Sorry for the wait. I know updates don't come as regularly in my attempt to alternate between stories, but I'm just trying to make sure I don't update too much of one at the expense of the other.
Thanks for the feedback to the previous chapter and your endless patience between updates. :-)
"Nice, huh?"
Max took the ring box from Eric and whistled his approval. "Wow."
"Careful. I just got them back from the jeweler this morning." He'd waited all day to show off the rings to his friend, deciding the best time would me after the late night news before heading home. The station was practically a ghost town then, only essential people. "They're all clean, no loose stones...perfect!"
"And Mr. Feeny just gave these to you?"
"I tried to give him money but-"
"Man, that is so typical Eric Matthews' dumb luck."
He took the box back. "Excuse me?"
"Let me tell you how the rest of the world works. The rest of us have to scrimp and save and wonder if there's any truth to those stupid articles about how many months' salary you have to blow on one freaking ring or else she'll think you don't really love her."
"Again, tried to give the man money, he refused."
"Lucky bastard," Max grumbled. "I bet if you were to trip over a hole in the street there would be money in it, too, a hundred dollars!"
"Hey, that only happened the one time. And it was fifty dollars."
"Still, luck. I spent so much time stressing over rings and these fall into your lap."
"I stressed over rings before, remember?"
"What are you talking about?"
"A couple years ago when I planned on proposing to Hollie," Eric reminded him. "And then coming up with a proposal..."
"You wanted it to be big."
"It was going to be at my thirtieth birthday party, right after everyone sang, but before I blew out the candles." He shook his head. It all seemed so stupid now. "When Hollie asked me what I was going to wish for I'd say forever with her and get down on one knee in front of everyone. Dumb, huh," he asked with a wry chuckle.
"No, it would've been great proposal- a memorable one. Hollie just wasn't worthy of it."
"Yeah." It killed him that it was so easy to think up what he thought was the perfect proposal for Hollie, but for Angela nothing seemed good enough.
Max noticed his friend's faraway look as he gazed at the ring box. "What's going on? Where's your head at?"
"I was so in love with Hollie, but blind to who she really was. She was screwing around with Vince for months- in our apartment…our bed- before I caught them together and figured it out. I still can't believe she fooled me for so long. I was so stupid."
"We've all been stupid over a woman. And hey, at least with Hollie you realized what it was you wanted out of life. You knew you wanted marriage, house, kids…and look at you now! You've got almost all that stuff even if it did come at you in a backwards order." He slapped Eric's shoulder. "Maybe if you never went through all that crap with Hollie you wouldn't be able to appreciate what you have with Angela now."
"You might be right about that."
"Of course I am. So tell me, how are you going to pop the question?"
"I have no idea. I want to do something big and romantic- really sweep her off of her feet. Angela deserves it. But she would kill me if I pulled any kind of public proposal. It's not her. She only just forgave me for accidentally letting the entire country know she was in labor when I was on Rise and Shine, America."
"Well, I'm sure however you do it, it will beat my proposal to Gina."
"I don't think I ever heard that story."
"Because it's not that impressive, at least as far as proposals go."
"What happened?"
"I had dinner reservations and then a private tour of the planetarium set up. She's always wanted to see a shooting star, but since we can't predict nature I thought the next best thing would be to sit with her under a virtual blanket of stars and show her one as best I could."
"Nice."
"Yeah, it would've been, except when I was getting ready to leave I couldn't find the ring. I'm tearing the house apart and then I hear Moose in the corner trying to hack something up."
"You're telling me the dog ate the ring?"
"And the box- which was the real issue. That's what required surgery." Eric tried- and failed- to hold in his laughter. "Hey, it's not funny."
"I'm sorry, but I thought that only happened on TV. What did you do?"
"I called Gina to cancel our date because I had to take Moose to the emergency vet. You know, as much as I hate that the proposal was ruined, it kind of reinforced that she was in for the long haul."
"What do you mean?"
