Chapter TEN
Aidan made the trek out of the city up to the mountains. It was just after noon when he pulled to a stop in front of Earl and Virginia’s house. He drew in a breath of trepidation as he started up the front walk. He had just started up the porch steps when Virginia threw open the front door. “Well hello there handsome! Good to see you again.”
Relief flooded him that at least one of Emma’s grandparents didn’t hold a grudge. Of course of the two, he had worried the least about Grammy. The worst she could do was frail him with a frying pan—Earl was the one of the knives and shotguns.
He smiled. “Hello Virginia. It’s good to see too.”
Just like he expected, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “How’s my sweet girl holding up?”
“Right now she’s mad as hell that you’re cooking for her and not taking it easy,” he replied as he pulled away.
Virginia cocked her silver head at him, and he grunted. “Even though she wants me to tell you she’s fine, I can’t lie.”
“I figured as much.”
“Physically, she’s doing fine, but it’s the emotions that are killing her…and me.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Aidan rocked back on his heels. “I wish I knew what to say or do to make her feel better. I hate to see her cry, and it kills me to see her scared like she has been.”
Virginia rubbed his arm. “Aw, honey, I’m sure you’re doing a fine job taking care of her. Being pregnant is hard enough without throwing in pre-labor and bed-rest into the mix.”
“What does it matter how well I’m taking care of her when it’s my fault she’s where she is?”
“Now you can’t think like that.”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
Virginia shook her head. “I’m not here to judge you or chastise you about what happened, Aidan. That’s between you, the good Lord, and Emma. And if I know my baby girl like I do, the greatest stress on her came with what happened to your daddy. Riding in that ambulance, hearing those sirens, I know it brought back everything that happened with Emma’s daddy.” She cupped Aidan’s chin. “So don’t run yourself down so much, okay? If you’re in the pits, no one is going to be there to bring Emma up.”
A hesitant smile played at his lips. “I guess so.”
“Well, I know so.” She waved him towards the house. “Come on in and let’s get the food. I don’t want to keep you away from Emma too long.”
“Not that she would care,” he muttered under his breath.
Virginia cast a knowing glance over her shoulder at him. “She cares a lot more than you think she does.”
That sentiment made Aidan’s heartbeat accelerate and gave him a little more hope. As he stepped into the living room, he locked eyes with Earl who was lounging in the recliner. He gulped and steadied himself in anticipation for a showdown. “Hello, Earl.”
“Howdy Aidan,” Earl said, muting the television.
“How are you feeling?”
Earl shrugged. “I’m getting around a little better.”
Virginia huffed out a frustrated breath. “He’s trying to do too much, and he’s going to land himself back in the hospital.”
He shot her an exasperated look. “I hate sitting on my ass all day and being waited on hand and foot,” Earl lamented.
“You sound like Emma,” Aidan mused.
“Bless Emmie Lou’s heart,” Earl said.
As Virginia swept by Earl, she kissed his cheek. “Trust me, darlin’, no one wants you up and about more than I do.”
Earl grinned up at her. “You’re an angel, Ginny.”
An almost girlish giggle escaped her lips before she turned to Aidan. “Sugar, you just have a seat, and I’ll go pack up everything.”
Aidan glanced uneasily between her and Earl. “Are you sure I can’t help you?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I need to take out one last casserole from the oven.”
After she headed into the kitchen, Aidan reluctantly eased down onto the couch. He swallowed hard when he eyed the gun cabinet only a few feet away.
The sound of Earl’s voice caused him to jump. “What’s wrong with you?”
“N-Nothing.” When Earl’s brows shot up questioningly, Aidan sighed. “I was actually contemplating how much of a jumpstart I could get on you if you went for the gun case.”
Amusement twinkled in Earl’s eyes. “Son, I’m not going to shoot you for what you did to Emmie Lou.”
“You aren’t?”
He shook his head. “First off, I want my great-grandson to have a daddy, and if you were maimed or six feet under, that wouldn’t do him much good.”
Aidan gave a shaky chuckle. “No, I suppose not.”
Earl glanced past Aidan to the kitchen before turning his attention back to him. “Second off, I’m a lot of things, but a hypocrite ain’t one of them.”
“Excuse me?”
With a deep sigh, Earl said, “Let’s just say when I was young and stupid, I made a mistake much like you did.”
