“I’m pretty sure I was poisoned. The kid making my bagel didn’t like me. I could sense it.” I catch Ethan pushing down a smile.
“You weren’t poisoned. The fish might’ve gone bad, though.” He brushes a piece of hair that I hadn’t noticed hanging in my face back behind my ear and I get nauseous all over again. The urge to nose dive into the crook of his arm is overwhelming.
Moments later we step into Cam’s room and are immediately met by a chorus of hellos. Camilla’s parents, Angelina and Tom DeSantis, one by one throw their arms around me and kiss each cheek. I’m squeezed and prodded in the process, told I’m too skinny, and ordered to eat more. This is nothing new. They’ve been doing it since I was eleven and their daughter brought me home for dinner. Mercedes, Calvin’s…I don’t know what to call her. She’s his estate manager, but also much more than an employee, Cam and Cal consider her family, hugs Ethan, who then gets his cheeks pinched by Mrs. DeSantis. The only people missing are Calvin, Amanda, and Sam.
“Whatever you do, do not bring up the delivery room. He’s––” Craning her neck, Camilla furtively checks the doorway. “He gets very emo.”
As if summoned, Cal walks in carrying two shopping bags filled with food from Citarella and wearing a face-breaking, white grin. I’ve never seen him smile. Like––ever. I wasn’t even certain he had teeth before this very day. He actually looks weird smiling. Kind of reminds me of Bruce, the big shark in Finding Nemo, and it’s creeping me out.
“Congratulations, buddy.”
“Hey, Cal.”
“Did you see my son?” Cal asks, pride gushing from every pore.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. I remember a time not too long ago when he wasn’t so stoked to claim him. And now he’s, my son. Men, need I say more?
“What’s most important is that he’s healthy,” I toss out. All the attention in the room swiftly turns on me with expressions ranging from curious to confused.
“He’s beautiful,” Ethan quickly adds with a straight face. Always the loyal friend. His eyes hold mine. For a second it feels like it’s just the two of us in the room, connected by some invisible apron strings…or is it heart strings? Whatever, some kind of goddamn invisible string. The corners of his firm, pink lips tip up and I answer with deliberate roll of my eyes. What a sap. A cute one.
“We came straight from the airport,” Amanda, Calvin’s sister, says as she rushes into the room.
“Cam!” Sam, Amanda’s eight year old son, shouts. He heads straight for Camilla and throws his long, skinny arms around her neck.
“Easy, Sam. Your aunt just had a baby,” Calvin tells him while Camilla hugs Sam even tighter.
“I’m so happy you’re here. I missed you,” she whispers in Sam’s ear and breathes him in. These two have had an ongoing love affair since the day they met, and if I didn’t already know that Camilla was going to be an amazing mother, watching her with Sam convinced me that she should have ten. Unlike yours truly, some people are born for this.
Amanda wraps an arm around her brother’s waist. “Where’s the baby?”
“Sleeping, finally,” Camilla answers with a smile, though the exhaustion is clear in her voice.
The quiet turns to chaos, the sound of joy and celebration filling the room. There’s so much love here. So many people holding this extended family together. I notice Camilla watching the chaos with a soft smile on her face. Her eyes meet mine and a bottomless depth of understanding passes between us. This is all she’s ever wanted.
“Happy?” I mouth.
“Just a little,” she mouths back, gesturing with her thumb and index finger.
I turn my attention to the tall, gruff man that’s made my best friend’s dreams come true. “How was the delivery, Cal?”
The room goes silent, the only sounds are the ones coming from the hallway. Calvin’s face goes flat. A short while after that his nostrils flare and the side of his eye twitches. This is a master class in control. Until he loses the battle and his face starts to fold. Eyes glazing, he looks around once more and mumbles something that sounds like, “Be right back”, turns on his heels, and walks out the door.
Sorry, not sorry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
By the time I walk into the townhouse the following evening it’s already past seven. The banging of the sledgehammer tells me something’s up with Ethan. I would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not have figured out that he takes to beating the life out of that wall when something’s bothering him.
Before making my way to the living room, I detour to the kitchen, put the groceries away, and grab a bottle of water. He didn’t hear me come in. I know he didn’t because he obliviously goes about his business while I stand in the doorway and watch him like the filthy pervert that I am. Beneath all those fancy clothes, he’s just a man. Albeit a beautiful one. But still, just a man made of bone and flesh and tender parts.