"She met me there." He smirked at the memory. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous we looked all dressed up in that waiting room? I was in my best suit and she was in a killer black dress. But Gina didn't care about a wrecked date. She just wanted Moose to be okay. All she cared about was my dumb dog."
"So when did you propose?"
"While we were sitting there the conversation turned to one day imagining bringing kids to the waiting room when they do something stupid. I asked her if she wanted to be the one sitting next to me in waiting rooms for the next however many years to deal with pet and kid stupidity and emergencies."
"That's…sort of sweet."
"It worked for us, but I'd still rather have done it the way I planned. Figure out what works for you and Angela."
"I just really don't want to end up proposing in front of the TV while eating takeout after I get home from work."
"If she wants it to be just the two of you that just might do the trick."
"It would work but it's not special."
"Have you told her dad yet?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, her dad: big, tall, retired army guy- you talk to him yet?"
Eric frowned. He and Sgt. Moore have discussed the future before and he had made it clear that yes, he did plan to ask Angela to marry him one day- he wanted to be with her forever- but he wouldn't rush it. It hadn't occurred to him that the man might be expecting more. Frankly, he found the whole 'asking for the daughter's hand in marriage' tradition to be outdated and a little creepy. Having a daughter now didn't change that for him. He only asked Hollie's father before his proposal that never was because she insisted it be done. "No."
"No?"
"Angela's an independent, capable woman. She's her own person and definitely knows how to run her life. I love that about her. She hasn't lived with her dad in years and just started talking to him again after Georgia was born. I don't need to ask his permission. In fact, I think Angela would be pissed if I asked someone else, even her father, for permission to marry her. It would be like saying she can't make her own choices."
"I didn't mean it like that, but kudos to you for being an evolved man of today," Max fired back sarcastically.
"How else could you mean it?"
"Look, Gina suggested that her dad might appreciate a head's up before I proposed just to feel involved. So I did- took him out to dinner, treated him to the cigars he loves but her step-mom always gets on his case for smoking, told him how much I loved his daughter, and said I was going to propose. I didn't ask. I informed him."
"Sgt. Moore already knows I want to marry Angela. I was just waiting for the timing to be right."
"Then I guess it's settled."
"I thought so, but thanks for giving me something else to worry about!" He punched Max's arm.
"Ow! I'm just trying to help."
"Then help me come up with ideas for proposing." Still, he couldn't stop wondering if Angela's dad was expecting to be informed before he proposed. "That's what I need."
"You're overthinking this, granted that's a change for you, but you really are. For some wacky reason Angela loves you and would say yes even if you woke her up and asked her as soon as you got home with no fancy plans."
"You've obviously never seen Angela right when she wakes up," he said with a quiet laugh. "And someone aside from Georgia waking her- she'll make you pay."
"Just don't stress about it. You'll think of something. If you need help with any set up, let me know."
"Like, if I were to get a nice hotel room you'd watch Georgia for the night kind of help?"
"More like I'd help you get luggage to the hotel and watch you drop your teething kid off with her grandparents, that kind of help." He stood and went towards the door. "I asked Gina to marry me in the waiting area at the emergency vet. So long as you don't actually pop the question in a human emergency room you'll have me beat."
"That's true. Thanks for setting the bar low."
"What are friends for?"
"Damned if I know."
/
/
"Alvin, what are you still doing awake," Trish asked as she closed and locked the front door. She had been expecting her big brother to be asleep by now. He got tired early these days. Perhaps it was a good sign.
"Someone had to make sure your date brought you home at a decent hour. I suppose eleven is considered decent in certain places."
She smiled at the sarcasm in his voice. "It took a while to get out of the parking lot after the concert."
"I remember parking lots after concerts," he noted, never looking up from the table. "Shall I kill the good doctor tonight or tomorrow?"
"Charles was a perfect gentleman, if you must know."
"I didn't, but it's good to hear."
