Chapter 15
Salem
A month later
Salem was with Phillip one Thursday at noon when he got the call from Addie saying her water broke. Phillip had gone to her right that second, and Salem hung back at work to see how things progressed and wait for further instructions from his brother. He called Molly first thing when Phillip left the jobsite.
"Hello?" she said.
"I'm going to be an uncle today."
"Addie?" she asked (since Sadie was expecting also).
"Yes."
"Great, that's awesome. Did she have him yet?"
"No, she just went to the hospital. I think her mom was at the house. Phillip's meeting them up there."
"Where are you? Are you going?"
"I'm still on this jobsite. I need to wrap up for a couple of hours here, unless they need me sooner. But yes, I'm planning on heading over there this afternoon. How busy are you? Can you meet me at the hospital?"
"Yeah, what time?" she said.
"Maybe three or so. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, of course, I'll come."
"Could you possibly fix her up a little treat?"
Salem knew that Molly had added a helium tank and an assortment of balloons to the mix at her front counter. She would often get orders that requested flowers or balloons, and balloons had been the logical first step.
"Yes, definitely, I'm already on it. I have the perfect balloon already. I knew these babies were coming."
Salem could hear rustling on the other end. It sounded like she was working on getting something together.
"Thank you, Molly. If something changes with them, I'll call you sooner. Otherwise I will just call you in a few hours, when I'm on my way to the hospital."
"Okay, sounds good."
"Love you," he said.
"Love you too."
They hung up after that, neither of them skipping a beat. The phrase came easy to them because they had said it lots of times to each other .
Salem called her again when he was leaving work. It had only been a couple of hours.
"Hey, I’m on my way over there in my work clothes," he said when she picked up the phone.
"Is everything all right?" she said, concerned.
"She's having a C-section, that's all I know. I talked to my mom just now, and she's up there. I'll text you as soon as I can and let you know what's going on."
Alex was born by the time Salem reached the hospital. Mother and baby were already in recovery. Salem texted Molly to let her know, and she told him she would be there within the hour.
"Look who I found out in the hallway!" Sadie said, coming into the waiting room with Molly on her arm. She had gone out to use the restroom, and she came back a few minutes later with Molly.
Molly had insisted that she and Salem 'go slow' in revealing their relationship to her family, and so no one knew the extent of their closeness. They were both adults, and sneaking around wasn't difficult, but they were still in the stage of sneaking around, regardless, and Salem didn't love it.
He loved Molly and he wanted everyone to know they were together. But he respected her wishes, and so far, no one knew they were in love. He knew the secret wouldn't last, but he was going along with it for a while since it was important to her .
Molly came in with a box of chocolates and two simple balloons, one was a regular blue balloon, and the other was an oversized foil balloon in the shape of a teddy bear with a big blue bow that said 'welcome baby boy'. The blue balloons brought out the dark red color of her hair, and the sight of her made Salem smile.
"Look who I found in the hallway," his sister had said. "She had a delivery for Salem," Sadie added curiously.
Salem noticed John-Michael getting nervous. He knew his brother-in-law didn't approve of the relationship. Molly had told him about John-Michael's reluctance. His stubbornness only made Salem want to talk to John-Michael and say he could prove him wrong. But again, he was patient, waiting for Molly to be comfortable with the timing.
"This was an amazing idea, brother," Sadie said. "And sweet of Molly to bring it up here for you."
"She's probably going to stay and meet Alex now that she's here," Salem said.
"Oh, sure, you should," Sadie said, talking to Molly.
There were other family members in the waiting room as well, and Molly greeted them. She had met them all through her brother and Sadie, and they assumed she was there with them. But she came and sat next to Salem. He hadn't given her much of a choice with the way he smiled and waved her over when she was first looking for a seat .
She set the package on the small table at her side before sitting in the chair next to Salem.
***
"Salem, did you put your hand on Molly's back?" Sadie asked, point-blank, an hour later on the phone.
She had called him first thing when they had all left in separate vehicles.
"Did I what?"
"You heard me. Your hand was resting comfortably on Molly Kennedy's back, Salem. She was standing next to you in Addie's room, and you were holding onto her. I saw your hand."
"Okay. Am I arrested for that?"
"Is something happening with you two? You and Molly. Are you a thing, Salem?"
"Yes," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You do know that this is my husband's sister?"
"Of course I know that, Sadie. Why do you think you don't know what's going on? John-Michael didn't want her to say anything to you about it."
"My husband said that?"
"I think he was just freaked out thinking we were going to have some kind of fleeting thing. He didn't want us to stir up the family if it wasn't going to last."
