Mending Hearts (11 page)

“
Thank you, Alec, this is
very sweet.” She opens the gift and smiles when she sees it. I
watch as she stares at it and I wonder if she understands its
meaning.

I say, “One night when I was tucking James
in bed, he told me that he loved me ever and ever. I know you and
Max had a saying and James was trying to repeat it. I thought we
could claim James’ saying and use it as our own.”

“
Oh, Alec,” she cries. I
remove the gold necklace and hold it up for her to see. It is
inscribed with the words “I love you, ever and ever.”

“
Thank you, I love it and I
love you, ever and ever,” she says.

“
I love you, too, ever and
ever.” She laughs and I laugh, too. Emma moves her long blond hair
out of the way so I can fasten it around her neck.
“Perfect.” 

The door opens up and in walks several
medical staff. I wave and explain to Emma they are Mason’s former
colleagues and my current colleagues. I watch as they introduce
themselves to Mason’s parents and Angel’s aunt and uncle. After a
few minutes, several more people, all of whom are wearing light
blue scrubs, walk in. We stand and I introduce them to
everyone.

“
Has Mason been out lately?”
one of the nurses asks.

“
No, he hasn’t. Do you think
everything is all right?”
Lilly asks as she
looks with concern at all the medical staff. 

“
We got a call saying Angel
was beginning to push. We gave report in a hurry and came right up.
We wanted to make it on time for the delivery.” 

I explain that when one of our own is in the
hospital, news usually gets around fairly quickly. We are
co-workers and colleagues, but we are also family.

“
Do you think everything is
all right? Mason hasn’t been out with an update for a
while.” 

Bruce says to Lilly, “I think everything is
fine. I also think he forgot almost everything he knows as a doctor
and is a bit freaked out back there.” 

Lilly says, “Maybe Angel’s
Aunt Maria
and I should have been in the
delivery room. Now I wonder if we didn’t make the wrong decision to
give them their time alone.” 

Raùl says, “I think you both made the right
choice by not going back. With twins they will need plenty of
room.” 

“
Yes, I suppose you’re
right,” Maria says, reluctantly. “I’m just so worried. Shouldn’t we
have heard something by now?” 

One of the nurses from the E.R. says, “The
word we got was Angel is getting ready to push; if there was a
problem, they wouldn’t have called us to come up. The first-time
babies usually take the longest.” 

I look at the clock; it is
now 12:42 am on August 16
^th
. We wait and the anxiety
builds up in the room. Angel’s Uncle Raùl says, “I’m going to try
to find a nurse. Someone should have some news by now. I can’t just
stay here and wait.” 

Bruce walks up to him and says, “I’m coming
with you.” 

They walk towards the door when the door
opens and Mason is standing there wearing a green paper gown and
paper shoe covers. He has pulled his mask on top of his head. “You
two going somewhere?” he asks, looking at his dad and then to
Raùl.

“
Damn straight, we were
going out here to demand some answers,” Raùl says.

Mason smiles, “You can do that, but it might
be faster to stay here and listen to me first.” Bruce and Raùl back
away and join their wives as everyone stands and gathers close to
hear the news. Emma squeezes my hand, and Mason clears his throat
before speaking. “I’m sorry I didn’t get out here sooner. When
Angel began to push, one of the babies went into distress. They
rushed her to do an emergency C-section.” The room gasps and he
says, “They’re fine, everyone’s fine. Angel will be going to
recovery and the babies are now in N.I.C.U.” The room erupts with
cheers. 

“
What caused the distress to
the baby?” Brea asks. 

“
The umbilical cord was
wrapped around his neck. He’s fine,
because
of the emergency C-section.” 

“
Oh, thank God, they’re
fine. We were so worried,” Lilly says.

“
They’re fine, mom.” Mason
laughs and says, “You guys probably want to know this. Angel and I
do have a son who was born at 11:57 p.m. on August
15
^th
. He
weighs 4 lbs. 2 oz. and is 16 ½ inches long. And we also have a
daughter who was born at 12:02 a.m. on August
16
^th
.
She weighs 4 lbs. and is 16 inches even.” 

I smile and the room erupts with cheers and
hugs. Emma hugs me as the crowd makes their way to Mason. “It looks
like you share a birthday with one of the babies,” I say as I hug
her back.

“
Twins born on separate
days. I know it can happen, but this is the first time I have
actually known about it actually happening.”

“
Come on, Emma, should we
congratulate the proud father?” 

Emma takes my hand and says, “He looks
happy, doesn’t he?” 

“
He sure does.” I
say. 

Emma

Alec and I congratulate Mason, the
grandparents, and Angel’s aunt and uncle.

Sara smiles and says, “I can’t wait until
they come and stay at their favorite Auntie’s house.” 

“
Why would you care when
they’ll be staying with me?” Brea jokes.

“
You? Excuse me, I was
referring to me,” Sara says, laughing.

“
Sorry, Sara, I have all the
baby stuff. I’m sure I’ll be the favorite.” Brea laughs,
too. 

Sara thinks about that and smiles before
saying. “Brea, you’ll be too busy with Arturo to be the favorite.
I, on the other hand, can devote all my time to the
twins.” 

Brea opens her mouth to say
something then closes it. “Damn it!” Brea stomps her foot and
everyone laughs.
“If you are going to be
the favorite aunt, then I will be the cool aunt.” 

Vincent says, “I plan on being nicknamed
‘Uncle Toys.’” 

“
In that case, I will be
‘Uncle Money,’” Donovan says. 

Alec and I say our goodbyes, drive home, and
share stories of our own children’s birth.

“
When Raelynn was born, I
was ecstatic to have a daughter. Molly wanted a son, but I kind of
wanted a daughter. I knew right after she was born that I wanted
more children.” He looks over at me and smiles. “There’s just
something about the birth of a baby, your baby.” 

