39. Nadia
39
NADIA
E veryone is assembled in Camryn’s room when Dalton and I make it back to the hospital.
“You chose the right time to return,” Mom whispers. “They just brought baby Esmee back from her exam and cleanup.”
I grip Dalton’s hand as Grammy Alma takes the baby out of the clear crib and walks around the room to show her off.
It’s almost two a.m. but no one looks tired, other than maybe Camryn, who sits against the pillows with her hands propped on another pillow over her belly. She seems peaceful, though, watching everyone’s reaction to meeting Esmee.
Jason arrived while I was gone, and he and Uncle Sherman stand near Max. It’ll be nice when Anthony arrives tomorrow. I haven’t seen all three of my cousins together in a long time.
Sherman glances at me, raising his eyebrows when he spots my hand joined with Dalton’s.
I turn away, watching Grammy show the baby to Mom.
Mom brushes a finger across the stretchy pink and blue striped hat. “Hello, little Esmee.”
Then Grammy steps before us. I tilt my head and peer at the baby’s solemn slate-blue eyes. She’s quiet and seems thoughtful and wise. Maybe babies really do have all the knowledge of the world when they arrive.
“Hello, Esmee,” I tell her. “I’m going to spoil you!”
This gets a gentle round of laughter from the room.
Grammy moves to Jason, who twiddles her nose, then shows off his thumb hidden in his fist. “Let the record show that I was the first to steal her nose!”
Another round of laughter. My chest feels full to bursting with pride and love. This is what it feels to have family. To stay up all night to meet a new member. To celebrate with quiet joy. I glance at Dalton. He has so little, like Cam.
Uncle Sherman takes the baby from Grammy. “Welcome, my first granddaughter,” he says. “Your Grandma Pat would be so proud.” The catch in his voice, coming from such a big, burly, gray-haired man, causes several of us to tear up.
“Pat is here,” Grammy says. “Of course she is. How could she not be watching over this angel?”
Sherman lifts the bundle to his face to place a kiss on the baby’s forehead. Then Max turns to him to take the baby and return her to Camryn.
There are rounds of photos and videos. Then we filter out, leaving the parents some privacy with their new baby.
We all stand in the hall, whispering our goodbyes.
Jason shakes Dalton’s hand. “I didn’t realize Nadia was seeing someone.”
“You’re all the way in Texas,” I tell him. “You don’t keep up.”
Mom side eyes me at that, and Uncle Sherman rocks back on his heels.
“Well, I think he’s perfectly handsome,” Grammy says. “Do you live in Boulder, too?”
I glance at Dalton.
“I’m an intern at this hospital. I met Nadia while she was living in LA.”
“Oh, so you two are apart right now.” Grammy’s smile wavers.
“We’ll figure it out, Grammy,” I tell her.
Our group walks toward the elevator.
“Sherman, where are you staying?” Mom asks.
“Grammy and I are at a hotel a couple of blocks away,” Sherman says. “We’ll be back early in the morning.”
“Are you going to stay at Max’s house?” Grammy asks her. “You might need to go back in the room to ask for a key.”
“I have one,” I tell her.
“Oh, good.” She pats my hand. “Always planning ahead, aren’t you, sweet Nadia?”
We crowd into the elevator.
“Dalton, what sort of intern are you?” Grammy asks.
“I’m in neonatology,” he says. “I work in the NICU.”
“How lucky for us!” Grammy exclaims. “Oh, Nadia, you should marry this one, and quick!”
My cheeks burn and Dalton squeezes my hand.
“But, however will you to get back together?” Grammy looks between the two of us.
Sherman clears his throat. “We’re founding a business for Nadia. It can have branches anywhere.”
“What kind of business?” Grammy asks.
We reach the bottom floor, and Sherman holds open the door.
“An animal rescue,” I say right as Sherman answers, “A charitable organization.”
Grammy chuckles. “A charitable animal rescue. How delightful.”
We walk through the quiet atrium.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow, or I guess, later today,” Jason says.
“Come to Max’s with me,” Mom says. “Nadia, can you give me the key?”
