February 11th #2
She looks up at me and smiles. “I was just thinking what an incredible gift your baby is. Not just to you and Damon, but to me specifically. One of the things I’ve always loved about Danny was his devotion to his children.
He gave Lori way more money in their divorce than he should have, but he didn’t care because he got full custody of them. And that’s all he wanted.
“When we were kind of dating, he confessed to me that he always wished he had more children.
He even showed me his forearm, where he had tattoos for Devaney and Damon and an empty space left to fill.
My immediate thought was that I wanted to be the one to help him fill it.
And later, we did. When we had Weston and Easton.
“That summer when we first met you, when you came to babysit for us in the Ozarks, I found out I was pregnant with my third. And instead of waiting to tell everyone, the second the test turned positive, I went running outside like a happy lunatic, yelling out that I was pregnant.”
I want to ask the obvious question but stop myself when she continues speaking.
“The pregnancy turned out to be ectopic. We caught it early, but I had to have surgery to remove the fallopian tube. While they were in there, they discovered my other tube was scarred from endometriosis. The crazy thing is, I’d had two successful pregnancies with only one functioning tube.
The bad news is, when they had to remove the functioning one, I lost the ability to have more children. At least naturally.
“And I cried so much, thinking I’d never get to hold another new baby in my arms. And here I am now, just a few years later, holding yours. Looking at her with wonder and love. So, thank you for indulging me. I am so excited to be her grandma.”
Tears stream down my face too. I know this is supposed to be an emotional time naturally for a new mom, but this moment feels like more.
“She’s going to bring so much joy into our crazy family,” Jennifer continues.
“And her name is just so fitting. So touching. And do you want to know something else?” She stops and then says, “Well, before I tell you, I should probably explain a bit of backstory. My parents were sort of a mess when I was growing up. Dad started drinking when I was six, and Mama kicked him out. To annoy her, he moved into the house across the street. Since then, they’ve lived to spite each other.
And to this day, they have never officially divorced.
But I was lucky that my grandmother lived nearby and that I was able to spend a lot of time with her.
She loved holidays and the pomp and circumstance.
She always used her pretty china and let me help her light the candles on the table.
I remember sitting up straight, using my best manners, and feeling so very grown up.
She passed away when I was fifteen, and all the family traditions seemed to fall apart.
“Anyway, her name was Elise. So, the fact that it’s Summer’s middle name just adds to the joy I feel. Can I ask how you chose it?”
“It was my grandma Archibald’s first name. My dad didn’t have a great relationship with his parents, but she always made a point of spending time with me. And I just really looked up to her. As did my mom.”
“It’s very cool that we share that,” Jennifer says.
“It is.”
We’re both silent for a moment, cherishing our own thoughts, when Summer suddenly lets out a big burp. Which causes us both to laugh through our tears as Damon comes back into the room with food for me and everyone else in tow.
“Mama, Mama! We got ice cream and hamburgers! We brought you one and Lee-Lee one too!” Easton yells.
“I want to hold baby Summer,” Weston says. “All by myself. Isn’t she just so little and cute?”
“It’s hard to believe you were that little once,” Jennifer says to her.
“I wanna watch videos of when I was that little, Mama,” she says.
“We can do that when we get home. We’ll let Day-Day and Lee-Lee and baby Summer have some rest time.”
We get hugs and kisses, and then they are out the door.
“You were crying when I walked in,” Damon says, sitting down next to me, holding Summer. “How come?”
“Jennifer told me how she lost the ability to have more kids.”
“Yeah, that was rough on her,” Damon says.
“Her grandmother, who was very important in her life, was also named Elise.”
“Oh wow. That’s cool.”
“It is. And she’s very excited to be a grandma.”
“They all are,” Damon says with a chuckle. “Summer has three, plus a few honorary ones. A whole family of love. Mimi and Papa would be here, but Mimi has a cold and doesn’t want to risk it.”
“That’s nice of them. Did you send them any pictures?” I ask.
Damon laughs. “I’ve sent everyone about seven hundred pictures already.”
“I feel so lucky. So blessed.”
“Me too. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m the luckiest man in the world right now.
” Summer does an adorable little stretch, and his face breaks out in a wide smile.
“I swear, I’m obsessed with her toes and fingers.
The softness of her skin. Her sweet smell and the silkiness of her hair. How does this even happen?”
