Chapter 9
George Alexander Martinez II had one hell of a set of lungs on him, and he was giving them a full workout as his dad tried to settle him. But nothing Alex did would calm the little guy.
“Come on, buddy. Tell me what you need. Mommy fed you, your diaper is dry and you had a good long nap. What’s the problem?”
Unfortunately, little George had no response to his father’s query.
For the hundredth time since George arrived, Alex lamented that babies didn’t come with handbooks that told clueless dads what to do when their wives were off getting some much-needed sleep and they were left in charge of their precious bundle of joy.
“Let’s go outside,” Alex said. He had no clue whether that was a good idea, but nothing else he’d done had soothed the baby.
He’d turned the AC way down, but it was still somewhat chilly in the house—maybe too chilly.
Alex stepped out the front door into a warm summer night thick with humidity.
Even over the sound of the baby’s cries, Alex could hear the crickets and cicadas as well as the belches of frogs, the sounds of summer on Gansett.
Overhead, the sky was full of stars, and Alex was reminded of the heat wave during which he’d met Jenny at the lighthouse.
“Did you know your mama threw tomatoes at me the first time we met? Hit me square in the back, too. She’s got good aim, your mom. Don’t mess with her. That’s my advice.”
Miraculously, the baby stopped crying. He blinked rapidly, as if trying to process his new environment.
Alex walked along the dirt laneway that led from his house to the house he’d grown up in, where his brother, Paul, now lived with his wife, Hope, and stepson, Ethan.
Both their homes were located on the grounds of Martinez Lawn & Garden, the business George Martinez Senior had started more than forty years ago.
Since the baby’s arrival, Alex had been missing his parents more acutely than he had since the day he married Jenny.
His dad had died of cancer a decade ago, and his mother, who suffered from advanced dementia, was in a long-term-care facility on the mainland.
He and Paul hoped to bring her back to the island when the new health care facility their friends Jared and Lizzie James had started opened in the fall.
Alex wished he could show off his new son to his parents, that they could be part of his life.
It made him unreasonably sad to know that couldn’t be.
He hadn’t intended to walk over to Paul’s, but he ended up there anyway.
Hoping he wasn’t disturbing the newlyweds, Alex knocked on the front door.
Yes, it was weird to knock on the door to the house he’d called home for most of his life, but the house wasn’t his anymore, and he tried to respect his brother’s privacy.
Paul came to the door wearing only a pair of shorts, his hair standing on end and his face in bad need of a shave. But what stood out more than anything else was the huge smile that never seemed to leave Paul’s face now that Hope and Ethan were officially part of their family. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Your new nephew wanted to come over for a visit.”
“Come in,” Paul said, holding the door for Alex.
“I hope we’re not bothering you.”
“Not at all. Hope is reading with Ethan, and I was watching the Red Sox.”
They weren’t inside two minutes when George started to cry again.
“He likes it better outside,” Alex said. “Let’s go out on the porch.”
As the brothers settled into the rocking chairs on the porch, Alex was reminded of the night his mother had said awful things to Jenny and she’d come to find him right in this very spot, imploring him to believe that nothing his sick mother said to her could change how she felt about him.
It’d taken him a couple of weeks to see the light.
Thankfully, Jenny hadn’t stopped loving him in that time.
They’d also hired Hope to be their mother’s nurse, right here in this spot, and now she was married to Paul.
“What’re you thinking about over there?” Paul asked.
“All the things that have transpired on this porch.”
“Some monumental things, for sure. I always picture Mom out here.”
“It was her happy place.”
“Remember how we used to tease her about liking it out here because she could keep an eye on her entire kingdom?”
“Yeah,” Paul said with a chuckle. “It was true.”
“I’m missing them both like crazy,” Alex confessed.
Paul nodded in understanding. “Because of baby George’s arrival. I felt the same way when Hope and I got married. We’re young to have effectively lost both our parents.”
“At least we have each other.”
“Always. And now we have Jenny, Hope, Ethan and George, too. More to come, probably.”
“You holding out on me, brother?” Alex asked.
“Nothing to report yet. Just a lot of effort.”
Alex grunted with laughter. “Spare me the details.”
“I owe you a lifetime of details after having to listen to the two of you for months on end.”
“Touché.” He and Jenny had lived with Paul while their house was being built.
“Mom and Dad would be so pleased by the baby’s name. It’s such a nice tribute to Dad.”
“It was the only boy’s name we considered. Helps that the British royal family made George a cool name again.”
Paul chuckled. “True.”
