Chapter Fourteen: Waiting and Announcements

Liz settled herself in a seat by the door and flipped absently through a magazine, her mind focused on the whirlwind of events that had taken place that day. Most of all, Calvin… All thought trailed off as she glanced across at him and found him looking back at her. He gave her his customary small smile and there was a loving twinkle in his eyes that she'd never noticed before. Movement from him drew her attention sharply back to the fact that he was getting up and slipping around the corner to the hallway. He peered briefly around the corner to motion for her to join him.

Taking care to avoid drawing attention, Liz stood slowly and replaced her magazine as though finished with it, then meandered slowly over to where Calvin waited. As soon as she rounded the corner, he caught her arm and pulled her close. "Are you ready to tell them?" he asked, clearly meaning their families. "It's not going to be easy, and I know my dad will object, at least at first, but he'll come around. He has to, if he wants to keep me as a son." He stopped and looked tenderly into Liz's nervous face. "But we don't have to do it right now. If we're going to do this, I want you to be ready to face it, too. I won't put you under my dad's displeasure if you're not ready for it."

Liz shook her head and touched his cheek. "Calvin, I've been subjected to your dad's displeasure for years now, remember? I'm as ready as you are."

He gave her another small smile and took her hand in his. "Alright," he murmured heavily, "Let's do this." Taking a deep breath, he led her back into the waiting room at the same time that Charlie and Anne stepped up to their parents.

Tom looked up at them from his conversation with Jimmy. "You two look like you have something to say," he observed dryly.

Somewhat confused and more than a little intrigued, Calvin and Liz allowed their hands to unclasp and fall to their sides, watching their siblings intently.

"I'm done with the city, Dad," Charlie said firmly and decisively. "I'm going to open up my own garage and I'm moving up here this fall." Liz felt a rush of pride for her twin's choice and sincerely hoped that her father would not object.

"And I want to audit classes at Madison," Anne quickly put in.

Jimmy nodded, then did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"Dad, I want to be an artist."

Jimmy looked as though he didn't like this bit of news at all. "Well now, I don't think –"

"Dude, dude, dude," Tom suddenly interrupted, staring pointedly at Jimmy and coming unexpectedly to Anne's rescue.

"Jimmy," Sarina said gently from her seat against the wall with Lisa and Robin. When he looked at her, she glanced pointedly and meaningfully in Anne's direction.

"Although," Jimmy said forcing a smile as he turned back to his daughter, "it does sound… pretty exciting…" Anne looked at him for a moment, uncertainty shining in her eyes, before moving to sit beside her father. He turned to face her as she sat. "Anne, are you sure that this is what you want?"

"I'm sure," she replied without hesitation.

Jimmy swallowed. "You know, Annie, I was just trying to be a good father."

A smile softened Anne's determined features. "I know," she murmured, placing her arms around her father's neck and hugging him as Charlie sat down across from Tom.

Tom turned to face him. "Sounds like you have your mind made up," he said pointedly.

Without hesitation, Charlie nodded. "I do. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah," Tom said thoughtfully, "I guess I am."

Jimmy released Anne and turned back to Tom. "So, apparently it's a good thing that my daughter's decided to throw away her Harvard education to become an artist? I suppose next you'll say that Calvin is going to throw Yale out the window and become a professional ballet dancer?"

At the mention of his name, Liz felt Calvin tense beside her. Discreetly, she laid a calming hand on his arm.

"So, Calvin." Liz felt her fiancé jump as Jimmy suddenly directly addressed him. "Are you going to go into ballet?" He turned and surveyed the rest of his children critically. "Does anyone else have hidden dreams or aspirations that they want to tell me about?"

"Dad," Calvin said placatingly, stepping forward, "there's something I have to tell you."

Jimmy look of amusement changed to one of alarm. "You're not actually going to do ballet are you?"

His son smiled faintly. "No, Dad, I'm not going into ballet. I enjoy particle physics and I'll make a career out of it, don't worry. It's about my wedding."

Jimmy suddenly looked very pleased. "Ah, so she said yes, did she? Did it all formal and gentlemanly, have you? Good, good. We'll talk over details at home, Son. Let's not make a big deal out of it in front of everyone, it's not polite. Especially in the company of other, not-so-privileged young women."

Calvin immediately knew that now was not the time to break the news about his engagement to Liz, since his father assumed he'd officially proposed to Rachel. Meekly, he ducked his head. "Of course, Dad." Liz glanced sharply at him, but he only gave her a warning glance and brushed her shoulder soothingly. "We'll talk to him later," he whispered almost inaudibly as he pretended to sidle past her, "I don't want to make a huge scene here in the hospital. It'll be bad enough in private."

While Jimmy completely missed the exchange, Charlie and Daniel did not. Together, Liz and Calvin settled into the sofa between the two. Charlie leaned over and surveyed Liz's left hand. "Hmm," he intoned quietly, taking her hand and brushing over the flower ring with his thumb. "What's this?"

Daniel leaned to see past his older brother with a snide grin on his face. "Looks like Liz is engaged…" He glanced seriously at Calvin. "Good luck telling Dad that he's thinking of the wrong girl. He was all set to have you marry Rachel Zimmerman." In a typically teenage move, he shuddered. "I think you've made a better choice with this one, Cal."

Liz allowed herself a small grin, despite her fluttering nerves. "I'm glad I have your approval, Daniel," she said in a forcibly light tone.

"Excuse me, Tom?" Bud's voice drew the attention of everyone in the room. "D'you want to meet your grandson?"

Liz felt herself freeze in anticipation. Tom looked surprised, but recovered his dignity quickly. "Of course." He got up and followed Bud to the delivery room, followed by the rest of the Baker family.

When they entered the room and saw Nora sitting up against the bed cradling a tiny newborn, Liz felt her heart jump to her throat and she instinctively slid her arm through Charlie's.

"You did agood job, honey," Kate told Nora from her place beside the bed as Bud sat down behind his wife. "Real good."

"That's a big boy," Jessica said with a grin. "Too bad he wasn't here to help us win the Cup."

Liz smiled at that and laid a hand on her little sister's shoulder, pulling her back to lean against her side. She noticed the Murtaughs filing quietly in and felt Calvin come to stand behind her.

"Have you thought of any names, yet?" Tom asked, admiring his grandson.

Nora glanced at Bud. "I think we're going to go with Tom," she said quietly, looking directly at her father as tears sprang to his eyes. "Because you taught us that there's no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a really good one." She looked down at the baby in her arms, then back up at her father. "And you're about as good as they get."

Liz glanced at her parents and saw that both of them had tears in their eyes. Both were deeply touched by this unexpected choice of Nora's. Nora smiled at them before looking down at her baby boy. "Go and see Grandpa," she cooed gently. "Go on." Tenderly, she passed baby Tom to Lorraine, who cuddled him briefly, clearly reveling in her new position as godmother of Nora's child. Then she relinquished him to Kate's waiting arms as she and Tom both held the sleepy infant.

"Tom," her dad murmured to the baby in a voice Liz hadn't heard since Kyle and Nigel were babies, "Hey Tom. Welcome to the family," he finished, choking up on the last word.

Sorry, there's a lot of movie-verse in this chapter, but it kind of had to be that way. My computer spazzed out again for a couple of days, so I got a lot of writing done. Here goes about three more chapters, all at once. Don't forget to review:)