Return to Sender - 27. Chapter 27 - Adam

CHAPTER 27 - Adam

“I really hope that it’s a boy,” Nikki answered, when I asked her if she would prefer a brother or sister. “I want a brother.”

There was a celebratory mood out back on the deck. Half an hour before that, we received the welcome news that Megan and Callum were indeed expecting. I watched Kai’s sister for a while with the knowledge of what we’d talked about previously still in my mind, and she seemed to have let go of certain ideas - such as giving Callum every opportunity to walk away - something which he clearly had no intention of doing. In fact, they seemed to have become closer instead. Whenever she was near him, an arm of his snuck around her, or his hand found hers, weaving their fingers together. And if there was any doubt if he was happy, one just had to look at him. His face held a joyous expression throughout the evening.

“A little dude or a little lass, both are welcome, I really don’t care,” Callum grinned, clinking his beer bottle with Kai’s. “Just tell your mom to marry me already.”

“Mom, marry him.”

“Stop ganging up on me, you two,” Megan warned, but really, she wasn’t nearly protesting as forcefully as she’d done a week ago. There was even a hint of a smile.

“We’ll wear you down, won’t we, Nik?”

She fist-bumped him.

That was another thing that stood out to me - Nikki seemed very ready to accept him in their lives, something I knew Megan to be wary of. Had she let go of that? There was a familiarity between her daughter and Callum. She stood close to him, asking him her questions. She even allowed him to rub her back while doing so, and in turn, he didn’t seem at all bothered by the arm she rested on his shoulder.

“Oh! Oh! Do I get your last name too, when you marry mom?”

Callum grinned downright wolfish at Megan then, who rolled her eyes. Kai chuckled at that.

“No, honey,” Megan answered, “it doesn’t work like that.”

“I’d have to adopt you,” Callum added. He turned to Kai. “How much are kids these days?”

“Fifty bucks?”

Nikki giggled, rolling her eyes, exactly like her mom could do. An exact copy of it, really.

“Can I take Arya for a walk?”

“Sure!” I answered, “her leash and harness are in the utility room, let’s go get it.”

“You have your phone with you?” Callum asked her, when we returned, Arya leashed and ready to go, tail wagging enthusiastically. Nikki showed it to him.

Honestly, he seemed more like her dad at that moment, if I was any judge. I asked Megan about that, later, when we had a moment alone in the kitchen, fetching a new round of drinks and some nibbly things.

“Oh, she’s been like that with him from almost day one. Some unholy bond they created. I don’t know how - I think it’s maybe because she never had a father figure. It might wear off once the novelty of it is gone, though she never had that with any of the other guys she’s met. She sees how he is with me - doesn’t take my crap. She thinks he’s cool. And that little spy tells him everything I do.”

She leaned against the counter, thoughtfully. “I dunno why, but she’s so at ease around him, listens to him, too. Maybe because he treats her as a person? I mean, he’s not careful around her, with words. The other day, she wanted to go to school with makeup on? He literally told her that if she wanted to look like a tart, she should really look the part and wear a skirt so short, the world would be her gynecologist!”(1)

“Oh, good lord…he really said that?”

“Mhm. I told him to tone it down a bit. So far, no good. He tells it like he sees it.”

“You don’t mind him correcting her?”

She shrugged. “He was right. I told her a thousand times, but she didn’t listen to me. She’s at that rebellious stage, doing what she wants. But not five minutes later, she came to me, asking tips on how to apply without it being so obvious. I was just happy that she finally listened. She looked like a clown, half the time.”

I chuckled. “Maybe she’s got a bit of a crush on him.”

She laughed. “I doubt it. She called him old. And the bald thing doesn’t appeal to her. But if she does, I can’t blame her,” she winked. “Girl has taste.”

“You seem…calmer about him. Less testy.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. Last time I talked to you, I had a lot of anxiety. How would it work, would it even work? It was this huge mountain I suddenly got in front of me, and I went into some sort of ‘okay, I can do this again’ mode? Going it alone again because I really was convincing myself he’d lose interest. Anticipating it, really.”

“Well, you’re not used to the father actually wanting to be there, considering the last time...”