Aidan couldn’t keep his mouth from dropping open in shock. “So you, um…”
Earl rolled his eyes. “How plain you want me to make it for you? I was a cocky twenty-five year old bastard who just because Ginny couldn’t give me all her attention anymore because of our two sons, I let some cheap floozie almost ruin my marriage.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty plain.”
“Thankfully for me, Virginia gave me a second chance, and I’ve spent the last fifty years making it up to her.”
Leaning forward, Aidan asked, “How long did it take her to forgive you?”
“A long, long time.”
Aidan exhaled in frustration. “I just hope Em will be that forgiving.”
“Depends on how much work and effort you put into it.”
“Seriously? I swear that I’m working my ass off.”
Earl harrumphed. “Trust me, until you’ve dug ditches in ninety degree heat to earn the money to buy your wife the pearls she’s always wanted, you ain’t got no room to talk.”
With a wince, Aidan said, “I guess not.”
Virginia’s voice echoed from the kitchen. “Okay, honey, it’s ready.”
When Aidan stood up, Earl held up his hand. “Listen, son, you just gotta keep tryin’. Emmie Lou comes from a long line of stubborn, hard-headed women. But I do know that she’s crazy bout’ you, so if you really want her, then you just keep on tryin’ to win her back.”
Earl’s comforting words sent a smile stretching across Aidan’s face. “I sure as hell will.”
***
Once he got back into Atlanta, Aidan made a grocery stop and finished up a few errands before heading home. When he swung the car in the driveway, his heart shuddered to a stop. Becky’s car was gone. His mind whirled with out-of-control thoughts. What if Emma had started having contractions again, and Becky had rushed her to the hospital? Tumbling out of the car, he didn’t bother closing the door. Instead, he rushed through the garage door and skidded into the kitchen. “EMMA!” he cried.
The sound of gunfire and explosions assaulted his ears. Craning his neck, he saw John and Percy sitting on the couch each with a game console in their hands. “Where’s Emma? Where’s your mother?” he demanded without even a hello.
John glanced up and rolled his eyes before looking back down at his game. “Dude, hold your ball-sack. Mom got called to some emergency department meeting at the university, so we’re babysitting Emma until she gets back. Georgie’s back in the bedroom with her now watching Finding Nemo or some shit.”
Aidan’s relieved emotions were too jumbled to call John out for his mouth. “Oh, well, good.” He jerked his thumb towards the garage. “Can you guys come and help me get in all the groceries and stuff from Em’s Grammy’s?”
“Seriously?” John asked.
Aidan grunted. “Yeah, I’m serious. Call it payback for mooching off my pool all summer.”
“I thought you let us use your pool because we’re your favorite nephews?” Percy questioned, rising obediently off the couch.
Aidan chuckled and ruffled his hair. “I guess that’s true.” When John still hadn’t budged, Aidan reached over and took his game away.
“Hey!” John started to protest.
“Move your ass and you might live to play it again.”
Huffing, John got off the couch and stalked through the kitchen. Aidan and Percy followed behind him. Aidan popped the trunk and leaned in to start handing some of the bags to the boys.
“Uncle Aidan?” Percy began.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you think you ought to marry Emma?”
Aidan jerked his head up, slamming it against the trunk lid. “F*ck!” he shouted as he saw stars before his eyes. A few more expletives escaped his lips as pain raged through his skull.
“Nice mouth you got there,” John chided.
Gritting his teeth, Aidan rubbed his aching head. “You mention that one to your mom, and I’ll tell her about your ball-sack comment.”
John’s eyes widened. “Dude, that is so not cool!”
“Yeah, well, deal with it.” Aidan started to resume gathering up the bags when he noticed Percy staring expectantly at him for an answer. Aidan sighed. “Perce—”
His blonde brows knitted together. “Don’t you love her?”
“Oh Christ,” Aidan muttered, raking his hand through his hair. He winced as pain once again shot through his head. “Did your mom put you up to this or something?”
“No. When I asked her the same question, she just said that you were a cad.” Percy shrugged. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a dude who acts like a douchebag to women,” John said.
Aidan glared over at John. “I am not a cad!”
John held his hands up. “I didn’t say it. Mom did.”
Leave it to his sister the English professor to resort to name calling him something from the nineteenth century. He handed Percy one of the box’s from Earl and Virginia’s. “Perce, it’s complicated because—“”
“You’re a cad?” John asked.
Ignoring him, Aidan said, “I was stupid and did something that hurt Emma’s feelings pretty bad. It’s going to take her some time to forgive me and let me back into her heart.”
