Saturday July 21st —4:14pm
"Aiden?" Antonia said as she stood at the door of their bedroom. "Aiden!" She shouted, smacking her hand against the door.
"Will you cut it out?" His voice came from behind the door, and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"You promised." She whined, wiggling the doorknob, the door flew open and he stepped toward her quickly, watching her eyes widen in surprise as she took a step back into the wall. "You promised." She whispered.
"I promised that you'd get your birthday gifts on your birthday, now stop being a bully and get ready for dinner." He said, letting his finger dart out to tickle her side, she yelped and slapped at his hand.
"Mean! It is my birthday." She said, pushing past him to walk toward Melody's room, she turned before walking inside. "I've waited patiently all day long for my gifts." She playfully glared.
"And look at that… you haven't lost your hair or your teeth, and you're still breathing. So that's a relief." He smiled, making a face at her as she glared and turned sharply into Melody's room. "Tex, come on. Get ready to go."
"I'm getting Mel ready to go." She called looking around the room. "Aiden, where's Melody?"
"What do you mean, where's Melody?" He asked, turning around, he poked his head in the room. Antonia looked between him and the bed, and suddenly, a little face popped out from the closet, looking at the two adults curiously, wondering why they looked so panicked. "What were you doing in there?" He signed, laughing as he moved forward to pick her up, listening to her giggle as Antonia moved around him. "Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm going to get ready. Get Mel ready to go." She said, slipping out the door.
"Hey! You set me up!" He said, walking toward the doorway, he watched her disappear into their bedroom. "Hey!"
"Suck it up, buttercup!" She exclaimed, closing the door behind her with a laugh. She walked to the closet and rifled through the different outfits that were there, trying to find what she was looking for, she saw the door open and looked toward him as he approached her. "Are you here to torture me more on my birthday?" She asked, moving away from his hands as he reached for her, she backed up against the wall slightly, a hanger with a dress in her hands. She watched his eyes as they looked her up and down. "You look hungry." She commented, watching the corner of his lip turn up. Instead of moving away from him further, she stepped directly into him. "Where is my birthday gift?" She whispered, staring into his eyes.
"You will find out soon enough", he growled playfully as he captured her lips with his, stepping into her as well. "Get dressed." He whispered, dropping a peck on her cheek as he turned and reached for a suit jacket in the closet. "Melody is faster at dressing than you, and she can't even button the back of her dress by herself." He nudged her as she scoffed, and he quickly disappeared out the door again.
Aiden pulled his jacket on and stepped down the hallway toward Melody's room, glancing carefully to make sure she was dressed, she was sitting on her new bed, shoes in her hand as she wrestled with getting them on her feet. He smiled and stepped in the room, crouching by the end of the bed, he took her foot in his hand and carefully slipped her shoe on it, watching her smile at him as she handed him her other shoe. He slipped that shoe on as well, buckling the small buckle on each, as he stood up and lifted her into his arms, listening to her laugh as he walked into the hallway.
"Tex, let's go. Reservations are at five-thirty."
"You said reservations were at five." She said, poking her head out from the room, clearly not quite dressed, she watched the surprised look on his face. "Aiden?"
"They're actually for six o'clock, but we have to get there, so hurry up!" He said, watching her scowl as she disappeared back into the bedroom. "Slow, slow, slow." He signed to Melody, who shook her head at the two adults and their antics.
He walked over to the counter and gently rested the little girl on its edge, watching her little legs swing lightly as she watched him for a moment. She reached her hand out and played with the knot on his tie, something that she had seen Antonia do many times. He smiled at her and lifted his neck so she could wiggle it, and made a face at her to make her smile. "Do you have her gift?" He signed to her, watching her nod her head, she patted the pocket on her dress and smiled. "I have the card you made for her." He winked, hearing the bedroom door open, he pressed his finger to his lips and she smiled, mimicking him with a giggle as he waited. "So, are you ready to go?" He asked, glancing toward the hallway as Antonia appeared.
"I am almost ready." She said, looking up at the door as a knock came to it. "Is that my birthday gift?" She asked, grinning.
"No." He said, his eyes holding a deep confusion, and her smile dropped off. "Were you expecting anyone?"
"Nope." She said, turning toward the bathroom. "I'll be right out."
Aiden shook his head and lifted the little girl from the counter, setting her to the floor, he signed for her to stay put. She moved around the counter and stood in the kitchen, her blue eyes looking out over the counter, he smiled at her as he signed that there was nothing to be afraid of. He stepped to the door and opened it, his eyes widening at the site before him. "Mother?" He said, tipping his head at the woman standing at his door, the second time in nearly five months that she surprised him in such a way. "Mom, what are you doing here?" He asked, glancing to the counter, he noticed that the blue eyes that had been staring at him were now no longer visible.
"Well, your father and I were invited to Antonia's sister's wedding." Liz said, watching Aiden's hand go right to his neck, his nervousness obvious, his ears bright red. "This is a bad time, isn't it?"
"Uh, well, we… we were just about to…" He stammered as he heard Antonia's voice from the hallway.
