Part 18 (1/2)

”Jamie, I'm sorry, but it's just not going to happen. I am flattered though. Seriously.”

”Whatever,” he said, pus.h.i.+ng open the door to the supply closet. He looked back and whispered, ”It's not cool to be a tease. Guys don't like that.”

Dating advice from a high school student. And there she had it-she'd sunk to a new low.

”It's a boy!”

”What?” Evie asked groggily. She tried to focus her eyes on the alarm clock next to her bed but the red numbers just did a blurry dance. After painful squinting, she registered that the clock read 3:30 A.M. She clenched her fingers over the receiver in her hand and ascertained she was not dreaming the phone call.

”It's a boy,” she heard again. ”A perfect, angelic boy.” She recognized Tracy's voice upon hearing it the second time.

”No he's not,” Evie said defensively.

How the h.e.l.l did Tracy know what went down?

”Evie, trust me, he's a boy. He was circ.u.mcised one hour ago.”

The baby. Tracy had a baby boy.

”Oh, the baby's a boy. That's amazing. Sorry, it's the middle of the night. I'm just so out of it.”

”Well, get up and come meet him. I feel shockingly okay. Percocet's pretty awesome.”

”Now?”

”Yes, now. You need to meet Henry.”

”You named him Henry?” Evie asked, suddenly paralyzed.

”Yes. Cutest name, right? He's named after Jake's uncle.”

Evie was speechless. She never expected to hear her father's name. Not in this context.

”You there?”

”Um, yeah. I think it's a great name,” Evie said. ”It was my father's name.”

”Oh, Jesus, Evie. I'm sorry. I hope you don't mind. Honestly, we didn't even think about that. You don't mind, do you? We can both have Henrys. Someday.”

Evie knew Henry was a common name. She couldn't very well lay claim to it, especially when it was unclear if she'd ever have a chance to use it for a son of her own.

”It's okay, really. Let me get dressed and I'll come see you guys. You're at New York Hospital, right?”

”Yes. And thanks, Evie-I hope my Henry is the kind of man your father was. You've always spoken so highly of him.”

”I'll be there soon.”

By the time Evie reached the labor and delivery floor, Tracy had transitioned from exuberant to unconscious. The new father was also asleep, his body scrunched into a sideways child's pose to fit onto the tiny hospital couch. The baby lay quietly in the hospital-issued ba.s.sinet against one wall of the room. Caroline and Stasia were already there, seated on mismatched plastic chairs they must have dragged from the waiting room.

”She just fell asleep,” Caroline said with a big yawn. Nocturnal secretions crusted the corners of her eyes and lips. ”You all are so lucky I had the girls in the daytime.”

Evie approached the crib cautiously, worried that her footsteps would wake the baby.

”Don't worry, you won't wake him,” Caroline said, intuiting Evie's concern. ”They sleep like, well, like babies at this age.”

Henry was swaddled in a fuzzy white hospital blanket and was wearing a tiny blue-, pink-, and white-striped beanie. She had to admit he was a cute newborn, with flushed cheeks and a thick swath of black hair visible from where his cap ended.

”Evie, you missed Tracy's very detailed account of the birth,” Stasia said. ”Before she pa.s.sed out she asked me to check if her v.a.g.i.n.a was still intact. I sincerely hope Jake isn't serious about making a doc.u.mentary. If I were Tracy, I would have smashed his video camera in two.”

Jerome stumbled in at that moment, clearing his throat.

”Coffee, anyone?” He was carrying a full tray. Evie was surprised to see he had come along with Caroline to the hospital. She had presumed that rich people, particularly rich old people, didn't do things that weren't convenient for them, which would certainly include a middle-of-the-night trip to meet a new baby. But there he was, rubbing Caroline's shoulders after pa.s.sing out the coffee.

”Is Rick here?” Evie asked, noticing that Stasia was also eyeing Jerome's warm gesture to Caroline.

At that moment, Tracy's eyes flitted open and Evie jumped out of her chair to approach.

”Hi, Trace! Congratulations!” Evie said. ”I hope I didn't wake you. How are you?”

”I'm fine, I think. I just felt a contraction. But he's out of me, right?”

Caroline laughed. ”Yes, he's in the ba.s.sinet. You're having after-birth contractions. They really suck and will last for a few days.”

”Just when I thought I was done,” Tracy said, rubbing her eyes. ”Okay, I need to go back to sleep if I have a prayer of taking care of this kid. Wake me when Paul arrives, okay. I think he said he'd come. He and Marco want to get a handle on the newborn thing before Maya arrives.”

So Paul and Marco already knew they were having a girl? Evie calculated that over a month had pa.s.sed since she'd spoken to Paul.

Tracy's eyes closed again, and everyone kept their voices down, even though they could see from her jerky wincing every few minutes that she was not asleep.

”Does this freak you out?” Evie turned to Stasia. ”Seeing how much pain Tracy's in?”

”Why would it freak me out?” Stasia asked with a blank stare.

Let's see how you handle pus.h.i.+ng out a watermelon from a hole the size of a peach pit.

”Well, I'd be nervous if I was going to have a baby someday soon, seeing how tough it is,” Evie hedged. Stasia still hadn't told her about the pregnancy so she treaded lightly.

”Well, I'm not pregnant. So nothing to worry about.” Stasia offered up a close-lipped smile.

Maybe she'd had a miscarriage? Evie had been so sure Stasia was keeping something from her.

”Well, you and Rick are doctors. When the time comes, you'll probably both handle this in a much more clinical way. Rick was so nice, by the way, about my grandma. Is he coming?” Evie repeated her previous question. In the other corner of the room, Jerome and Caroline were silently looking through pictures on Jerome's iPad. She knew they were looking at the girls, because every time Jerome's finger scrolled to a new picture, goofy parental smiles would spread across their faces.

”He's not coming, Evie. Why do you keep asking?” Stasia's voice boomed, shattering the calm in the room.

”Okay, I'm sorry, I was just making conversation. Sorry if I was being annoying.” Evie couldn't understand why Stasia was so rattled.

”Whatever,” Stasia went on, choosing not to lower her voice from her initial outburst. ”We're getting divorced, okay? Now you know.” Suddenly the room was sucked of all its air, Evie suffering the most of all from foot-in-mouth suffocation.