Here is another update. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
Jordan lead Max through the house and into the backyard. Woody and Bug greeted him with friendly handshakes and Lily gave Max a hug. He seemed to relax right in and Jordan was surprised to find her anger diminishing. After a few minutes Carter came running over and looking at Max said, "You're the guy from Mommy's work."
Max smiled and knelt down next to Carter, "Yes I am, my name is Max."
Jordan joined them knelling down also and said, "Carter, baby, this is your Grandfather, my dad."
Carter seemed to think it over for a while and then simply said, "Okay, does that mean I call you Grandpa? That is what Joey calls his grandfather. He lives with him and his grandmother."
"You can call me whatever you want to call me Carter," Max said glancing over at Jordan.
Carter also looking at his mother said, "Well, I think I should call you something you would like to be called. Because at school Joey called me a pooh-pooh head and I didn't like it. I think you should like what I call you; or I might hurt your feelings. If you like it I'll call you Grandpa."
"I would like it very much," Max said.
"Okay, well I am going to go play with Maya now Grandpa." And with that Carter ran off.
Max stood back up and turning to Jordan and Woody said, "That is a really wonderful boy the two of you have raised."
The rest of the day went really well. Jordan and Max were still a bit awkward around each other but Jordan firmly decided that the best thing for Carter was for him to know his Grandfather. She thought silently about how hard it had been for her knowing that her father and grandmother hadn't gotten along. She didn't want that for Carter. Additionally, Max seemed truly sorry he had left for so long.
The men barbequed lunch for everyone while the kids played in the pool and Jordan and Lily enjoyed relaxing. It seemed totally normal and pleasantly stereotypical. Lily and Jordan were sitting under a tree in the yard while Jess crawled around them on a blanket. They watched Maya and Carter play in the wading pool taking turns sliding down the little plastic slide and splashing into the water. Lily bravely turned the conversation back to a topic she knew Jordan needed to deal with. "Jordan, tell me about why you are scared to have a baby."
"Lily, I don't want to talk about it."
"You may not want to, but you need to," Lily sighed. "Obviously you aren't talking to Woody about it. So talk to me."
"Lily I am 40 years old. Do you know what the risks are for my having a child which a chromosomal disorder. It was bad enough when I had Carter. At 40 I have about a 1 in 100 chance of the baby having Down's syndrome. Not to mention higher chances of miscarriage or a number of other problems." Jordan looked sadly down at her lap.
Lily had known Jordan's fears she just knew that Jordan needed to say it out loud. Lily didn't want to tell Jordan about the conversation she had had with Woody a few days before. Jordan and Bug had both been working late and Woody and Lily had the same idea of bring the kids by to say goodnight. Sitting on a bench talking while the kids played on the playground Woody had told Lily that he was worried, he had brought up having another baby and Jordan didn't seem to want to talk about it. He told Lily every time he had brought it up since, she had changed the subject.
Lily was feeling the burden of being easy to talk to. She wasn't sure she could tell Jordan what Woody had said or even if she should, but she knew she needed to say something. "Jordan," she began, "I think you need to tell Woody all of this."
Jordan hesitated before looking up; she first brought her gaze up to where Woody was standing talking to Max, then to where Carter was jumping up and down in the wading pool, finally looking at Lily. She first nodded before saying, "I know I need to talk to him about it. I keep dodging the conversation. I know he is getting annoyed. But I am not sure how to tell him. I know he wants another kid. I am afraid to let him down."
"You might not be disappointing him," Lily began.
Cutting her off Jordan added, "I know I am not totally sure I don't want to have a baby but what if I decide it isn't worth the risk to me. He would be so disappointed."
"That actually wasn't what I meant. I mean I know that you might choose to have a baby. But what I actually meant was, honey, Woody loves you. He has loved you from the moment he met you. He cares a lot more about the two of you being together than whether or not you have another baby. Just have faith in him and you."
Jordan looked back at Woody and smiled. She knew Lily was right. She knew that she and Woody could work it out. She just had to work up the nerve to talk to him about it.
Soon Lily, Bug, and the kids took off. Jordan and Max settled down to talk while Woody and Carter got out the soccer ball and played pass.
"Jordan, I really appreciate you letting me back in."
Jordan smiled at Max, "Well, you are lucky I married such a forgiving man. He seems to be rubbing off on me."
"I am so happy for you sweetheart, you deserve to be happy."
"Having Carter and working things out with Woody made me realize how much I had been living in the past. I finally learned how to put the past behind me." Jordan paused before continuing, "Dad, I am happy to have you be back but only if you are ready to move on too. I don't want to fall back in my old habits."
"Jordan, I understand that. I have worked hard to move on as well. I promise not to drag up any of those old issues."
Jordan smiled and for the first time since Max had shown up at the morgue relaxed and felt happy to see her father again.