Pepper cupped the half-empty coffee mug between her hands and fiddled with it, twisting it round in circles. She sat with Aidan at a small table in the hospital’s cafeteria. It was late Friday night. Few people occupied the room.
She said, “It was good you brought Mickey.”
Her youngest slept upstairs in the cot. Earlier he had snuggled against the thick plastic jacket-like contraption Mick wore. The little guy was ecstatic to be reunited with his dad.
“Mom,” Aidan said now, “you’re wiped out. Why don’t you sleep with Mickey at the motel? I’ll stay with Dad.”
“Why didn’t you bring Kenzie?”
He sighed.
Her son shouldn’t sigh when she spoke. “Okay. I’ll go to the motel. Thanks.”
“I told you she had to work today and tomorrow.”
“She took off work to go to Phoenix spur of the moment. Mickey adores her. So does your dad.”
“So do I. It just wasn’t the right time.” His voice was low and gentle, but he stood abruptly. Scooping both their cups from the table, he moved toward the coffeemaker.
Just what they needed—more caffeine.
Now she sighed. Surprisingly she, Aidan, Mick, and Mickey Junior had enjoyed the day together, most of it spent in the hospital room. Doctors presented one promising report after another. Mick could recover at home; they almost guaranteed to release him on Sunday. She slipped away to shower at the motel Aidan had checked into, pleased with the thoughtful job her daughters had done in packing her clothes.
Still, she reeled from the events. One minute she was laughing with Kenzie and the next she heard Mick had been hit by a car and seriously injured. Life often resembled a walk on a balance beam. Okay, she could live with that. It served to center her, to keep her eyes focused on the One who walked alongside, holding her hand. But suddenly some unseen force lifted up one end of the beam, gave it a good jerk, and dropped it. She couldn’t quite get her bearings.
The coffee cup reappeared at her hand.
“Mom.” Aidan slid back onto the chair across the table. “I talked to her dad—”
“Hon, I’m sorry I’m taking it all out on you—You did what? You talked to her dad? Kenzie’s dad? Drake?”
“Yeah. I decided to be a man about things. Don’t fall off the chair there. I don’t want two parents in the hospital.”
“What do you mean, a man about things?”
He grinned. “Come on. What did you and Dad teach us about getting married?”
“You mean besides the part about having a baby after the fact?”
“If you’re going to strike low blows—”
“Sorry. Um…I don’t know. What did we teach you?”
“Something I’d never expect from such wild, wooly, and unconventional people. You told the story about how Dad asked Grandpa for his blessing before he proposed to you. Dad said it was a beautiful thing, sort of a rite of passage. You both hoped I would do it and that the twins’ boyfriends would.”
“When did we say that?”
“I was five.”
She laughed and laughed.
Aidan smiled. “I asked Grandpa about it and he told me how impressed he was with Dad.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I always liked the sentiment. It really doesn’t matter what Drake had answered. I’d still want us to get married. But with our situation and all the unresolved issues with her family, I felt it was the right thing to do. The Old Testament blessings carried a lot of weight, didn’t they? I thought this might help clear the air between him and me.”
“And did it?”
He nodded slowly. “For me it did. The guy was speechless, but after a few eternal seconds he said yes, we had his blessing.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, big wow.”
“What was he like?”
“Tall.” He grinned.
“Come on. Seriously.”
“Really tall.” He held up a hand to cut off her protest. “He’s just a guy, Mom. I went to the church office. The secretary said he was with someone, but I could wait. She left. Then Natalie and Rex came in. Drake was angry when I told him my name. I said I loved Kenzie and would take care of her the rest of my life and hope he would give us his blessing. He sputtered a bit and finally said yes.”
“Wow,” she said again as tears welled. “Double big wow. Aidan James Carlucci, I am so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I guess I’m trying to mimic Dad. I love a woman like he does. I want a family like he has. I want to do the right thing like he always tries to do. It’s all about something bigger than us. I guess that would be God. I know Kenzie and I are not in a right place, living in this gray twilight of in between. Marriage isn’t a piece of paper, but the piece of paper sort of formalizes or solidifies things. I don’t know. It announces that we have taken part in a holy sacrament. That feels good to me now.”
Thank You, God. She dabbed a napkin at her eyes. Thank You.
“But I don’t know if your prayers are answered yet, Mom. Kenzie’s backing off, wanting her space.”
“Did you tell her about her dad?”
“No. There wasn’t a chance with all those people around last night at the service.”
“So you didn’t actually propose?”
He shook his head. “She was too upset.”
“About what?”
“I’m not exactly sure. She said she couldn’t handle the people, her dad’s church people. But she mumbled something about not being worthy, I think in reference to taking communion.”
Now Pepper sighed. The balance beam tilted again.
“I told Millie.”
“Millie?”
“Yeah, you know. One of the old twins with white hair. The Martha Maven?”
“Mildred! The Prayer Warrior.”
“That’s the one. I told her.”
The beam steadied itself beneath her feet. She touched Aidan’s arm and smiled. “Okay. If Mildred’s on top of it, then we can sleep. Let’s go.”