Chapter 85: Dinner with Jackson
As she drove, Amelia used Siri to send Jackson a text, "We're running late. Lynne is at the house with the twins and she knows you're coming over. Feel free to head over. We'll be there soon."
The kids were all fairly quiet on the way home from therapy that afternoon. The drive to therapy had been intense enough, but then therapy itself was a little intense for most of them too. The entire way home, Amelia rearranged Lynne and Sarah's schedule in her head. She knew for certain that both were willing to pitch in more, so the challenge was simply arranging schedules between the three of them.
When they pulled up to the house, Amelia saw Jackson playing fetch with the dogs. She wasn't sure who was actually enjoying it more. Jackson's smile went from ear to ear as both dogs bounded toward the ball he'd thrown far down in the trees.
"Jackson's here!" Oliver exclaimed with sheer joy.
Bronwyn sought to confirm, "He is? He is?"
"Mom, Dr. Avery's here!" Finley smiled.
"I know, he's having dinner with us tonight. There's time to play before we eat if you want to stay outside awhile," Amelia offered. "And, Oliver, what did you call him?"
"Jackson," Oliver said matter-of-factly before widening his eyes and slapping his hands over his mouth. "I mean… I mean… Dr. Jackson… I mean Dr. Avery."
"Mhmm," Amelia responded suspiciously. "Please tell Dr. Avery that Daddy and I prefer that our kids do not call grown-ups by their first names."
"Yeah, yeah, ok, Mom. Whatever," Oliver sputtered as he ran out of the car and toward Jackson. Bronwyn and Finley followed suit, running to their dogs and their pal Jackson.
"Hi Lynne," Amelia greeted as she entered the kitchen. She turned to her almost-1-year-old girls and drizzled them with baby talk, "And hello precious angels…how are my beautiful, messy girls? It looks like you both had a yummy dinner. Did any of it make it into your mouths?"
"Not much," Lynne chuckled. "Oh, Amelia, they are both so precious. Messy, yes, but also precious. We had a wonderful day today. Miss Gwen is becoming more and more adept with her walker and now Ella is thinking the walker looks like a load of fun. We spent the day chasing each other. How was your day?"
"Good, bad, tough, and revealing…I don't know where to start," Amelia began. "I suppose I need to fess up and tell you the big news: I'm 14 weeks pregnant." Lynne threw her hands in the air and embraced Amelia tightly.
"Congratulations," Lynne said warmly as she patted Amelia's back in with a motherly touch. Sometimes Amelia wished Lynne was her nanny – she had such a way with tenderness and care.
"I finally told Owen today after an ultrasound. We're having a boy," Amelia smiled.
Lynne hugged Amelia again, then stood back and put her hands-on Amelia's shoulders. Lynne smiled widely, then set a hand on Amelia's tiny bump and gratefully whispered, "A baby boy…" Another hug followed and Amelia felt like melting into this woman who was such a loving part of her family.
"The kids don't know yet, so please don't say anything," Amelia explained as Lynne nodded in agreement. "As for the rest of my day, Lynne… I really need your help. I've been running around doing too much feeling like I had to be both me and Owen. I've been feeling guilty anytime I'm away from the kids. Today, with the help of Finley's therapist, I finally got it through my thick skull that I need to do what you and Sarah have encouraged me to do all along. Will you help me figure out how to rely on the two of you more and encourage me to take better care of myself?"
"Amelia," Lynne responded, "I'd love nothing more. Truly. Let's start this second. Go upstairs and throw on some comfortable clothes while I deal with these two soap dodgers. And here…take your time drinking this…put your feet up for a few minutes." Lynne offered as she reached into the fridge for a sparkling water to hand to Amelia.
"Thank you," Amelia grinned.
While Amelia sat on her balcony and took a short break, Jackson wore the kids out with a game of tag followed by a game of basketball. Just yesterday, Jackson and Alex had shown up at the house and set up the hoop for the boys. When Amelia insisted on paying them back, they claimed it was a Christmas gift from everyone at the hospital. As she sat on her balcony, even though she couldn't see them, Amelia could hear them playing. Bronwyn burst with giggles and the boys' protested as Jackson held Bronwyn up to make a basket for their team. When the boys got the ball, Jackson picked up Oliver and held him upside down.
"Hey!" Oliver laughed, "That's not in the rules, Jackson."
Finley ran up and winked at Oliver and he passed the ball to his brother. Since the tall guard was busy turning people upside down, Finley was able to score and tie up the game. Amelia was so thankful for a friend who would play like a Dad with the kids and was even more thankful to hear the laughter of her children filling the property and echoing off the water.
As dusk began to settle in, Jackson and the kids headed inside. Ever the gentleman, Jackson asked Lynne how he could help. She responded with a laugh, "Keep doing what you're doing – you entertain that crowd and I'll take care of the food."
Jackson clapped his hands and sent the kids upstairs to change clothes and wash their hands. He picked up the babies and held one in each arm, kissing one and then the other back and forth. The girls returned the sentiment with slobbery, wet, wide-mouthed baby kisses as Jackson dryly responded, "Oh…thank you girls…thank you so much." Lynne chuckled and threw Jackson a spare dishtowel.
