Coda Books 06 - Fear, Hope, and Bread Pudding (MM)

stared down at it for the longest time, shrinking in on himself as he did. He didn’t open it, but he held it as if it were some kind of talisman, clutched in both hands. “I had no idea….” But his voice failed, and he stopped to put his hand over his eyes. I moved closer. I put my hand on his back. He took a deep breath, as if drawing strength from my touch. He finally looked up at her. There were tears on his cheeks to match the ones on hers.
    “You had no idea of what?” she asked.
    “That you’d even noticed.”
    Her chin trembled again. She put her fingertips over her lips and closed her eyes. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn’t seem able to speak. She nodded.
    “We were supposed to be in Rome for three more days, and I begged him to leave early.”
    “I know.”
    “So we could see you .”
    “I know.”
    “And you….” His voice failed again, but it didn’t matter. Whatever he was trying to say, Grace didn’t need to hear the words.
    She nodded. “I know, honey. And I’m sorry. There are a lot of things I could apologize for over the years, but that’s the one I regret the most. I thought you should know, if nothing else, that I realize how much I hurt you that day. And I’m so, so sorry.”
    He put his hand over his eyes again. I wanted to pull him into my arms, but I wasn’t the one he needed. Grace came out of her seat and across the room. She got down on her knees.
    This time, Cole didn’t duck away from her hug. He didn’t return it, but he let her put her arms around him. They sat there together, rocking a bit, their shoulders shaking, both of them completely silent as they cried.
    I looked over at my dad, wishing somebody would tell me what the hell was happening. My dad smiled at me, not smug, but relieved. He held up his wine glass. “I don’t know about you, but I sure could use something stronger than this.”
    I laughed, and so did Cole. He disentangled himself from his mom’s arms, not pushing her away, but smiling as he wiped his cheeks. “I have a bottle of scotch that cost more than some cars.”
    “That’ll do.”
    Cole set the book aside and went into the kitchen, but he was back seconds later, and without any scotch. Instead, he had his phone in his hand, and his face was bright with excitement.
    “Taylor’s in labor!”

    C OLE and I scrambled to get out the door. To my surprise, Grace and my father didn’t come with us. “Call me when things get serious,” my dad said to me.
    “She’s at the hospital now. Isn’t that serious enough?”
    My dad smiled indulgently and patted me on the shoulder. “You’re in for a long night, son.”
    He was right, as he so often was. I couldn’t even manage to be annoyed about it anymore.
    When we arrived at the hospital, Taylor’s contractions were still about seven minutes apart. We sat in the waiting room for a while, asking the nurse for updates every time we saw her. Finally, she smiled at us with the same quiet amusement my father had shown. “Why don’t you go in and see her for yourself. She said to tell you it’s fine.”
    “But she’s in labor!” I blurted out.
    The nurse laughed. “It’s not like the movies.”
    Sure enough, we found Taylor lying in bed watching TV between contractions. She was wearing a hospital gown, and the blankets covered all the necessary parts. She was hooked up to an array of monitors.
    “How are you doing?” Cole asked her immediately. “Do you need anything?”
    “Besides to get this show on the road?” She laughed. “No. But Larissa came straight from work, and she could use some dinner.” That explained why the young woman had a nametag pinned to her shirt and a red apron around her hips.
    “I’ll get it right now,” Cole said to her. “Just tell me what you want. A sandwich? A hamburger? I can go down the street for sushi, if you want.”
    Larissa glanced at Taylor as if to say, you weren’t kidding about this guy . What she actually said was, “If you can stay with her for a bit, I’ll run down to the cafeteria.”
    “But won’t she need you?”
    Taylor took Cole’s hand. “The doctors say it’ll be another couple of hours, at least.”
    Another contraction hit as Larissa left the room, and we waited for it to pass. “They’re not too bad yet,” Taylor said when it was over, “but I’m beginning to think this natural labor thing isn’t for me. An epidural suddenly seems like the greatest thing ever invented.”
    “Honey,