Chapter 6 #2
Luke and Sydney Harris had brought their baby daughter, Lily, and watching Luke with his little girl had Kevin wondering what it might be like to have a daughter.
The closest he’d come to a daughter was watching his nieces Janey and Laura grow up.
He’d only met his third niece, Mallory, recently when she came to find her father, Big Mac, after her mother died, but she already felt like a surrogate daughter to him.
Big Mac came over to him with two beers, one of which he handed to Kevin.
“Thanks.”
“How you doing?” Big Mac asked. “Thought about what you told us last night all day.”
“You got any answers for me?”
“Nah,” Big Mac said with a guffaw. “I ain’t touching that one.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“I know you’re the one everyone turns to for advice, but if you need someone to listen to you for a change, I’m here. I’ll help if I can.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.”
“Hell of a thing,” Big Mac said, watching the family dynamics unfold around them. As usual, the guys had overtaken the kitchen while the women were gathered around the babies in the living room.
“What is?”
“The spot you’re in. Do you give the woman you love what she wants, potentially at the expense of your own happiness, or do you tell her it’s not what you want and lose her in the process?”
“She says I won’t lose her if I decide against having a baby.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s just that if she denies herself something she really wants because it’s not what you want, will she resent you for that someday?”
Kevin sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’m so out of my element on this one, Mac. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“Can’t say I blame you. It’s a big deal. A lot to consider.”
“I talked to Riley about it last night.”
“And?”
“I think he was too shocked to share his true feelings.”
“You know that in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter what he or Finn thinks, right?”
“And you and I both know that the thought of doing anything that hurts our kids, even if our kids are adults, is unfathomable to us. Besides, the divorce has hurt them enough. I don’t want to pile on.”
“You’ve been a great father to those boys, Kev.
They’ve never wanted for anything on your watch.
Whatever you do next should be for you. It may surprise or shock them at first, but they’ll get over it.
A baby brother or sister is one more person for them to love.
It’s not a disease you’re bringing into the family. ”
“True.” Kevin rubbed his chest. “I just wish I could separate what I feel for Chelsea from how I feel about becoming a father again at my age.”
“You can’t separate those two things. They’re one and the same.”
“What’re you two boys so serious about over here?” Mac’s wife, Linda, asked when she joined them.
Mac looked to him, raising his brow, letting Kevin know it was up to him whether he wanted to share his dilemma with Linda.
Kevin loved his sister-in-law and had always valued her opinion. He’d like to hear what she had to say about his situation. “Chelsea wants to have a baby.”
“Oh,” Linda said on a long exhale. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to have a baby?”
“It wasn’t exactly at the top of my to-do list before two days ago.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
“Tell me what you really think, Lin. I feel like an old fool to be even considering this.”
“I love Chelsea. I think she’s been very good for you.”
“I agree.”
“And I don’t think having a baby at fifty-something makes you an old fool. Not if you would give that child everything you gave the boys.”
“I would. Of course I would.” But could he coach Little League and run the athletic boosters and help with scout campouts and supervise fundraisers at sixty-something?
Why the hell not? He’d had to do all that while juggling a busy practice, too.
If anything, he’d have more time to devote to his third child than he’d had to give to his sons.
“Then that’s what matters. The older I get, the more I realize age is just a number.
People assign expectations to certain ages, but no one says we have to live up to those expectations.
Look at how happy Carolina is with Seamus,” she said of Joe’s mother, who’d married a man sixteen years her junior.
“That girl is happier than I’ve ever seen her.
Just think what she would’ve missed if she’d let society dictate what she should do. ”
“You make very valid points,” Kevin said, intrigued by Linda’s perspective.
“My wife is a very wise woman,” Mac said, putting his arm around his petite, blonde wife.
She smiled up at him. “Said the man who knows that a happy wife is the secret to a happy life.” To Kevin, she added, “Chelsea may not be your wife, but her happiness matters to you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“On another note,” Linda said tentatively, “I heard from Deb today. She said she’s coming over to see the boys and would like to get together. I have to admit, seeing her isn’t at the top of my to-do list.”
“It’s okay,” Kevin said. “I’m over it. You can see her if you want to.”
“I’ll never understand how she could cheat on you after thirty-one years of marriage,” Linda said, her fierce loyalty making him smile. “If I see her, I’m apt to smack her.”
“Easy, killer,” Big Mac said.
“The way I’ve tried to look at it is that no matter what she did, she’s still Riley and Finn’s mom, and she always will be.”
“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to welcome her back into the bosom of the family she turned her back on when she decided to have an affair.”
“That’s fair enough,” Kevin said. “You can see her or not see her. Either is fine with me.”
“I really don’t want to.”
“Then tell her you’re busy.”
“I think I will.”
“Speak of your devils,” Big Mac said, nodding to the door that Riley and then Finn came through, obviously fresh from after-work showers.
His heart never failed to swell with love and pride when he saw the handsome men who were his sons. “Hey, guys. Long day?”
“This one got us into a roof thing that mushroomed,” Finn said, gesturing toward his brother with his thumb.
“Just keeping a promise to a woman in need,” Riley said with a wink.
“Who happens to be a stone-cold fox,” Finn said, smiling salaciously.
“Knock it off,” Riley snapped. “Don’t talk about her that way.”
Interesting, Kevin thought. It wasn’t like Riley to be so defensive about a woman.
“Is she or is she not a stone-cold fox?” Finn asked, clearly poking at his brother.
“I’m getting a beer,” Riley said, storming off toward the kitchen.
“Leave your brother alone,” Kevin said to Finn.
“I was testing a hypothesis,” Finn said, his gaze shifting to Riley, now in the kitchen, surrounded by their cousins.
“What hypothesis is that?”
“He was weird about Mrs. Hopper’s granddaughter Nikki. Insisted we get over there today to do a more thorough check on the roof, even though we had other work scheduled for today. I think he likes her, and he just kind of proved my point by flipping out.”
“Aww, poor Riley,” Linda said.
“Poor Riley is going to be spending a lot of time at the Hopper place,” Finn said. “The whole roof needs to be done, and it needs to be done soon. It should’ve been done five years ago. More shingles are missing than not missing.”
“Does that mean he’s going to stay on the island for the off-season?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“Looks that way,” Finn said. “He told Mac he’d take the lead on getting the roof done.”
“How about you?”
“Haven’t decided yet. I have until the Tuesday after Labor Day to go back to work in Connecticut, extend my leave of absence or offer my resignation. And now, I need a beer.” He wandered off to join his brother and cousins in the kitchen.
“It sure would be nice to have them both here long term,” Linda said.
“Yes, it would.” The thought of Riley staying thrilled him, but Finn’s indecision had him hoping his younger son would find a reason to stay, too.