For Our Son: A BWWM Parenting Romance For Adults (12 page)

"What did you get to eat?" Ryan asked Grace.

"Huh?" Grace was distracted.

"You said you were going down to the lobby to get something to eat.
What did you get?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, yeah. I didn’t end up getting anything,” Grace stated as she
stared out the window.

Ryan looked over at Grace fleetingly before returning his eyes to the
road. Her silence spoke loud and clear. She was embarrassed about what had
happened between them the previous night. Although Ryan was confused, he wasn’t
embarrassed. In fact, if Grace said that she wanted to continue seeing him, he
was sure he’d be up for it. All he needed to know was if she would be.

Back at the hotel that Ryan and Grace had just left, a new employee was
being trained at the front desk.

"This job is pretty easy." The front desk manager was saying.
"Once you remember a few simple codes, you’ll be fine. We don’t have too
many things go wrong here. This past week was the exception."

"What happened last week?" the trainee wanted to know.

"This one couple came in here and it was like everything that could
go wrong did go wrong. We lost her reservation so they had to share a room
because we were all booked. Then the system wouldn’t recognize their room
number for a wake up call so they missed their flight. It was a nightmare. I’m
so glad they’re gone,” the manager rattled off.

The phone rang just as she finished her story and she pointed it out to
her newest charge. "The sooner you get used to the phones, the
better."

The young man picked up the phone and gave the customary hotel greeting.

"Hi. My boyfriend is staying at this hotel and I need to be
transferred to him. I don’t know which room he’s staying in," said the
voice on the other end of the phone line.

"Okay, may I have a name?" the trainee asked.

"Ryan Stewart. It’s probably under Ryan."

"Okay, one moment." The hotel employee set the phone down on
the counter and turned to his trainer. "Do I just type the person’s name
into the computer?"

"Yeah, what is it?" the manager positioned herself to do the
work.

"Ryan or Ryan Stewart."

"You’re kidding." The manager looked up.

"What?" asked the employee.

"That’s the guy who I was just telling you about. The one that
shared the room with that girl. Is that him on the phone?"

"No. It’s someone who says it’s his girlfriend."

"Oh. Well he checked out."

The hotel employee picked up the phone and reported the information,
"I’m sorry. He’s checked out."

An almost inaudible ‘thank you’ was the reply as Sophia hung up the
phone. "He shared a room with her?" she asked the empty room. Then,
in anger, she threw her phone across the room. "He specifically said they
weren’t even staying at the same hotel!"

***

Ryan and Grace were rushing as the hurried towards Matthew’s room. Grace
continually checked her watch to make sure they were on schedule. When they
arrived, Matthew was sitting up in his bed playing a handheld video game.

"We are so sorry to barge in, but we just couldn’t leave without
saying goodbye,” Grace apologized.

"Of course," Monica said as she got up and walked towards
them. "Come in."

"We can’t stay long," Ryan offered. "We just didn’t want
to leave without dropping this off.” Ryan held up a large teddy bear. As he did
so, his eyes scanned the room and he noticed a host of other stuffed animals
and flowers. Monica followed his gaze.

"The children’s hospital sent over quite a bit of stuff for Matthew.
He’s been having a great time looking at all the cards,” she said.

"That’s great.” Grace smiled. She walked over to Matthew’s bed and
gently touched his arm. He moved away from her slightly and looked up at her
with inquiring eyes.

"How are you?" Grace asked him.

"Eight." Matthew misunderstood the question.

Grace stifled a giggle as her eyes filled up with tears. "Yes you
are. And you’re getting to be such a big boy."

"On my next birthday, I’m gonna have a Batman party,” Matthew
informed Grace.  “It's gonna be awesome!”

Ryan came and stood next to Grace in an effort to be a part of the
conversation. "I love Batman. I have a lot of the comic books. Do you have
any?" he asked.

Matthew looked over at Steve and Monica before shaking his head in the
negative. "No,” he said.

"Well maybe I’ll send you some for your birthday. Would you like
that?"

Matthew nodded, "But how will you know when it’s my birthday?"

Ryan and Grace looked at each other. "We’ll know,” Grace assured
him.

Suddenly Matthew started to sneeze and cough. Grace and Ryan backed up
so that Monica could come to the child’s aid.

"It’s just a side effect of the anesthesia. He’ll be okay,” Monica
assured them.

Ryan and Grace watched as Monica and Steve doted on Matthew. The young
boy seemed at peace and secure in their presence. After his sneezing fit, he
settled down and began laughing at a funny gesture Steve made with one of the
teddy bears. Grace caught Monica’s eye and nodded towards the door. She and Ryan
made a silent exit.

"He seems good," Ryan said of Matthew as he and Grace made
their way towards the airport.

"Yeah. Really good,” Grace agreed.

"So, was this easier or harder than you thought it would be?" Ryan
asked. Then as if to clarify, he added, "Seeing Matthew."