“Yeah. Tristan did a number on me, with that. And I didn’t realize it until Callum blew up when I kept saying he didn’t need to do this or that, y’know. Let’s just say that the words he used after that kinda…convinced me he’s not going anywhere.” She chuckled. “Man has a way with words, I’ll tell ya that. But we talked so much over the last several days. It's unbelievable. You’d think we’d run out of topics, but no - there we go, yapping away, for hours and hours. Texting, too. Showed up every night and got up very early to go back to the city.”

“Sounds like you’re in love,” I smiled.

“Once I let myself believe he wasn’t going to do a runner, yeah, I guess I went for it too. Let myself go. I know, I know…and yes, he’s an asshole. A major asshole. But man, is he for real. My bathroom suddenly has male products. And he commandeered a drawer.”

I stared at her. “Without asking?”

“Noooo, no. That’d be a quick exit for him, if he did that. I don’t like dominant guys that tell me what to do and go nuts when I don’t. No, I told him he could have one. Know what he did? He rearranged mine, so all my stuff is sorted very nicely! And better than it was.” She laughed at that and did an impression of him. “He’s very….together. ‘This needs to go here, that needs to go there.’"

I chuckled. Her version of him was very funny. “Nothing wrong with having it together, being collected and organized. I know I am. I need things in their proper place or it doesn’t work for me. I’ll go and get something, and it’s not there, but elsewhere? I tend to panic.”

She nodded. “He’s the same. Well, not sure he panics, but things definitely have a place. I’m a total slob. So is Nik.”

“So is your brother,” I chuckled.

“Ahuh. How’s he doing? He looks…different. Very…happy. So do you. And he ain’t sleepin’ downstairs, is he…”

The look she gave me was somewhat knowing - it wasn’t a real question. And that was revealing to me, in a way, because I’ve never been outwardly open about being in a relationship with someone - as in having other people know we were together and in love. A couple. With Kai, I didn’t mind it and I was happy for her to know it.

“Yes,” I smiled, nodding, “we are in love. Very much. And no, he doesn’t sleep downstairs.”

Well, not anymore.

She shrieked a little and came over, hugging me. “I knew it! I could tell. He’s so relaxed around you, and he follows you with his eyes, wherever you go.”

I laughed - her enthusiasm was infectious. “Callum does that with you, too.”

“Yeah, we got good guys, didn’t we? Very watchful. Can’t make a move without them knowing. Assholes.”

I chuckled. I wouldn’t call Kai that. "He doesn’t think I’m strange, or finds my ways weird.”

She frowned at that. “What? Why would he….who told you…”

“My previous boyfriends all had some…issues with how I am.”

“Oh fuck em,” she huffed, waving dismissively with her hand, “that’s not Kai. He will love you unconditionally. Says more about them. What were they like? Always seeing ‘flaws’ in others but not themselves?”

Some of them certainly had looked down their nose at others, had been arrogant and aloof. “I guess,” I answered slowly.

“Not really living in this world, huh? Not really men’s men?”

I frowned. Of course they had been men. “I don’t understand the question.”

“There’s men and then there’s…ehm…y’know…gentle, soft men? Afraid to get their hands dirty?”

“Oh, I understand what you mean. Well, the latter, I guess.”

“Ahuh. My brother is definitely not one of those.”

No, Kai certainly wasn’t like them! He was far better, both as a person and, I guess, as a man.

“Seems to me you were with the wrong ones, then. And I guess so was I. He’s a guy. Him and Callum are the same, pretty much. That means they usually think with the brain in their pants. They’re more Neanderthal like.”

I chuckled and she grinned. That was not fair. To Neanderthals.

“Did we not evolve beyond such stereotyping?”

“Nope. Not them. We did. Them? Noooo.”

I laughed as she snickered. “Is Callum that bad?”

“Worse. The man has absolutely no boundaries. I’m about to do the test, right? So I’m in the bathroom. He just walks in, leans against the sink and watches while I pee on the damn stick.”

I chuckled. “Oh my…”

“I know, right?”

“Why didn’t you just push him out of the bathroom? Lock the door behind him.”

“Look at me - I’m a Hobbit. You try getting a troll out of your way. Not gonna happen. And he’d kick the door in, anyway. As much as said so. Try and keep me out, I dare ya.”

“Ha ha! Oh gosh, that’s so…Neanderthal-like. I agree.”

She winked. “Nah, he was actually pretty sweet. Waited with me, stood behind me, chin on my shoulder, hugging me while we waited. You shoulda seen the grin on his face when the stripes appeared. Became a little emo, even, the crying wuss.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Absolutely not. I like a man in touch with his emotions. He he. He wanted to call his mom, right away.”

