoor with his head, putting a finger to his lips. Once outside, he turned to me and took my hand.

“Adam, I want to apologize for springing all this on you at the last second. The way my family interacts with each other might not be what you’re used to. This might feel like an invasion into your home.”

It had, a bit. But the feeling was subsiding quickly. I smiled, appreciating his apology.

“Thank you. But I may carry some blame too - I did tell your brother and sister to feel free to come visit as they wished. I should have specified the times, though.”

That last caused a smirk. “Yeah, we don’t do times, really. Never did. We just invade.”

“I see…” I worried my lip. “Every day?”

He laughed. “No! God no. But I’ll make it clear that they have to app or call first - which Megan did early this morning. This one is on me - I forgot.”

I frowned. “How do you forget?”

He pulled me closer.

“Well, you’ll remember that you were doing certain things to me…”

Ahh…I smiled. “Right, of course. As you were doing certain things to me?”

“That’d be what I’m referring to, yes,” he winked. “In hindsight, me sleeping upstairs would have prevented all this…”

“Nice try, Mr. Navy. You’re not sleeping upstairs, Kai,” I chuckled.

“Mmm….maybe. Maybe not. I’d like to look at it as ‘up in the air’.”

“Glass-half-full type?”

“Definitely,” he grinned.

Then voices, softly talking, came closer to the doors leading out onto the deck from the living room..

“So where’s Scribblyboy? Has your bro charmed the pants off him yet? Oh hey…!”

I turned toward the voices, frowning, and Megan appeared with a Norse God in tow, if Norse Gods are bald, wiry and dressed like James Dean. One look at that leather jacket and those big boots and I saw mud trailing over my beautiful carpets.

“Hello,” I greeted the newcomer as he came closer, an arm behind Megan’s back. “Welcome.”

He appeared charismatic. Callum had green eyes, which spoke of mystery and magic (I knew this from past research). They were shrewd for sure, but it belied his clothing - they did not mix. Nothing mysterious there, rather plain and down to earth, much like Kai's style of dress. Then I glanced at Megan, who’s eyes seemed suspiciously red and a little puffy. Had he made her cry? I didn’t like that. But then, why did she accept his arm loosely guiding her? She didn't seem angry with him, though.

“Adam, meet Callum. Doc. Doc, meet Adam,” Kai spoke beside me.

Extending my hand, he accepted. Nice, firm shake and a friendly smile. Used for family of patients, I gathered - the smile did not reach his eyes.

“Scribblyboy,” I said, introducing myself and letting him know that his voice had carried far enough for me to hear that remark.

“Ha! Heard that, huh? Nice to meet the guy that had my patient all excited.”

Ah, now the smile did reach his eyes and he revealed small, even teeth.

“Behave,” Megan hissed beside him. “I’m sorry. He’s…an ass.”

“You may call me Adam,” I smiled, storing that bit of extra information for a later time - I’d have to ask Kai about that. “Have you eaten, Callum?”

“Not yet.”

“Then you’re just in time. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting visitors at this early hour, but please - join us,” I invited, preceding them inside.

Once in the dining room, they took their seats, Megan and Callum on one side. I gestured for Kai to take the head of the table but he declined, and took a seat next to where I planned on sitting.

“Coffee anyone?”

“Black, please,” Kai replied. Callum requested the same, while taking his jacket off, hanging it on the back of his chair. “Sugar and a little milk for me?” Megan asked.

“Noooooo, no, no,” Callum interjected, as I poured for her. “No coffee. She’s expecting.”

“Butt out, Bucko,” she replied.

“You should not be drinking coffee. It increases chances of miscarriage and could restrict fetal growth.”
He spoke with such conviction that I withdrew the cup right as Megan was about to accept it.

“I’ll not be party to any of that….”.

“Thank you.”

“Adam! Hand it over!” Megan hissed, sending Callum a glare. He returned a grin.

I shook my head. “Nuh-uh, not going over your fiancé. He’s bigger.”

“He’s not my fiancé! I’m not getting married!” She exclaimed. “And until we know for sure, I’ll be having that coffee. Hand it over.”
I shook my head, causing her to roll her eyes. “God, Nikki was drenched in it, she came out fine.”

“I’ll get you some tea.”

She didn’t even respond to that and got up, probably to get the coffee herself. And that’s about as far as she got. Callum grabbed her and seriously, as much as she balked, she just melted into him as he drew her onto his lap and hugged her from behind, his hand over her stomach, gently rubbing. Not in a possessive way, more like an endearing way. His bark seemed worse than his bite. When he also pressed a kiss on her neck, I kinda could see the attraction.

Something simmered there. Then, she negated her own objections when, as she reached for his cup, he moved her hand away and chided her, saying, “Stop it. Nuh-uh.” She winked at me. Ooooh….you devil!

“Ugh! And he also wants me to stop working. This dinosaur is of the ‘barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen’ variety.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder as he let his chin rest on her shoulder.

“You’re such a liar. I didn’t say that; I said ‘you might want to consider working less in a few months’ time, or maybe not work at all. You don’t have to’. But if you wanna work, go for it. I can’t tell you what to do. Well…except marry me.” Somehow, I believed him over her. Callum looked toward Kai. “Gonna need you to be the best man.”

