First Class Farewell (12 page)

“This is crazy!” Adam snorted as they stood waiting for the
hostess to show them to their table.

“What?”

“How many meals have we eaten together?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Shelby. “Hundreds?

“Exactly! So why am I nervous?” Adam chuckled.

Shelby was nervous too but she wasn’t about to acknowledge
it out loud. She just laughed at Adam and followed the hostess through the
patio and to the corner table that overlooked the marina.

Adam held the chair for her and she smiled up at him,
appreciating the gentlemanly gesture. The hostess handed them menus once Adam
was also seated and then disappeared, leaving them alone. The sounds of the
Caribbean, the metal drums, filled the air, as they watched two men a few
hundred feet away playing for the tourists. The sun was slowly setting and the
warm evening breeze fluttered the tablecloth.

Shelby glanced down at the menu as Adam placed their drink
order from the bar. “Thank you,” she smiled, Adam having ordered her favorite
beer.

“I guess I should have asked you first. Sorry,” he looked
chagrinned.

Shelby chuckled. “Do I ever order anything else?”

“Well, no, but I should’ve asked.”

“It’s fine,” she smiled. “I would’ve placed the same order.”

The beers arrived, the waitress took their order and they
sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the ocean. A young man, in his early
teens, Adam guessed, approached their table with a basket of flowers.

“Buy your lady a flower?” he asked.

“I would love to buy my lady a flower,” Adam grinned and
pulled his wallet.

“Five dollars.”

“Do you have change for a twenty?”

“No, but I’ll give you four flowers,” the boy grinned.

“Deal,” Adam chuckled and pulled four roses from the basket
and handed them to Shelby.

“Thank you,” she smiled and inhaled the rich scent from the
buds.

The young man turned and moved on to the next table.

“Oh, he’s good,” Shelby nodded as they heard the people at
the next table get the same line.

“I certainly don’t mind buying four flowers for my lady. I
should have bought the whole basket!”

“Adam,” Shelby said.

“I know! You aren’t my woman but we don’t have to tell him
that! It’ll break his heart.”

Shelby smiled again as the waitress arrived with the first
course of a delicious meal.

*****

Pulling into the driveway, they could see a few lights still
on in the house. Adam opened the door and Shelby slipped out of the car and
they walked to the front door.

“I had a good time. Thank you,” Shelby smiled.

“Thank you for accepting my invitation. Do you think,
sometime, you’d have dinner with me again?”

“Maybe,” she grinned. “We’ll have to see what kind of mood
I’m in when, and if, you ask me.”

Adam laughed as he opened the door. They were met with
laughter coming from the dining room. Following the noises, they found Tim and
Beth, and Paul and Lindsey, and Andrew and Rory playing a card game, and
obviously having a great time.

“Wanna join in?” Rory asked as he looked up to see them
watching the chaos that was going on. Cards were being flung all over the table
and there was a lot of cussing and swearing as well.

“Um, no thanks,” said Shelby. “I have no idea what you guys
are doing.”

“NERTZ!!” screamed Lindsey, throwing her hands in the air
and looking like she’d just won a gold medal.

Adam grinned and ushered Shelby to the kitchen. Opening the
fridge, he pulled two bottles of water and handed one to Shelby. She took the
bottle and said good night, leaving Adam alone. He wandered through the great
room and out past the pool. Matt and his mom were swimming.

“Hey, honey,” Janie smiled. “Have a good time.”

“I think so,” he said as he walked to the pool house.
“Goodnight.”

Janie looked at Matt and began to say something.

“Nope!” he said, shaking his head. “Leave it. He’ll work it
out.”

Janie sighed. “I guess you might be right.”

“Huh?”

“I said I guess you might be right,” she repeated.

“Huh?” he said again.

“Very funny!” she pouted, but couldn’t hide the grin that
was forming.

Matt swam close to her and pulled her into his arms. “Stop
thinking about the needs of your son and think about the needs of your husband.
I’m
very
needy,” he winked.

“Yes, you are.”