“What’d she say?”

“I asked him not to call her just yet. A lot can happen, and I’m not twenty four anymore, y’know. We better wait until the first trimester is over. We told you guys because you already knew.”

“He’s excited.”

“Ahuh. Very. And he didn’t like it, but he understands. On the way here, he and Nik were dreaming up names already. Obviously we had to tell her. Wanna know how he told her? She already knew it might happen, because I told her, but…”

Oh boy…

“He swiped the test from the counter, yells ‘yo! Nik! Get over here’ and then told her ‘I knocked up your mom. That’s your new little bro or sis’.”

Aww, that was cute.

“He didn’t want to throw out the test, either. Says he's gonna frame it. Freak.”

I chuckled. “He’s enthusiastic. He’ll calm down.”

She smiled. “Well, it sure beats the reaction her father gave me.”

“Well, that is his loss. The less thought you give him, the better.”

“Bring it here, girlfriend,” she smiled, hugging me. “Alright, let’s get the cavemen their drinks, before they break down the house.”

I snickered and followed her out.

As we passed the stairs, I mentioned the new bed.

“Oh! Lemme see!”

“Let’s bring this out first, then I’ll show you.”

**********

I showed Megan the new addition to my room. Well, our room now, I guess.

“Oh my god, this is divine,” she sighed, laying down on the new bed. She raised her head a little, looking around the room. “Love what you did with it. Nice colors.”

“Thank you,” I chuckled, “but I think you've seen it before.”

“Just the ceiling,” she quipped.

Ha ha! “Your brother wasn’t too happy with that.”

“Yeah, well…you try saying no to a horndog. See how far you get.”

“I meant more that you slept here first, before him. That really annoyed him.”

Kai had told me this when we retired for the night, yesterday. ‘I was so damn jealous that they got up here before me!’

“Oh! Woops! Well, he shoulda worked faster then,” she grinned. “Slowpoke. But he gets to sleep in this one first, though. Ugh! This is heavenly. The other one was way too small. Callum complained about it, too.”

“It was sufficient for me.”

“What’d you do with it? It looked old…”

“It’s in your former room, across the hall.”

“If you’re looking to get rid of it, maybe Nikki might want it. She’s been asking for a bigger one…”

Oh, that was certainly fine with me!

“It’s an antique one. But if she wants it, then you’re welcome to have it.”

“I’ll pay a good price for it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Use that money for a new mattress. I can recommend this type.”

“Ha! I’d send her to my room, and lay on this. I love it!”

“That’s settled, then. Nikki will get the old one, if she wants it. I’ll give you the details of the mattress…”

“Thank you! Oh gosh, help me up - or I won’t wanna leave.”

Chuckling, I took her outstretched hand and pulled her up. “Any morning sickness yet?”

“None! And I hope it stays that way. I didn’t have it with Nikki. Weird cravings, sure. Pickled herring and peanut butter.”

I shuddered at the thought. “That’s a horrible combination.”

“Not together! Christ…now you are gonna make me puke! Eww! I meant pickled herring OR peanut butter. I hate peanut butter, normally. Yuck.”

“Wait until I tell Callum about it.”

She chuckled. “He'll do a runner for sure.”

“What are you going to do about the marriage thing?” I asked, as I took her on a tour upstairs. She hadn’t seen most of it. She ooh’d and aah’d at the color schemes for the different rooms and the ideas I had. We ended up in her former room, lastly.

“He’s proposed every day, since he knew I might be pregnant. Full on, on his knee, the whole thing. No ring…”

“You’re waiting for that?”

“Don’t be a schmuck. Of course not. I could care less. If you wanna know - if I say yes now - it'll look like I’m only doing it for the baby. That he might think that. So I’m waiting until the trimester is up…”

“Still giving him an out, are you?”

She shook her head. “No. He flat out told me he wants to, kid or no kid. He’s so damn sure of…us. Even wants to go look for a new place…”

“Then maybe you should just jump. Child or no child…” She glanced at me. “It’s like you said…they’re good men. Your brother is. I jumped. Because I know him.”

“How do you know him?”

“Because we wrote to each other. And in that time, I got to know him.”

