First Class Voyage

11.

DAY 9 – ST. LUCIA

Once again, the Lathem family was headed in several different directions for their day in St. Lucia. Christopher had been rather fussy overnight and Janie decided to stay on the ship with him.

“Are you sure?” her mother had asked. “I can stay.”

“No, no,” Janie had replied. “You go have a good time. I’ll stay with the children today.”

So Patty had left with Maureen and Peter to go whale watching. Matt had gone with Tyler and Adam, Andrew and Rory, and Paul deep-sea fishing. Mark and Katy left with Derek to play on kayaks, and the rest of the brothers were hiking in the rain forest. They would all meet up for dinner that evening.

Matt loved spending time with his step-sons. And with Tyler now working at MEL Holdings, he was able to spend more time with him during the week. And they came to the apartment as often as their schedules allowed to see their mom and younger siblings. But Adam had just finished medical school and within a matter of days after they returned home from vacation his residency would begin. They would not get to see much of him once he began working at the hospital. He was the quieter of the two brothers and it had taken Matt a little longer to be accepted into his life. But now they were the best of friends, all three of them, and he was excited to spend the day with them.

The fishing boat was smaller than Rory expected it to be. It was his first time deep-sea fishing, as it was for Andrew, Adam and Tyler, but Rory was more nervous about the experience. He had been unsettled all morning and didn’t know why. But Andrew had convinced him that all would be well on their adventure, so here he was sitting on the boat, speeding out into the middle of the bluest water he had ever seen, hoping the butterflies he felt in his stomach was just sea sickness and nothing else.

*****

Janie rocked her baby boy until he finally fell asleep. His tummy was upset and it had taken a while to get him settled. Ella was perfectly content watching The Little Mermaid, cuddling her stuffed dolphin, with a cup of goldfish crackers on the floor beside her. Janie took the opportunity to jump in and have a quick shower.

As she stepped out of the bathroom just a few minutes later, the phone was ringing. It was Guest Services.

“We have tried their cabin several times and understand they have left the ship on a shore excursion?”

“Yes,” replied Janie. “They are with my husband deep-sea fishing. I can try their cell phones but I don’t know if they have them with them. Is there a message I can give them?”

Janie grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a name and phone number, with the word ‘URGENT’ underneath. She was sure she recognized the name but couldn’t place it immediately.

“Thank you,” she said and replaced the telephone receiver.

Must be very important, she thought. Janie couldn’t remember where her cell phone was, but she would need to find it to get the phone numbers stored there. She would try to get them the message as soon as possible.

*****

It was Andrew’s turn in the ‘chair’. It was perched at the back of the deck of the boat and had a massive fishing pole attached to the back railing. He had caught a marlin, an impressive fish doing its best to wrestle free of the line hooked in its mouth. Andrew pulled and reeled him in slowly to the clapping and cheers of the others on board.

The fishing guide was genuinely impressed. It was a magnificent fish, one a beginner would rarely catch. With his help, Andrew was able to finally reel him in and vacate the chair to Adam, who had been waiting patiently for his turn to try. He was the last one before they headed back to the island.

Rory congratulated Andrew on his success and then stepped back abruptly when his pocket began to vibrate. He saw it was Janie and answered with a smile.

“Hello Janie. Having fun on the ship?”

Rory’s face instantly sobered as he listened to his sister-in-law.

“I’ve got the number,” he said. “Yes, I will try him now, although this reception is terrible.”

Andrew was concerned at the tone of Rory’s voice and waited for him to hang up.

“What is it?” he asked the second Rory pulled the phone from his ear.

“Our attorney has left a message on the ship. Apparently he has tried our cell phones repeatedly and couldn’t get through.”

“Well, call him!” Andrew replied.

Rory scrolled through the list on his phone and pushed ‘call’ when he found Jim’s name.

“No service,” he frowned. “I’ve only got one bar here.”

“What is it?” Matt had noticed the intense conversation between his brother and his husband.

“Our attorney has been trying to call us. He finally called the ship and the ship contacted Janie. It’s lucky for us that she stayed aboard today. But I have no service here.”

Just at that moment Adam screamed. He had a tuna hooked on his line. They all ran to the back of the boat and helped reel the mighty fish in.

“Woo hoo!” screamed Adam. “I caught one!!”

“Well done,” Matt patted his back. “First try too!”

Matt turned to the guide as he unhooked the flapping fish and smacked it on the head. The fish immediately stilled.

“We need to get back to the dock right now,” Matt instructed.

The guide looked surprised. They still had a couple of hours left of their tour.

“Now,” Matt reiterated.

*****

As Mark and Derek pulled the kayaks back on shore, Katy took the life vests back to the rental shack.

“Did you have a good time?” she was asked.

“Oh yes,” she smiled. “It was wonderful. The water is so warm and clear. We could see the fish and the coral as we paddled.

“You have a handsome son, and husband.”