Adam watched his parents in the pool as he closed the
curtains. They were like teenagers when they were alone. They couldn’t keep
their hands off each other. He’d seen the way Matt looked at his mom. It was a
love so intense there was no way to hide it. All of the brothers had the same
look. They loved their wives with a passion that was undeniable to anyone who
knew them…or even just saw them.

It’s what he wanted…for himself and for his wife.

*****

It was another glorious day in the Bahamas. A week had
passed and in six days they would be returning home. But that meant that they
still had six days to play and relax.

As usual, mornings brought chaos in the house. Breakfast was
always crazy. Kids were running and screaming, playing and laughing, crying and
whining. Ben and Paul attempted to catch up on work emails and make any
necessary calls, and Sophia spent most of the time running back and forth to
the bathroom.

Shelby hadn’t come downstairs yet and there was no sign of
Tim and Beth. Nic and Maureen were huddled in the corner of the kitchen when
Janie joined them. Within a minute or two, the group broke up and Janie walked
straight to Adam and said, “I need you upstairs.”

He followed, worried. When they reached the second floor,
and far away from everyone, Janie turned to her son, a concerned expression on
her face. “Can you please go and talk to Beth? She’s in her room. She’s had
some spotting and is absolutely beside herself.”

“I’m not an OB but I can certainly talk to her,” he replied
immediately and hurried down the hall. He knocked on the door and entered to
find Beth sobbing, almost hysterically on the bed.

“Hey, hey,” Adam soothed and rushed to her side.

“I can’t lose this baby,” she cried. “I just can’t!”

“Okay,” Adam said. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Ten minutes later, Adam exited the room and went to find
Matt. He needed to borrow the car. He’d decided it was necessary that Beth go
to the hospital. It was probably nothing, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Of course!” Matt replied.

Five minutes later, Adam was behind the wheel with Tim and
Beth in the backseat and they were pulling onto the main road.

*****

Shelby hadn’t been able to fall asleep so when the sunlight
had streamed through the window, she’d gotten up and closed the curtains and
gone back to bed.

She liked Adam, she really did, perhaps too much. But it was
becoming
way
too complicated. They were friends. Good friends, but just
friends. It had to be
only
friends. She couldn’t handle anything more
than that.

Unable to sleep any longer, she figured she may as well get
up. She needed to talk to Adam, no matter how uncomfortable the conversation
was going to be. She needed him to know that they couldn’t be anything more
than friends. She’d made the decision years ago. She just had to stick to it no
matter how conflicted she was feeling.

Finishing quickly in the bathroom, Shelby bounded down the
stairs and into the kitchen. Within a few seconds, the somber mood told her
something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” she asked Katy.

“Beth is bleeding. Adam’s taken her to the hospital.”

“Oh, no,” Shelby whispered, her heart breaking. “When will
we know anything?”

“They only left about thirty minutes ago, so not for a
while.”

Shelby poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to the
small desk that had the computer. Sitting down, she watched the women trying to
keep their emotions in check, a task most difficult. Most of the children had
been taken to play outside, leaving the women to fret in peace.

Opening up her email, Shelby tried to busy herself so she
wouldn’t have to think about the possibility of Beth losing her baby. She
imagined it would be devastating. Deleting junk mail and skipping over credit
card statements, she came to one that she’d been waiting for. With her finger
on the mouse, she opened the email and held her breath. Scanning quickly
through the words on the screen, she silently screamed. She now knew where she
would be spending the next four years of her life.

Beth chewed on her fingernails, a habit she’d picked up only
a couple of hours earlier that very morning. Lying in a hospital gown with Tim
by her side holding her hand, they waited as the technician hooked up the
ultrasound machine. It appeared to be a very complicated process, one that Tim
joked, trying to lighten the mood, they should probably get used to.

Adam had been in communication with Beth’s doctor, Dr.
Ringer in New York, and between the three of them, the attending doctor at the
hospital included, they knew how to proceed. The Fetal Doppler had picked up
something, but inconclusive, so the next test would be a vaginal ultrasound.

“I’ll leave,” Adam said.

“No!” Beth grabbed his arm. “I need you to stay.”

