“You’re right, and both our families. They didn’t tell me they were coming.” Mary’s father, her mother, and The Tonys were there, and so was her mother-in-law, Anthony’s mother, Elvira, whom Mary secretly called El Virus. They were talking with a group of Simon’s cousins from the West Coast and Italy, whom Mary had met at Simon and Ellen’s wedding, and sadly, at her funeral.
“Oh no,” Anthony said under his breath. “You don’t think anything bad happened, do you?”
“No, they’d be crying. There’s a reason the best operas are Italian.”
“We go hard on the waterworks.”
“And why not, really?” Mary spotted her mother smiling and talking, the shortest one in the crowd, with thick glasses and white hair teased into a cumulus cloud to hide her bald spot. She had on her flowered housedress with her orthopedic shoes, which looked oddly great together. “How cute is my mother?”
“Cute. She gets it from you.” Anthony chuckled, Mary joined him, and for a moment they stood outside the glass, watching their blood relatives as if they were strangely exotic fish in a fishbowl, which in a way, they were.
“Oh, look. There’s Simon, so nothing terrible happened.” Mary noticed Simon at the center of the crowd, being hugged and kissed by his cousins.
“You mean nothing worse.”
“Right.” Mary felt her stomach clench. “I think it’s nice that his family came from Italy, don’t you?”
“Yes, but it’s also concerning. How long can she wait for a donor? This is awful. Such a sweet little girl.”
“I know.” Mary squeezed his hand. Anthony adored Rachel and had a special way with kids. Someday he’d be a wonderful father, and they’d both talked about having kids when the time was right. Until then, they loved spending time with Patrick O’Brien, a child whom Mary had met on her last big special-education case.
“Let’s go.” Anthony opened the door for Mary, and heads started turning as soon as she entered the lounge, with everybody reaching for her, trying to hug her, and calling to her.
“It’s Mary!” “Hey, Mary!” “Look who it is!” “Come here, Mary!”
“Hi, everybody!” Mary called back, hugging everybody in sight, getting kissed on the cheek, and breathing in the smells of Aqua Velva, Aquanet hairspray, and aqua–everything else. They were treating her like an absolute rock star, and she realized that the word must’ve spread that she was representing Simon in his lawsuit.
“Maria!” her mother said, grabbing her cheeks and giving her a big smooch.
“HEY, MARE! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE COMIN’.”
“I just thought I’d check in before work.” Mary hugged her father, who seemed back to his usual chipper self, flashing her a big grin as he let her go. She hugged and kissed Pigeon Tony and Tony-From-Down-The-Block, with Feet bringing up the rear, like a caboose with glasses.
“Mary, I’m so glad you’re fighting for Simon. It’s like we got Perry Mason on our side! Thank God!” Feet squeezed her tight, and Mary let him go as Simon reached her side.
“Mary, thanks for coming.” Simon gave her a big hug, then gestured behind him. “You remember my cousins, Amelia, Adriana, and Elisa from Rome? They’re the good-looking branch of the family, my Uncle Tullio’s daughters.”
“Of course, hello.” Mary shook the manicured hands of a bevy of beautiful dark-haired women, all about her age, with similarly lovely cheekbones that had to be in the Pensiera DNA.
“Mary, it’s wonderful to see you again,” Amelia said in perfect English. “Thank you so much for helping Simon and Rachel.”
“Mary, yes, thank you,” said Adriana and Elisa, almost in unison, looking so chic in lovely sundresses and color-coordinated sandals. Their makeup was perfect, and it struck Mary that, in a way, everybody in the lounge was putting on a brave face, but underneath their lipsticked smiles, they were all worried sick about Rachel.
“I’m happy to be able to help,” Mary told them, meaning it. She turned to Simon. “How’s Rachel today?”
“Luckily, a little better. She just fell asleep, so I figured I’d come out and say hello. Plus this gang needed discipline.” Simon winked. “I told them to keep it down to a low roar.”
Mary smiled. “Are you even allowed to have this many visitors?”
“The nurses are cutting me some slack, but everybody has to stay in here. Anything new with the case?”
“I would’ve emailed you but I wanted to tell you in person. I didn’t expect a crowd.” Mary looked around worriedly, but Simon leaned closer.
“Go ahead, what’s new?”
“So far, so good.” Mary lowered her voice. “I don’t want you to get too excited, but my partner Bennie agreed to go to OpenSpace and try to settle the case. She’s there right now.”
“That’s awesome.” Simon burst into a smile. “Do you think it will work?”
“It’s a long shot, especially this early. We haven’t even filed the suit papers. I drafted a complaint, and Bennie has it with her, so they know the facts. I’m hoping it will be persuasive enough that they counter-offer.”
“So you can settle before we even file the lawsuit? I didn’t know that. That’s wonderful.”
“Yes, but don’t get your hopes up.”
“But it’s a good start. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
“No worries, fingers crossed.”
“But I wanted to say thank you.” Simon stepped back, raising his hands in the air. “Everybody, can I have your attention for a minute? Please, can everybody settle down?”
Mary didn’t get it. She hoped Simon wasn’t about to tell them about the settlement. “Simon, what I just told you is confidential—”
“I know that.” Simon waved her off with a smile, and everybody settled down, all the faces turning to him. “Folks, I’m not going to say this loud, so I hope you changed the batteries on your hearing aids.”
“WHAT?” Mary’s father said, and everybody laughed.
Simon smiled. “I just wanted to say I’m very grateful to all of you for coming today. I didn’t expect you, but here you are.” The crowd chuckled, nodding. “But then again, I never called my mother before I went to visit her, and she told me I didn’t have to. Family is family, and home is where they have to let you in.” Everybody chuckled again, and Mary swallowed hard, remembering Simon’s mother, who was a sweetheart.
Simon continued, “Anyway, I know you’re here because we love Rachel and we support her. I showed her that picture that I took of you this morning, and she loved it. I’m going to print it and put it above her bed, since you can’t go in there to see her yourself.”
The crowd reacted instantly, murmuring their approval with, “Aw thank you!” “That’s a great idea!” “That’s so sweet!”
Simon turned to Mary. “I especially want to thank you, Mary. You, Anthony, and your family have been so great to me for so long, and now you’re helping me get justice against my company.”