38. Maggie
Chapter thirty-eight
Maggie
W hat. The. Hell.
My loud gasp was barely audible over the chatter of the fifty people standing in the living room of our house. Maybe no one noticed we had arrived yet, or maybe everything was moving in slow motion. But everything was happening before me. People. Everywhere.
My clients. My closest friends. My newest friends that I had made throughout the season here at Golden Meadow. Everyone . Even…
Eyes widening and blinking a few times, I swore I saw my dad. And…Jack’s father?
No way he kept all of this under my nose.
I whipped around to look at my husband in utter disbelief. He had done all of this? When? How?
“How?” I voiced to him. He didn’t answer, though. He just smiled.
I turned again to face the scene before me.
Everyone was standing around and mingling, drinks in their hands.
My eyes traveled to the kitchen, where a man I recognized as Felix, one of Jack’s teammates, was bartending.
A small chalkboard beside him read, Drink of the Night: The Maggie Special.
I laughed, completely unbeknownst to what The Maggie Special was.
Before I could help myself, I raced through the crowd to find my dad and Lenz, throwing myself into their arms upon seeing them.
“Happy birthday, my Maggie girl.” My dad kissed my cheek, his rough stubble scraping across my face, feeling nostalgic.
“Dad! How did you get here? When did you get here?”
He offered me a huge smile and reached into his pocket.
“I had to come visit on the anniversary of the best day of my life. And to show you this.” To my surprise, he pulled out a green chip and handed it to me.
I nearly dropped it upon realizing what it meant.
My dad hadn’t been sober a day in my life, and this just told me he had been without a drink for three months .
Tears filled my eyes as I reached for him again and hugged him with all my might.
With every bit of the little girl who wanted a sober, happy father.
With all of the hope I had for him to heal.
With every ounce of love I mustered. “I’m so proud of you, Dad,” I managed to execute the words with only one small sob.
What a gift.
“I did it for you, sweetheart. And for me. And for that kid I’m going to be holding in a couple of months.”
As I released him, I could tell he looked different. His eyes shone brighter, his energy was higher, and, dare I say, he looked younger than he really was.
“What about your other old man?” Lenz asked as he pulled me into his broad chest. I wrapped my arms around him.
Lenz truly was an amazing father figure to look up to, and while I loved my dad, I would be lying if I said Lenz didn’t have a major impact on how I grew up.
Jack was a lucky son. But I was a luckier daughter.
“I can’t believe you guys came!” I exclaimed, wiping the stray tears from my eyes. God, I had only made it through two people, and I was already getting emotional.
But these weren’t just two people. This was my family—Jack, Lenz, my dad, and now the baby growing inside of me made me feel so damn fortunate my heart hurt.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure there will be more surprises to come.” My dad threw me a wink. I gave him a funny look. Something about his comment, paired with Lina’s back at her cottage, gave me a feeling there was still something I didn’t know about.
But I forgot all about it when I was bombarded by everyone at the party.
Dozens of people had shown up to celebrate, and our entire living area was filled with the kindest souls I could ask for.
After hugging possibly the twentieth person who wished me a happy birthday and congratulated me on having the baby again, Jack guided me to Mike, Alvita, and Lina, who were talking in the kitchen.
“Happy birthday, babe!” Lina rushed to hug me.
“Shut up,” I laughed. “You knew about this the whole time?”
Lina held my arms and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t think I was that good a liar, did you?”
More laughter ensued. “I did not. I’m going to have to watch out with you now.”
“Well, it wasn’t only me.” She motioned to Mike and Alvita. “These two were the real superstars. Jack and I wouldn’t be able to put a party together for shit without them.”
The adorable couple laughed and looked at each other with so much love in their eyes. “Oh, we didn’t do that much.” Alvita swatted her hand. “Just handled some catering and such. This was all Jack’s idea. Hope he kept it secret enough from you.”
An inevitable smile took over my face as I turned to the man who constantly surprised me these days. “He did.” Jack met my eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for this.”
He gave me a look that said all I needed to know.
You’re my wife. You deserve anything that makes you happy.
Us against the world, baby.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“And thank all of you so much.” I hugged Mike and Alvita individually before Jack pulled me against his chest and kissed my neck from behind. “I just can’t believe all of this.”
“Maggie!” A voice boomed from a few feet away as another pair of arms wrapped me in a hug. Felix Aguado kissed me on the cheek, a traditional Argentine greeting, and gave me a smile. “Happy birthday, you old woman.”
A laugh bellowed out of me. Felix was notorious for having a few different personalities throughout the club—hothead on the field, playboy at the parties, asshole to the sponsors—but he always gave me his best. And not just because he knew Jack would beat the shit out of him if he didn’t.
“Thank you, Felix. Y gracias por sus ayuda en mi cumpleanos. ”
“Hey, look at you with the Spanish! We’ll have you speaking it like an Argentine in no time.” His playful grin came out as soon as his eyes skipped to Lina. I took that as my cue to get the hell away and let them have it out.
Lina’s gaze slipped to mine with a, help me look, but I gave her a big smile and mouthed, thank you! I knew I would hear about this later, and honestly, I couldn’t wait.
I backed away, looking for Jack, when something else caught my eye.
A table behind the couch held four childhood photos of me and a few trophies I had won in my junior and interscholastic polo leagues.
Walking closer to inspect the images, I reminisced about each one.