Percy shifted the box he was carrying to one hip. “You’re having a baby with Emma, so the responsible thing to do would be to marry her,” he said sensibly.
Aidan blinked a few times at Percy. “Did I hit my head harder than I thought, or did you actually just sound like a mature adult, rather than a kid?”
Percy shrugged. “Maybe. Dad always says I’m an old soul.”
Aidan laughed. “I think he called that one right.” He glanced over to John who wore an amused smirk. “Of course, anything you say has to sound light years above this one,” he said, jerking his thumb at John.
“Whatever,” he grumbled.
Aidan picked up a light bag and handed it to John. “What’s this?” he asked, peering inside.
Aidan quickly snatched it back. “Erm, that’s for Emma.”
“Doesn’t quite look like her size,” he mused with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“That’s because it’s for Noah, smart ass.” He motioned to the trunk. “Go on and bring those in. I’m going to go check on Emma.”
John grabbed a few more bags while Aidan and Percy started in the house. He left the boys in the kitchen and started down the hallway. The sound of Emma’s laugher warmed his heart. Then in a sing-song voice, he heard Georgie call, “Noah…Noah! Kick for me Noah!”
Standing in the bedroom doorway, Aidan surveyed the scene with a smile. Emma held a flashlight to her baby bump. Hovering close to her, Georgie stared expectantly at Emma’s stomach as if waiting for something earth shattering to happen.
Emma glanced up to see him and smiled. “Hey. You’re back.”
“Grammy sends her love and the promise she’ll be down within the week.”
Emma huffed out a frustrated breath. “And Granddaddy?” she asked tentatively.
“Is still in a lot of pain, but he’s doing pretty well. And he managed not to verbally or physically assault me.”
Emma’s brows raised in surprised. “That’s good news.”
He motioned at her and Georgie. “What are you guys doing?”
“Trying the flashlight trick,” Georgie replied, not taking his eyes off Emma’s belly.
“Flashlight trick?” he repeated, as he walked over to them.
Emma nodded. “Since a baby’s eyes start to open in the sixth month, supposedly pressing a flashlight to your belly will make him move.” She smiled down at Georgie. “He’s never felt a baby kick, so he wanted to feel Noah.”
Aidan chuckled. “Any luck?”
Georgie’s lips turned down. “Nope.”
“He’s showing his true Fitzgerald stubbornness by not cooperating,” Emma said.
“Hey now, I think he’s equally inherited some of that from you too,” Aidan argued.
“Kick Noah!” Georgie ordered.
Aidan laughed at his determination. “Did you ever think that maybe you’re making him mad or something? How would you like someone sticking a flashlight on you and shining it in your eyes?” Grabbing Georgie by the ankles, he slid him down the bed. “Let’s see how you like it, huh?”
Georgie giggled when Aidan snatched his shirt up and pressed the flashlight to his stomach. “Stop it, Uncle Aidan!” he said, when he could catch his breath.
“Did your baby start kicking?” Aidan asked.
Georgie pushed his shirt down. “I don’t have a baby in my belly, silly!”
“You don’t?”
“No, only mommie’s have babies in their bellies.”
“Oh, I see.” He tickled his fingers up Georgie’s sides, causing him to laugh and squirm again.
“Quick Georgie!” Emma cried.
Aidan grabbed Georgie’s waist and hoisted him back up to Emma. She took his hand and brought it to her belly. His eyes widened. “Uncle Aidan, Noah’s kicking me!”
Emma grinned. “He must like the sound of your laugh because that’s what got him going, not the flashlight.”
Georgie dropped his hand to lean over and kiss the spot where he had been feeling. “I love you, Noah!”
Aidan smiled when tears sparkled in Emma’s emerald eyes. He was getting used to her hormonal waterworks at the drop of a hat.
Georgie, however, peered up at her in surprise. “Why are you crying, Aunt Emma?”
“Because you’re such a sweet boy,” she replied, drawing him into her arms. She kissed the crown of Georgie’s head as she hugged him. It didn’t escape by Aidan how Georgie had called Emma ‘aunt’, and she hadn’t protested.
“I gotta go pee-pee,” Georgie said, squirming away from Emma and hopping off the bed.
As he swept by Aidan, Emma’s gaze honed in on the bag at his side. “What’s that?”
“Oh, um…” He rubbed his jaw and shifted on his feet. He didn’t know why he was nervous about giving her the gift. It was just a stupid onesie. “It’s something for Noah.”
Emma’s green eyes instantly lit up. “Really?”