“I think we know how it happened,” I reply with a grin.
“I already want another one,” he says.
“Now might not be the best time to chat about that.”
“Then how about a gift for the mother of my beautiful girl?”
“If by gift, you mean the cheeseburger in that bag,” I say, pointing at the one on the window ledge. “I’m all for it. I’m starving.”
He laughs. “Let’s feed you first. I’ll keep holding Summer. The gift can wait.”
He gets up, hands me the bag, then sits back down.
“We already got such an amazing gift, Damon. She is our gift,” I say, pulling out fries and unwrapping the burger.
“Very true, but not only did you carry her, you brought her into this world. And you are a gift to me. Two gifts I plan to cherish forever. My gift to you is merely a token of my deep love and appreciation.”
I nod in agreement as I chomp down on the burger and savor the salty fries.
“What you’re saying is so sweet, but do you know how, sometimes, you work out hard and say you feel like you could eat the world?”
“Yeah.” He chuckles.
“That’s me right now.”
“You spent a lot of energy.”
I nod. I have to since my mouth is full.
“She’s perfect, you know,” Damon says.
“She’s adorable and healthy. She’ll probably never be perfect. None of us are. Part of our inherent charm, I suppose.”
“I’ve been trying to imagine what her personality will be like,” Damon says with a twinkle in his eye. “What sports, if any, she will like.”
“Don’t start aging her just yet. Let’s enjoy each little milestone. She smiled in her sleep, and I can’t wait until the day she smiles at us for real.”
“I can’t wait either.”
Once I finish eating, he says, “Now it’s time for the gifts. One for you and one for Summer.”
“Damon, seriously, you didn’t have to buy me anything.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
He hands me the baby and pulls a couple of wrapped gifts out of his duffel bag. “Why don’t I open them for you?”
“Okay,” I say, not wanting to let my baby go since I finally got her back in my arms.
“This one is for Summer. I thought she could wear it home.” He rips the paper and shows me an adorable onesie, covered in pastel butterflies, and a coordinating blanket with her name on it.
“That’s so cute. She loves it,” I say with a smile.
“And this one is for you,” he says, unwrapping a small box and then lifting the lid. “For my butterfly.”
I can’t help but get teary when he says that and then shows me a beautiful gold chain that has a pearl butterfly charm, rimmed in gold, dangling from it.
“That’s just beautiful, Damon. Thank you so much. I’ll cherish it always. Really.”
“Just like I’ll cherish my girls always,” he says, grinning big.
“Your girls,” I say, barely able to believe how incredibly happy I feel.
Another love.
Ainsley
After all the visitors today, I’m happily enjoying having it be just me and Damon for a bit. I’m expecting for my mom to come back, and when the door to our room opens and Uncle Tripp and Uncle Van walk in with my dad, I’m in shock.
My dad is still in a designer shirt, but his demeanor feels off. He’s not all cocky like he was at Christmas.
If it wasn’t for the shirt, I’d say he looks more like the dad I knew and loved.
But that doesn’t mean I want him here.
“Why are you here, Dad? I told you on New Year’s Eve—”
He holds up his hands. “I know. I know. I owe you—well, I owe everyone I love—an apology. But first, I should tell you what led me here.
“As you know, I bet big recently. And lost big. But as usual, I thought I could win it back. I was still being comped a suite at the casino. But when my credit didn’t go through, I was kicked out of my room.
I maxed out my last credit card and was escorted out of the hotel.
It was quiet. No one around me knew. But I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.
“I spent three nights on the street before I called Van. But this time, I didn’t ask him to bail me out. I told him that I don’t ever want to gamble again. And asked if he would be willing to send me to rehab one more time.”
“I said yes and got him a flight here,” Van says.
“Then we all got together and did some research,” Tripp says.
“We felt like maybe the treatment he has received in the past wasn’t specialized enough, many focusing more on drug or alcohol addiction, so we’re sending him to Switzerland, where they have a program specifically for gambling addiction. He’ll even have a live-in counselor.”
“And if I complete the treatment successfully,” Dad says, “I might get to work with my brothers again. I’m sorry for the way I treated you recently, Ainsley. And I owe a big apology to your mother as well. Is she here?”
“She is,” Mom says, stepping from the doorway into the room. Her eyes are filled with tears.