Page 90 of Heart

“I can tell,” said George. “I saw the way you were holding Tommy tonight.”

“Does that worry you?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“But mum’s the word,” May said. “They don’t want to jinx it. Also, Abigail and the kids don’t know.”

“They’re just being cautious,” Rachel said. “Sometimes these things fall through. But this one is going to happen. I have more experience with these things than they do. They’ll have little Ella before Christmas—mark my words.”

“Christmas baby!” Mikey said, excited.

George looked at Mikey, remembering his interaction with Tommy earlier. He and David had always planned on having a child, but that notion had been ripped away as swiftly as David himself. Seeing Mikey’s elation regarding kids was unexpectedly rekindling a fire he’d thought long snuffed.

“Thank you for enlightening us, Rachel,” he said. “I think most of my questions are answered now. Oh, wait. What about their friends—the ones from Montana? Anyone know them?”

They all looked at each other, shaking their heads.

Francesca arrived with an enormous tray. “OK, who had decaf?”

* * *

The women each shared an eclair and a Napoleon, as did the men. Everyone sampled from the plate of wedding cookies in the center of the table.

“Those eclairs are off the charts, but nothing comes close to these cookies,” said George, powdered sugar on his lips. “I could eat that whole damn plate.”

“You’ll get big like me,” said Mikey, rubbing his belly.

“Would that bother you?”

“Nope,” Mikey echoed George’s words from before. “Not at all.”

“Good, because I’m already on my way there. Opening a restaurant is doing terrible things to my waistline.”

“Well, ordering all that takeout doesn’t help.” May pointed at four to-go boxes on a neighboring table.

“Half of that is for Zac and Ginger. I wanted to show my gratitude for him running the show while we’re up here tonight.”

“Yeah? What about the other half?”

“Me.” George grinned. “—and this big teddy bear next to me... and maybe the woman I share a house with.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” said May, nervously glancing to Rachel. “We have some news too.”

George looked at her, eyebrows raised.

“I may be gone... a little more often.”

“Any more often and I won’t see you at home at all.”

“That’s kind of what I mean. I’m moving in with Rachel... in Ballston.”

“Wow,” George said, placing his napkin on the table. “You reallyarelesbians.”

Rachel snickered, and May gave her a wry glance. “You’re not helping here. I told you he wouldn’t take it well. I’ve been there ever since—”

“It’s OK, May. I’m a big boy. And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me—I mean that. But ithasbeen a while... and youdohave your own life to live. So, I’m happy for you two. For real. It’s not like I won’t see you at work.”

“True. But it’s a big, empty house, George. I could leave Gertie for a while if that would help make it less lonely.”