A Beaumont Family Christmas

Her hand moves quickly across the sheet of paper, writing in flowy cursive from what I can tell. I only wish I could lean forward and see what she’s putting down. Ramona closes the folder and, once again, clasps her hands together and sets them down. “Normally, I would need a home visit and some time to check your references. Under the circumstances, with time being limited and the holidays approaching, I will put that off until after the first of the year. Mr. James, you are a very public figure, and I can’t imagine you’re going to fly out of the country with the baby. Therefore, I’m going to sign-off on this foster arrangement temporarily. After I print the necessary paperwork, you’ll be able to pick Baby John up from the hospital.”

Ramona stands and exits the room, leaving Harrison and me there, stunned. He bumps my arm with his elbow and waits for me to look at him. “I’m thinking you better get on the phone and start reserving a car seat because we’re going to need one.”

My eyes go wide. “Oh, my God.”

“I know.” He smiles. “We’ll go pick him up, and then we’ll go to the store to get everything else. He’s tiny, so he’ll sleep in our room. You should make a list of everything we’ll need.”

It’s as if I’m on autopilot when I pick my phone up and open my notes app. I start typing everything I can think of from bottles to blankets. It’s been so long since I’ve had a baby, it’s hard to remember what they need to survive.

After what seems like an hour, Ramona is back with a mountain of paperwork. At first, Harrison is hesitant to sign anything without his lawyer reading it, but after they talked last night, he said the documents wouldn’t contain anything out of the ordinary. Harrison scribbles his name on each line, and I follow. When we’re done, Ramona hands us a copy, along with her card.

“Call me if there are any issues.”

“There won’t be,” I tell her.

She shows us which documents we should keep handy and cautions us on getting attached. “The parents have seven days left to in which they could change their mind. If that happens, you’ll hear from me.”

“But we’ll be out of town,” I tell her.

Harrison grips my hand with his. “We can fly back. It’ll be okay.”

I don’t know how he does it, but his words calm me. “We’ll be okay,” I repeat, changing his words slightly.

I’m in tears by the time we reach our car. Harrison holds me in a tight hug while my tears soak his dress shirt. “I hope these are happy tears,” he whispers into my ear. I nod against his chest but am unable to look at him. “That’s good because, by tomorrow night, they might be tears of frustration if the baby won’t sleep.”

I lean back enough to look at Harrison. “I’ll never get frustrated with him.”

Harrison kisses me on the tip of my nose, then my forehead, and finally, the top of my head. “Come on, let’s get to the store and pick up a few things for this bundle of joy and think about a name because once we tell JD that the baby’s name is John Doe, he’ll start calling him JD Jr., and I can’t have that.”

I snort and cover my nose. “You’re right. He needs a name, even if it’s just something we call him.”

Every thirty seconds of our drive to the store, we’re blurting out names. Not a single of one stands out. “I think we need to stop name associating. Saying we know someone or went to high school with someone with that name isn’t going to help us,” I say as Harrison pulls into the parking lot.

“You’re right. Maybe we should call him something that is a mix of Quinn, Elle, and Peyton.”

I slowly unbuckle and stare at Harrison. He shrugs. “It’s a good thing Quinn is a respectable name.”

Harrison laughs and gets out of the car. We meet around the front, and he reaches for my hand. “It’s not like I would name my children rocket ship or drumstick.”

“You might if given a chance.”

As soon as we walk into the store, Harrison is recognized instantly. He doesn’t stop and greet the whispers as we’re on a mission. When we come to the baby section, I’m overwhelmed.

“Holy crap, how do we pick?” I ask as Harrison pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts typing. “What are you doing? Don’t tell anyone yet about the baby. I want to surprise them.”

“I’m looking up the best car seat on the market.”

“Oh.” I start to browse and find a soft blanket, a couple of outfits, and a diaper bag I like. Harrison wanders off, and when he returns, he’s pushing a box with his foot.