Adam nodded and pulled up a stool and sat next to her,
holding her hand, with Tim on the other side of the gurney. They all watched as
the technician squeezed gel onto the end of the probe and then, smiling at
Beth, lifted the sheet and began the procedure.

“Breath normally,” she said, noting Beth holding her breath.
“Am I hurting you?”

Beth shook her head. Undergoing years of fertility
treatments had left her almost numb to the poking and prodding of doctors and
nurses. This was certainly nothing worse than anything she’d been through. In
fact, it wasn’t even the first time she’d been subjected to this same machine.

After several minutes, doing all kinds of thing on the
machine that Beth had no understanding of, the kind woman patted Beth on the
knee and said, “I need to go and talk to the doctor and we’ll be right back,
okay?”

Beth nodded and as soon as the door had closed she turned to
Adam, panic written all over her face. “What’s wrong? Tell me what you see!”

“This is not my area of expertise, Beth.”

“But you know something! I see it in your face!”

Adam tried to remain blank in his expression, but he needed
to tell her
something
. It wasn’t fair to leave her so panicked. He
couldn’t be entirely sure of what he saw on the computer screen but he had a
pretty good idea. “I see a strong heartbeat,” he smiled.

“You do?”

“I do,” he confirmed. “Now, let’s wait for the doctor, ok?”

*****

The Lathem women remained vigilant in their worry. Huddled
in the kitchen, the tension was so thick it could be cut with the proverbial
knife. The men, although also concerned, stayed outside on the beach with all
the children, knowing that standing and wringing their hands would do nothing
to help and accomplish nothing.

Shelby was anxious for Beth. She’d seen the heartache
infertility had brought to her life and wished her well. But the clinical side
of her brain seemed to win the battle in her head as she watched the nervous
fidgeting and useless chatter that filled the room.

There’s no point to all of this
, she thought.
It
isn’t as though all their worrying and stressing is going to help Beth in any
possible way.
“Why don’t you all sit down and I’ll make another pot of coffee,”
she suggested.

Nods and mumbles of agreement ensued and within seconds,
Shelby was filling the pot with water and pulling cups for the cupboard.

“I just can’t even imagine,” Janie said. “It must be
agonizing for her.”

Lindsey nodded. “It’s the worst moment in the world. So
helpless to do anything even though it’s your own body.”

“And it’s not as if she hasn’t already bonded with that
baby,” added Sophia.

“Huh?” Shelby was shocked. “How? She only found out she was
pregnant a couple of days ago.”

All eyes swung to her and she suddenly felt stupid for
voicing her thoughts. But the response was in no way harsh.

Janie smiled and nodded. “I know, but…I haven’t met a woman
who hasn’t instantly fallen in love with their baby the second they found out
it existed. When I was pregnant with the boys, I would sit and rub my tummy and
sing to them and talk to them like they were sitting on my lap. And Matt did
the same thing with Ella and Christopher. He would kneel down and kiss my
belly, believing that somehow that emotion and love was being felt by his child
still safely inside me.”

“Paul did the same thing,” smiled Nic, recalling the
memories. “Actually, the last few weeks before Gregory was born, he read
all
the Harry Potter books to him,” she chuckled.

The woman laughed, knowing that their own husbands had done
much the same thing, Sophia adding, “Ben tells this one to stop making mommy so
sick,” she said as she rubbed her growing belly.

Shelby was mystified by the conversation around her and her
face obviously showed it.

“It all seems so strange to you, I know,” Maureen smiled.
“But one day when you find out you’re pregnant, you’ll completely understand.”

Once again, Shelby decided to keep the thoughts running
through her mind to herself.

*****

“Holy shit!” Tim exclaimed. “Are you sure?”

“We can see here, here, and here, three distinct heart
beats.”

“Three,” Beth whispered. “Three?”

“Three,” Adam confirmed. “Not necessarily unheard of in IVF
pregnancies. I have several sets of twins and a set of triplets as patients.”

“Well, add another set,” Tim beamed.

“I’d be honored,” Adam smiled.

