Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (48 page)

Pulling away again, Ivy looked at the disheveled man in his wrinkled gray suit and tired eyes. Suddenly, he didn’t appear to be the man of her dreams. He was just a man, if that. His promises carried no weight and his tongue carried no truth. She could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that who ever that woman was, she was not the only one that he had been with during their relationship. Yet, she couldn’t tell whether he was being honest about her being the last. She had torn up his house and snooped through his things only to fine that all the evidence that she needed lie in his face and his heart.

“If this ever happens again, there won’t be any room for excuses or excusing you. It will be over,” she said turning to walk away.

“Wait,” he said seeing a worried sickness all over her tired, perplexed face.

“Don’t pacify me,” she said without turning around. “I’ve had my share of you for tonight. I don’t even want to look at you..” Grabbing her keys off the table by the door, she headed slowly down the steps trying to repress her tears. “Regardless of what was done in the past, this makes us even, Grey. Square.” She turned and left him standing in the middle of the floor.

A first offense always deserves a second chance.
Emerald wouldn’t believe it when he showed up for Sunday dinner next week. Grey smiled at the thought when he heard his front door slam.

Book Three

“
So what if you look like a fool to the world, the person you’re in love with sees the genius in your good intentions.”

-Anonymous

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Arrival

Chapter 27

THE ARRIVAL

“
God, help me!”
Ivy screamed, as she lay on her bed holding her stomach. She had never experienced such a flesh tearing, agonizing, heart-stopping pain, as she was experiencing at that very moment.

Even amidst the pain, Ivy was astonished at how sudden it had come and how marvelously unbearable it was becoming. She wasn’t even supposed to be at her apartment alone. She had come to pick up a pair of curlers only two hours before but stopped to watch some stupid talk show. Then all of sudden her water broke, flooding her bed and drenching her jumpsuit. She dialed her mother quickly, hoping someone was home.

“Hello,” Sadie said taking off her garden gloves.

“Mom! Thank God!” Ivy took a deep breath. “I’m in labor. My water just broke…”

“What!” Sadie grabbed her keys off the kitchen island. “Where are you?”

“At my apartment. Could you please…”. She clenched her teeth.

“I’m on my way, baby. I’m going to call you on my cell phone when I get in the car, okay.” Sadie looked over at Madison urgently.

“Hurry!” Ivy gasped for air.

“Okay,” Sadie said hurrying off the phone.

“Is it time?” Madison asked wrinkling his forehead as he frowned.

“Yes! Grab Ivy’s overnight bag, and I’ll grab my purse,” Sade said scurrying through the house. “She’s having the baby!”

***

An hour later at the Baptist Memorial Women’s Hospital, Ivy lay in stirrups in small delivery room breathing, sweating and panting the way she had only seen in movies. Holding her mother’s hand, she thought about Grey and Nicola for the first time. This was what everyone was waiting for. Contraction! She rolled her eyes and grinded her teeth together to block the pain.

“Okay, we can see the head. So take a deep breath and push hard for ten seconds. The first one’s almost here.”

“Okay,” Ivy said grinding her teeth.

“Okay, and ten, nine, eight, seven...”

The doctor counted and Ivy pushed. The doctor counted again and Ivy pushed harder. Knees in the air, held by tired sweaty hands, feeling wet cleanser down below as the doctor prepared for the crown of the head to reveal a full body, Ivy finally felt the pressure release and sterilized stirrups pulled a little baby from her womb. Ivy gasped unable to look up or down, she closed her eyes. Deep breaths. She could hear her mother exclaiming loudly. Declaring the newborn was perfect. Beautiful! But she couldn’t look. Her heart wouldn’t let her. And then, she felt that feeling again. Another one in place, ready to meet the world literally head on. She took a deep breath, felt her mother wipe her face, and she pushed again. The doctor was already at the base of the bed coaching her again. She knew that she only had a little strength. Just a little more. And then, she would have nothing else to give. She heard him count. And she pushed. Count. Push. Count, but she had to push then, breaking their rhythmic method. She grunted and pushed hard, felt a rip and pain. And then the second and last child was out. She collapsed. Exhausted, she finally opened her eyes and looked over as they cleaned the children. Her eyes watered. They were beautiful.

***

Trina sat down on the couch watching Emerald fix a sandwich in the kitchenette of the hotel and started to feel guilty. Everything in her told her that marrying him was the right thing to do. She didn’t need to trick him or lie to him. She didn’t have to worry about him being trapped or fooled. He had chosen to be with her voluntarily. He had asked her out of the blue. He had made the first move and helped her to see that there was still life after death for the living. But somehow she still felt as though she had possibly married him because she was more scared than in love. However, there were moments like right then watching him prepare his sandwich ever so carefully, humming happily and occasional looking over at her with his killer eyes that that assured her that she was truly in love. Emerald was attentive, creative and passionate. Something she had only experienced with Brooks in ration.

In only his basketball shorts, Emerald strolled across the room to her and laid his head across her lap. “You sure that you’re not hungry?” he asked taking a massive bite out of his sandwich.

“No, baby. I’m fine.” Rubbing through his curly black hair, she flipped through the channels looking for something to watch. “What are we going to do today?”

“I don’t know.” He yawned as he nuzzled his head in her lap. “What do you want to do?” The phone rang and Emerald sat up. “Hold on a minute. Hello.” He said gulping down his sandwich, the lump stuck in his throat.

