Chapter 69

ARTHUR

True to my word, I started the morning with passionate sex, and then I made Doris breakfast.

But I couldn't wait too long until I told Doris the specifics about the conversation that Cathy and I had. I didn't want to do it in the penthouse, and I certainly didn't want to do it in Doris's apartment. Noah might be there.

I thought it would be best to do it somewhere in neutral territory. I decided on Central Park. There was a little grove in the northern area. It had a tiny bridge over a small lake, bushes, and moss.

Mid-morning, under a tree, it was shaded.

Because of the time of day, nobody was around. It was perfect.

I held Doris's hand. I told her about what Cathy had said.

Doris was quiet until I finished, her expression a combination of horror and shock.

"Oh, my God," she said when I finished.

"I know."

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you want to do?"

"It's your decision," she said.

"No, it's our decision. You're part of my life now. So this involves both of us."

Doris looked shocked. Like she didn't believe that we were a couple for the long term.

"Doris, like we said before, the future is always uncertain. But we're talking about a baby. Yes, we can get plenty of help. Yes, the timing is shitty because we just started two brand new projects with the hockey team and the pharmaceutical company."

"But Cathy is right," I said. "This is Mia's sibling."

I took Doris's hand as I continued. "We can delegate a lot of the work on the hockey team and the pharmaceutical company. And if you're willing to delegate some of the work from Heritage Properties, and if we share the parenting duties, we can do it."

I kissed her knuckles. "I don't exactly like it because I wanted to spend more time alone with you being romantic and getting to know you better."

I kissed Doris's palm. "But we can make time for just ourselves. We will make private time our priority. We will make sure we have somebody to watch the kids. We will make sure our relationship comes first."

"That's easy to say," Doris said.

"I know. It's not a decision we can make lightly. We have time to think about it."

"But not an indefinite amount of time," Doris responded.

"Obviously, Cathy's not an elephant with a three-year gestation period, unfortunately," I said.

We laughed at that, but it was uneasy.

"What's your instinct on this, honey?" I asked her.

"I guess it would be a shame to have somebody else raise the baby away from Mia. I don't know." Doris shook her head. "It's so unexpected."

Doris shook her head again, like she couldn't believe the circumstance.

I squeezed Doris's hands in mine, trying to be supportive.

"It's all hitting me like a brick over the head," Doris said.

"It's a lot to think about, yeah," I said.

"Do you think Cathy did this on purpose? Doris asked. "Just to keep a connection with you for longer? To keep reeling you in so she has a reason to be attached?"

"I definitely don't. Of all the things that I think, that's not one. She's not manipulative like that, and I think she feels really bad about it. Cathy's self-centered, and I think fate is a cruel mistress sometimes, but fate gives us blessings. We just have to decide which ones we want to take."

"It sounds like you already know which way you're leaning, and maybe you're already decided."

"I was an only child, and in some ways it was OK, but in some ways, it sucked. You are an only child, too, and I'm sure it was great and not so great."

"Dove, let's think about it, meditate about it, pray about it."

Doris chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound.

I put my hands on her cheeks and kissed her gently. "Whatever we decide is OK."

She sighed. "Life is difficult, isn't it?"

"Difficult, wonderful, and strange. And you never get out alive. Those are the rules."

The day before Mia's eighth birthday arrived. Mia was excited, even though it wasn't technically her birthday yet.

Doris made her chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We picked up Becky on our way to New Jersey and took a hot air balloon ride.

"I've done this before," Mia told Becky. "Don't be scared. It's fun. I'll tell you all about it as we go. First, you say 'Wheeee..."

For dinner, we went back to the Cheesecake Factory.

On Mia's birthday, the three of us and twelve of Mia's friends from school went to a gaming place called Lotus Warehouse, where they had a big bouncy house for kids, a kid-safe obstacle course, and a pinball arcade.

They also had four types of chocolate birthday cake and a mini merry-go-round where kids could reach for gold rings every time they went by the merry-go-round circle's northernmost point.

All the kids loved it, and Becky said it was the best birthday party she had ever been to.

It was noisy, and I was glad when it was over. The smile on my daughter's face made it all worth it.

Doris and I had decided we would adopt Cathy's baby if Mia was agreeable to the idea. And we decided we would tell Mia on her birthday after the party was over.

Just like I had decided to tell Doris a neutral territory, we decided on the same plan for Mia.

I brought Mia and Doris to the same part of Central Park, spread out the same picnic blanket, and after we had a light dinner of sandwiches and apple juice, I looked at my daughter.

"Mia, I want to talk to you about something very serious."

"Did I do something bad?"

"No, pumpkin. It's just this is a very important thing, so I want to make sure I have your full attention.

"OK, Daddy, I'm listening."

Doris and I had to discuss how we wanted to broach the topic with Mia.

"Mia, how would you like to be a big sister?"

Mia's eyes went wide.

"Would you like to have a baby brother or sister?"

"You're giving me a baby for my birthday?"

"Well, if you want one, and you promise to be a good big sister and help take care of the baby and set a good example, then yes. The baby won't be here for another five months or so."

Mia looked at Doris, her stomach, and then back at me.

"Aunt Cathy is pregnant. And because she travels so much, she doesn't feel like she can care for a baby. She agreed to let us adopt the baby and raise it until he or she is an adult."

I bent my head closer to Mia and gave her my most serious look. "But this is a big decision and we're not going to do it…" I don't even get to finish the sentence before Mia jumped up. And started jumping and down.

"I say yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes. I want a baby sister. Can we make sure she's a girl? I want a sister. Can I name her?"

Doris laughed. "I guess that answers that. Are you sure, Mia? You sound kind of wishy-washy, like you're not really sure of your answer."

"I'm sure. I will be the best big sister ever. Can we get her sooner than five months? I'm ready to be a big sister right now."

I smiled at my daughter. "I'm afraid we can't get the baby any earlier, but will be here when it comes. And we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl. But I will ask and see if we can find out soon."

"And I don't see any reason why we can't start thinking about boy's names and girl's names now," Doris said.

"Right now!" Mia said. "Right now this second."

"Why don't we name the baby Goodnight-Moon Goodnight-Macaroon?" Doris asked.

Mia looked at Doris as if she was crazy.

"What?” Mia asked loudly. Then she laughed. "Oh, I get it, Mommy. You're kidding."

"Yes, I am kidding. Do you think we should name the baby Mia 2?"

"No," Mia said with a giggle, drawing to word out.

Doris took out her phone. "Why don't we look up different baby name meanings? And then we can find a whole bunch of suggestions."

"I know," Mia said. Let's name the baby Happy-Birthday-To-Me and we can call her Birthday for short.

"Sounds like a perfect idea, pumpkin."

Doris smiled at me over Mia’s head. It was a wonderful day.