“It’s nothing much. I just saw it in the store and thought of him…and you.”
With a grin like a kid on Christmas morning, she snatched the bag from his hands. Her fingers dug inside to pull out the onesie. She unfolded it and peered at the writing. “I’m cute, Mommy’s cute, and Daddy’s…” She tore her gaze up to meet his.
“Daddy’s lucky,” he finished for her.
“Oh Aidan,” she murmured. Tears once again welled in her eyes, but a pleased smile curved on her full lips as she ran her fingers over the onesie. She tilted her head up at him. “Thank you. This is too adorable and sweet. And I love that the first article of clothing anyone has gotten for him is from his father.”
“Besides his christening gown,” Aidan reminded her.
“Oh, you’re right. But still.”
“If I knew you were going to get that sentimental about it, I would have bought him something nicer,” he mused.
“It’s not just the onesie, Aidan. It’s what it says,” she said softly. Her eyes met his, and his heart leapt at the love he could see burning in hers. If he could only bottle moments like these, he could then give them back to her whenever she tried to doubt her love for him.
“Aunt Emma?” Georgie asked, squirming back up on the bed.
“What honey?”
“I was just wonderin’ how did Noah get in your belly?”
“Um, well…”
“Mommy says he’s Uncle Aidan’s baby, so did he put it there?”
Emma’s eyes bulged as she stared up at Aidan. “Uh, well…”
John and Percy then appeared in the doorway. “You know, I’m a little fuzzy on that one too, so maybe you can explain it to us all,” John said, with an amused smirk.
Aidan turned to scowl at John. “Georgie,” he began, “where babies come from is really something you need to ask your mom and dad about.”
Georgie’s blonde brows furrowed. “Why? Is it a secret?”
“No, it’s just, um, well…” Aidan rubbed the back of his neck while trying to come up with an answer. Finally, he remembered what his own mother had told him when he was just a kid and his sister Angie was pregnant. “It’s like this. When a man and woman love each other very much, the love grows inside the woman and makes a baby.”
Rubbing his chin, John asked, “So I guess that means you love Emma, huh?”
Aidan shot him a death glare before turning his gaze back to Georgie. Wonderment flickered on his face at the explanation. “That’s so cool that I grew as my Mommy and Daddy’s love,” he murmured.
When Aidan dared to look at Emma, she stared wide-eyed, open-mouthed back at him. Although he insinuated it every day, he still hadn’t managed to actually say the words. Maybe now was the perfect time to say it and seal the deal between them.
“Hey guys, there’s some homemade brownies from Emma’s Grammy in the kitchen if you want some.”
Georgie scrambled off the bed while John and Percy hightailed it down the hall. Once they were alone, he smiled at Emma. “How was my explanation?”
She sucked in a breath. “Good…and sweet. And he totally bought it.”
“But did you?”
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. This was it. It was now or never. He took a tentative step forward and opened his mouth.
“Aidan Fitzgerald, what are you doing giving my sons chocolate before dinner?” Becky demanded from the doorway with a hand on her hip.
F*ck! His moment had been totally ruined. He whirled around to glare at Becky. She gave him a funny look. “Between John and Percy, I’m not sure if you have any brownies left for Emma.”
He raked a hand though his hair and sighed resignedly. “I’m sorry, Sis. They helped me lug in the groceries, so I thought they could use a snack.”
She grinned. “I guess you’re forgiven then.” Becky then turned her attention to Emma. “Everything go okay while I was gone?”
Emma nodded. “They were the best baby-sitters I’ve had so far.”
Becky laughed. “I believe they’ve been your only ones besides my little brother here.”
With a teasing smile at Aidan, Emma said, “Oh, he’s so much more than just a baby-sitter.”
He arched his brows at her. “Oh, really?”
“Mmm, hmm. You’re a cook, a house-keeper, and an entertainer.”
Aidan shook his head but laughed in spite of himself. “Yes, I am all those things.”
“Well, I guess I better round up the boys and head out,” Becky said. She came over to the bed and gave Emma a kiss. “Take care of your self, Mama.”
“I will…and Aidan will.”
At the loving expression on Emma’s face, Aidan couldn’t help smiling. “Of course I will.”
“Work him hard then,” Becky said. She gave Aidan a playful nudge before kissing his cheek.
“You can bet she will,” he mused.
“Bye then,” Becky called with a wave.
Aidan stared at Emma for a moment. Should he go ahead and say it now or wait until a more opportune moment? Emma’s phone going off confirmed that he might as well wait.