Trish pulled out a chair and took a seat beside him. "I don't know if I can ever get used to this...dating. I go out and they are perfectly nice men and I enjoy their company, but I keep comparing them to..." She shook her head. "I thought it was supposed to get easier but I still miss Roger."
"There's no timetable for grief, Patricia."
"It took me almost five years to take off my wedding ring and even then all I did was moved it to my right hand." She stared at her ring for a few moments before turning her attention back to Alvin. He had his laptop, notebooks, and photo albums taking up most of the table and crumpled papers were tossed around the room. "Why don't you tell me what you're up to? I could use the distraction."
"I'm working on something for Georgia."
"Oh, like a scrapbook?"
"Maybe. I wasn't sure if that was the way to go or if I should try to write my memoirs...my life in my words for my granddaughter."
"That's very sweet. Can I ask what brought this on?"
"I have to face the fact that I may not be around to see her grow up."
"Alvin, don't talk like that. The treatments are working and-"
"The treatments are simply delaying the inevitable. There has been no grand remission."
"But the tumors haven't grown either. You're stable."
"How much longer will that last?"
"Are you kidding? You're going to be around to annoy the hell out of me for years to come," she stated with confidence, though the tears in her eyes gave her away.
"I hope so, but I have to be realistic. I want Georgia- and any siblings she may or may not have- to know me…all of me- good, bad, stupid, and ugly. I need to do this."
"Why don't you ask Angela for help? She is a writer and I'm sure she would love to-"
"No. I need this to be from me, in my own words. Besides, I don't want to worry Angela or dredge up topics that would hurt her. Right now she deserves to be happy and to be enjoying time with Eric and Georgia, not babying me- which she would do."
"If you're sure this is the way you want to handle this."
"I am."
"Okay."
"She can blow kisses now, you know?"
"Excuse me?"
"Georgia, she can blow kisses. I talked with Angela on Skype earlier tonight and Georgia was showing off her new tricks. I don't know if she's realized I'm on the screen, but she kept waving and blowing kisses at me."
"That's sweet."
"And with the way she repeats certain sounds over and over it sounds like she'll be talking soon." He sighed. "She's growing so fast. She'll be one in a few months."
"It seems like yesterday I was there when Angela and Eric brought home a tiny newborn."
"Oh, Angela said they're planning a small birthday party for her. Obviously no details yet, but it will be either the weekend before her or the weekend after her actual birthday since it falls during the middle of the week. She wanted me to tell you so you made sure to get time off of work to fly to Philadelphia with me."
"I'll put in for the time off next week." She kissed his cheek before standing. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late."
"We'll see." A while later Alvin was staring at the computer screen. The words were starting to blur together and he was no longer able to tell if things made sense. Did this ever happen to Angela? He closed his laptop and was about to call it a night when his phone buzzed. Who on earth could that be at this hour? When he saw that the text was from Eric his mind immediately jumped to worst case scenarios. Was Angela okay? Was it Georgia? He opened the text and was momentarily confused when he saw that it only contained a picture. Then another text came through. 'Angela's engagement ring,' he read. Engagement ring? Does that mean-
As if Eric could read his thoughts, he sent another text. 'I haven't proposed yet. Still trying to come up with something as perfect as she is.'
A wave of relief washed over him. For a moment he was worried that they were already engaged and neglected to tell him. He wanted to share in these happy moments with his daughter for as long as he was around to do so.
'What do you think,' the following text read.
What did he think? For the first time he touched the screen to enlarge the image. It certainly didn't look like any engagement ring he had ever seen. It was different. Unique. It stood out. Just like Angela. 'It's beautiful,' he typed. 'She will love it.'
/
Eric exhaled when he read the text. Even after thinking it over he felt weird about the idea of asking for Angela's hand, but there was no harm in keeping Sgt. Moore informed.
