“Wow! I still can’t believe this, Rob! Why and how did you find her?”
“Well, I started looking for her when I first got engaged a couple of months ago. I had already told my fiancé about her and she was very supportive of me finding her. I really want Tawny to come to our wedding. That is, if it’s okay with her parents – I haven’t asked them yet. Oh and a friend of mine is a PI so I found her that way.”
“I’m guessing that’s how you got my cell phone number, too!” Corinne laughed. “Rob, this is all just so unbelievable. Are you really going to meet her?”
“Yes. In fact, I’ve already spoken with her over the phone and she wants to meet us. I’ve spoken with her parents, too and they seem fine with it. They seem like really cool people. Gigi, my fiancé and I are flying out this Saturday to meet them. Are you free?”
Corinne sat down on the couch. She couldn’t believe that after all these years she was going to finally meet her daughter. When she had let herself dared to dream about that over the years, it would have been a dream come to true, but most of the time she stifled it since it was too painful to even think about.
Tears were running down her cheeks.
“Corinne?”
“Yes, I’m here. Just a little emotional, that’s all.”
“Yes, I can understand that. I was, too. I cried, too.”
Corinne smiled. “Well, I guess congratulations are in order. When’s the big day?”
“Thanks. July 23.”
“Wow, that’s two days after…”
“Yes, I know, after Tawny’s birthday. I didn’t plan that; it just worked out that way. Weird, huh?”
“I’ll say.” July 21. Corinne would never forget that day, the day she bore her first child that she gave up 15 years ago.
“So, what do you think? Will you meet with us on Saturday?”
“Yes, I would like that. I might be bringing my boyfriend, Nick. I’m not sure yet.” Oh, God, she still had to tell Nick. Would he want to come?
“I got ya. You haven’t told him. I was scared to tell Gigi, but she was very understanding. He probably will be, too. Look, we were young and foolish, but I think we made the right decision to give her up, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I was in no position to raise her right. So, her parents are nice you said and how did she sound?”
“Great. Oh, Corinne, she’s got a good head on her shoulders I can tell.” Corinne said there and breathed for a minute. Thank God.
“I so glad. Okay, why don’t you call me later in the week with all the details and I’ll be there. Let me give you my home number… oh, wait, you probably have that, too, right?”
Rob laughed. “Yep. My friend is very thorough. I won’t give your numbers to anyone though. Oh, hey, you said your boyfriend was named Nick, but I thought I saw you in some magazines with a guy named Kevin. A Backstreet Boy I think?”
Corinne laughed. Rob was always a sucker for details. “Yeah. We broke up, but we’re still friends. In fact he just left. I wanted to talk to him about this before I broke it to Nick. Nick is a little younger than me and I don’t think he wants kids, so I’m a little apprehensive to tell him I have a 15-year-old daughter!”
“Well, it’s not like she’s going to live with you! Look, if he really loves you, he’ll understand. Hey, I’ve gotta go. It will be great to see you again.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to seeing you, meeting Gigi and of course, Tawny!”
They hung up and Corinne said there, still in shock. Suddenly, her home phone rang.
“Hey, sis! It’s me! I’m a little ancy. Did you get some sleep?”
Corinne laughed. “Oh, no, I didn’t, but that’s okay, I’m fine. Hey, my car is at Nick’s, can you come pick me up now and we’ll go see Megan?”
Amber was there within 30 minutes and on the drive to the hospital Corinne said,
“Hey, I want to talk to you about something.”
“Shoot.”
“Not to be a bitch, but what the hell possessed you to sleep with my ex-boyfriend?”
Amber looked over at her sister coolly and said, “What possessed you to date one of your ex-boyfriend’s best friends?”
Corinne looked at her for a minute in shock and then laughed. “Touche!”
Amber laughed, too. “Look, sis, I’m sorry if I hurt you, but it’s not serious, just a physical thing, you know. I was really lonely last night!”
“And drunk I’m sure!”
“Well, yeah, that, too.”
“God, what am I going to do with you? You’re divorced now, living in Minnesota alone and you’re on your way to becoming a slut!”
“Shut your mouth! I am not! Hey, I was faithful to Patrick.”
“I know that, but what about all those years before you were with him!”
“Hey, you should talk, Missy!”
“OK, if you’re going to throw my past back at me, I’ll shut up!” Corinne laughed.
“So, how did the recording go today?” Amber asked.
“Why don’t you just ask me how Kevin was!”
“OK, how was Kevin? Did he say anything about me?”
“Why do you care? I thought it was just a physical thing!” Corinne teased.
“Shut up! Just answer the question, Smartass!”
“OK, well, we did talk a little. I think he likes you, but he knows you’re going back home in two days and that you probably don’t think about him as anything more than a fling. That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I don’t plan to move here, at least not now and I’ve tried the long distance relationship thing before and it just never works. But…” She stopped.
“But what?”
“Well, I shouldn’t say anything since he is your ex.”
“OK, now I’m curious. You probably want to say something crude about his body or something, right?”
“How’d you know?!”
