Part 6
Revelations
Michael knocked rapidly on the door to Isabel's apartment. He was supposed to pick Laney up 10 minutes ago and had left Maria in his double-parked vehicle while he ran inside.
"She ready?" he asked quickly as Alex opened the door.
"You kidding? She was ready at five o'clock this morning."
"Unca Mica!" the little girl exclaimed as she flung herself across the living room into his arms. "I alweady for Donalls."
"Donalls?" Alex asked disapprovingly. "I don't think Uncle Michael is taking you to McDonald's today sweetie."
"But he awways…"
Clasping his hand over the little girl's mouth, Michael cut off her admission that a trip to the kid-friendly restaurant was on their list of regular places to visit. Smirking at Alex, he lowered his niece to the ground as he offered, "I don't know what she's talking about, man."
"Sure, uh-huh," her Dad said laughingly. "Just don't let Iz find out."
"Find out what?"
"That we're going to…"
"The playground," Michael offered quickly. "I'm taking her to the playground."
"It's the dead of winter!" Isabel exclaimed.
"So, she's dressed warmly."
"Yeah Mommy, I luv da schwings."
Michael fought to hide the laugh bubbling in his throat as he shared a glance with Alex; Laney was quick, he had to give the toddler that much. Leaning down to grasp her stuffed overnight bag from the floor, he held his hand out to the little girl as they prepared to leave.
"I'll take her," Alex interjected, hoisting the child into his arms as he took the bag back from Michael. "I think you've been 'summoned' again."
Glancing at Isabel, Michael saw her wringing her hands together nervously as her husband and daughter departed the house. Great. He knew it was too much to hope that she was ready to put their little confrontation behind them so soon.
"What's up?"
"Oh, I'm just worried… about Laney. You know how she gets when we go away."
"She'll be fine Iz."
"I know, she adores you, but…"
"And I'll be fine too."
Dropping her eyes, Isabel's cheeks blushed as her true intent was uncovered. "And us?" she asked timidly.
"And us," he confirmed. "We're good, just leave it, okay?"
"I just know what she meant to you."
"You are incapable of 'leaving it', aren't you?" Michael asked, the stern look on his face softened by the light tone in his voice.
"Fine," she relented, throwing her hands up in defeat. "But don't think you are off the hook yet, I expect major babysitting time out of this one."
"My pleasure," he said smiling, stepping into the hug she offered as he simultaneously stepped towards the door. "Now I've got to go, she's going to have Maria's ear talked off by the time I get down there."
"Maria's going? Have you…"
"Bye Isabel," he droned, stepping through the door as she attempted another prying step into his life. She meant well, Michael knew it, but he had to tell Maria when the time was right, not while they were babysitting his niece.
Michael hurried outside to the Jeep, smiling as he watched Laney's mouth chattering away as Alex finally finished strapping her in her car seat. Tossing a wave at his brother-in-law, he climbed behind the wheel and glanced at Maria quickly before smiling at Laney in the rear-view mirror.
"All ready?" he asked.
"Yes!" Laney cheered loudly, earning a soft chuckle from both Maria and Michael.
"We aren't weally going on the schwings are we Unca Mica? I tink it's too cold."
"No sweets, we're going to…"
"Donalls!"
Maria smiled as she turned to watch the little girl happily swinging her legs against the dark gray leather interior of Michael's vehicle. It never seemed to amaze her how great a guy that appeared so closed-off at times could be around kids. Losing herself in the sights of the frozen city swirling by her window, she half-listened to Laney excitedly relating the intricacies of her daily events to Michael, letting her mind fall back to something he had said a few nights ago, '…once I came close…' What did that mean?
"We're here ladies," Michael announced, shattering her reverie as he stopped outside a super-sized McDonald's.
"Oh Laney, they have a play room too!" Maria observed.
"Of course dey do M'Ria," the child said as she let Michael unbuckle her seat belt. "You tink I come here for d'amburgers?"
Giggling, Maria slid out of the Jeep, shaking her head at Michael as he stifled a laugh. 'The child was simply priceless,' she thought to herself, the secret hope that her own baby grew up to be so adorable rippling through her subconscious. Walking around the vehicle, she met Michael holding Laney's hand and smiled down at the little girl.
