Chapter 4

By the time Max and Sam arrived around 8 pm, the rest of the family had eaten dinner and cleaned up after themselves. Gwen had saved a plate for the two stragglers, who gladly accepted a home-cooked meal almost as soon as they made it through the front door. Rhett and Ruth waited just long enough to greet the fiancés before heading out with their sleeping baby. Leah had agreed to the pleas of Maeve and Helena for a sleepover with Annie and Auggie. Troy scooped up a head-bobbing Althea as Brendan grabbed the baby, who remained awake but mercifully quiet. After yet another round of kisses and hugs, Annie herded the girls upstairs to the bath while Auggie joined his brother, parents, and Sam at the dining room table.

"Trip go okay?" Auggie asked, once plates and glasses were filled.

"It was fine," Sam offered. "But it's good to be here finally. It's been a long day."

"Are the two of you ready for this week and what follows?" Gwen sat across from Max.

He nodded between bites. "I think so. I think we've put out all the vendor fires so far, but we'll make the rounds this week and finalize everything."

"We're glad it's going to be here, that you're all here." Jim expressed his pleasure in having his sons together in one place.

"The idea of California was so symbolic to us." Max explained. "But when it came right down to it, Sam's family was traveling anyway, so it just made sense to come here where pretty much everyone was anyway."

"Well, I'm sure Rhett and Troy and company appreciate being able to stay close to home right now," Gwen pointed out. "It would be a circus with all those babies on planes!"

Sam smiled. "I'm sorry to have missed the whole crew."

"Don't worry," interjected Auggie. "You'll have plenty of time to become acclimated."

"Or something like that," chuckled Sam. "I'm not sure I'll ever quite get used to all of it." They all turned toward the footsteps and laughter descending the steps. Maeve and Helena, damp hair braided to ensure wavy curls in the morning, arrived in the kitchen with Annie in tow.

"Hi, girls. You all smell so clean," Auggie observed as Annie took the seat beside him. He draped his hand across her leg.

"We used Annie's fancy soap," giggled Helena as she placed her smaller hand on his free one.

He held it to his nose and gave it an exaggerated sniff. "You definitely smell like Annie."

"Like grapefruits," added Maeve.

Auggie nodded. "Although if you guys all wear Annie's perfume, I might get confused about who's actually in the room."

Helena giggled again as she leaned against Auggie's shoulder. "But we're little kids and Annie is a grown up lady."

Maeve knew better. "There are other ways you can tell who is who. Emmett told me."

Auggie smiled toward where his oldest niece was sitting. "Emmett is just full of useful information. But you're right. There are lots of ways that I can figure out who's around, although it's nicest if you just tell me."

Gwen glanced at her watch. "And there are lots of people here who need to get to bed. Cole is expecting us all bright and early in the morning for his christening." She stood and kissed each of her boys, Sam, Annie, and then the little girls. "Good night."

Jim stood and joined her. "See you all in the morning."

"Will you sleep down here with us, Annie?" Helena asked as Maeve began preparing their little nest of blankets in the small living room where they could watch a movie before bed.

"Absolutely." She squeezed Auggie's hand as she stood as an apology of sorts. "Run up and brush your teeth and I'll meet you there." They bounded back up the stairs. She reached down to kiss Auggie. "Save me a place upstairs?"

"Don't fall asleep," he warned.

"I'm hoping the swimming and sun will do them in quickly." She looked up toward Max and Sam with a little wave. "Night guys." They waved back, and she disappeared into the living room. Sam also excused himself to his and Max's room in the basement.

Auggie sat alone with his brother now. "Are you guys ready for this week and all that comes afterward?"

Max took a deep breath. "We hope so. Was it stressful for you two?"

"Not really. We just headed out to this place in West Virginia…" He stopped, mouth open. He blinked a couple of times realizing they'd already been figured out. "How did you know?"

"I'm not sure what tipped me off, but you sitting there playing with your white-ringed finger didn't help your case any," his brother pointed out.

Auggie flexed and extended his fingers again. "Annie said that would do me in, but it feels so weird no to have it on. I didn't know about the tan lines, though."

"Yeah, well. Don't have to be a spy to figure that out."

Auggie rolled his eyes. "Very funny."

"I'm serious." Max placed his hand on his brother's arm. "But congratulations. It looks good on you."

"What does?"

"Happiness."

Auggie grinned. "I'm guessing it's looking the same way on you, but listen. We didn't want to say anything yet. This week is about you guys. We'll have a party around the holidays or something and tell everyone, or maybe at our anniversary. We hoped no one would figure it out now."

"And you definitely didn't think it would be me." Max realized he'd been out of touch with the family for so long, but he and Auggie had made important inroads in their relationship.

"Our bet was on Dana."

Max could concede that point. "Makes sense."

Auggie nodded. "We'd like to keep it quiet this week if we can."

"Sure. Absolutely," Max assured. "But it's good?"

Auggie paused. He'd been married before. Sort of. But everything with Annie was so different. So much better. He found it hard to keep a smile off of his face when he considered his life with her. "Yeah, it is."

Max sighed as though Auggie's admission of marital bliss had lifted a weight from his shoulders. "Good. It's about time we all had some good in our lives on a permanent basis." He stood, moving his hand to his little brother's shoulder. "I'm going to bed. You going up?"