"You had an actual conversation with my husband about Molly?"
"Yes. Well, Molly had one about me. "
"You're saying JJ knew you guys were seeing each other, and he wouldn't let you tell me?"
"It's not quite as bad as that sounds. I think he's coming from a good place about it. He didn't want her to rush into anything with me, especially since both families are involved. Also, Sara is going to freak out."
"Why? Oh, because you met at the camp?"
"Yeah, and she thinks her and Molly seriously need to meet twins. She's writing about their story and she wants them to fall in love with brothers named Sebastian and Zach."
"She doesn't really think that."
"Well, Molly thinks the news is going to be hard on her. She's not telling her yet."
"Is there news, Salem? Are you and Molly seeing each other or something?"
"Yes, we definitely are seeing each other," he said. He let out a long groan after he said it.
"What?" she asked, responding to his sound.
"That felt amazing to say out loud. I needed to get this off my chest. Yes, Sadie. I am definitely seeing Molly. I am in love with her, actually. That feels wonderful to say. Isn't she amazing? I love her. I'm so happy. I hated not telling you about it. I just can't live without her. I didn't want it to be weird for you or John-Michael, obviously, but at the same time, I think you can handle the truth. "
He waited for her to respond. He was quiet for a second, wondering what she would say, how she would react to this.
"Salem, you should know better than to do this to me... " she said, in a high-pitched voice. She was crying, trying to get herself together. "I'm pregnant and emotional already, and then Phillip and Addie have their baby, and he's so sweet, and Phillip's so sweet being a dad, and now… you and Mol… I can't… I can't, Salem. Are you serious right now?"
"Are you happy or upset Sadie?"
"Are you kidding I'm so happy! It's like the best match I could ever think of. It's amazing, Salem."
"I don't know why John-Michael thought you would have a problem with it," he said. "I mean, I can see waiting until we know we're serious, but we're serious. I just hope it's not that he doesn't like me. I know he likes me and respects me as a man. I just hope he… it's weird that he asked Molly not to be with me."
"He explicitly asked her not to be with you?" she asked, sniffling and getting herself together, speaking in a more serious tone.
"You'll have to ask him what he said. I know Molly doesn't feel like John-Michael wants us together. She definitely knows Sara doesn't want us together. Sara begged her not to be with me."
"Because of the fictional brothers thing?" Sadie asked disbelieving .
"No, I mean, I don't think she assumes they are actually going to marry twins, but I think the fact that Molly and I met at Camp Eden puts pressure on her. At least that's what she said. I was just sort of giving Molly time. I hate that we can't just tell you guys we love each other."
"It's not y'all's problem that Sara feels pressure, or that my husband or I feel a certain way," Sadie said. "And, it's not true that we wouldn’t want you to be together. I know my husband, and ultimately, he would just want both of you guys to be happy. He probably just doesn't know how serious Molly is. She's young. How does she feel about you, brother?"
"She loves me," he said.
Salem knew it was the truth, and the words came out easily.
"I don't even know what to say. How long has this been going on?"
There was silence on the phone while Salem figured out how much he wanted to say. "We had a couple of encounters… before… back some months ago. We kissed at your wedding—and Jenny's."
"My wedding? That was a long time ago."
"I know, but things picked up with us recently—a few months back."
"Oh, my gosh, Salem. How was I so oblivious? I offered to take those balloons from her in the hospital. Poor thing. I thought she was just making a delivery. "
"She knows. She's the one being lowkey about it. We've been hanging out a lot, but never where you guys can see us and put it together."
"Yeah, and I thought she was… I just never even thought of you two as… but now that you say it… I bet you're a good couple, huh?"
"So good," he said, grinning.
Sadie shrieked. "I'm so glad Ethan's riding with John-Michael so I could make this phone call."
"I would have said all of this in front of them," Salem said. "I assumed they were with you."
"I'm glad they aren't here," she said. "I want to talk to my husband about it without E there since he repeats everything he hears."
"At this point, I don't care who hears. I respect her wanting to take her time, but in my mind, it's not that big of a deal."
"In my mind, it's a pretty big deal. I thought I was gonna call you and you'd say it was an accident when you touched her back. I half-expected you to deny ever doing it."
"Oh no, I definitely did it. That was no accident."
"You are hilarious," she said laughing.
"Hey, I'm going back to this job site, and I'm pulling up right now."
"Okay, I'll let you go," Sadie said. "I love you, brother. I'm proud of you. I think Molly's such a good choice."
"Thank you. I know. Love you too."