As he placed the girls on the floor and sat down near them, Bronwyn came bounding from behind and jumped on Jackson's back. She was treated to what seemed to be a non-stop tickle session for surprising him. Then Oliver and Finley joined in, 'protecting' their sisters from the monstrous tickling and cheating basketball player in their living room. Amelia came down wearing sweats. She'd thrown her hair into a messy bun that was barely staying put.
"How thirsty do tickle monsters get?" she kidded. "Beer? Wine? Water? What's your pleasure?"
"Beer'd be great, Amelia. Thanks," Jackson laughed as the boys held him down and the girls took their turn at tickling him. Although the babies didn't completely understand how to tickle, they did know that climbing all over Jackson was fun.
"Now you can't drink that until you tell us the magic password," Bronwyn declared as she stood up like a superhero and with her feet firmly rooted to the floor.
"Yeah," Oliver declared as he followed suit and stood next to Bronwyn, hands on hips and legs spread wide. Then Oliver whispered loudly to his sister, "What is the password?"
Just as loudly, Bronwyn responded, "I don't know."
Jackson scooped Bronwyn up and yelled, "I don't know!" Then ran to the table with Bronwyn in his arms.
"That's not the password, silly. That's what I tolded Oliver when he asked what the password was," Bronwyn proclaimed with giggles as Jackson set her down.
"But it worked – check it out," Jackson insisted as he put the beer up to his mouth and took a drink. Bronwyn wrinkled her nose and folded her arms in mock frustration.
Before long, dinner was served. Amelia found it stunning how the presence of an adult male changed the dynamics at the dinner table. While there was laughter and fun, the behavior was much more in line with what Owen would have experienced had he been present. It was as if the kids sensed just how far they could push the limits. Arguing and yelling were non-existent.
After everyone had finished eating, and after Lynne absolutely insisted she would put the babies to bed and then clean up the kitchen and dishes, the kids ran upstairs to change into PJs before running back downstairs to the playroom. This was the one night a week when Amelia never worried about baths or the regular nightly routine. Therapy day was always followed by lazy movie night. As the kids watched their movie and began to quickly fade into the cushions and pillows all around the room, Jackson and Amelia sat on the couch by the kitchen and commiserated.
"There are days I seem to get along just fine," Jackson described. "I go to the hospital. I have a good surgery or a promising consult as well as maybe a boring procedure or a meeting. The day just kind of plods along fairly uneventfully. I attempt to avoid my mother and her 'I feel so sorry for my baby' eyes and I actually succeed some days. Then, I make my way home, feeling fine…not really upbeat but not sad either. The second I open the door and see our empty home, my heart sinks. I end up staring at the wall and feeling sorry for myself. This deployment crap sucks."
"I hear you. For me, I run around the hospital doing Derek's bidding, then I run around town for lessons, tutors, and practices before falling into the house exhausted. If Owen knew how much fast food these kids have eaten in the last six weeks, he'd throw a fit. No…actually, he'd probably cry and worry about their BMI," Amelia joked. "I can imagine him on his knees right here begging me not to feed them such empty calories." Both Jackson and Amelia laughed as they imagined the sight.
"At least we're more than halfway now," Jackson mused thoughtfully as he took another drink of beer.
"Six weeks and a day left," Amelia stated. "Not that I'm counting the 43 days or the roughly 1000 hours."
"Nah…not at all, right?" Jackson grinned as he glanced at Amelia out of the corner of his eye.
"And in the home stretch, in those 43 days, he'll miss 4 birthday parties in addition to the one he missed for Finley in December," Amelia thought aloud.
"You'd think that'd convince a guy to stay home…" Jackson muttered with a tinge of anger, not quite meaning to say the words aloud. His words hung heavily in the air as silence pervaded.
"Yeah…" Amelia said quietly as she sipped her sparkling water. "Yeah, you would. But you know what Jackson? You've gotta forgive Owen for what I've never held against him. Deep inside himself, there was an inner calling and deep sense of duty to be in the field. Don't get me wrong – I'll be damned if he ever does this again, but this time…he needed to do it. He needed to go out of a sense of duty and patriotism, and he needed to do it to realize that it's ok to put the military second place in his life. Before this deployment, I'm pretty sure he found it impossible to separate Major Hunt from Daddy Owen. When he comes back, that will have changed."
Jackson looked down at his hands, "How can you be so sure?"
"I just know," Amelia admitted. "It's not scientific, it's not something that can be explained with complex analysis or logic. I just…know."
"You're a lot better person than I am, Amelia. I not only have an issue with your husband going, I'm not sure how to forgive April for going again," Jackson disclosed.
"She loves you, Jackson," Amelia claimed with assurance.
"I know," Jackson agreed. "But I'm not so sure she'll be done after this."
"You know what we say in AA? One day at a time. You can only live one day at a time. Worrying about if there will be a next time or what you'll do if there is won't help."
Jackson grinned as he looked at his friend, "You know, sometimes I'm really irked by your insight and wisdom."
"That's why I'm here, Jackson," Amelia kidded. "To piss off my brother, to operate on brains, and to irk you with my insights."
"I'll drink to that," Jackson smiled as he held his beer up to Amelia's water.
"Cheers!" Amelia giggled as she leaned her head on the side of Jackson's arm.