“I couldn’t go by myself, and I’m glad she waited until I came back so that you don’t have to be there by yourself.”
“I held it together all these years, but it was so hard watching the others go through all the stages that I thought we’d go through, believing that our chance had passed, and yet never being able to give up hope that maybe someday our chance would come again.” He opened the door for her and Charlotte got into the car. When he came around and got in the driver’s seat she met his gaze.
“Our chance has come again, together we can face anything, we can even be there and be happy for Emma as she welcomes her new baby into the world. We have to deal with what we lost, but at least now we can face it knowing that we have another chance.”
Ben held her gaze. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering how she felt about children now. When they were young, she’d always told him they could have kids in their thirties. Now they were in their thirties. She smiled and planted a kiss on his lips. They’d need to talk about that, and they would, but for tonight they had enough to deal with. They needed to get to the hospital.
Chapter Eighteen
Pete looked around at everyone with a smile. “Is it crazy that we’re all sitting in this waiting room and we’ve been sitting here for hours?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy, but it’s the best kind of crazy,” said Missy with a grin. “We couldn’t miss this.”
“I know, I just hope she hurries up. I mean it could take all night, couldn’t it? Do we really want to sit here all night?”
“I do,” said Dan with a grin. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
Gramps came over and rested a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “You doing okay, son?” Ben looked up at him and smiled. “I am, thanks, Gramps. I’m doing better than I thought I would.”
“Good.” Gramps gave Charlotte a kindly smile. “And you?”
Charlotte nodded. She smiled, but Ben could see it was hard for her. Maybe this was a bad idea. He’d asked several times if she wanted to leave. But she said she didn’t. She wanted to be here, wanted to be a part of this. He understood that. So many things had happened, and she’d missed so many milestones in the lives of their friends. This one was huge and she wanted to be a part of it, no matter how much it hurt. He felt the same way. It was hard not to let his imagination stray to how things might have been. These same friends would have been sitting in this same hospital, fifteen years ago, waiting for Charlie to have their baby, if things had turned out differently. He sucked in a deep breath. But things had turned out the way they had. There was no changing that. All they could do was make the most of what was. Be here and be happy for their friends.
Charlotte stood up. “I’m going to go out for some fresh air.”
Ben stood to join her, but she shook her head slightly. “I just need a minute. I’m okay.”
He nodded and watched her go. He wanted to follow, but he understood. She needed to be by herself. Missy came over and sat down beside him. “How are the two of you holding up?”
“It’s not easy, that’s for sure. But I wanted to be here. So did Charlie.”
“Should I go see how she’s doing?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. She wanted to be by herself, but I don’t know if that means she wants to be alone or just not with me. I think we make it harder for each other.”
“Oh, Ben. I don’t think …”
“I’m not saying that in a bad way. It’s just that when we talk to someone else we can say how we feel. When we talk to each other we’re always aware of how the other feels, and we don’t want to hurt each other.”
Missy nodded. “I can see that. I’ll go check on her, and she can send me away if she wants to be by herself.”
She put a hand on his shoulder as she stood up. Ben reached up and squeezed it. He didn’t dare try to speak. Missy had been there for him his whole life, and he didn’t doubt she always would be.
A few moments later, a nurse came out to the waiting room. “Mama and baby are both doing well,” she said with a smile. “They’d like the grandparents to come in first.”
Jack’s mom, Chris, beamed as she stood up.
“Aren’t you going in, Gramps?” asked Pete.
Gramps nodded. “I’ll wait my turn.”
Chris went over to him and held her hand out to him. “I think she means they want to see us.”
“But she said …”
“She said grandparents, Gramps,” said Pete with a smile.
“And you’re a great one, and we all know it,” said Ben.