"Who is at the…?" Antonia said, seeing a familiar face, she smiled as she approached the door. "Liz, what are you doing here?" She asked as she stepped around Aiden quickly and hugged her tightly, giving Aiden a strange look. "Why are you still out here in the hallway, come in, come in." She said, watching Aiden's concerned expression. "It's fine, dinner can wait a little longer." She said, glancing to the door as the outside door opened, and a tall man dressed in a suit stepped inside, and when his eyes met Antonia's, it was no doubt that it was Aiden's father. "Mr. Fitzgerald." She said politely, holding her hand out as he stepped up the stairs, he took her hand in hers and smiled kindly at her. "It is so nice to finally meet you."
"You must be Antonia." Mr. Fitzgerald said with a smile, glancing toward the open door, he watched his son walk with his mother toward the couch. "You can call me Ian." He smiled.
"Well, Ian, come on inside." She said, taking a step back, he stepped into the apartment and looked around.
"They did a pretty good job on the rehab in here." He said with a chuckle, watching as Aiden turned toward his father, looking a bit nervous.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, they did. What are you guys doing here?" He asked again, watching as Antonia glanced toward the hallway, she indicated toward the bedrooms, and he nodded. She excused herself and disappeared toward Melody's room. "The wedding isn't for a week."
"Well, son." Ian said as he approached him, he patted his shoulder, glancing down at his wife as she sat on the couch. "Since your mother is strong arming me into moving here, and since my grandchildren are here." He cleared his throat, catching his son's widened eyes. "We figured we'd come a little early and see about some real estate."
"You know." He said, glancing to his mother, and back toward his father.
"Did you think that for one moment that your niece could keep this information from her Gramma?" Liz asked with a bit of a laugh.
"We were going to tell you. I wanted to wait until you were here next week. I promise that we were going to tell you." Aiden stammered, watching the humored look on his father's face. "Fiona Lee." He growled under his breath.
Antonia stepped into the hallway holding Melody, the little girl's head buried in her shoulder. "Don't you dare blame that little girl. You can't give her juicy information and expect her to keep it to herself." Antonia said, feeling Melody's grip tighten slightly. "We were going to tell you about all of the crazy things that have been happening around here when you got here next week. But you're here now, so why not just tell them?" She said, watching Aiden's wide eyed expression. She smiled and shook her head at him, trying to put Melody to the floor, her feet refused to drop, so she just held her. "This is Melody." Antonia said with a slight smile.
"Fiona mentioned that she's deaf." Liz said softly, watching Aiden and Antonia exchange a glance, she watched Antonia's nod. "Poor dear." She said, reaching out to touch the little girl's foot, she watched a set of blue eyes glance over at her.
"She's also a bit shy." Aiden said, offering to take her from Antonia, she turned and went willingly into his arms, holding his tie with one hand as she gripped his collar with her other.
"She's cautious." Antonia said, she watched Melody look between the two new people, her expression was more stubbornness than anything else. "Melody, this is Bean's mama." She signed, watching as Melody stared at Liz for a moment. "And this is his Daddy." She signed, indicating Ian. She snapped her attention to Ian and watched his kind green eyes look to her. She squinted her eyes slightly, watching him warily.
"Bean?" Ian chuckled, looking up at Aiden, the younger man's cheeks turning red.
"It's a nickname." He said, glancing to Antonia with slightly narrowed eyes. "She can read lips." He said quickly, glancing to his mother, who smiled up at the little girl as she looked between the guests.
"It's very nice to meet you, Melody." Liz said, holding her hand up to the little girl, who glanced to Antonia for a permissive nod. She reached her hand out and shook her hand, smiling slightly as she glanced to Ian.
"Papa." She signed, pushing her thumbnail to her chin twice, she signed something else, watching as Antonia let out a laugh.
"What did she say?" Aiden asked, glancing between Melody and Antonia, he could see that she was humored.
"She called your father Papa Bean." She laughed, watching as their guests chuckled.
"You know, Fiona did mention a few other things that perhaps you'd feel better about getting out in the open." Liz said, watching her son's hand once again go to the back of his neck. "Oh, Aiden." She shook her head. "When are you due, dear?" She asked Antonia, who smiled as she sat beside Aiden's mother.
"January." She said, watching as Aiden offered his father a chair, and sat down in another. "January 22nd." She smiled. Melody climbed from Aiden's lap and approached Ian, who leaned down to her level and smiled. She smiled shyly and proceeded to climb into his lap, making herself comfortable against his chest as everyone looked on and chuckled a bit.
"And let me see that ring." Liz said, reaching for Antonia's hand, she moved it slightly and glanced over to her son. "Very lovely."
"Melody helped me pick it out." He said, glancing to the little girl, who was now playing with Ian's tie as she sat comfortably in her spot. He glanced at his watch and noticed that his mother was watching him. "Sorry." He smiled sheepishly.
"Well, we did spring this visit on you unexpectedly. I just thought we'd stop in and say hello before we headed to Anna's to see Fiona." Liz said, smiling.
"We were just on our way out the door to dinner. Aiden and Melody picked a nice restaurant for dinner, but we have a little time. The reservation isn't until six."
"Six-thirty." Aiden said, laughing as her jaw dropped. "What? I know that you like to take your time getting ready, and we had to pick up a few things on our way there." He said with a laugh.
"Pick up a few things?" She asked, her eyes narrowing at him. He glanced to Melody, who put her finger to her lips and made a 'shh' sound.
"See that? That's how you keep a secret." He laughed.
As you can see, things are starting to wrap up a bit... and I'm considering on whether or not we need another installment... We do have Grace's wedding in this fic... anything else I'm missing? Comment comment comment . Let me know you folks are out there!