“Hey.” Carter kissed Sophie’s head as he settled down, beer bottle between his legs.
“Hey, yourself. I can’t believe you did this.” She looked out to the back deck where Michael was sitting in a patio chair, nursing a beer and laughing over someone’s story. “Look how happy he is.”
“I’ve never seen him this happy. But it’s not just all of us being together again. It’s you. You make him happy. I never thought you two could be in the same room without murdering one another, and now you’ve gone and proven me wrong.”
She smiled and looked back out at Michael, her heart in her eyes. He suddenly looked up through the patio door. He had his sunglasses on, so Carter couldn’t see his eyes, but he was looking at Sophie. Carter wondered if he and Janet looked like that when they were together. He hoped so. A sniffling sound broke the moment, and everyone looked at Ana. She waved her hand at them and blew her nose.
“Nothing, nothing. I have pregnant woman hormones...” She broke off in a little sob, and Carter jumped to his feet, rubbing her shoulders. “I can’t believe you two are finally together,” she said. “Do you remember, Sophie, on the very first day, at the lunch table together? When Michael was looking at you?” Now both of them were tearing up. Women.
“I remember a great deal about Michael and Sophie on the road.” Carter let his mind wander back ten years. “All those times you two fought. The times I had to negotiate peace treaties between you. How many times did you come crying to me about the shitty things he said to you?”
“You’ve always been there for me,” said Sophie. “I love you for it. But we’ve all changed. Michael and I are very happy now.”
Carter smiled. “I know. All I’ve ever wanted for you – for all of us – is to be happy.”
“Speaking of happy, have you talked to Viktor?” Ana started a bit of juicy gossip about one of their classmates, and Carter decided to mosey along like a good host. He walked back toward the front of the house. Janet was coming downstairs holding baby Mike, who had just had lunch and a nap. Carter held his arms out eagerly for his boy, who greeted him with a wide smile.
“Hey, big boy.” His small son patted his face. “Come see Daddy for a little bit.” Carter kissed Janet, who went to sit with Sophie. He was looking for a sunhat in the front closet to put on Mike’s bald head – he was taking after his daddy in the hair department, it seemed – when a little body collided with his legs.
“Hey there, sport.” He shifted Mike in his grasp and reached down to steady the gorgeous dark-haired boy who had just crashed into him. The boy looked up shyly, then scampered back to his mother. Carter straightened and saw Mirielle.
“Did you name him after Michael?” she asked, gesturing to Mike. Kyle came around the corner, and Mirielle handed the toddler to him. The little boy screamed with laughter as Kyle tossed him over his shoulder and took off running. Crazy bastard hadn’t changed a bit in the last ten years.
“Yes, we did. He was born just a few days after Sophie got Michael out of the camp. We didn’t know at the time, but we wanted to honor him, one way or the other.” Carter swallowed the wave of emotion that always followed when he thought about how things could have ended up for Michael. “Would you like to hold him?”
Mirielle eagerly took the baby from his arms. Mike stared, transfixed, at her face. She was still stunning, even after a decade and two pregnancies, one of which had resulted in twins.
“That was a beautiful thing to do.” She held one of Mike’s chubby hands. “I haven’t spoken to Michael yet. We ended so badly and didn’t keep in touch after the end of our year. I wasn’t honest with him, and I feel terrible about that.”
“I do not know if I was very honest in our relationship either,” said Michael, who had come up behind them in the hallway. “However, I have learned recently that it is never too late to make things better. Come, we will talk.” Mirielle smiled, handed Mike back to Carter, and together they went out on to the front porch to talk in private.
“Oh, I am batting a thousand today, buddy. Your daddy is the man.” His son smiled back and grabbed for Carter’s blond hair. “Watch it there. I’ve already lost too much of my hair, and I don’t need any help.” Janet appeared beside him, untangling their son’s fingers from Carter’s thinning locks. He pulled her into an embrace, Mike snuggled between them.
“I love you,” Carter said. “Thanks for letting me do this, having all these people in our house. It means the world to me.”
“I know it does, baby. I love your classmates, too. Makes me wish I could have traveled with you.” She pulled back and gave him a sharp look. “But if anyone throws up, breaks the furniture, or gives birth on the good rug, I’ll kick your ass.”
“Language in front of the baby.”
Janet grinned and covered their son’s eyes while she kissed him.