The doctor left the examination room to call Beth’s doctor
in New York, Adam following behind him, leaving Beth to get dressed.

Tim couldn’t stop grinning. “Three babies! Wow! When we do
something, we go all out, don’t we?”

Beth seemed to still be in a state of shock. “Three,” she
said again. “Three!”

“Let’s help you up and back into your clothes,” Tim said as
he pulled the sheet from her legs and moved around the bed to grab her clothes
that were lying on the chair. He gently helped her to a sitting position and
untied the gown at the back. “Okay, arms up,” he ordered.

Beth obeyed, her mind still on the fact that there were
three babies growing inside her.

“Right arm,” Tim said. “Good girl. Left arm.”

A few minutes later they emerged from the room, Adam waiting
with a wheelchair.

“I don’t need that,” Beth stated, but Tim guided her to the
chair and forced her into it.

“Get used to it,” he grinned. “I assume triplets is
considered a complicated pregnancy?”

Adam nodded. “Your doctor will be sending you an email this
afternoon with some instructions and you’ll need to see him as soon as you get
home.”

“Do we need to leave early?” Tim asked. “Today?”

Adam smiled. “No. Beth needs to take it easy…very easy…and
she
and
the babies will be just fine, although it’s still very early, so
you don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

“No! No risks!” Beth agreed.

*****

The news of triplets was welcomed with shouts of joy and
complete surprise. An impromptu party ensued with dancing and champagne, none
of either for Beth, however. But she didn’t mind. All but swaddled in a blanket
and carried to the couch by her doting husband, Beth’s heart was overflowing as
her hands unconsciously lay across her stomach, protecting and guarding the
precious babies growing inside her.

Shelby came and sat beside her and gave her a hug. “I’m glad
you’re okay. Everyone here was going out of their minds with worry.”

Beth sighed. “Me, too. After all these years to finally be
pregnant and then…well…thinking that it was all over before it had really even
started. I’ve never been as scared in my whole life.”

“Can I touch your babies?” Amanda asked, as she came and
stood in front of Beth.

“They’re still in my tummy,” Beth replied. “And they won’t
come out for a long time, but you can touch them when they do.”

Shelby chuckled as Amanda skipped off happily. “And to
think, you’re going to have three of those!”

Beth smiled. “Yep! And I’ll do anything…
everything
it
takes to get them here safely. You know, I made a deal with God this morning. I
told him that if one of us had to die, I’d prefer it be me. I love this baby,
well,
babies
, with all my heart and I’d gladly give up my life if it
means they’re healthy. Gladly!”

The statement shocked Shelby. “But if you die, they die,
too. That makes no sense.”

“Well, yes, technically that’s true,” Beth grinned. “But the
fact is, I get it. Loving someone so much that you would risk your life
bringing them into the world. No questions.”

Tim arrived with a plate of food for his wife. Shelby hugged
Beth again, told her again how happy she was for them, and left an empty place
for Tim to claim and sit next to Beth. She wandered out to the pool and beyond
to the garden.

“What a concept!” she said to herself as she stepped on the
rock pathway that led to a small wrought iron bench.
A mother would be
willing to risk her life to protect her child.
She’d had no such mother.
Yet, here she was, in a family where the concept was the norm. Anatomy classes,
biology, neuroscience, and pathology lab had done nothing to educate her in the
ways of a mother’s heart. “I’m at a disadvantage,” she muttered to herself. “I
have no personal experience here.”

“Personal experience in what?”

The voice startled her, making her jump.

“Adam! Don‘t sneak up on me like that! You’re gonna give me
a heart attack!”

“Sorry,” he grinned. “I wasn’t trying to surprise you.”

“I was just thinking.”

“I heard. What don’t you have experience in?”

“A mother’s love.”

“Well, technically no, but you certainly have the
instincts.”

She swung to look at him, irritation in her expression.
“There is no way that you can know that!” she snapped.

“Of course there is.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Adam, deciding not to rile her any further, changed the
subject. “Mom needs me to run to the store to get more milk. These kids are
drinking gallons a day! Come with me.”