“How about Debbie’s pot roast?”
“Uh too meat juicy like.”
“Well, what do you want?”
I thought about it for a moment, and like a lightning bolt, it hit me.
“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of ketchup,” I said proudly, the thought making my mouth drool.
“What?” they both asked in unison.
We all laughed and Dad got straight to it. Ten minutes later I sat in front of their disgusted faces and dipped my sandwich into the ketchup. It tasted like heaven and hit the spot.
“So how long are you here for?” Dad asked.
I looked at Lex, unsure of how long he expected us to stay in Carmel.
“Four days, Sir,” Lex answered.
“And where will you be staying?”
“Um, we were hoping here, but if it’s a problem we can find a motel,” I quickly spoke.
“You know you’re welcome to stay here…in separate rooms,” he added.
“Uh hello, Dad… I think the jig is up. Unless of course you think this baby was immaculately conceived?”
Lex laughed as my dad cringed. We spoke a little bit more about life back in the city when Debbie arrived home. I was excited to see her; she was possibly the best stepmom you could ask for. Lex headed out, saying that he needed to pick up a few things from the store. I shouted out, “Hey, if you’re heading that way anyway, how about you pick me up a tub of vanilla fudge ripple ice cream?” With Dad cleaning up and Lex gone, it gave Debbie and me a chance to catch up in the living room.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’ve come back to visit. We’ve missed you.”
“It’s actually nice to be back. I probably wouldn’t have been able to say that a few months ago.” It was the honest truth and I thanked my lucky stars that nightmare was over.
I told Debbie all about Julian and how Lex and I ran into each other, including every insane thing that happened since then, excluding the nuptials, the angel on my shoulder whispering, “Your dad will kill you, with his bare hands.” Debbie nodded and listened intently, and by the end she was hugging me so tight that I could feel her tears drop onto my shoulder.
“Oh, Charlie. You deserve to be happy…and a baby? What a blessing. Your dad has been waiting to be a granddaddy. We both knew it would be you before your sister.”
“Awww please, Melanie? Unless a baby could travel in her backpack, there’s no chance in hell,” I laughed.
“It’ll be nice to have a baby around,” she said with a smile on her face.
It dawned on me that Debbie was also waiting in anticipation for this moment. She never had kids and by the time she met my dad they were both too old to start a family. “Well, Lil Bubba can’t wait to be spoiled by its grandma, too,” I said softly as I placed my hand over hers.
Her face lit up, and with ease, she pulled me into a tight hug, not letting me go for what felt like an eternity.
…
Lex had some work he needed to catch up on, so I took the opportunity to head down to the local fire station. The building looked exactly the same, its worn out brick gave it history; built sometime in the early 30’s if I remember correctly from history class. The bright red trucks sat horizontally in front of the building, and coming from inside were the sounds of rowdy men yelling and cussing at the TV.
“Talk about productivity,” I said out loud.
They all turned around to look at me; Logan’s face lit up as he ran over and grabbed me, lifting me high in the air as if I was light as a feather.
“Charlie, are you kidding me? Is it really you?!”
“In the flesh,” I grinned.
“How…why?”