"M'Ria, do you tum here all da time?" Laney asked as they walked into the restaurant.
"No sweetie, not very much at all. Why?"
"Be'tause you look fatter den when I saw you at 'Tristmas."
"Oh Lord," Michael groaned, lifting the child into his arms as they approached the door. "You know you aren't supposed to tell people that they look fat, it's not nice."
"But she does Unca. Look at her tummy!"
"It's okay Laney," Maria struggled to gasp between giggles. "I guess I did get a little fatter."
"See Unca?"
Michael could only shake his head as he pulled open the door and carried Laney inside.
"I don't wan my Happy Box yet, I go pway first."
"Okay, but stay where we can see you," he instructed, lowering her to the ground and removing her coat before letting her join the other kids scrambling through the famous ball bin.
Leading Maria to a table near the playroom, Michael took a seat where he could see Laney already diving headfirst into the melee of gleeful children all hopped up on the promise of a Happy Meal.
"She's adorable," Maria sighed quietly. "Do we tell her why I'm so fat all of a sudden?"
"Ah, I don't know if she understands," Michael replied.
"Good point, but you might want to tell Isabel… in case she has questions. I mean, I'm only going to get fatter?" she said smiling.
"Well Isabel already knows," he offered hesitantly.
"You told her?"
"Well Max did, I guess Liz spilled it. That okay?"
"Yeah sure, it's not a secret, just… how'd she take it?" she asked, remembering clearly Isabel's questions about skeletons in her closet when they had first met.
"Fine, she was fine," Michael said distantly.
"Really… that good huh?" Maria teased.
Smiling, Michael dropped his gaze as he fiddled with the edge of the plastic table. "She's just… protective, even of her big brother. But she didn't have a problem with you being pregnant."
"Okay…" she responded slowly. "But she did have a problem with…"
"Ah, here is so not the place I imagined telling you this."
"There's something to tell?"
Taking a deep breath, Michael faced Maria squarely, the urge to just close his eyes and blurt it out rapidly strong, but fightable. "I used to be married… a long time ago."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh," he echoed.
"Well, that's no big deal, right? I mean you aren't still, are you?" she asked, laughing hollowly.
"No, not still, not for a while now."
"Okay, well… what's the problem?"
"The problem… is that we got divorced over kids. I always wanted a child, I told you that, and she… well, she didn't."
"Wow," Maria murmured softly. "I know there are lots of women who don't want kids, but you must have been so young, was she sure?"
"Pretty sure, it was enough to make her leave."
"So she… she was the one…"
"Yep, my wife of five years divorced me."
"But you're not bitter…" Maria prodded.
Wincing at the truthfulness of her words, Michael closed his eyes briefly as he pondered how he could make it clear to her that he really was over Kara. "It still stings sometimes, I won't lie to you, but I know now that we had a great infatuation, high school sweethearts and all that, but it wasn't a solid relationship; there was no common ground between us. We were just crazy kids in love, it's just not enough… or wasn't for us…"
"How old were you?"
"When we got divorced?"
"No, married."
"Oh… 18."
"That is young."
"Yeah, it is."
Silence settled between them, punctured only by the sounds of children's laughter resonating through the glass enclosed play room. Laney's red-cheeked face pressed up against the window as she waved as them and dove back in the balls for another rousing game of 'hide-and-scare-the-other-kid'.
Watching her, Maria suddenly felt her eyes drawn away from the happy child and towards the man sitting beside her. His expression was pensive, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the children, a small smile playing at his lips. In that moment, she was flooded with an overwhelming sense that what he wanted more than anything in the world was to be a father. Past marriage or not, it was obvious that Michael Guerin was destined to be a Dad—what difference did it make if the child was not biologically his.
"Hey," she whispered, snaking her hand across the table to grasp his tightly. "Maybe in a couple of years we can try making one of those together. What do you say?"
Surprised, he turned his head to gaze down into her eyes. Sincerity was the only emotion revealed there and he felt the threat of tears wash over his body. Leaning slowly towards her, he melted his mouth to hers, a kiss to seal the deal all that was necessary.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Maria bent her ear to the door, straining to interpret the murmurings coming from the living room as actual conversation. Michael had just showed up for their standing Wednesday night date, a celebration of another week in her pregnancy, and Kyle, ever the protective brother, was 'welcoming him'.
