More Than Friends (53 page)

When almost everyone else had set off across the Common, they followed suit. Sam was flanked by several other judges, who talked as they walked. From time to time Annie saw him anxiously scan the people walking ahead of them. He caught her eye. She shrugged. She hadn't seen Michael, or J.D., Fortunately the room where they were holding the reception was packed, and the air festive, by the time they arrived. The tablecloths were a pale gray, the flowers a rich burgundy. Soft music wafted from a grand piano in the corner. Wine flowed. Smiles abounded.

Teke was with Sam's parents, who knew as few people there as Grady did, which made Grady feel better, Annie guessed, though she also guessed he would have preferred to be somewhere alone with Teke. He didn't take his eyes from her long. The fascination seemed mutual. Grady, in a new suit, put most other men in the room to shame. Annie was pleased for Teke.

She and Sam moved through the crowd, shaking hands and hugging friends, laughing, enjoying themselves in spite of the tiny twist of sadness they both felt. Annie kept glancing at the spot where the children were gathered, hoping to see Michael there.

Then J.D. appeared at the door. He was alone. She found Sam's eyes. They were filled with defeat.

She was about to go to him when his face suddenly brightened. Glancing toward J.D." she saw Michael come up from behind. He was wearing a new blazer and slacks, looking adorable and terribly grownup. Annie felt a great swelling fullness inside as Sam excused himself and strode across the room. He stopped several yards from Michael and waited. Annie stopped, too, with her heart in her throat. Michael didn't once take his eyes from Sam. He blinked and swallowed. In a flash of Annie's memory, he was a scared little boy on his first bicycle, with Sam calling, "You can do it, Mike. Give a push off, then pedal. That's it. Good boy. Keep going. You've got it." With the video cam in one hand and

his eyes filled with sudden determination, he walked forward. That was all Sam needed. He met the boy halfway in a hearty hug. "I'd just about given up hope."

Annie arrived just as Michael said, "By the time I decided to come, I couldn't find a belt that fit. Mom had already gone, and Dad didn't have the key to your place, so we had to stop at a store and buy one."

Sam was grinning from ear to ear. "Better late than never. Now we can celebrate." His eyes took on a gleam. He raised his head. Michael stopped him. In a voice that was more man than boy and playfully stern, he said, "Don't you dare do it, Sam."

"Do what?" Sam asked innocently.

"Make a big announcement that I'm here and that you want to toast my recovery." Annie agreed that it would have been a typically Sam thing to do. "Don't do it," Michael warned. "I'll die." Sam chuckled. "Okay. I won't. I suppose this is my day after all. But you've made it for me, Mike." With a final hug that should have embarrassed Michael, too, but seemed heartily welcomed, Sam released him, collared Annie with one arm and J.D. with another, and grinned a silly grin. "Okay. We're ready. Start filming." Annie wasn't sure his behavior was particularly judicial, but somehow that didn't seem to matter. While she basked happily beneath the warmth of Sam's touch, Michael stepped back and put the video cam to his eye. From behind it came his deepening voice. "The twelfth of March, 1993. Four Seasons Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts. The occasion is Sam Pope's installation as a judge on the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. That's his best friend, J. D. Maxwell,

on his left, and his wife, Annie Pope, on his right. And here come the rest crowding in. There's Zoe and Jon and Leigh and Jana and Teke and Grady and Papa Pete and Mr. and Mrs. Pope from Oregon and half of Constance. Hey, what's on the tray that the guy with white gloves is carrying? Are those chocolate-covered strawberries? Awesome...."

MICHAEL WAS STILL FILMING. HE HAD ALREADY

used up two cartridges recording the nervousness in the waiting room and was working on the third. Things were getting monotonous. But he kept filming. It was either that or fall asleep, and he refused to fall asleep. He didn't care if it was four in the morning, he wasn't missing the birth of Leigh's baby. Of course, it might have been nice if they'd let him into the delivery room with Leigh and Jon. Videographers did that all the time. Okay, so he had a cold. Wasn't that what dentist's masks were for?

So he was relegated to the waiting room. For the umpteenth time, he backed himself to the wall and panned the gathering. It occurred to him that he could splice and edit and juxtapose this shot with the earlier ones to produce a hilarious statement about fatigue. With each panning, the bodies sank lower against each other and the backs of their seats.