Ethan burst through the screen door with his mother hot on his heels.
“Don’t scare the baby,” Hope said.
“I’m not gonna scare him,” Ethan said disdainfully. He’d recently turned nine and had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of his new cousin. “Can I hold him?”
“Sure, you can.” Alex stood to give Ethan his seat and then carefully transferred George into his arms.
“Support his head because his neck isn’t strong enough yet,” Hope told her son as she took a couple of photos on her phone. “Tell Jenny I’ll text her the pictures.”
“I will.”
“He’s so little,” Ethan said, sounding amazed.
“You wouldn’t think he was so little if you could hear him cry,” Alex said.
“How’s Jenny feeling?” Hope asked.
“Sore and tired.”
“She’ll bounce back in a few days.”
Alex’s phone buzzed with a text. He retrieved the phone from his pocket to read the message from his wife.
Where have you gone with my son?
Over to Paul’s. Be back soon.
My boobs are tingling.
Why does he get to have all the fun?
Six weeks, mister.
Alex groaned. “Does it really take six weeks before we can get back in the saddle?”
“You’ll be lucky if that’s all it takes,” Hope said.
“She’s mean, Paul. Do something about your wife.”
Paul snorted with laughter. “You’ll survive the famine.”
“I’m not sure I will. I’ve got to take him home to his mom now, Ethan.”
“Can I hold him again tomorrow?”
“You sure can.”
“Let us know if you guys need anything,” Paul said.
“Will do. Talk to you guys in the morning.” With the baby on his shoulder, Alex traversed the dirt driveway that connected their two homes.
He would be off for the next week, but then he had to get back to work since this was one of the busiest times of year for their landscaping business.
When Jenny felt ready to go back to her routine, she planned to take the baby with her to manage the retail store. Somehow, they’d make it all work.
Arriving at the two-story house he’d built mostly himself, Alex went straight upstairs to the master bedroom, where Jenny was propped up in bed, reclining against a pile of pillows. As she held out her arms for the baby, she looked exhausted and overjoyed at the same time.
“Hey there,” she said to the baby. “Did Daddy take you on a field trip?”
“Ethan got to hold him for the first time.”
“That must’ve been sweet.”
“It was. Hope said she’d text you the pictures. Ethan is thrilled to have another guy in the family.”
“Hope and I are outnumbered. We need some more girls around here.” She peppered the baby’s face with kisses. “How’s he been?”
“Fussy. Lots of crying, but funny enough, it stops when we go outside.”
“He’s a Martinez man. Of course he prefers to be outside. Future landscaper in the making.”
“Ha,” Alex said with a grunt of laughter. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s true. In the summer growing up, Paul and I would be outside until long after dark. Mom had to call us to come in.”
Jenny reached for his hand. “I know you have to be missing them right now.”
“Yeah, I am,” he said, appreciating how well she knew him. “Having the baby has stirred up a lot of things.”
“We’ll take him to see your mom as soon as possible.”
Even though his mom would be confused by them and the baby, he appreciated that Jenny would make the effort for his sake. “That’d be nice. Thanks. When are your folks coming?”
“This weekend. My dad can stay for a week, but my mom can stay for as long as we need an extra set of hands.”
“So she’ll be here for eighteen years, then?”
Jenny laughed as she bared her breast for the baby. “Nah. We’ve got this.”
“Are you sure? He’s awfully little. What if we screw him up somehow?”
“We’re not going to screw him up.”
“You promise?”
“I promise, and you know I never break a promise.”
Alex watched in amazement as the baby latched on to her breast. “I could watch that all day and never get enough of it.”
Wincing, she said, “I’m glad you are entertained.”
“It hurts?”
“Kind of, but Vic said that’s to be expected for the first week or two, like how your hands hurt every spring until you build up calluses again.”
“Not sure how I feel about calluses on your nipples.”
Jenny sputtered with laughter. “Stop! You know what I mean.”
Alex curled up next to them, putting his arm around Jenny, snug against the baby. “Thank you for giving me a son.”
“Thank you for giving me a son.”
“I love you both so much.”
“We love you, too. Throwing tomatoes at you was the best thing I ever did.”
Smiling up at her, Alex forced himself to relax and enjoy the moment with his two favorite people.
After baring his soul to Kevin, Shannon hadn’t expected to sleep, but apparently, unburdening oneself was exhausting. He woke to the sound of Kevin’s key in the office door, where Shannon had spent the night on the sofa.
Kevin came in holding a tray with two coffees. “Morning.”