“Oh,” Katy began. She was going to say that Mark wasn’t her husband but she stopped. “Thank you,” she smiled instead.

Katy turned and walked in the direction of her men. My husband, she thought.

‘Do it!’ the words of her son came to her mind.

My husband, she thought again. Yes, he should be.

*****

As the fishing boat docked, Rory tried his cell phone again. He had three bars of service and dialed their attorney’s phone number. He got his secretary and was told Jim was unavailable. Rory explained who he was and why he was calling but the secretary was in the dark as to what Jim wanted.

“I will give him your message as soon as he is finished with his conference call,” she said.

Rory hung up still not knowing what he could possibly want.

“He knew we were going on vacation so if he’s trying to contact us it must be for something important,” Rory said to Andrew as they stood on the pier.

“Well, we just have to wait to see what he wants,” frowned Andrew, as they began the walk back to the ship.

*****

Adam couldn’t wait to tell his mom about the amazing tuna he caught. Janie was thrilled to hear about their adventure and sat in their suite enthralled with their news. Tyler didn’t catch anything. Neither did Matt, but they’d had a good time anyway.

After playing with Ella for a little while, the boys headed up to the bar to meet Tim and Ben.

“So what was phone call all about?” Janie asked Matt.

“We don’t know yet. It was their lawyer.”

“Yes! I knew I recognized the name,” she said. “Well if he’s tracking them down on vacation it must be good news!”

“Let’s hope so,” agreed Matt.

Christopher stirred and started to fuss.

“He’s still not feeling well?” Matt asked as he went to pick up his son.

“I think he’s doing better,” Janie smiled. “Probably just hungry again.”

“My favorite time of the day,” Matt smiled.

*****

Andrew and Rory paced back and forth around their cabin. It wasn’t big enough for both of them to pace at the same time so they took turns. Andrew sat on the bed staring at the cell phone.

“Ring, dammit!” he growled.

“What if he doesn’t call before we leave port?” Rory worried.

“He’ll call.”

A few more minutes went by before they both jumped as the phone started vibrating on the bed. Then the musical chimes began playing.

Rory grabbed for the phone and answered.

“Yes, Jim. How are you?”

He listened for a moment.

“We’re both here,” Rory replied, sitting down next to Andrew. “What’s up?”

Andrew was on pins and needles as he watched the expression on Rory’s face change from uncertainty to surprise.

“Put it on speaker,” he pleaded.

“Hold on Jim. I’m going to put you on speaker phone.”

Rory pulled the phone away from his ear and pushed a button.

“Are you still there?” Rory asked.

“I’m here,” Jim replied. “Hi Andrew. How’s the vacation going?”

“That depends on why you’re calling us,” Andrew chuckled.

“Well, I just told Rory that I have some news for you,” Jim began.

Andrew and Rory looked at each other and held their breath.

Jim continued. “There is a pregnant young woman in Albany who is due in three weeks. They don’t know if the baby is a boy or a girl. The girl is white, the father half African American and half Latino. He has already signed away his parental rights so there isn’t an issue there. The mother is only fifteen so with the support of her parents, they have decided to give the baby up for adoption. Her uncle is gay and was never able to adopt a child because of his sexual orientation so she has specifically asked for a gay couple, and…”

“Don’t mess with us,” Andrew whispered.

They heard Jim chuckle through the phone. “I’m not messing with you,” he said. “Now there’s still three weeks so it’s not a done deal until all the papers are signed after the baby is born, but, she has selected you to adopt her baby.”

“Oh God, thank you!” cried Andrew.

“This is for real?” Rory asked.

“For real,” Jim replied. “You are going to be parents! I will wait for you to call me when you get home. That will still give us a couple of weeks.”

“Thank you for calling, Jim” Rory beamed. “You have made our day.”

“You’re welcome. Talk to you soon.”

Rory put the phone down very slowly, letting the words of their attorney sink in.

“We’re going to have a baby,” he grinned. “We’re going to have a baby!!”

*****

That evening at dinner, champagne was ordered and everyone cheered and toasted to Andrew and Rory.

“Just remember, it’s not a done deal until after the baby is born. She still has a few weeks to change her mind,” Andrew said.

“Why would they do that?” asked Maureen. “There are no two better men who deserve to raise a family.”

“Thank you Maureen,” smiled Rory. “Thank you everyone for your support over the past couple of years. It means the world to us.” He took Andrew’s hand in his.

“Well, fingers crossed all goes well and next month we will be celebrating the newest addition to the Lathem family.” Matt raised his glass.

“What is its last name going to be?” asked Tim.

All eyes moved to Andrew, and then to Rory, eyebrows raised. This was a question they all were curious about.

“Hadn’t thought about that yet,” Andrew replied honestly.

“Jeffers-Lathem, I think,” smiled Rory.

Andrew turned to him. “Really?”

“Yes. I think it sounds perfect.”

Andrew smiled and Rory nodded.

“Wonderful!” beamed Maureen.

Everyone toasted them again and dinner was served.