The first was of me sitting on my baby blanket in the middle of my dad’s barn aisle.
My left fist was in my mouth, covering a big, toothless smile, and my right hand held a miniature stuffed horse with brown and white spots.
I couldn’t have been older than six months.
The second and third were photos of me on a horse, one with a mallet and all of my polo gear, and the other with the horse bareback, me standing on her back while holding makeshift lead rope reins.
I chuckled. I was a fearless little horse girl, knowing no limits to the acrobatics I could do on horseback.
The fourth photo made me catch my breath.
It was from when I was around seven years old, my hand placed on the neck of one of my dad’s old polo ponies.
A second hand was also on the horse, the arm reaching out of the frame.
I knew without thinking that it belonged to my mother.
That she was cut out of the photo, just like she chose to cut herself out of my life.
I would never know the actual reality of why my mother left her young daughter at home the way she did.
Without a note. Without a trace. Without wanting to be found.
But…as I thought about it, it didn’t bother me in the way it used to.
It didn’t make me feel insecure or unwanted.
It didn’t make me feel hatred toward my mother, only misunderstanding.
If the woman who gave birth to me wanted to be in my life, she would come back.
But just because she hadn’t done it didn’t mean I had lost anything.
It was all about perspective, I realized.
I chose to keep the people I loved in my life.
The people who would go to the ends of the earth for me, with the knowledge that I would do the same.
It dawned on me that Jack had probably felt the same way throughout the last few months, possibly years, since he’d had a conversation with his mother.
I hoped that he had come to peace with it.
And if not, it was his journey—his realization.
I wiped a small smudge off the photo with my mother cut out, and put my negative feelings about her to bed.
I had a baby . My love was needed elsewhere.
My focus on the photo faded when I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. I turned around to find Alvita, her presence always providing a sense of calm in the storm.
“Enjoying everything? I thought the photos your dad brought added a nice sentimental touch.”
Unable to resist the four-thousandth wave of emotions that came over me, I pulled her into a hug and suppressed a few tears. This night was too perfect. My fake husband, too thoughtful. This woman, too sweet. “I love it. I love it so much. Thank you for everything.”
“Maggie, you deserve the world. You are the most wonderful wife to Jack, and you’re going to be such an amazing mother.” She squeezed my shoulders before pulling away.
“Thank you, Alvita. I really hope I will be.” Motherhood was only the next existentially challenging endeavor I would overcome, but I felt so fortunate to have my family’s support along the way.
Alvita took my left hand in hers. “Let me tell you something about being a mother. And, it may seem silly taking advice from a woman who has never had her own children, but I worked in a nursery before I left the Caribbean, so I hope this can offer at least some guidance.” I took a breath when she paused.
“Everyone is going to be so sure that they know how to tell you to raise your child. How you feed them, who gets to hold them, the list goes on forever. But Maggie, you were meant to be a mother. The way you tend to people like they are your own family, the way you care for your husband, your horses, your students…there is no doubt in my mind that you are carrying the luckiest child in the world. Use your instincts. Don’t doubt yourself, ever .
And lean on your husband.” She turned her head to where Mike spoke to a group of people.
“He’ll be there for you whenever you need it, no matter how many times you tell him to leave you alone. ”
The tears defied me, stray droplets gliding down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around her again. She hugged me back and, for a moment, she felt like the mother I always needed. I felt so grateful for this moment, this night, this life.
“That means so much to me,” I sobbed.
“Oh, now, honey, don’t let your mascara run from that. You’ve got plenty more to be happy about today.”
I laughed softly, pulling away and scrubbing my face with the backs of my hands, appreciating that I had this wonderful woman supporting me.
After another hour, I buzzed with a full stomach and a whole heart.
This night was emotional and perfect, and Jack was the only one to blame.
I wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water.
Felix—who had insisted on bartending that night, even if all I drank was water—leaned against the counter with his signature smirk. “Maggie, what can I get for you?”
While he spoke to me, his eyes scanned the room behind me. “More like what can I get for you ?” I chuckled. When his brows raised, I asked, “Looking for someone? Or a hot date?”
He hid the flash of fear on his face and winked at me. “I’ve always got a hot date.”
I shook my head and gave him a knowing smile. Felix was a known playboy in the polo world. Women talked, and they were not shy about dropping Felix’s name. “Just some water, please.”
Felix made a show of throwing some ice in a shaker and filling it with tap water from the refrigerator. I laughed as he exaggerated shaking the basic mixture and pouring it into a tumbler glass with intricate indentations along the bottom. “Here you go, madam. Seven-fifty.”
I mocked a gasp. “Wow, I’d better let the host know they are way overcharging guests for their drinks.”
He drummed his fingers along the countertop. “Hey, somebody’s gotta compensate for the bartender drinking all the liquor. Not to mention the little blonde fireball over there.” His nod forward led me to turn around, facing Lina only a few steps away.
“Something going on with you two?” I asked out of pure curiosity. Whatever he said would definitely be reported back to Lina.
Felix shrugged, still holding that flirty smirk. “You tell me. If there is, I’m never hearing about it. That woman avoids me like the plague.”
I recalled my conversation with Lina the day before, wondering if he knew it was Lina he kissed that night, and if he was trying to question her about it. But I shook my head and gave him a smirk of my own. “I’m sure she’ll come around.”
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Felix lifted my glass before handing it to me over the counter. “Cheers to your birthday, Maggie. I’ll drink to that.”