“Because I know you, sister friend. Don’t worry about it; it won’t hurt my feelings. What were you going to say?”
“Well, I was just going to say that he has a killer body and the sex… well, it was fantastic!”
Corinne laughed. She could definitely agree with her. His body was beautiful and of course, the sex was always great for them, too. Corinne felt a little twinge of jealously, but quickly discarded the feeling. She was with Nick now. Besides, she had other things on her mind like her daughter, but she wasn’t ready to talk to Amber about that today. She just wanted to keep the conversation lighthearted and fun, especially since they would be seeing Megan soon.
“Oh my God, Corinne!” Megan exclaimed as she opened the gift from “the boys”. Corinne and Amber peered into the box wide-eyed. Leighanne had gone all out. There was like every kind of baby outfit you could imagine from size 0 months to 2 years. Some were obvious boy outfits, some unisex and there were bibs, blankets, pacifiers and an assortment of various safe baby toys. And then Megan opened up the card and laughed her head off.
“Oh God, look at this!” Megan showed it to the girls and they burst out laughing. Leighanne had Photoshopped the faces of Nick, Kevin, AJ, Brian and Howie onto the bodies of five babies who were all sitting in a crib holding various rattles and toys and the caption read, “So, you had a baby! We wish you blessing and joys times five! Love, Leighanne, Brian, Nick, Kevin, Howie and AJ.”
"That is awesome!" Both Corinne and Amber said.
Megan clasped the card to her heart with tears flowing down her face.
“Corinne, this is just too much! Of course, I will send them each a thank you card, but please, please tell them I love everything and thank you so much!”
“Of course, I will. Meg, I’m so happy for you! You deserve all this and more!” Corinne looked around at all of her flowers, balloons, cards and gifts. Her mom had been there earlier to deliver them all to Megan.
Corinne sighed then, thinking of the baby’s father. The baby’s father that should never have been a father. Mitch and Megan were already planning to get married when Megan got pregnant. Mitch was 30, never had been married, never had kids and he loved Megan, but the thought of having a child scared the hell out of him and after a month of pregnancy and “dealing” with everything, he took off. Megan was heartbroken, of course, but like the trooper she was, she held her head up high and went on with her life and her pregnancy, wanting this baby like nothing she had ever wanted before. Being 39 and never been pregnant, she felt it was like do or die and she prayed she wouldn’t have any obstacles to prevent her from having this bundle of joy. Tyler was a miracle and Megan was thankful to have him in her life.
“What’s that look?” Megan asked, knowing her sister was brooding about something.
“Oh nothing.” Corinne said, not wanting to overshadow Megan’s happy day.
“Corinne, just say it.”
“Well, I was just wondering if you ever heard from Mitch. Does he know you had the baby?”
“Mom and Dad asked me that, too. It’s okay, you guys. No, I haven’t heard from him. I don’t know if he knows or not, but I do know that Mom was going to call Alice to let her know, so he will probably know soon. And no, I do not expect to see him at all.” Seeing the look on his sister’s faces, she said, “Brighten up. It’s okay. I’ve accepted it a long time ago. It’s just me and Tyler and mom and dad and you guys. We’ll be okay. I have my job and my house and I’ll be fine.”
“And you have Grady.” Amber said.
“Yes, dear, sweet Grady. He came by this morning.” Megan smiled. Grady was a good friend of Megan’s she had known for years. He lived two houses down from her. Her sisters suspected he was secretly in love with Megan, but just never had the courage to tell her. Maybe her new motherhood status might prompt him to do something, but he was a good friend regardless and the entire Whitman family adored him
“Jam! It’s the new, what you gonna do? Everybody move to the floor…”
“Oh, that’s me! I’ll be right back!” Corinne said, walked out into the hallway and answered her cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Corinne, hi! It’s Nick!”
“Hi Baby! What’s up?”
“Well, we’re done recording for the day and I was wondering if you wanted to get together for dinner.”
“Oh, I haven’t even thought about that. What time is it?”
“It’s 5:30.”
“Wow! This day flew by! Hey, how did everything go today?”
“Good. We didn’t get a lot accomplished, but it’s the first day. We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”
“I hear ya. Well, I’m at the hospital with Megan and Amber. Oh, by the way Megan loved the gift from you guys! Leighanne went all out!”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, she loves that kind of stuff. Oh, I’m so glad. How’s little Tyler doing?”
“Oh, he is a doll! We got to see him briefly while he was awake, but he’s been pretty much sleeping the entire time we’ve been here.”
“So, what do you think?”
“Well, do you want to pick me up or do you want me to have Amber drop me off somewhere? My car is still at your house.”
“I’ll pick you up. The hospital is near the mall, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Do you want to go to PF Changs or The Cheesecake Factory over there?”
“Um, PF Changs sounds good.”
“Oh, good, I can have sushi. How about I meet you in the lobby at 6:15?”
“That’s fine. See ya then.”
“OK, bye.”
Corinne hung up the phone, smiling. She did love that man. But would he still love her knowing she was a mother… shaking the thought from her mind, she walked back into the hospital room.
