Part Fifteen
The phone starts ringing at roughly the same time Gracie starts wailing through her baby monitor the next morning, and Sydney and Michael exchange glances.
"You get the phone, I'll get Grace," Michael says.
"What if it's for you?" Sydney asks.
"Tell them I'll call them back." Michael kisses her quickly before throwing on a t-shirt and boxers and rushing out of the room. Sydney reaches for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Syd? It's Kerri."
"Kerri!" Sydney exclaims, pulling the sheets up under her arms. "I'm so glad you called, you have to tell me about Ben. He's not there right now, is he?"
"No, Eric brought the boys back, so I thought he shouldn't sleep here tonight," Kerri says. "I'd just feel weird about having a man I'm not married to spend the night with kids in the house."
"I seriously don't think it matters," Sydney says without thinking. "I really doubt Eric hides his relationship with Shawna from them."
There is a moment of awkward silence before Sydney speaks again.
"Ker, I'm sor--"
"No, no, don't be, I don't care what Eric does," Kerri says hastily. "Although I did take no small amount of pleasure calling to tell him that I'm getting married."
"Yeah, so I hear."
"What does that mean?" Kerri asks. "Oh my gosh, did Eric call up Mike and tell him he was upset?"
Sydney thinks Kerri sounds entirely too hopeful about the idea. "Not exactly. Mike called him just to-- well, he didn't really have a good reason to call. To feel out whether Eric knew about you getting married, and to see how he felt about it." And to give him shit about Ben Strand, of course, but Sydney figured Kerri didn't need to know that.
"What did Eric say?"
Sydney sighs. "The conversation didn't end well, Ker. Mike didn't tell me what exactly was said, but I get the impression that Eric got a bit defensive about the whole thing."
"What, like do you think he regrets leaving me?"
Sydney frowns. "What do you care, Kerri?" she asks. "You're marrying Ben."
"Oh, I know," Kerri says hastily. "It would just be nice, you know, if Eric at least felt bad about what he did."
"Kerri, you're--" Sydney stops herself before she finishes the sentence: Kerri, you're not using Ben to make Eric jealous, are you?
"I'm what, Sydney?"
Sydney bites her lower lip. Conversations with Kerri can devolve into rather nasty arguments, especially as of late, so she figures she'd better tread carefully. "I just hope you're marrying Ben for the right reasons."
"Sydney, of course I am!" Kerri assures her. "I've known Ben for years, did you know that? We dated in college."
"You broke up in college," Sydney points out.
"Only because he was moving to New York," Kerri responds. "God, I wish we'd tried harder to make things work. I could've saved myself years of heartache."
"Don't say that," Sydney says. "You have three wonderful children with Eric, and the two of you had some great times together." Except-- when a marriage ended badly, did all of the good times suddenly become meaningless? Sydney wasn't sure, and she was glad she'd never have to find out firsthand.
"Yeah," Kerri says. "You're right, I mean, I wouldn't trade the boys for anything. But Sydney, I really do love Ben, and I really do think this is the best thing. Aren't you happy for me?"
Sydney sighs. "If you're happy, Kerri, of course I'm happy for you."
"Good," Kerri says, voice full of relief. "I'd hate it if I couldn't share this with you."
"Of course you can share this with me," Sydney assures her. "In fact, I even want to meet Ben. Mike and I are coming to LA this coming weekend, Ker."
"Really?" Kerri sounds delighted. "How come? Does Mike have meetings, or something?"
"Nah, we just wanted to come see everyone while it's still okay for me to travel."
"What do you mean, while-- oh my gosh, Sydney, the baby!" Kerri practically screeches. "You must think I'm awful, going on and on about myself without even asking you about the baby!"
"No, it's okay," Sydney rolls her eyes. "I'm constantly pregnant, what's there to ask?"
"Lots," Kerri laughs. "When's it due, Syd? Did you plan this?"
"God, no, we didn't plan it," Sydney responds. "And we're expecting little Sam or Maggie in mid-November."
"When's Grace's birthday? October third, right?"
"Yes," Sydney sighs. "Don't remind me. I'll be running myself ragged, chasing around a one-year-old with a baby on my hip."
"You'll do fine," Kerri assures her. "What's Mike think of the whole thing?"
"He's ecstatic, of course," Sydney says dryly. "You know how men are."
"No, I know how Eric is, and I think there's a distinction," Kerri corrects.
"You know Ben, too," Sydney reminds her. "Oh my gosh, Ker, you haven't told me. Does he have children of his own? Are the two of you going to want to have more?"
"He has a daughter, Megan. She's fourteen, she's very sweet. Her mother, Ben's first wife, died giving birth."
"Oh, Ker, that's awful," Sydney says.
"Yeah, Ben loved her a lot. I don't think he ever really got over it," Kerri says sadly. "But he's great with Megan, they get along really great, and my boys like her a lot. Plus, she has an aunt here in LA that she's really close to, she spends a lot of time with her."
There is a pause before Kerri speaks again.
"And no, Syd, we're not going to have more. You're still young, but God, I'm going to be forty soon."
"That's hardly ancient," Syd says with a smile.
"It feels ancient," Kerri responds. "Especially to be starting all over again."
Another pause.
"Look, Syd, I'm tired. I'm going to go back to bed."
"You call me at the oddest hours now," Sydney observes. "What time even is it there?"
"I couldn't sleep, I had a lot on my mind," Kerri confesses. "But, hey, call me later this week so we can make plans for when you're in LA, okay? You and Mike could bring the kids over, we can all have dinner, you can meet Ben and see the boys. You're bringing the kids, right?"
"Yes," Sydney confirms. "That sounds great, Ker. Talk to you soon?"
"Absolutely. Bye, Syd."
"Bye, Kerri."