/
/
"…and this is the upward dog pose, or some people call it the cobra pose," Angela explained to Georgia, who lay beside her on the mat. "It's similar to your moves when you were learning to crawl, right?" She looked over at her daughter and found that she no longer had a captive audience. There was something else keeping the baby occupied. "Do you have your feet in your mouth again, baby girl? People are going to think I don't feed you." She discovered her feet a few days ago and had been cramming them into her mouth every chance she got. What surprised Angela most was how quickly the baby learned to remove her socks, simply for the hand-eye coordination it required. It didn't seem like something she should be able to do already. "Okay, if that's how you want to play, mama's game."
"Either that is the most shameless come on I've ever seen or…or…I don't even know." It wasn't uncommon for Eric to find Angela doing her yoga with Georgia in tow, but never quite like this. "What the hell are you doing?"
She craned her neck to look at him. "I'm just showing some solidarity with our daughter. She likes to lie on her back and hold her feet-"
"Yeah, she also tries to eat them."
"-so I thought I would see what all the fuss is about."
"What's the verdict?"
"Babies are weird. And I'm long overdue for a pedicure," she noted, wiggling her toes. "It is a good stretch though. You should try."
"I think I'm good." He still got down on the floor and lay beside them. "How has she been this morning?"
"Cranky, hungry, happy, cranky again, and now silly: in that order."
"Do you think she's up for the baseball game today?"
Angela sighed. Eric really wanted to introduce her to baseball. She understood. There were things she couldn't wait to introduce Georgia to as well. Heck, she already did yoga with the baby. However, she worried he wasn't being realistic. There were grand visions in his head of this well-behaved infant who would be too captivated to cry the entire eight innings. Or was it nine? "I don't know. It's a long game and her nap time falls right in the middle of it. Her Little Miss Diva meter is turned all the way up to eleven before a nap."
"Yeah, but she seemed to handle the crowds at Josh's cross country meet and even fell asleep. She passed out during Max's kids' T-ball game, too." He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Angela, seeing the skepticism all over her face. "I know it's silly but it's important to me. Can't we at least try it and see how she reacts? If she turns into a full blown diva I'll walk around with her. They even have an area designed for small kids full of toys and games. I already bought headphones for her to drown out noise if needed, and-"
"Okay, okay. Since it sounds like you have a backup plan in place…we can try."
"Really?" He leaned over the baby to kiss Angela. "Thanks."
"I'm sorry if I sounded a little nuts. There's just nothing worse than those public meltdowns."
"I know. I hate them, too. It would be really cool to share this with her though. Plus think about it this way: if you still hate baseball after today, I'll have someone to go to games with and won't ask you to come along."
"Huh. Good point." She leaned up to kiss him again, laughing when the Georgia began to whine and flail her limbs about. "Uh-oh, is someone not the center of attention for a moment and can't handle it?"
"Maybe she's afraid I'll crush her." He sat up and stared down at the baby. "What are you doing, drooley?"
"Nice."
"What? It's not like I can call her baldy anymore." Eric rubbed the top of her head. "It's growing so fast."
Angela reached out and touched the ends of Georgia's dark hair. It was difficult to tell at this point if it was brown or black in color. "She's still a long way from a haircut. We can't even put a bow or barrette in to stay yet."
He smiled when Georgia pulled on his arm to get herself into a sitting position. "Hey, that was pretty smart there, kid."
"It blows my mind everything she can do and all that she's learned. Especially in the past month it seems like she can do so much. Her body is finally catching up to her brain."
"And yet she'd still rather eat her feet," he said with a chuckle when she leaned back against his legs as support when she crammed a foot in her mouth. "Goofball." He turned his attention back to Angela. "You know, I was thinking that it's been a while since we've had a proper date night."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we should try it again sometime soon."
"I'd love that. I miss spending time just the two of us, time that isn't squeezed between work and naps, that is."
"I miss it, too."
"Did you have anything special in mind?"
"We've been meaning to go back to the restaurant we went to for our anniversary."
"The food was amazing."
"Or I just heard about this steakhouse that opened that has a library inside. I like to eat and you like to read."
"That sounds interesting. See, those are two date ideas right there. Now we just have to pry ourselves away from the baby and make it out of the house."