“Don’t look at him - I’m not getting married to an ass!”

Callum just ignored her. “This one refused my proposal last night. Seriously; says no to a doctor. Definitely not Jewish.”

Oh dear, that was wildly inappropriate! But…she refused? Why? She clearly liked him? Well, okay, it was very fast. But if she turned out to be pregnant, they’d have months to really get to know each other.

“Wanna also explain how you proposed?”

“Sure. You said ‘I’m pregnant’. I said ‘Great. Let’s get married’.”

Megan huffed. “Nuh uh, I said ‘I might be pregnant’ to which you replied ‘Let’s get hitched’.”

“Oh, I see - we’re going literal. Fine. You said ‘so there is a chance, it’s really tiny, but I could be pregnant’ to which I said ‘Oh fuck yeah!’. And for your information, I pumped my fist in the air and a nurse gave me a high five because I said, but you didn’t hear that because I covered the phone, that I was gonna be a dad. That was Nurse Kelly, by the way, if you wanna go ask.”

“Ugh, never argue with someone who has a photographic memory and equal hearing,” Megan muttered, getting up from his lap. He let her go.

Seriously, he had eidetic and echoic memory? That was rare! Oh my! I had so many questions for him…

“Say it right or say nothing at all, honey.”

“Don’t call me honey.”

“Okidoki, sugarpuss. Note that she didn’t say no, just now. I have witnesses.”

“Hmm, I do note she doesn’t have a ring…” I chuckled, taking my seat. I also noted Megan wasn’t exactly moving away from him. The lady doth protest too much, indeed. Once again.

“Exactly! Thanks, Adam! See? No fiancé.”

“Oh, you want a ring? I’ll get one…Kellan also gave his blessing.”

“Don’t accept anything under three karats,” I winked at Megan, who grinned back.

Green eyes narrowed at me.

“Oh, I see how it is. Two against one, huh? Soldier? Back a bro up?”

“Semper Fi, my man,” Kai smirked.

I frowned. “I thought you were Navy! That’s the marines.”

“Stay in your corner, Scribblyboy,” Callum grinned, “you’re costing me. I need backup.”

“Always hit ‘em in the wallet,” I whispered to Megan over the table, conspiratorially. “Oh, and no prenup.”

“Oooh,” Megan whispered back, “I like where this is going. Any tips on how to fleece ‘em without having to put out?”

Callum groaned. “Oh man…separate these two.”

**********

It turned out to be a very lively breakfast, lasting quite long - we all rose from the table a little after 11am. Even Megan grudgingly agreed to have tea, giving in when Kai pointed out that research might have revealed much more in the last decade and, considering her age, since she had Nikki. Her objection, that it wasn’t certain that she was or wasn’t pregnant, was met with a retort, much to Callum’s approval, that she might want to play it safe. It sounded more than reasonable to me.

She later told me, when she was helping me clear the table and bringing it all to the kitchen, while Kai had taken Callum on a tour downstairs, that he’d admitted to her during their phone call, last night, that he hoped she was pregnant. He’d told her he had waited a long time for the right woman to come along, having been burned once before by a not-so-right woman. He’d almost given up until a week ago when she’d gotten into his face.

“He was married before, like a decade ago. That bitch left him when he was wounded in Afghanistan. Can you believe it? That really did a number on him.”

No, I could not. That was cold.

“I think that’s why he’s so abrasive. I thought it was something like Aspergers at first, but nope - he’s just an asshole. But I think that might have helped that along. Then again, he’s also a lot of fun and can be nice and considerate, even sweet when he wants to be. But the crap that comes flying out of him … man!”

“Would it have felt different if it had been something like Aspergers? Would you have run the other way? And I don’t think they call it that anymore.”

“No…I wouldn’t care - he is who he is. And he’d still be damn cute.”

“So did he really propose? I mean, you’re both a little…combative, in terms of what was said.”
She grinned and nodded.

“Oh yeah.” Then her features sobered. “But I don’t wanna trap him, y’know? If it turns out I’m not pregnant, he’s also the kind of guy that might stick around because he said it and doesn’t want to renege on his word. I wouldn’t want to do that to him.”

“So…you’re giving him an out?”

She thought about that.

“I want him to have the option. I never had that with Tristan. He just ran. If Tristan had told me he didn’t want to become a father, it would have been easier to live with than with him just abandoning his kid.”

“Did you ever see him again?”

“Once. When he gave up his parental rights, to sign for it. Nik was a year old, then.”

“And his parents? Do they know they have a granddaughter?”

“Yeah, they do. Never showed any interest. Nik doesn’t know them, though I told her she’s welcome to visit them, if she wants. She doesn’t.”

Wow.

“He doesn’t seem to want it. Callum. The option to run, I mean,” I noted.

“Maybe he’s an idiot.”

“I don’t think so. He looks more, to me, as a Mr. Involved.”

She groaned. “Ahuh. He is. When we talked on the phone last night, he asked a lot about Nik, when she was born and growing up. Y’know, how the pregnancy went, all the way to after she was born, when she was sick, school stuff, all that. Wants to get to know her, too.”