“Ivy’s having the baby,” Madison said quickly forgetting to speak at all.

“Get out. You know, I knew it was going to happen before the week was out,”

“Good for you. Now, haul your ass down to Baptist Memorial Women’s Hospital. How’s Trina?”

“Fine.” He smiled over at her. “We’re on our way.”

***

Nicola’s heart fluttered and stomach tightened as he drove down the interstate whizzing past other cars like they were sitting still. The last nine months felt like at least five years. Now, it was actually happening. Either today he would get his walking papers, or he would find out that he was bound to Ivy for the rest of his natural life. Nearly a year ago, such a thought would have resulted in heavy drinking and a binge of reckless sex, but today he was sober and totally in control.

Pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, he jumped out in his workout clothes and pulled off his sweaty t-shirt. He grabbed a clean white t-shirt from his backseat quickly and pulled on his University of Memphis baseball cap. With little time to spare, he dashed to the maternity ward.

Before Nicola was ready, he was let off of the elevators onto his destination. He took a deep breath and peered through the windows of the waiting room. Expectantly, he saw Grey sitting with his legs crossed reading a newspaper, and an unfamiliar man that bore close resemblance to Emerald sat across the room looking at the television. Reluctantly, he walked into the waiting room letting the door slam behind him. Both men looked up. A curious stare was shared and then the tension dispersed.

Wanting to be mature in the presence of Ivy’s father, Grey stood up. It was still all about the show for him. Who knew if someone was watching or not. He had to always be the bigger man in front of others, at least.

“Hi, man.” Grey said relaxed giving his most carefree smile.

“Um, hey.” Nicola stopped completely stunned. “Is Ivy okay?” he asked looking around for Sadie. He nodded his head at Madison.

“Yeah, she’s alright,” Grey said looking over at Madison to make sure that he saw them cooperating.

Madison stood up and extended his hand with an uneasy smile. So this was Nicola? He sized the young man up as he looked him the eyes. “Madison Winters,” he said giving Nicola a firm handshake.

“Nicola Agosto,” Nicola said looking Madison in the eye. “Nice to finally meet you, sir.”

Madison searched Nicola’s face for some small sign of weakness and then released his hand. Guiding him over to the seat beside him, he offered Nicola a cup of coffee as they sat down. Nicola took the cup although he was not in the mood for coffee as a kind gesture. He wanted to make a good impression on this man for some reason. He wanted him to know that he wasn’t just some guy that had possibly knocked up Ivy. As he looked up, he caught Grey cutting his eyes at them both.

“Grey, you come over here, too,” Madison directed as he sat down in the middle chair.

“Yes, sir,” Grey said following his orders and sitting down quickly.
This is madness
, he thought inwardly.

“I guess all three of us will be walking on pins until we find out what the hell is going on in there, huh?” Madison looked at the door. He wished that Sadie would come out with some news. “So, we might as well get along, call a truce…do what adults do.” He looked over at Grey and then Nicola. “Today is about Ivy. She’s in a very difficult place right now. She’s bringing life into this world,
no matter how controversial the situation is
, and she needs both of your support.”

“Well, she’s got mine,” Nicola said leaning back in the seat to relieve his aching back.

“Mine too,” Grey said looking away from Nicola.

“Good,” Madison said hoping that he had made himself perfectly clear.

For the first time in nearly a month, Nicola missed Brooks. If he had been there, the pressure would not have been so great. He would have calmed him down, filled him in on what he was missing out on in the delivery room and cracked a joke to ease the tension. Now that he was flying solo, however, he didn’t know how to handle the situation. Here he was in the room with Ivy’s fiancé and father with nothing to say and nothing to do but wait. And he had all the time in the world to ask the question that he had been asking for so long…what if? He had a fifty-fifty chance that those boys would be his, and he more than anything, he wanted them to be. He smiled at the little Asian girl looking at him while she played with her doll across the room. He definitely wanted them to be.

Emerald and Trina walked through the door both in khaki pants and polo shirts moments later wringing wet from the sudden downpour. Nicola looked up confused. Who were they supposed to be? He could detect instant discomfort in Trina’s eyes when she saw him. Letting go of Emerald, she clasped her hands together.

Nicola stood up, went to them both and shook Emerald’s hand. He had always respected Ivy’s brother. He was so honest and forward. He carried the same characteristics that Madison did. They were honorable men. He didn’t know either very well, but he could definitely since that about them. Suddenly, however, he sensed something new. This was a development that evidently happened while he was away. Trina had moved on even before he had.

“How are you, man?” Emerald looked back at Trina and realized Nicola didn’t know about them.

“Fine. And you?”

“The bottom finally broke out of the sky just as we were about to get out of the car.”

“Yeah, I see,” Nicola looked at Trina again. Which one of them was actually going to tell him? “How are you, Trina? You look…different.”

“Fine. How are you?” She walked over and hugged him. Letting go she cleared her voice, pulled her hair behind her ear and continued. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah.” Nicola looked into her eyes. “What have you been up to?” It was his way of asking for a damned explanation!

“I got married.” She lifted her ring finger in confirmation.

“You did what?” Nicola didn’t know whether to be disappointed or happy. “When did this happen?” He grabbed her hand and looked at her wedding ring…nice rock. Bucking his eyes, he closed his gaping mouth. “Wow. When did this happen?”