"And stay awake," he joked.
"That, too. I suppose date nights would be good practice for being without Georgia Memorial Day weekend."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's going camping with your parents and Josh, remember? You dad asked me about it way back when I was pregnant. I'm not even sure if I was showing yet when he asked he was so excited to share the experience with his grandchild. We still have about two months to prepare ourselves, but maybe it would be good to slowly get Georgia used to spending some time away from us."
"My mom would love to babysit overnight sometime. She's always angling for more Georgia time."
"I guess it would be good practice all around. We can prepare for the separation and your parents can get used to dealing with a baby all night."
"I can ask if they're available tomorrow night, not for all night baby-sitting," he reassured Angela. He knew she needed more than a day's notice to prepare for time away. Frankly, he did, too. "But we can go out to dinner."
"That would be nice. If we keep putting off the dates they'll never happen."
"Sorry about that."
"You have non-typical work hours and we have a baby. Those are the best excuses for dates not happening."
"Still, it would be nice to have a date that didn't take place in front of the TV in the middle of the night."
"Hey, I love our takeout nights. I love that we've always been comfortable enough to do that with each other. I don't need nights out. I love being with you, wherever and whenever possible," she added before kissing him. "I only hope I'm not boring you."
He looked at her, surprised. "Boring me? Are you crazy? Coming home and cuddling in front of the TV in my underwear with you and food- pretty much my idea of heaven. If anyone has to be bored it would be you. You've been all over the world and have seen some pretty exotic stuff."
"Eric, you are many things, but boring is not one of them. And I think deep down I've always been a homebody. I just never had a real home where I wanted to stay before now. Going out was a way to distract myself from how lonely I was. Trust me. I wouldn't trade what we have for Rome, London, Sydney, or any other city- no matter how fancy."
"But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get out of our underwear and away from the television every once in a while, huh?"
"There are two ways to take that statement, but you're right. I do love dressing up and getting to look like someone besides Georgia's mama sometimes. I want to be beautiful for you."
"You don't need to get dressed up for that."
She smiled. "Thank you, but like you said, it wouldn't hurt to put in a little effort now and then so we don't get lazy and complacent."
"Do you know what would make you look insanely hot right now?"
"What?"
"If you wear the Phillies t-shirt and hat I bought you for the game."
"You mean the matching shirts you bought the three of us?"
"And the hat, you can't forget the hat. It makes the outfit."
/
/
"Aunt Nomi, why do you and Uncle Shawn have to go back to New York?"
She briefly glanced at Nina before turning her attention back to their project. The flower girl dress was almost finished and she wasn't about to ruin it by not paying attention to the needle in her hand. "Honey, we live in New York. Our apartment is there and so are our jobs."
"You should live here," she said, stomping her feet. "Or I will tell mommy and daddy we need to move there."
Naomi smiled. Shawn already spent every flight home debating the pros and cons of moving to Texas and she knew this time would be no different. It would be worse, however, if he heard Nina's pleas and guilt trip. "We visit each other a lot and talk all the time on Skype."
"But it's not the same. I like having all of us together."
"I know, honey, I do, too."
"So move here," Nina stated, as if it was as simple as her wishing for it to happen.
She knew she could debate and get into a long, confusing, back and forth discussion about why a move wasn't happening, at least not anytime in the near future, but that would be futile. Arguing with a five year old was the definition of insanity, especially when that five year old could argue as well as Nina. It didn't help that she already knew how to work the face and those puppy dog eyes to try and get her way. "You know what?"
"What?"
"I think we're finished with your dress," Naomi said, holding up the garment for examination.
"Really?"
"You want to try it on?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Please?" A few minutes later Nina was twirling around in front of the mirror. "This is my most prettiful dress ever! Thank you."
She kissed the top of her head. "You're welcome. Thank you for helping me. You did a very good job sewing the flower on." And she had done a good job. Naomi only had to make a few minor corrections. She let Nina twirl around and model a little longer. "Okay, I think it's time to change."