'More like interrogating,' she thought.
Sighing, she hurried to her closet to find something that fit her yet didn't make her look like she was wearing a muumuu; she had reached the 16 week mark today and could no longer hide her protruding stomach with a bulky sweater, it was all maternity clothes, all the time.
"I've got to do some serious shopping," she mused, digging deeper into her bureau as the voices from the living room continued their chattering.
"So, it's Michael, right? Not Mike?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah, Michael."
"Right, sooo… you and my sister, hey?"
"Yeah, guess so."
"You guess so?"
Sighing, Michael ran a nervous hand through his hair as he faced off against Maria's brother; Kyle was so much like Isabel it almost made him laugh… almost. "Yes okay? Yes, me and Maria."
Moving to sit down, Kyle gestured towards the couch for Michael to take a seat. Leaning back, he crossed one foot over his knee as he remarked, "So what are your intentions exactly?"
"Holy s-hit man, does she know you're out here asking this?" Michael laughed as he sat where the smaller boy indicated, shaking his head at the railing Maria would doubtlessly give her brother if she walked in.
"I'm just making sure," Kyle mumbled, raising his hands as he backed off.
"Well how about this? As soon as she pops this one I plan on knocking her up as quickly as possible and keeping her that way. Barefoot and pregnant… and in the kitchen, good?"
Kyle stared, slack-jawed across the room as he listened to Michael's vow.
Michael on the other hand sat back against the sofa and smiled confidently. He'd heard a door opening from down the hall while Kyle was talking and saw Maria approaching throughout their conversation. Laughing silently, he watched as Kyle was just about to open his mouth for a retort when she entered the room fires blazing.
"Kyle James Valenti!" Maria shrieked. "You can't be sensible for five minutes? I asked you to make him comfortable, not give him the third degree."
Marching across the room, Michael thought she had never looked cuter as her stomach peeked out of the tight black top she had stretched across it and she waved her arms above her head towards her brother. She was feisty, he'd give her that much.
"Jesus," she growled beneath her breath, already smiling as she punched Kyle in the arm and turned back to face Michael. Panting, she painted a smile above her embarrassment and explained lightly, "The i-dot over here never learned his manners, see? It's not his fault, I think he was raised by wolves."
Smirking, Michael tried to hide his laughter as he asked, "I-dot?"
"Oh i-dot…"
"Maria don't," Kyle whined.
"Uh-uh, buddy. You had your chance to play nice and you blew it. Retribution's a bitch."
Turning back to Michael, Maria explained quickly, "When Kyle was a junior, he wanted to 'tell-off' our math teacher, so he went to class early and wrote a message on the board, then pulled down the overhead screen so you couldn't see it. During class, like always, the teacher pulled up the screen and read the message. Everyone was snickering, but then he turned around and said very calmly, 'I think someone's an i-dot.' The message said 'Mr. Keeping's an idot' instead of idiot!"
"Oh man, that's lame," Michael murmured as a flustered Kyle rose from his chair.
"Thanks sis," he muttered, shrugging into his jacket by the door.
"Oh come on," Maria gasped, holding her stomach as she walked towards her brother. "You wanted to find out his darkest secrets, there's one of yours."
"I will get you back for this," her brother threatened lightly, accepting the hug she offered as he tipped his hand towards Michael. "Nice meeting you," he offered, turning towards the door before stopping suddenly. "Oh yeah, and if one word of what you said was true, you don't have to worry about me killing you, she will."
With that, Kyle escaped the apartment before Maria could shriek at him again, the door slamming amidst the laughter echoing throughout the room.
"As I said, you have to excuse him."
"Not a problem."
"Okay, I'm almost ready, why don't you get a beer and I'll be right back, okay?"
Maria walked back towards her bedroom while Michael headed for the fridge to grab a drink. The light clinking of Budweiser bottles as he opened the door brought a smile to his face—she couldn't drink them but yet kept her fridge fully stocked, he was beyond impressed.