I smiled. “And that scares you?”

“Like someone yelling ‘bomb!’ on an airplane.”

“Why?”

“Because what happens when I allow that, and then it turns out I’m not pregnant, and he leaves after he’s already in her life?”

“Does he feel to you as a man who would do that?”

“I dunno, Adam…I really don’t. That’s why I’m holding off. We’ve only known each other for less than a week. God, if I think about it…how stupid do you have to be to have all this happen…I’m 38! Not 18. I should know better…”

“So how did that happen, then?”

She glanced at me. “I really don’t know. I must’ve had a major brainfart.” She hesitated for a second. “Did Kai tell you how that guy wormed his way into our lives?”

I shook my head, beginning the dishes. Without prompting her, she took a drying cloth.

“Oh god, where to begin. Alright, so…last Sunday. Kai tells us his coach told him he can get out of the hospital in two weeks, because of his progress. I went to look for his doctor, who I’d seen before but never spoke to, which turned - out to be Callum - to ask for specific stuff I might need to know, once we take him home. I’m an RN, you know this, right?”

“Yes,” I answered, finishing up on glass work and starting on the plates.

“Oh, that’s a hoot - I do that too! Glass first, then plates and mugs. Knives and forks next? Pans last?”

I nodded, smiling.

“Okay, so I track Callum down, ask my stuff and he starts pelting me with all sorts of questions. Y’know - questioning my knowledge about medications, side effects and whatnot. So I got a little defensive. He knew exactly which button to push. So….I yelled at him a little bit. Okay, a little bit much. But he was really asking these anal things. Quickest way to get me riled up - question my work.”

“Oh my,” I snickered.

“I dunno why he did that. Well, I do know that he’s a dick. But anyway, I told him what I thought of him, and he tells me, ‘Lady, that mouth on you will get you in trouble. Hi, my name is Trouble. Capital T. And if you wanna scream at me, I have some ideas. I promise I'll make you scream.’”

“Wow…”

“Yeah. Like I said - he’s an ass. Anyway, I stormed out of there because…well, I wanted to really hit that smirk off his face. So I get home, and then Kai calls us, that his Callum actually moved up the timetable to yesterday. Let’s just say I went a little berserk. He gave me all that crap. What I didn’t know was that apparently, Kai had given him my number, because he’d asked for it.”

“Oh dear…”

“Ahuh. So the guy calls me and practically invites himself over. I was…blown away, really. His audacity to do that, and what he dared to say to me. So I kinda…called his bluff, and gave my address. I didn’t think he’d dare but he showed up. And he looked so damn cute, leaning against the doorway and smelling like heaven. The guy just made my ovaries go into party mode.”

I guffawed.

“He brought takeout and beers - wrapped Nik around his finger in like two seconds flat. We got to talking, and I mean really, really deep stuff that you usually don’t do when you first meet someone. We just…skipped all that. It was intense. I already know more about him than his mother probably does. One thing led to another…and that was fun and easy too. Not awkward at all. We just…”

“Clicked,” I finished.

“Mhm. And he came around the next day, and it just…took off. Oh boy, did that take off…” She seemed to reminisce into a vivid memory. “Kept his promise, though. Made me scream.”

“Do you need a chair, and sit down?” I asked, winking, when she waved at her face, at the memory.

She chuckled. “Well, I couldn’t sit down after that night. Phew! Sex on a stick, that man.”

We both laughed out loud.

“You’re horrible,” I hiccupped. But gosh, did I love being made privy to all that. It was wonderful! A real life intrigue. Nan would’ve loved it too. It was so…exciting! And I appreciated her trust, by telling me this incredibly private stuff. I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye for a while, knowing all this.

“Well, it’s true! I’m not kidding. He was playing catch-up for a couple of years, I think.”
Putting the drying cloth, and the plate she’d been drying, down on the kitchen table, she did sit down.
“Things shouldn’t go this fast, should it? It’s insane. God, look at me. Same house. Same kitchen. And knocked up, once again.”

“With perhaps the one difference that this time you’re not alone?”

She smiled. “I wasn’t alone then, either. Not really. Kellan and Ellen, and Kai, helped a lot. And my dad. The first year, I practically lived here with Nik.”

“I was referring to Callum.”

“Oh! Right. He wanted to come over right away but he couldn’t, because he was on call.”

I frowned. “Shouldn’t he be there, then? Because if something happens and he’s here, he won’t be there in time…”

“He got someone to cover for him this weekend. Seriously, he called like five or six colleagues out of bed. No boundaries, that guy. And he did that while talking to me. He was lucky it was a quiet night.”

Ah!

“Speaking of boundaries - you’re welcome here, always, but…ehm, just…a little more advance notice would be appreciated.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I did tell Kai…”

“He told me just as we were sitting down for breakfast.”

“He’s such an asshole sometimes. Seriously, he’ll forget his own butt if it wasn’t attached.”

I chuckled. “It’s fine. But for the future: just call me.”

“I will. I’m sorry, Adam.”

“It’s okay. Now are you going to dry all this or…”

“Oh! Shit. Coming!”