"Aw, man!"
"We don't want anything to mess it up, right?"
"I guess not." She held the ends and swished it back and forth.
"You can try it on again before I go back home and I will keep it safe before the wedding."
"And you won't let Uncle Shawn see it?"
"I promise. Your dress will be a surprise like mine."
"But you showed me a picture of your dress."
"That's because I trust you to keep it a secret."
"You look like Cinderella in your wedding dress…if she had black hair."
"Thank you." She retrieved the tiara she bought to go along with Nina's dress and placed it on the girl's head. "You look like Cinderella, too…if she had brown hair."
"Can I be Belle? Because she already does have brown hair."
"You got it."
/
"What do you think my new middle name should be?"
"Evan, it's up to you. You don't have to change your middle name if you don't want to. If you just want to change the first and keep the middle the same then-"
"No," he said, interrupting Rachel. "My old middle name is my old dad's name. I want all new names."
"Whatever you want. How about you make a list of the names you like and we'll talk about it later, okay?"
He took the name book from the table and nodded. "I will work on my list right now."
As soon as he was gone Rachel laid her head on the kitchen table and stared at Jack and Shawn. "We're going to be going over names until adoption day."
"I don't get it. I understand why he wants to change his name, but he's treating it like this is going to completely erase that part of his life."
"In a way it is," Shawn spoke up.
"What do you mean?"
"First promise me you're not going to take any of this personally because it has nothing to do with you."
Jack groaned. "I hate when you start conversations like that. But fine, go ahead."
"There's a lot of baggage that can come with a name. Do you know how many times I wished I was something other than a Hunter? Or someone besides Chet's son? Hunters, to me, were not happy people and have miserable lives. Maybe they bought into idea that Hunters were cursed and supposed to be miserable, or maybe it was just bad luck. I'm not sure."
"Shawn, it's not-"
"Hey, don't take it personally, remember? You're a Hunter in name, but you didn't grow up around them like I did."
"You say that like I had a choice in the matter. Besides, if being a Hunter is such a bad thing why is Evan so anxious to be one?"
"All I'm saying is that with a name come expectations and prejudices. Or it can go the other way with nepotism. Come on, Jack, how many times in your life have you name dropped your stepdad to help things go your way?"
"I haven't done that in years."
"But you still did it because you know what his name means in the business world. And the second people knew he was your stepdad they treated you different…better?"
"I guess."
"Names mean something. I came to terms with mine for the most part, but if I had a chance to completely erase it when I was Evan's age…maybe I would've."
"What about the quote, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," Rachel asked. "It doesn't matter what your name is, you're still you. Only you can define who you are."
"A name can impact that, good and bad. It reminds you of where you came from. And right now Evan hates the baggage that comes along with his old name. It's everything he doesn't want to be. I know it's exhausting listening to him go over names- he must've gone over every name from letter A to L before you came into the room. But I shut up and listened because I get why it's important."
"You know you can sound pretty smart when you want to."
"That's all Nomi's influence."
"What's my influence?"
He spun around and saw her standing in the doorway with Nina. "Oh, hey, no I was just saying how being with you makes me all, you know…smart sounding and stuff."
"Oh, okay."
"We finished my dress," Nina announced. "And it is so prettiful."
"I think you mean beautiful," Rachel corrected with a laugh.
"Mommy, it's pretty and beautiful. And that makes it prettiful."
"Can we see it?"
"No! It's a secret."
"Well, look at you Miss Fancypants."
"It's a dress, daddy."
"You guys definitely don't sound too smart right now," Shawn joked.
"And Uncle Shawn you can't look at my dress either. Aunt Nomi is going to hide it at your house."
"I promise I won't look."
"I know what I want my new middle name to be," Evan announced as he came back into the room.
"That was fast."
"What is it, pal?"
"McGuire."
Rachel brought a hand to her heart and tried not to get too excited. "Really?"