On the far left, scrunched together on a vinyl sofa that was a gross shade of green, were Sam, Annie, Zoe, and Jana. Fresh from the airport, J.D. was slouched on a single chair beside Jana. Papa Pete was asleep on another single chair, and on a smaller sofa to his right were Teke and Grady.

"What's taking so long?" Jana complained sleepily. Zoe was only slightly more awake. "Do you think something's wrong?" Annie squeezed her hand. "First deliveries always take longer. They'll be fine."

She and Sam shared small, excited smiles. He took a breath and looked around. "So. Is it a boy or a girl? Let's have the latest count." Michael would be furious if it wasn't a boy. He wanted someone to play with. He was tired of being in the minority.

From the others came a tired outcry of votes, the sudden sound of which brought Papa Pete awake with a start, all of which Michael captured in the lens of his camera. He also captured the anxious look Teke gave Grady and the reassuring way he touched her hand.

With the exception of the few short minutes when he'd first learned whom Grady had killed, Michael had liked Grady. He wasn't a big talker, but when he spoke he had something to say. He treated Michael like an adult. And he was good to Teke. Much as there were times when Michael missed his father and wished his parents would get back together, the grown-up part of him could see that his mother was happier than she had been in a long time. Not that she had ever seemed unhappy. Just that now she seemed better.

He swung his lens to the left, over Papa Pete, to J.D. Florida was agreeing with him, and Michael could understand why. The place he had bought there was awesome. Michael had been to visit twice and was going again once the weather got cooler. J.D. liked the people there. He liked his law firm, and he liked playing golf. Michael guessed he was dating,

More Than Friends though J.D. didn't talk much about that, and Michael didn't ask. He wasn't ready to know. He was used to seeing his mom with Grady--it was as if they were made for each other--but seeing his dad with someone other than his mom would be weird. He supposed he'd get used to it in time. He was just glad the thing with Virginia Clinger had cooled. She was bad news.

"Maybe the baby is upside down and backside to," Jana said. "That would slow things down."

"They would have known that before," Zoe reasoned, and looked up at Annie. "Wouldn't they?"

Annie nodded. "The baby's fine. I'm sure."

Michael swung the video cam to Teke, who didn't look sure at all. She looked terrified. Grady took her hand and held it.

Papa Pete's head lolled before returning to his shoulder. It came erect in the next instant, though, because Jon swung through the double doors looking as if he'd been sacked ten times in a row but wearing a smile a mile wide.

"It's a girl!" he cried, and stood there, not quite knowing what to do, until the others crowded around him, hugging him, hugging each other, laughing, crying, asking questions.

A girl. Michael should have known.

"How big is she?"

"Who does she look like?"

"How's Leigh?"

"When can we see them?"

The babbling continued nonstop until, shortly thereafter, Jon was allowed to carry his daughter into the hall just outside the delivery room, where the Popewells waited excitedly.

"Look at her!"

"She's beautiful!"

"That's your mouth, Jon!"

"And Leigh's nose!"

Michael stood back, filming. After a minute, though, he let the video cam fall to his side. It struck him that there was something about what he was watching that could never be picked up on film. The Popewells were together. They were happy. They were enlarged now by two, if Grady was counted, and given the way he was part of the festivities, it looked like he was.

It was a miracle.

Michael thought back to all that had happened in the last year. He remembered the dark days when he had thought life was going straight downhill and nothing would ever be the same. He had been right about the last; some things would never be the same. Changes had taken place. But they weren't so awful. Actually they were pretty good. Sam snapped his fingers and crooked a finger his way. "Get over here, Michael. This is your niece"

Michael joined the group. His gait was slightly unsteady, though not because of any lingering effects of the accident. Those were pretty much gone. He intended to be point guard this year, and he intended to be a starter. No, the shakiness had to do with the sense of witnessing awesome things in the here and now.

Without a thought to the camcorder, he stared down at the baby. He had never seen anything so small in his life.

"Isn't she incredible?" J.D. asked with an arm around Jon. Annie and Teke were hugging, Sam and Grady were slapping each other's backs, Jana and Zoe were shoulder to shoulder cooing at the baby. The baby had one eye open. As Michael watched, she opened the other. He could have sworn she looked straight at him, and he knew just why she

would. He was the one who was closest to her age, the one who would be around when she was little, the one who would protect her. Second to Leigh and Jon, she was his.

Maybe a girl wasn't so bad after all.

He looked up at the others with a grin.

It was a miracle.