After the Party
By nine o’clock, everyone had kissed Jane or Brick Three or one of their children and drifted out the door. Many of them carried little packets of cinnamon polka-dot vanilla bars, which had been a great hit.
The family sat in the living room, holding their annual after-party conference while munching leftover canapés and drinking gallons of cool clear water.
Some of their guests had gained weight or lost it.
Some of their guests were getting married or divorced.
A few funny jokes had been passed around, and they had all been invited to attend about a thousand Christmas pageants, recitals, and plays.
Brick Jr. had texted Brick Three to say that Beatrice was fine and resting in front of an old Midsomer Murders.
Finally Brick Three said, “I’m going to watch the game.”
Jane said, “I think I’ll read. I don’t think I could eat another thing.”
Lydia said, “I don’t think I could smile anymore.”
Jari said, “Lydia, perhaps we could go for a drive. I would like to see the western end of the island.”
“Sure,” Lydia said, trying not to gush. If Jari really liked it here—Take a breath, she told herself. She had to calm down.
“But wait!” Lucas said. “I want to know! Which one of you mysterious girls is pregnant?”
Everyone around the coffee table spoke at the same time. “What?”
Florie said, “I’m not pregnant.”
Lydia said, “I’m not pregnant.”
For a moment, complete silence.
Then Jane said, “I am.”
Lucas burst out laughing. “Mom, come on. You can’t be pregnant.”
Lydia said carefully, as if Jane might have become just a bit senile, “Mom. Why do you think you’re pregnant?”
Jane tucked her shaking hands under her thighs. She wanted to appear composed. She met Brick Three’s gaze. He smiled at her, and that was all she needed.
“Because I’ve seen Dr. Raval. She admitted me for two early pregnancy tests. The NIPT—which stands for noninvasive prenatal testing. I also had a scan at twelve weeks. And I’ve had an ultrasound.”
Lydia sat up straight, her expression severe. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Mostly because I didn’t think it would last. I am forty-four.
That’s old for a pregnancy. I assumed I’d have a miscarriage.
Then, I had the tests, and I was afraid something would be wrong because I’m what they call AMA—advanced maternal age.
” Jane smiled wryly. “It used to be called a geriatric pregnancy.”
“So, Mom, what did the tests say?” Florie asked.
“Everything’s fine. I mean, no problems, no congenital defects.” Jane nodded at her husband, passing the conversation over to him.
Brick Three said, “We went for the latest ultrasound the other day. It’s all good.”
Jane turned to Lucas. “How did you know someone in the house was pregnant?”
Lucas blushed crimson. He wished he’d never brought it up. He’d never dreamed his mother, his old mother, could get pregnant. “I saw a box for prenatal vitamins in the guest bathroom.” He ducked his head. “This is so cringe. I didn’t even imagine that…that you and Dad…”
Lydia broke into a loud laugh. Pointing at her brother, she said, “You’re going to be a nurse and you didn’t know old people still have sex?”
“We’re not that old!” Jane protested.
Brick Three said, “We’re not old at all. It’s possible we might look older at the next Stroll because we’ll be up all night walking the baby, like we had to do with you, Lucas.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Sorry,” he said to Daniel and Jari. “Not every party ends up like this.”
Jane said, “It’s a boy.”
Lucas jumped up from his chair, waving his arms in the air. “A boy! I’m going to have a little brother? Mom, that’s so cool! I can teach him everything!”
As he stood up, Brick Three had tears in his eyes but was struggling to be dignified. “One day at a time, everyone. One day at a time.”
Slightly suspicious, Lydia asked, “Why weren’t you throwing up all the time?”
Jane smiled. “I don’t know. It’s a different pregnancy.”
“Oh, Mommy!” Florie burst into tears. “I’ll be so far away!”
Daniel wrapped his arm around Florie’s shoulders. “We can fly back to see your mother whenever you want.”
Lucas said, “I can come home a lot, and I’ll be a licensed nurse, so I can help you with everything.”
“Not with the delivery,” Jane said.
Lydia, Florie, and Lucas all went “Ewww,” and then burst out laughing, all three of them, together, like they did when they were young.
Florie asked, “Mom, what is the due date?”
Jane put her hand on her belly. “May fifth.”
“A spring baby!” Florie went to her mother’s side. “Can I touch?”
Jane blushed. “It’s not kicking yet.” She pulled her sweater up, just a few inches, nothing that would gross out the young men on the couch.
There it was: a little bump, more a hump.
Florie put her hand on it. “Oh, it’s so warm.”
“Of course it’s warm,” Lydia grumbled. “We’re all warm.”
Florie turned to her sister. “Come over here. Feel.”
Reluctantly, Lydia went to her mother’s side and put her hand on her mother’s taut belly.
“Just think,” Florie cooed, “there’s a baby boy in there.”
“That’s amazing.” Lydia choked out the words and burst into tears.
Jane put her arm around her older daughter, a tricky move since she was sitting down with her sweater halfway up her torso.
“Lydia, what’s wrong?” she asked, genuinely concerned.
“Sorry, Mom. I’m just worried. Will you be okay?
Will the baby be okay? I thought you and Dad would be free now, I mean, you could travel anywhere, to Hawaii, or Paris, or take a cruise down the Danube…
” Lydia sniffed and tried to stop crying but only cried harder. “Mom, where will you put this baby?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead…”
Lucas yelled, “MY room. New kid should have my room. It already has guy stuff in it.”
Lydia got herself in control. She took a napkin and dried her eyes with it. “It’s just, Mom, it’s just that I think you and Dad shouldn’t make such a monumental, life-changing decision without consulting us first.”
Florie snorted. “Lyd. Get a grip. First, it’s not like they made a decision. It happened. It’s pretty miraculous, I think. Plus, we’re all leaving the island—”
Lucas interrupted, “I’m coming back to live here after I graduate.”
“And you, Lydia,” Florie continued, “will be living somewhere far away, like Tasmania—”
Daniel said, “Tasmania is super cool. I have a friend who traveled there.”
“—or Alaska.”
Florie took a moment to catch her breath. She glanced at Daniel, who was smiling, and Jari, who was not.
Brick Three stood, looming behind Lydia. Lydia finally noticed his presence and moved away. She watched her father take her mother’s hands and pull her up and into his arms.
Brick Three said to his pregnant wife, “Let’s go check out the Christmas trees on Main Street.”
Jane hugged her husband, and Brick Three surprised everyone by giving his wife a nice long kiss on the mouth.
“Stop that, please,” Lucas said.
“Come on, Jane,” Brick Three said. “I’ll help you into your coat.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Lydia muttered. “You’d think they were eighteen.”
“And good for them!” Florie added. “Daniel, let’s go out and look at the Christmas trees.”
Jari said, “Lydia, would this be a good time for you to drive me to a place called Altar Rock? I read that it is one of the highest places on the island and that it was a place of reverence for the Wampanoags.”
Lydia blinked. Altar. Wedding.
She reined herself in. “It will be dark out there. No light on the moors. But we’ll be able to see lights in the distance.”
“Let’s go,” Jari said.
Lucas said, in a surprising burst of goodwill, “I’ll do the dishes.”