"Yeah, this way I have names from both you and dad. Is it okay?"
"It's more than okay. It's perfect. I think Evan McGuire Hunter sounds great. Grampy will be thrilled."
"I want a new name, too," Nina exclaimed, shooting a hand into the air. "But I want to keep Nina because I like being Nina."
"You are a perfect Nina."
"So you want to change your middle name?"
"I'm boring of Ruby. I get tired of you saying it when I'm in trouble."
The adults laughed, but Evan said, "Then stop getting in trouble."
She stuck her tongue out at her brother before continuing. "So can I change it?"
"If you want to," Rachel started, having visions of her wanting her name to be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or even Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash after her favorite My Little Ponies. "It's your name."
"Is there more names from families like Evan is using?"
She trying to come up with something Nina would like and wouldn't leave hurt feelings. "Oh, you know what? Both of your grandmas have the same middle name. It's Victoria." There, if Nina liked it they had a name that would make both her mother and mother-in-law happy. "It means victory."
"Like I win? I'm a winner?"
"Yes."
"Say it all together so I can hear how it sounds."
"Nina Victoria Hunter."
The girl repeated it quietly to herself a few times before nodding. "I like it. It sounds like a princess name."
"Milo needs a new middle name, too," Evan jumped in.
"Well, if we're trying to hit all branches of the family tree," Jack started nervously, "I know it would mean a lot to my stepdad if we used his dad's name. He was a great guy- a great grandfather. He never treated me any different from my cousins he was related to by blood."
"What was his name?"
"Bartholomew."
She wrinkled her nose. "Bartholomew?"
"Isn't that Bart Simpson's full name?"
"I know it's not the best name, but like I said, it would mean a lot to my stepdad. If you don't like Bartholomew, he did have two middle names."
"What were they?"
"Jasper and Woodrow."
"Did his parents hate him," Shawn asked. "That's a lot of name especially once you add in the last name."
Rachel took a deep breath. She could see it meant a lot to Jack as well, not just his step-father. "All right, I'll agree to Bartholomew on one condition."
"What?"
"If Milo decides he hates it when he's older I'm sending him to you."
/
/
"…and this is a picture of Georgia during her first seventh inning stretch. She was so cute and into everyone singing along. Here she is with the foul ball Angela caught in the eighth, and-"
"Okay, I get it," Max interrupted. "She had fun at the game."
"She had a blast, only cried a couple times and one of those was because we wouldn't share our cotton candy with her."
"You do realize you're turning into one of those parents, don't you?"
"What parents?"
"The ones who think everything their kid does is so special and amazing and they just shove pictures into the faces of everyone."
"You have met Georgia, right? She is pretty amazing. Besides, don't act like you don't do the same with your kids. How many times did I watch the videos of Leo's first solo trip down the big kid slide or Tess counting to 100?"
"Those are accomplishments. It took Leo a long time to work up the nerve to…" He trailed off as he realized what he was saying. "Damn it, I'm a boring parent, too!"
"We're not boring."
"You never think it's going to happen to you," Max continued, "but these kids just warp your mind. I wonder if it's the sleep deprivation that blinds you to how dull you become."
"My life has gotten about a million times more fun since Georgia was born." He looked up when there was a knock at the door and was surprised to see Angela standing there. She was supposed to meet him for dinner during his break- their effort to take time out just for themselves- but that wasn't until later. "Hey, this is a surprise. What happened, did my mom ask for more Georgia time?"
"I dropped Georgia off at Max's house. Gina's watching her."
That was news to him. "She's at my house?"
Eric didn't like how serious Angela looked and was overcome with a feeling of impending doom. "What's going on?" He walked over and took her hands. "Is something wrong?"
"Your mom called me a little while ago. She and your dad were in the backyard talking to Mr. Feeny and Lila and well…look, she said he was conscious the whole time and he appears stable and-"
"Who's stable? Did something happen to my dad?"
She shook her head and clenched his hands tighter. "It's Mr. Feeny."