“Do you want to sit up a little, sweetheart?” Collins asked.
“Yes, please.”
Collins pressed a button that raised her up in the bed.
Sam noticed that Nicoletta, who’d always been a formidable presence, had been severely diminished by her illness. Dark hair formed a striking halo around her pale face. Even in illness, she was still beautiful.
“Sam is here, too,” Nick said, reaching back for her.
Sam took his hand and stood at his side. “Hello, Nicoletta.”
“Thank you for coming.” She lifted her hand toward Nick.
He took hold of it.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “You’re so handsome. I think that every time I see you on TV and in pictures. Like a movie star.”
“He gets embarrassed when I tell him that,” Sam said.
“When anyone says that,” Nick added with the usual annoyance that commentary always provoked.
“Well,” Nicoletta said, taking a breath, “it’s true.”
“I agree,” Sam said.
“We finally agree on something,” Nicoletta said.
Sam smiled because, hey, that was funny.
“The children… are well?”
“They are,” Nick said. “They keep us busy—and laughing.”
“Tell me about them.”
“We have four now,” Nick said.
“Read that. Collins…”
“I read the news story to her about the adoption,” he said. “We were delighted for you.”
“Thank you,” Nick said. “Elijah is the oldest. He’s about to be twenty-one and is finishing his junior year at Princeton. He’s married to his childhood love, Candace, and they’re very happy together.”
“They’re so young,” Nicoletta said.
“They are, but they spent a lot of time apart and are thrilled to be back together. He’s a wonderful big brother to Scotty, as well as the twins, Aubrey and Alden. Scotty is fourteen going on forty and has recently begun drinking coffee in the morning because, and I quote, ‘a man needs caffeine.’”
“He’s not wrong about that,” Collins said.
“Not at all,” Nick said. “The twins are six and just the cutest little people in the world.”
“Lately,” Sam said, “there’s been a lot of talk about chickens and eggs and whether you’ll have a chicken if you eat an egg.”
Nicoletta smiled and coughed out a laugh. “That’s so sweet. Happy for you.”
“We feel blessed to have them in our lives.”
“Lucky.”