“
I know what you mean.” The
new house is further away and allows us more time to reminisce.
“Max was so excited when James was born. I wanted to name James
after his dad, Maxwell James, but Max felt he wasn’t worthy enough
to name his son after him.” I look over at Alec and say, “I was
glad when he finally agreed to name him James
Maxwell.” 

“
As you know, Raelynn is
named after Molly and me. Alec Ray and Molly Lynn. It’s unique and
it suits her.”

We arrive home, and after a long hot shower
I go to bed and dream of James’ birth and Max.

“
Em, Emma, wake
up.”
 

I blink a few times and
smile. Max is lying beside me on the bed. He smiles and his clear
blue eyes are beautiful. “You’re here?”
 

“
I am, I have missed you,”
he says, leaning over to kiss the tip of my nose. He gently
caresses my earlobe like he always does. I love you so
much.”
 

“
I love you and I have
missed you.”
 

“
I know. Em, I want you to
know I’m proud of you for helping Molly.”
 

“
You are? Thank you. I
really didn’t do anything.”
 

“
She asked for help and you
listened. She’ll be a better mother to Raelynn now that she’s
getting help.”
 

“
Raelynn deserves
that.”
 

“
Yes, she does. Molly may
still need your help. It won’t be an easy road for
her.”
 

“
I know, I’ll help
her.”
 

“
That’s my girl.
Congratulations, you’re engaged. I’m happy for you and for
James.”
 

“
We miss and love you so
much. I wish you were still here with us.”
 

“
Me, too. I didn’t have
enough time with you or with him.”
 

“
I love you,” I say, trying
to put his sweet face to memory.
 

“
Em, it’s time for you to
get rid of my things.”
 

“
What kind of
things?”
 

“
My clothes, my personal
things. It’s time to let those things go, Em.”
 

“
It’s all I have left of
you. I’m not ready to let them go.”
 

“
You have James and you’ll
always have my heart. Let me go, Em — it’s time. I’ll love you,
always and forever?” He leans in and kisses me.
 

“
Forever and always,” I
correct.
 

I wake up feeling sad. Tears run from my
face onto the crisp white sheets. Although I am moving on, there is
a hole in my heart that will never be healed. A hole that was
placed there when Max died. I roll over and I am grateful that Alec
is already out of bed. I know Max is gone and my life now consists
of Alec, but I still miss Max. I will always miss Max. 

I shower quickly and dress in a white tank
top and a pair of black yoga pants. This house is much bigger than
my other house. I walk through each room, most of which are still
full of unpacked boxes, looking for Alec. When I don’t find him, I
grab a cup of already made coffee and decide to have it outside
under the gazebo.

I walk towards the gazebo, where Alec is
already having his coffee. I look around the oversized yard and
realize just how peaceful it is out here. No cars, no neighbors, no
dogs barking. The sun is out, and it is a beautiful day with clear
blue skies. “Have you been up long?” I ask as I get closer to
Alec. 

Alec looks over at me and smiles. “No, this
is my first cup,” he says, holding up his coffee mug.

I sit down next to him, closer than I
normally would. The memory of Max is still fresh in my
head. 

“
Are you all right?” he asks
as he wraps his arm securely around me. 

“
I’m fine, it’s so beautiful
out here.” I take a sip of my hot coffee and watch as a sailboat
sails across the water. I don’t tell him about my dream or about
how I miss Max. He doesn’t need to know that I still miss him. I’m
sure he already knows that. 

“
I knew this would be a
great place to have our morning coffee.” Alec kisses the top of my
head and leaves his mouth there. “I love coffee. If politicians
were to ever make it illegal, I would go to the bad part of town
and ask, ‘Is anyone selling any Columbian?’” 

“
It sounds like you may get
arrested.” 

“
I’m just grateful it’s
legal.” 

“
We won’t get much done
sitting out here.” 

“
You make a good point,
Emma. Let’s get started, so we can at least get something done
before the kids get home.” 

Alec and I work well together in the house.
We start unpacking boxes downstairs and work our way up to the
bedrooms. Brice and Brooke come over with lunch and stay to help
us. Alec called Mason to check on Angel and the twins. We are
excited to learn the babies are both on small amounts of oxygen,
although they both remain in N.I.C.U. Angel is supposed to be
released to come home tomorrow from the hospital. 

Brooke looks around the house and says, “It
looks like you got a lot done in the house.” 

“
Surprisingly, it didn’t
take as long as I thought. However, we haven’t touched the
upstairs,” I admit.

“
You guys stay down here and
work. Emma and I are going upstairs to work on the bedroom.” Brooke
says.

I follow her upstairs and she looks in each
of the rooms. “Can you believe you live here? This place is
amazing.” 

I look around the oversized rooms, “No, I
can’t. Alec says it won’t seem this big when the kids get home and
everything gets put away.” 

“
I’m sure he’s right about
that. It’ll still seem big but just not as big.” 

We both walk into the master bedroom and
look at all the boxes lined against the wall. “Do you want to start
with your side of the closet or Alec’s side?” Brooke asks.

“
Let’s do Alec’s side first.
He has work tonight.” 

Brooke starts to hang up his clothes and I
start opening boxes on which “Alec” is written. I put all the
clothes in the drawer and reach over for another box. I stop when I
see the box says “Max.” I say, “Brooke?” 

“
What is it, Boo?” she asks
as she walks out of Alec’s walk-in closet. She looks at me and then
looks at the box. “Where do you want to store those at?” she
asks. 

I look at the boxes along the wall then look
at Brooke. “I think it’s time I let go. Will you help me go through
them?” 

“
Of course, but, are you
sure you’re ready?” she asks. 

“
It’s been five years. I
think it’s time.”