“You had three months of that. I don’t know Callum that way…”

“No? I think you do and probably better? In the short amount of time you’ve had with him, you’ve spoken many times, more than I have with Kai in those three months. You know who he is by now, and you’ve shared intimate thoughts? Speaking live is much more intensive than by way of the written word. Sometimes, you just know. So if you know, jump.”

“That’s nuts…”

“Perhaps. Or conventional thinking makes you not dare take the risk. The way you met was already unconventional. But maybe it was meant to be. If it feels right, jump. And if not…don’t.”

She sighed, closing her eyes.

“I’m not sure what right feels like. I never had it.”

“Does he make your heart jump when he walks into the room?”

“Yes.”

“Do you miss him when he’s not around?”

“Not always. Sometimes, it’s kinda nice to have a night off,” she chuckled.

I smiled. “You’re avoiding.”

And that was so funny! Not because she was doing it, but because Kai accused me of the same thing, and called me on it. I recognized it.

“Fine. Yes.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Until the baby is born? And after that? Something else might come your way? Another man?”

“That’s such an asshole thing to say…of course not.”

“Most friends should be that - it means they are true friends.”

And I had exactly: none. Which goes to show. She sought my eyes.

“So I should just…jump?”

“I would. With a man like that? Well, I have a man like that now. I’ve not met a finer man than your brother. For me, it’s Kai. I choose to live now.”

As advice, it was perhaps the most poignant I ever gave another person. And I could only give it because I’d recently gone through it myself. And I hadn’t fully noticed that, until this conversation.

“Whatever comes after - live now. That's my advice, if you were asking…”

“I was…”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

**********

We went back downstairs to join the others, finding Nikki had returned.

“What were you two doing up there? You were gone for quite some time,” Kai asked me.

“Showed her the new bed. Oh! I’m giving my old bed to you, Nikki, if you want it? Your mom said you’ve been asking for a bigger one.”

“Oh, that’s nice. You’ll love it, Nik!” Kai responded, looking at his niece, “Go look! It’s in the front bedroom.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice - she ran inside to go have a look.

“We’ll have to get her a new mattress,” Megan said.

“Sure. How about a new mattress and a new house…” Callum replied, his voice trailing.

“He wants to go look for a new place.”

“Yours is far too small for the new kid and me,” he winked.

“You’re free to leave,” she answered, elbowing him.

“Not gonna happen. I’m a cuckoo, you already let me in. You’re stuck with me, now.”

I chuckled. Funny. Kai began to laugh too.

“Might as well go look for a new place, you know. I know you’re gonna cave eventually...”

Megan glanced at me. And that’s when I knew she was going to jump.

“Okay,” she said, easily.

Callum’s head whipped around, looking at her.

“Wait…really?”

“Sure.”

“You yanking my chain?”

“Always.”

Both Kai and I chuckled. Callum kept looking at her, his eyes narrowing. “What’s going on here…?”

Megan raised her eyebrows, innocently. “Nothing? I said okay…”

“I always have to go twenty rounds with you and now you’re just saying yes?”

“Mhm.”

“Just like that?”

“Mhm.”

“Maybe I should also ask you to marry me again, then…since you’re being so agreeable all of a sudden…”

She grinned. “You could…”

A smile formed on his face. “Alright - marry me.”

She let him wait a few beats. Then she calmly said, “yes.”

He huffed, as if her answer wasn’t quite convincing him, the smile widening. “I got witnesses, you know. You can’t go back now…”

She held out her hand, wiggling her fingers and her eyebrows, softly singing, 'If you want it then you gotta put a ring on it…'(2)

The quarter finally seemed to drop. “Woman, don’t mess with me…”

“I’m saying yes, you idiot!”

And for the first time, I saw him at a loss for words. He gaped at her.

“Huh?”

He looked at us, then back at her. He couldn’t quite believe it. I snickered. And beside me, Kai held his breath, looking at his sister.

Megan rolled her eyes, glancing at us, “I think he went deaf,” then back at him, ”I’m saying yes, Baldy,” she repeated.

Then his chair clattered when he stood quickly, taking her bodily from her chair and lifting her up, crushing her against him. She began to laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck, looking down on him. Then they kissed.

Oh gosh. I felt the tingling sensation of tears springing to my eyes when I saw the awesome way he smiled up at her. And beside me, Kai, and I almost missed it, also wiped a tear from his eye.

But I saw it.