“Nadia’s not going with you?” Grammy asks.
Everyone looks at me, and my cheeks heat again.
“I’ll be back up here later,” I tell everyone, fishing my keys out of my bag. “Here, Mom. You take the car. I came with Dalton anyway.”
“Oh, I see,” Grammy says with a twinkle in her eye. “Young love. So fantastic.” She threads her arm through Sherman’s. “Let’s get an old woman some shut-eye. I expect everyone back here before lunch!”
We break into pairs, Mom with Jason, Uncle Sherman with Grammy, and me with Dalton.
“That was a big dose of Pickle,” I tell him. “You okay?”
“Easier than meeting your mom while I have you pinned to a counter,” he says.
“You’ll never live that down at gatherings,” I warn him.
“I figured.” We walk out into the cool Los Angeles air. “I like your family. It’s so big and full of personalities.”
“You haven’t met the half of it. Did you know one of my cousins married a prince?”
“Oh, so I’m getting into royalty?”
I like how we’re talking about a future even though there is so much to figure out.
“The royalty is about seven places removed.” We walk across the staff parking lot to Dalton’s Jeep. “But the Avalonions treat the Pickles like family. There’s no disdain. No royalty on your side?”
He scoffs as we pass under a lamp. “I don’t have much of anything at all. My dad’s parents passed a long time ago. I never really knew them. My mom, well, you know about her. Her dad is long gone. Her mom is in a nursing home in Georgia.”
“Do you have aunts and uncles? Cousins?”
“I think so, but I don’t know them. Dad had a brother who married a woman abroad where he was stationed and never returned to the states. Mom has a sister somewhere. Florida, maybe.”
“So there could be a whole league of them about.”
“Maybe.” He unlocks the Jeep, and I climb into the passenger side, fixing a duck that has turned sideways. It’s an Elvis.
“I bet we could find them. Do some traveling once your schedule is better. Meet some Murphys.”
He starts the engine. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It doesn’t have to be hard. You’re not asking anything from them. Just a meeting. If they suck, you don’t visit them again.”
He turns around the back out of the slot. “It’s quite possible they all suck.”
“I think it’s worth finding that out. Who knows? By the time we get serious, maybe you’ll have a whole slew of Murphys to invite to a hypothetical wedding.”
His eyes meet mine. “A wedding. That’s a nice thought. You sure you know me well enough to consider that as part of your future?”
“I know the important things.”
We pause at the exit, not yet pulling out onto the street. The night is quiet, the lamps glowing over an empty bus stop.
“What are the important things?” he asks.
“That you love my cooking.”
“I do.”
“That you don’t hog the covers.”
“Unless you try taking Optimus Prime.”
I laugh. “That you take care of our space and the creatures in it, even when they aren’t allowed to be there.”
He reaches for my hand and lifts it to kiss my knuckles. “Our home is worth whatever it takes to keep it happy and safe.”
I hesitate a moment, my head rushing with what I want to say next. But then I just do it. “And I know I love you, Dalton. I think I knew it before, but it seemed illogical. Too fast. Too nontraditional. It didn’t fit the usual order of meeting, and dating, and learning each other little by little.”
He kisses my hand again. “I think that’s why it happened so fast. We skipped the boring parts.”
I laugh again at that. “It has never been boring.”
He leans across the space between us. “I’ve loved you since the moment I realized we were fighting for the same apartment.”
I shake my head. “Not possible.”
He reaches out for my chin and lifts it so our gazes meet. “I think love is a seed. But it’s not a given that it will grow. It takes the right environment. Nurturing. Care. But I think it can be planted from the very beginning. And I feel certain that seed arrived the moment you turned around in that chair at the first apartment office.”
He might be right. Each moment was another sprout. Accepting Catzilla. Helping with dinner. Pickle jokes. Romance novels. Taking in the kittens. It grew as our lives intertwined.
I lean in the rest of the way. As our lips brush against each other, that spark hits me as it always did. Two bodies. Brain chemistry.
A match.
I have every faith we are going to figure this out. Cities. Hospitals. Rescues. Where to put our kittens.
There is no falling apart. Only growing together.