Zip, Zero, Zilch (The Reed Brothers 6)

Paul gets up and goes to look out the window, facing the other way.

Matt pulls a tissue from a box on the desk and blots his face, and then he passes the box around. He has been videoing the whole thing so Logan will have it later.

Logan turns to Emily. She’s actually holding it together a lot better than the men in the room. I blow my nose into a tissue as he tells her, “Talk to me, Em. Say something.”

She reaches out and cups the side of his face. “Oh, Logan,” she says. And a tear finally falls over her lashes and down her cheek. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he says back.

And finally, he drops his head into his hands and cries.

Paul pushes the tissue box into his hands and kneels down in front of him. “You okay?” he asks gently.

“Yeah.” Logan breathes out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t expect to be this emotional.”

“Neither did we,” Pete adds. He coughs to clear his thick throat.

Kit gets up and walks over to Logan, and she pats his arm. He looks down at her. “Hi,” he says.

So far, she’s only said ma ma ma ma ma ma and some other simple sounds. But she’s never said anything else. She holds out her toy and he takes it from her. He picks her up and puts her on his knee. “Da da da da da da,” she says.

Logan’s eyes roam quickly from one of us to another. “Did you hear that?”

“Did you hear that?” the audiologist asks.

“She said da da da da da.” He’s almost shivering with emotion. I can feel it all the way in my seat.

“Yes, she did.”

Kit shakes her toy and Logan jumps. He takes it from her and shakes it again. “That was this?” He gives it back to her. “It’s loud.”

“Now you see why I don’t want to buy her things with batteries,” Emily tosses out.

“I see it. And I hear it.” Logan grins.

The audiologist goes through some things with Logan, and we all pay attention, because we want to know all we can. But what we leave with is Logan, and he’s hearing. He may not hear the same way we do, but he can hear sounds.

“The birds are singing?” he asks as he we walk outside.

A car horn blares from the street and he jumps about a foot in the air. “What was that?”

“Car.” Matt pats his shoulder. “Speaking of which, we need to get a cab.”

Logan looks at Emily. “You feel like walking back?”

Kit is in her stroller and she’s all warm in her winter coat. “Sure.” She grins. “We can walk all you want.”

Logan steps on a metal drain on the cement, and it makes a noise. He stops and rocks his foot so that it will do it again. “That’s cool,” he says.

Paul says, “Thanks for letting us come with you.”

“Where I go, you go. Where you go, I go.” Logan grabs Paul and hugs him.

“Always,” Paul says close to his ear.

Logan’s eyes close for a second. Then he says, “Always.”

Oh fuck, now they’re going to make me cry.

“You guys should grab a cab,” Logan says.

Paul shakes his head. “We’ll walk with you.”

And the five of us, and Emily and Kit, start walking. Logan stops to figure out noises as we go, and it’s like watching him experience it all for the first time. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Epilogue

Peck

Sam puts the finishing touches on a plate and slides it toward a waiter, who takes it and dashes out of the kitchen to go serve it.

“There’s a line around the building. Again,” Paul says as he walks into the kitchen. He has a towel slung over his arm and a notepad in his hand. “I need one special and one Chicken Parmigiana.” He passes the order to Sam and Sam growls.

“I wish they would try some of the new items on the menu.”

Paul shrugs. “They know what they like.”

Sam’s restaurant opened just over a month ago, and it has been busy every day, all day. He hired a manager to run it, but he spends a lot of time here. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“How are you feeling?” Paul asks me. He lays a hand on my belly and the baby does a roll. Paul laughs. “I’m surprised you haven’t popped yet.”

I was due three days ago. Sam refused to leave me alone tonight, just in case.

Sam’s contract was up for renewal at the end of the season, and he decided not to renew. He gave up the chance of big bucks playing a game he loves in order to pursue his dream of his own restaurant. We didn’t like being apart when I’m on tour, and we were just spending too much time without one another. At least now he can let his manager run Reeds’ and he can travel with me.

Sam looks up and sees Paul’s hand on my belly. “Everything okay?” he asks. His brow furrows.

I wave a hand in the air. “I’m fine. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

On busy nights, all the Reed boys pitch in to help serve. They like doing it, and they get to see people in the community and bullshit with everyone. They love it, and Sam is grateful they’re here.

Logan walks into the room and Sam yells his name. He looks over and says, “What?”

I can’t get used to the fact that Logan can hear. It’s still strange to call his name and have him look at us.

“Take my wife and find her a seat somewhere, will you?” He doesn’t look up from the plate he’s preparing.