But as far as people wanting a baby for the sake of wanting one, he would never relate to. Children were an unknown entity.There was no guarantee of what sex you would have or what temperament or medical-emotional-psychological issues they may face. Not to mention the worry and anxiety they cause just by being in the world.
That didn’t even scratch the surface of the sacrifices one has to make of time, sleep, autonomy. Not to mention the financial, physical, mental, and emotional toll a baby, child, teen, and even adult took on a parent, even in the best-case scenario.
It wasn’t that he disliked children. He’d just never conceived of himself as a father. Why would you roll the dice on creating a human, knowing the world was both unpredictable and, statistically, terrible? Why would you take on that kind of liability, knowing you could screw it up in ways you wouldn’t even recognize until it was too late?
There were too many unknown variables. He’dneverhad any desire to be a father. In the middle of his existential calculus, Poppy crossed in his line of sight. Her beauty stole his breath as his eyes tracked her, following her across the room. It wasn’t a conscious decision. He had no choice in the matter. The moment she entered his field of view, AJ’s chest tightened. He couldn’t have looked away if he’d tried.
In a split second his thoughts shifted to her being pregnant with his child. This woman he’d never spoken to. He had no idea whether they shared the same morals, the same life goals, or were compatible in any sense, all of which he felt were essential attributes partners should share when raising a child. Yet, when he thought about her pregnant with his child, it didn’t provoke panic or abject terror, which logically, it should. He wasn’t even ambivalent, it made him happy.
Happy was not a word AJ had ever trusted. It always sounded like a diagnosis or a moment of delusion. But there it was, a flare of unfiltered contentment that lit up the inside of his chest. He tried to analyze it, to chart the sensation on some kind ofinternal graph, but the only thing he felt was the inevitability of reaching out for something he’d never thought he wanted.
He watched her approach Frankie and her best friend, Zion. She said something that made his sister look in his direction. Was she asking about him? Just the thought that she might be caused his heartrate to speed.
Liam, who had that uncanny surgeon’s ability to appear out of thin air, leaned in beside him, eyebrows drawn together in concern. AJ felt the pressure of a question before it even left his lips, like the sudden shift in air before a thunderstorm.
AJ took out his earplug and looked up at his friend.
“How drunk do you think she is?” Liam’s tone was almost casual, but AJ heard the diagnostic undertone, the same one he used when reviewing an abnormal lab result.
He had no clue how much Poppy had had to drink. Why would Liam be asking him that? As soon as he asked himself that question, he came to the most logical conclusion that Poppy most likely wasn’t the person Liam was inquiring about.
“Who?”
Liam tilted his chin towards the dance floor. “Athena.”
Right. His cousin. AJ considered the question. Athena was now twerking on Dr. Pendergrass, a retired cardiologist, and announcing that she wanted another round of shots.
“Too much.”
“I think I better go and get her before she hurts herself or someone else.”
Growing up, Liam had always kept a watchful eye on the entire neighborhood. Some of the kids had nicknamed him Batman because he kept the peace, protected younger, vulnerable kids, and was a loner who spent a lot of time in his room, which they called the bat cave. Those caretaking tendencies seemed to have magnified now that he was a doctor.
He set his drink down on a table and headed out as AJ reinserted his earplug. He watched as Liam made his way, weaving between dancers. When he arrived at his target, he leaned down to speak to her. She flopped herself against him like a dead fish. He wrapped his arm around and practically carried her off the dance floor.
They made it to the edge when AJ watched in horror as Athena turned towards Liam and projectile vomited onto his chest. It was like a scene out ofThe Exorcist. Unfortunately, Liam wasn’t the only casualty of Athena’s puke. Theia Joanna was dancing in the splash zone and slipped. Her arms flailed in the air like a 1920s vaudevillian flapper. AJ moved behind her to catch her so she didn’t land on her tailbone and hurt herself. He managed to save her from falling on her backside, but not before she clocked Liam square in the nose.
Now the man, who had just been trying to do a good deed, was covered in puke and bleeding from his nose. Athena was intercepted by her husband and Uncle Leo, who both told her it was time to call it a night. Once AJ got Theia Joanna balanced on her feet again, she began to fuss over Liam, but he’d assured her he was fine.
He grabbed a linen napkin and surprised AJ with a question. “Can you do me a favor?”
Liam wasnota man who asked for favors. It just wasn’t in his nature. In the nearly thirty years he’d known him, this was the first time he’d ever heard him utter those words or do anything that came remotely close to asking for help.
AJ nodded, agreeing before having any idea what the ask was. Liam was like a brother to him. And unlike Tristan, who he’d also grown up with, Liam was a brother he respected and cared about.
“I came here with my sister, half-sister, it’s a long story. Her name is Poppy.” Liam pointed in the corner where Poppy wasstill speaking to Frankie and Zion, but two more women had joined them, Karina Black, who had sung a duet at the wedding, and Lauren Harrison, who, according to his aunts, was on a reality real estate show. He’d known both women from spending his summers and holidays in Hope Falls with his grandparents, Yaya and Papou.
Liam motioned down to his now blood and vomit-stained shirt. “I think I’m going to call it. Can you give Poppy a ride home for?—”
“Yes,” AJ agreed, perhaps too eagerly.
All night he’d been trying to figure out the right time to speak to her. And now, now he had the perfect excuse. He was her ride.
“Thanks, man. I owe you one,” Liam said sincerely.
“No, you don’t.”
Liam had no idea that it was actually AJ that owed him one.
