Page 46 of Summer Rush

Alyssa curled up into a ball of pain on the couch, watching an episode ofFriends, on the hunt for familiarity, as Janine hurried into the kitchen, brewed her a cup of tea, and called Maggie.

Maggie was at The Dog-Eared Corner with Heidi and David, helping at the bakery counter. When she heard the news, she shot into big-sister and mother mode: “I’ll be right there.”

Over the next few hours, Maggie and Janine did what they could to distract Alyssa from her contractions. They played a game, listened to music, ate snacks, and swapped stories. But all the while, Alyssa’s eyes were cloudy, and sweat beads bubbled on her forehead. Around four-thirty that afternoon, they decided it was time to head to the hospital, and Alyssa cried into her hands the entire way as Maggie hugged her in the backseat.

Alyssa was given a sparkling white hospital room with a view of a line of maple trees just outside, which still clung to their autumn leaves, unwilling to give themselves over to the skeletal look of winter. Alyssa changed into a hospital gown and, between spurts of pain, managed to crack a few jokes, which made Janine and Maggie laugh. Throughout these hours, Janine kept in constant contact with the rest of the family, careful to shove away thoughts of Jack, of how he was missing this— the birth of their first grandchild. During their very long marriage, he’d joked about being grandparents together, about growing old and gray together.

And then, for the first time in many months, Janine thought about Maxine.

Immediately after Jack’s death, Maxine moved to Martha’s Vineyard, and immediately after that, Maxine’s long-lost mother moved to Martha’s Vineyard, too. But the move hadn’t stuck. Although Janine and Maxine still loved one another, even after Maxine and Jack’s affair, they’d both entered different phases of their lives— phases in which the other just didn’t fit. Janine felt no ill will toward Maxine, especially not now. And when Maxine had told Janine of her and her mother’s move to Seattle last spring, Janine had wished Maxine well, grateful to close that chapter of her life.

But now, as Alyssa swam through the terror of her first delivery, Janine remembered Maxine at her bedside during the birth of Maggie, how she’d held her hand, even as Janine had crunched Maxine’s to the bone.

During a rare quiet moment in the hospital room, Janine considered whether or not to invite Maxine to her upcoming wedding to Henry. Heavy with thoughts of their past, Janine pulled up Maxine’s social media profile to find, to her immense surprise, that Maxine had gotten married just one month ago. The guy was around her age, a father of two teenage boys, and he had a beard that made him look like a lumberjack. In the photographs Maxine had posted, she looked remarkably happy, blissful, even. Janine’s heart went out to her, but she did not write her congratulations. That time of their life was over. They’d both made space for something new.

After a long and very painful labor, Alyssa gave birth to a healthy baby boy at four-thirty the following morning— a full twelve hours after they’d left the Remington House. Maggie had held her hand throughout the entire labor, just as Maxine once had for Janine.

“A boy?” Maggie seemed surprised, as though she hadn’t been aware someone in their family could have a baby boy rather than a girl.

“A boy!” Alyssa closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. “We can name him Leonardo DaVinci!”

Maggie rolled her eyes, which only served to throw several tears down her cheeks, as well. Janine’s heart was in her throat. She hardly understood the complexity of her own emotions, as first Alyssa held him, then Maggie— both of them mothers of this spectacular miracle. The way he looked at both of them with such curiosity, his little eyes shining, was captivating. Janine had forgotten what it was like to witness a miracle. Here it was.

Eventually, it was Janine’s turn to hold her first grandchild. In her arms, this little boy seemed far too small, impossibly cute, his cheeks red, his ten fingers and ten toes itsy-bitsy. Alyssa had fallen asleep, and only Maggie and Janine were up, ogling him, unable to comprehend him.

“You’ll be here soon, Mama,” the nurse said to Maggie.

Maggie’s eyes bugged out. “All I ever wanted is to be a mother,” she told Janine privately after the nurse left. “But that looked painful!”

“You’ll be great,” Janine assured her, secretly grateful she never had to go through that again.

“Two babies in two months,” Maggie whispered. “I can’t believe Rex doesn’t want anything to do with this little guy!”

“He’s an idiot,” Janine affirmed.

Just then, at the little window of the hospital door, David’s face flashed up, red-cheeked and excited. Apparently, Maggie had finally told him it was okay to come by. Maggie hurried out to say hello, and Janine heard their muffled conversation through the door, with Maggie shrieking with joy. With Alyssa still asleep in bed and the little boy without a name still in Janine’s arms, Janine felt as though she had to watch over both of them to protect them.

Around eight o’clock that morning, Janine greeted the rest of the family in the waiting room: Elsa, Carmella, Mallory, Aria, Cole, and Nancy. It seemed like none of them had gotten enough sleep, and they jabbered and over-caffeinated, excited to meet the new member of the family.

“Alyssa just woke up,” Janine explained, “and she’s going to have breakfast. After that, we can arrange for some visits.”

David and Maggie reappeared in the waiting room, returning with coffees and croissants, boisterous with laughter.

“Alyssa requested that lemon-filled croissant from the Frosted Delights Bakery,” Maggie said.

“So, we got her three of them,” David said. “Just in case.”

The waiting room door flung open, and a man whipped through it— his eyes bloodshot and panicked, his clothing disheveled, his jet-black hair in a wild mess behind his ears. When he spotted Janine, he stopped short and began to press his hair down with his hands, looking like a child rather than a man in his late twenties.

“Nico?” Janine and Maggie demanded in unison, absolutely shocked.

Nico’s cheeks were blood-red. “Ciao?”

“What are you doing here?” Maggie demanded.

Nico looked unsure of himself, blinking around the waiting room as though he wasn’t sure it existed. “Um. I’m here to see Alyssa?”

Maggie and Janine exchanged panicked glances as the waiting room hushed, all members of the family staring at Nico as though he had four heads. The truth was preposterous— Nico had learned of Alyssa’s labor, hopped on a plane, and immediately flown halfway around the world just to make sure she was okay. That was nothing you could ignore.

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