Chapter 26 #2
Laura held Holden’s hand as he toddled from his bedroom to the kitchen.
“Look at my big boy walking like a grown man,” Owen said, scooping him up to place kisses on his neck that resulted in the belly laugh they loved so much.
“Dadadada.”
Owen closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet baby scent of the boy he adored, determined to take this last step to put the past behind him so he could focus entirely on the family he and Laura were creating together.
“I need to get him down before they arrive, or he’ll never go to bed,” Laura said.
Holden had spent the afternoon with Uncle Shane and Aunt Katie and was rubbing at his eyes with tight little fists.
“I’ll take him in.” Any day now, she would have to stop picking up Holden until after the babies were born. Owen settled him in the crib with his blanket, which Holden immediately kicked off. Laughing, Owen covered him again, and Holden kicked it off. “Mommy, someone is misbehaving.”
“Holden, is Daddy being naughty?”
“Gagagaga Dadada.”
“I knew it.” Laura resettled him, turned on the mobile that took his attention off the blanket and swept her fingers through the baby’s downy hair one more time before leaving him to sleep.
“Mommy is good at that,” Owen whispered outside the bedroom door.
“Daddy is good at winding him up at bedtime, which won’t be quite so funny when there’re three of them.”
Owen waggled his brows at her. “Daddy loves when Mommy chastises him.”
Smiling up at him, Laura cupped his cheek and caressed him with her thumb. “You seem good.”
“I feel good, ready to get this over with and start packing for the trip.”
“I’ll be right there with you if it gets hard.”
“That’s the only thing that’s gotten me through this latest crisis.” He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “You’ve got to be so tired of my family issues by now.”
“Not at all. It’s a small price to pay to get to be married to you.”
“Thank you, baby.”
A soft knock on the door indicated their guests had arrived.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Let’s do it.” He went to admit his mom, Charlie, Katie and Shane, who spoke in whispers because they knew Holden had just gone to bed and would put up a fuss if he heard them. They stayed quiet through dinner, after which Laura checked on Holden and said it was safe to speak normally.
“Thank you for the lovely dinner,” Sarah said, refilling her wineglass. She had a serenity about her these days that was hard to miss, and Owen couldn’t wait to let her know that she’d soon be free to marry the man she loved.
“You’re welcome.” He glanced at Laura, who reached for his hand and gave it a subtle squeeze under the table, fortifying him to take the next step. “So there was a reason other than dinner that I wanted to get together tonight.”
“Well,” Katie said, “we know you’re not going to tell us you’re pregnant.”
Their laughter diffused the last of Owen’s nerves. “Very funny. Actually, I wanted to tell you I heard from Dad.”
Stunned silence greeted his statement. Owen went on to tell them about the remarkable conversation he’d had with Mark.
As he spoke, Sarah raised her hand to her heart, and Charlie put his arm around her.
Katie stared bleakly at the far wall while Shane moved his chair closer to hers.
Such was the Mark Lawry effect on his family members.
“He’s full of shit,” Katie said fiercely. “He realized he’s all alone in the world, and this is what he’s doing about it.”
“I don’t think so, sis,” Owen said, knowing his opinion would matter to her and the others.
“I think it’s the truth. If you could’ve heard him…
He was different than he’s ever been with me.
Still gruff and domineering, but contrite, too.
And what he said about me and the boys getting help if we ever feel that way toward our wives and children…
It felt like genuine parental concern to me. ”
Katie crossed her arms, her face set in a mulish expression that told Owen she might not come around right away.
That was okay. It had taken him a couple of days to wrap his mind around it.
He turned his attention to his mother, who seemed as stunned as Owen had felt upon hearing his father’s story.
“I always wondered,” Sarah said softly, “how a boy grows up to be that kind of man. He never spoke of his childhood. After the funeral, we never spoke of his father again.”
“He said that was the first time he hit you,” Owen said.
Her hand covered her left cheek. “Yes. I said something about feeling sorry for his father dying the way he had, and he slapped me across the face, saying his father was exactly where he belonged, in hell with the devil, and I was never to mention that son of a bitch’s name again. I never did.”
Next to her, Owen noticed Charlie wrestling with his emotions. It was hard for him to hear about the abuse she’d withstood at the hands of her husband.
“The divorce papers should be landing on Dan Torrington’s desk any day now,” Owen said, sharing the good news now that the harder part was out of the way.
“What?” Sarah asked, wide-eyed.
“He told me if I took his call, he’d give you the divorce. He promised he’d sign the divorce papers and mail them the day I talked to him, which means you should get them soon.”
“Oh, Owen,” Sarah said as she put it all together. “He convinced you to take his call by telling you he’d sign the papers if you did?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does! How can you say that doesn’t matter?”
“Because it doesn’t. Not anymore. You’re getting what you wanted, and we’ll all have some closure.”
“At what cost to you?” his mother asked tearfully.
“I’m okay, Mom. I swear. I’m fine. Ask Laura.”
His wife nodded in agreement. “He was thrown for a loop at first and anxious about telling the rest of you, but he’s good now.”
Sarah sat back in her chair, seeming stunned by the turn of events. “He signed the papers.”
Owen smiled at her. “He signed the papers.”
Sarah began to laugh and cry at the same time.
Charlie hauled her into his arms, kissing her square on the mouth right in front of her children and their partners.
Even Katie smiled at Charlie’s rare loss of control. She leaned on Shane, her expression softer now that she’d had a few minutes to process what she’d heard.
“We can get married,” Charlie said in a gruff whisper.
“We can get married,” Sarah replied, staring into his steel-blue eyes.
Owen glanced at Laura, who dabbed at her eyes. They shared a smile, full of love and relief and optimism for the future now that the past was where it belonged once and for all.