"I guess a little bit of both." Grace thought about her
answer. "It made it so much easier to see how good Monica and Steve were
with him, though. Just…how
together
they had everything. But it was
definitely hard having him not know us and hearing him call Monica and Steve
‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’."

"Being a total stranger to him bothered me more than hearing him
call them mom and dad. I mean, no one’s ever called me ‘Dad’ so it’s not like
I’m used to it or anything. Plus…I don’t know…I just kinda felt in the
way."

"I know what you mean. It was certainly closure for me. I don’t
think I’ll wonder or worry so much about him anymore…once I find out the
transplant went okay, anyway."

"Yeah." Ryan settled back and said no more.

At the airport, Ryan and Grace checked their luggage, went through
security and turned in their rental car in record time. When it was time to
board the airplane, Grace looked over at Ryan and wondered if she’d make it the
entire flight without bringing up the subject of the previous night. Should she
just bring it up and get it over with?

"Ryan—"

"Grace—"

"Oh, sorry, you go first,” Ryan relinquished.

"No, that’s okay. What were you going to say?" Grace asked.

"I was just going to ask you how you were getting home from the
airport,” Ryan stated.

"Oh. Morgan’s picking me up."

"Oh." Ryan fidgeted for a moment. "Can I borrow your
phone? Mine is low on battery.”

As Grace handed over her cell phone an awkward silence fell over them,
for they both knew whom he was about to call.

When Ryan got ahold of Sophia, she was irate. She screamed profanities
at him and called him a liar before he even had a chance to get a word out.

"Sophia," Ryan spoke softly and turned his back to Grace.
"What’s going on?"

"You two-timing jerk! I called that hotel you were staying at and
they said you stayed with Grace! You liar!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan pretended not to know. He
couldn’t believe that this was happening. What were the odds of the hotel
disclosing that information?

"Are you sitting there trying to tell me that you didn’t share a
room with that bitch?"

"That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you."

"Then why would the hotel say that, huh? What have they got to gain
by telling me that you and that slut shared a room?"

"Sophia, calm down,” Ryan said quietly. "I’m on the plane
right now. If you pick me up at the airport, I can explain everything. You’re
totally wrong."

Ryan sounded so calm and sure that Sophia quieted down long enough to
agree to meet him at the airport. Ryan’s heart was pounding as he pushed the
button to end the call. Hesitantly he looked over at Grace, but she wasn’t
looking at him. She had her eyes closed with headphones on. Ryan breathed a
sigh of relief. He tapped her and handed back her phone.

"Thanks." Grace didn’t look at him. Despite the headphones,
she had heard every word of his end of the conversation with Sophia, and from
what she could gather, he had some explaining to do.

As Grace dosed off and on, Ryan sat beside her thinking up an elaborate
story to tell Sophia. He considered telling her the truth, minus the sleeping
with and having sex with Grace part. After a few hours, he decided that was
probably his best bet. However, as the plane descended towards JFK
International, he had changed his mind. His new plan was to simply deny everything.

***

Morgan kept her eyes glued to the television monitor providing
information on Grace’s flight. The plane was twenty minutes late and Morgan had
grown tired of people-watching. Ever since all the terror attempts on public
transportation, Morgan hated airports and train stations. When a woman with
oversized dark sunglasses plopped down beside her and began turning pages in a
magazine she wasn’t even looking at, Morgan got nervous. When the woman turned
the pages so ferociously that they ripped, Morgan didn’t hide her curiosity.

"I’m sorry." The woman noticed Morgan staring at her. "I
hate airports."

"Me too," Morgan agreed.

The woman took off her glasses to wipe her eyes and Morgan gasped.
"Are you okay?" she asked of the woman’s bloodshot and puffy eyes.

"Yeah, I just…" The woman resituated herself. "My friend
called me just as I was leaving the house. She thinks her boyfriend is cheating
on her. She was all emotional, which caused me to get emotional…you know how
that gets."

"Yeah. I also know all about cheating boyfriends." Morgan
rolled her eyes.

"Really?" the woman seemed really eager.

"It’s almost like I wear a sign: ‘Cheater? Walk this way’." Morgan
pointed at herself.

The woman found this amusing and she leaned in towards Morgan as if she
was comfortable with this stranger she hardly knew. "How do you know for
sure if your boyfriend’s cheating? My boyfriend – I mean, my friend, isn’t
really sure her boyfriend is cheating, but she’s suspicious."

"Well that gut feeling is usually the first sign. Does your friend
think she knows the person her boyfriend is cheating with?"

"She’s pretty sure, yeah."

"Well, I’ve found that whenever I’ve seen my boyfriend with the
person I thought he was cheating with, if he was really quiet around her and
didn’t talk to her much, he was cheating. If he was really friendly with her
then he wasn’t cheating."