“And?”
Maddie set down her spoon. “And he’s elated, Grandma. He really is.”
“Good.” She twittered a little and grinned a little, as if she was elated, too.
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you. But can you wait until after lunch? Visiting hours start at eleven. I’ll be there by then, but his physical therapy is at eleven thirty and takes an hour. He’ll be tired after that, but you won’t stay too long and wear him out, will you?”
“I’m ninety years old, Madelyn. I’m not stupid. I never stay long if someone is infirmed.”
Maddie closed her eyes. “Sorry, Grandma. I’m afraid this day has done me in. Go whenever it works best for you and for Joe. It’ll be fine. Rex will be fine. So will I.”
“Apology accepted. But be careful not to take on the personality of your soon-to-be sister-in-law.”
It took a few seconds for Maddie to realize Grandma was talking about Taylor. “She won’t be my sister-in-law if Rex and I don’t get married.”
Grandma sat back and folded her hands in her lap. “Rex won’t marry you?”
“We won’t marryeach other, Grandma. Not yet. We both have too much on our plates—especially him right now with his recuperation—to make such a major commitment too fast.”
“But …”
Maddie took a deep breath. “Please, Grandma? We need you to give us some space on this, okay? And some time?”
Grandma sighed. “Oh, you kids. Well, all right. But I always suspected that’s what happened to Taylor. Believe it or not, she was a happy little girl, a pretty one, too, with her big mane of red hair. The story goes that her boyfriend died in a boat accident right before she found out she was pregnant with Jonas. That could have been when she got so … strange. Standoffish. By now you know how she can be. Years later I wondered if it happened way before that.” She shrugged. “Some things I can’t remember.”
Standoffishfelt like the right word for Rex’s sister. “If it’s any consolation, I think my personality has already been formed, so I don’t expect I’ll turn into Taylor, whether or not Rex and I get married.”
“All I know,” Grandma continued, on a roll now, “is at some point, the girl totally changed, which was probably thanks to her mother, who never acted happy. Anyway, they lived on Chappy, so we didn’t know each other very well. Except Rex, of course. Once his dad built the cabin—his getaway, he liked to call it, and who could blame him for wanting one?—well, his boy Rex was a fixture at Fuller’s ice cream stand, like you were. Hey! Maybe you two met way back then but forgot! Maybe this baby has been karma all along. Oh! We’ll have to tell Rafe about that. Speaking of your son, have you told him yet?”
“That I’m pregnant, yes. Like everyone else, he’s thrilled.But did I tell him that Rex and I won’t be getting married? No. And you might be surprised, but he didn’t ask. His generation knows that people should get married when and if they’re ready. But they can’t always have babies when they want.”
“Times change.” Her voice was sad now. “But you’ll miss out on the fun I had when your mother was born. Your grandfather and I … well, I suppose part of it was because we were young.”
Maddie smiled. “Rex and I aren’t young, Grandma. We don’t need to play house to be happy. And our baby will be fine because so many people are going to love her. Or him.” She stood up. “And I’m sorry I haven’t been a better dinner companion, but I’m really tired. The stew and the bread were terrific. Thank you. But I have to get some sleep. I’ll clean up the kitchen in the morning.”
Grandma said not to worry, that she’d clean up. Which indicated that, despite the lack of marriage protocol, she must really be happy. Maybe the baby would trigger some nice memories for her of when Hannah had been born.
After crawling into bed, Maddie quickly fell asleep, and sensed her mother beside her, cheering her on.
“I need to tell you something,” Rex said shortly after Maddie arrived the next day. “But first, you need to know I had the strangest dream last night.”
“Care to share?”
“Oh, yes. You were in it.” He was sitting in a high-back chair, his neck unencumbered as part of the “weaning off” stage. “And though I’d love to tell you the details, you might think my concussion was worse than it appears.”
She dragged the visitor’s chair closer to him and set it away from the now only IV pole so she could face him. She took his hand. “So tell me! It’s not nice to tease a pregnant lady.”
“There. You see? I must still be dreaming. In my dream I heard you say you were going to have a baby.Ourbaby. So please, don’t pinch me and make me wake up.”
One of the many wonderful things about Rex that Maddie loved was how often he made her laugh. How he stripped away her serious side and gave her happiness for no concrete reason.
“I’d bat you over the head with your pillow if you weren’t already physically vulnerable,” she said.
He smirked, an expression of pure innocence sweeping across his face.
“Stop that,” she said. “If you make this pregnant lady laugh too hard she’ll have to pee, which is already an issue.”
“Oh, great. Now you’re going to have mood swings, right?”