Auggie stood, too. "Yeah. I don't think I'm going to insert myself into girl time."

"You seem truly happy, Auggie. I'd venture that hasn't been the case for a while."

Auggie exhaled. "I didn't realize until I found her. It's complicated, and I guess I've felt my life was complicated enough without adding relationship drama." He shook his head. "And now I'm starting to realize how utterly stupid that sounds. How stupid that is."

"That sounds about like you," Max estimated. "You've always been so one-way in your thinking, even when you were absolutely wrong. I'm glad something knocked some sense into you."

Auggie chuckled. "I kind of wish it hadn't been Iraqi insurgents at times, but if that's what it took, it's worth it." He finished with a shrug.

Max inhaled sharply. "I don't think you have to go that far, Aug."

"I know, but I can now." He sat back down in his chair, sensing this conversation wasn't over yet. The chair to Auggie's right scraped the floor as his brother took a seat beside him.

Max couldn't figure out how to further discuss what Auggie had just admitted, so he changed the subject. "What's going on with the work stuff?"

They had briefly discussed Auggie's potential partnership with Teo and Arthur during their last visit home over Christmas. "Arthur and his son Teo have been putting things together for the past few months. They've taken several consulting jobs and feel like there's definitely a market for them, for us." Auggie shifted in his seat. "My work is fine. I'm in a different role than before, and it's fine."

"Sounds fine," quipped Max.

Auggie rolled his eyes again before he spoke again. "I'm pretty sure they're going to offer Annie a job in Europe."

"Wow."

"Yeah." He paused again. "She's put in the work, and she'd do an incredible job. I expected they'd tap her at some time, but I just didn't think it would be so soon."

Max wasn't surprised. "She's good. You've said that before."

"She's excellent. Maybe better than I was." He couldn't begrudge his wife this.

"Do you think she'd want it?"

Auggie shook his head with a quick shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know. We haven't even talked about the fact that I know that it's a possibility."

"So maybe you should talk to her about this instead of me?" Max reasoned.

Auggie smiled. "Probably."

"So I'm going to take this opportunity to save both of our marriages and go to bed." Max stood.

Auggie joined him. "Probably a good idea. See you in the morning." Auggie headed toward the stairs to the upper floor. The girls whispered and snickered in the front room as he passed the open door. He had a feeling they might outlast Annie. When he arrived in his room, he jumped into the shower, brushed his teeth, and was just climbing into bed when Annie made it up the stairs.

"They're finally asleep," she announced before she kissed him quickly. She forced herself out of the bed to wash up in the adjacent bathroom. When she returned, she slid in beneath the covers beside him, and he pulled her close.

"That didn't take too long." He exhaled contentedly as she burrowed in beside him.

"They were sleepy. Thankfully." She kissed his bare chest. "I've wanted to be up here with you all day."

They'd barely had a moment alone all day. "I know. But there's a lot going on here."

"Leah and Troy are exhausted. Brendan has aged, Auggie. His hair is grey and he just looks old somehow." She took a deep breath. "I'm not sure what's going on with Dana, but she's lost a lot of weight."

"She felt frail. And they were both so quiet. Do you think she's sick? Or Brendan? Or something with the boys?"

"I don't know, Babe, but I think she we need to figure that out."

Auggie nodded. They would have to investigate that further. His thoughts turned then to his parents. "Mom and Dad seemed okay, though. Right?"

"Yeah. They're good. Your mom is cutting back at work some. She's thinking about giving up her lab and wants to see what semi-retirement would be like. I think the kids could keep her busy if that's what she wants."

"When did you guys talk about that?"

"We played tennis today. She beat me."

Auggie chuckled. "She's good."

"I know that now." He kissed the base of her neck. She shivered, pressing her body even closer to his. "Rhett and Ruth are incredibly happy as well as amazingly well-rested."

Auggie felt moderately prepared for his role in Sunday's christening but not completely at ease just yet. "Do I have to hold the baby tomorrow? Because I might drop him in the Holy Water."

Annie elbowed his side playfully. "Ruth's sister will hold him, but I feel certain that you would not drop him."

He laughed a breath. "I hope not." They lay quietly for a few moments before Auggie spoke again. "Oh. And Max knows."

Annie pushed up on her elbow so she could see his face better. "What? How?"

"He figured it out, and he caught me so off guard that I couldn't do anything but tell the truth."

"Well that's a first," scoffed Annie in return.

Auggie grinned at her in the moonlit room. "I know."

"What did he say?"

"That we looked happy, that he was excited for us, and that he wouldn't say anything until we were ready."

"Well, the reason we didn't want to say anything was because of him and Sam. If they're okay with it, I don't see why we can't let the others know." She chose her next words carefully. "It seems like a secret we don't have to keep, a lie we don't have to tell."

He also liked to be completely truthful when it was possible, as it so rarely was. "I'm all with you on that, but I don't want to interfere with the wedding."

"So let's tell them tomorrow. We can rain on Cole's parade, and he'll be none the wiser."

Auggie couldn't fight her, and he wanted the world and his family to know that this amazing woman was his wife. "Okay," he agreed. "We'll tell them tomorrow."

TBC