Settling back on the couch a moment later, he took a long sip of his beer and reached forward to lay it on the coffee table. Papers were spread haphazardly across the surface and he shuffled them together as he looked for a coaster. The top sheet was a typewritten half page of text that caught his attention. Knowing he shouldn't look, the temptation to read it was even stronger and he found his eyes roaming over the words before he could pull away.
I've learned that you can find change in the oddest of places—on a park
bench when the soft whistle of a blue jay soothes your muddled thoughts, in a
crowded subway car when a homeless person looks into your soul with piercing
eyes and you know that they have found their own peace, in the frozen food
aisle at midnight when you see a woman counting change to afford food for her
kids and you suddenly appreciate your own meager possessions.
In my short years, I have been changed in different ways by all of these
things and more. It has come to the
point where I look for it, crave it, need the infusion of a new source of
inspiration to push my life along its otherwise normal path. The most recent has come yet again in the
form of a person; this time a man I do not know, yet feel an inexplicable
closeness to. I watch him as he
traverses through his life, oblivious to my prying eyes soaking up the
intricacies of his world. He is fascinating—complex
and simple, hidden and laid bare… all at the same time. It is almost as if there are two people
residing in one body, the completely at ease, open-hearted shopkeeper and the
sheltered, scared child that I cannot uncover… yet.
Casual smiles, kind comments, a relaxed nature—all make me feel as if I
am observing confidence personified.
Then there are the eyes, the sheltered pearls that glisten with an age
he has not earned in years, but experience.
It is from the eyes that his true beauty emerges, the gentleness of his
being only taking him so far, the gaze pushing him to a height achieved by few.
The best part is that he doesn't even know his magnificence, oblivious
to the beauty residing within, it resonates around him… and I am changed.
"What are you doing?" Maria whispered as she entered the living room to see him bent over the table. She immediately recognized the paper clutched in his hand, wincing at the thought that she knew what he had read.
"Oh, I'm just… I'm just," he stammered, glancing down at the page quickly before raising his head to meet her eyes. "I was just looking and I… I just found this…"
"And you decided to read it?"
"I didn't know what it was."
"It's okay," she said softly, sighing as she walked around the couch to sit by him. Gently reaching to detach the page from his hand, she held it delicately, the memory it brought painting a smile on her face. "I just wanted to give it to you, tell you why first."
"Why?"
"Yeah, why I wrote it," she said shrugging.
"Well it's about… I mean it's not about…"
"It's you," she replied simply.
"Me?"
Blushing, she lowered her eyes to the paper, tracing the printed words lightly with her finger. "I wrote it before… when you were just 'coffee shop guy' and I was watching you."
Michael cleared his throat nervously before mumbling, "Well you've really got some talent."
Maria laughed as she recognized the expression on his face as one of disbelief. "What," she teased. "You think you're such a big mystery, Mr. Guerin."
"Well…" he mumbled. "You're the first to sum it up like that." Taking the paper from her hands, he scanned the words again, a small smile spreading on his face. "Can I keep it?"
"Of course, you remember that day in your shop where I promised to get you a Christmas present?"
"For the tea?"
"Yeah," she said softly as she reached out to lay a gentle hand on his leg. Leaning forward until she was staring directly into his bashful eyes, she hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Merry Christmas." An instant later her lips were locked with his, the nervousness she felt at his reading her words dispelled as he obviously found joy in them. She hadn't planned on letting him read her little insight, not yet at least, but things with them didn't seem to be progressing at a normal pace anyway, she supposed revealing how she first saw him didn't make much difference at this point.
"So, the guy with Captain Morgan eyes is all right in your books?" he asked quietly as they broke apart.
"Oh the Captain's on top with me any day."
"On top?" he teased lightly.
"Well…" she suggested seductively. "You know it's not too late or anything, I mean… we could."
"We… we can?"
Standing, Maria kept her eyes tied to his as she pulled his arm gently. Moving towards the hallway, she shook her head as she murmured beneath her breath, "Tess is going to freak."
"What?"
"Nothing," she said smiling, leading him into her bedroom before shutting the door securely behind them. Tess and everything else could wait until tomorrow, tonight, it was just about them.
