What a Man's Gotta Do (27 page)

“Lucas?”

“Is one tough little kid, Ms. Koleski. He pulled through just fine. And even though the leg's going to take longer to heal than a simple fracture would,
and
he's going to have to continue to be tough to get through his physical therapy, I see no reason why there should be any serious lasting effects from the accident.”

Then she burst into tears, great heaving sobs that shook Eddie up at first, until he realized she was laughing at the same time. “Oh, God, I can't do this—it hurts too much! Oh, thank you, doctor—” she swiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand “—thank you so much. When can I see him?”

“Give him a little while to come around from the anesthesia, then I'll have someone wheel you up to pediatrics. I'm sure he'll be just as anxious to see you as you are to see him.” The doctor turned to Eddie, smiling. “And you, too, Mr. King. In fact, the last thing he said before he went under was that I'd better fix his leg…because you promised to show him some football moves?”

Then everybody was talking at once and shaking the doctor's hand—or hugging the life out of him, in Bev's case—and Eddie realized he didn't feel like an outsider anymore. That he wasn't an outsider anymore. And never would be again. Well, unless he really screwed things up and Mala's father did come after him with that Howitzer.

Then the doctor left, the roar subsided, and all eyes turned to Mala.

“What?” she said.

“So you gonna marry this character or not?” Marty said.

With a gasp, Carrie scooted over to Mala, who smiled up into Eddie's eyes, her own filled with promises he hadn't allowed himself to believe in since he was a little boy. Then she said to Carrie, “Whaddya think? Should I?”

A headful of red curls enthusiastically bobbed.

Then Mala's smile turned downright wicked as she said with a shrug, “Oh, what the heck? Why not?”

This time, they all got so loud some old battle-ax nurse stuck her head in to tell them to keep it down, this was a
hospital,
for heaven's sake, only to yelp herself when Eddie grabbed her and started waltzing around the room, while his new family applauded and hooted with laughter.

And out of the corner of his eye, he caught his bride-to-be's dimpled smile.

T
hey had to hold the Superbowl party at Steve and Sophie's this year because, as Eddie put it, there were just too dang many of them to fit inside the Koleski's tiny house anymore. And Mala had to admit, as she watched Eddie pump the air and high-five Steve when the Bears—not the Lions, but close enough—made a touchdown, their new daughter never even flinching from the safety of her father's other arm, that there were a
lot
of kids. And a
lot
of babies, by the time you counted Sophie and Steve's seven-month-old son, and little Prince Skye—Alek and Luanne were visiting again with their two…and Luanne was going to the bathroom with suspicious frequency—and Del and Galen's Sam, who had reached the lightning-fast toddling stage, and then Mala and Eddie's own dark-haired urchin, Abigail Terese, who'd already sprouted her first tooth last week, on her two-month birthday. Just what they needed, another precocious daughter.

Speaking of whom…guess who put her little sassy self in charge of Lucas's physical therapy sessions? Not that anyone would actually admit this to Carrie's face, but they all knew that Lucas's stunningly quick recovery had a lot to do with his
sister's goading. And he would never know how often Mala or Eddie had found her in tears, those first few weeks after they brought Lucas home from the hospital and everything was so difficult for him. But when he'd wake up from a nightmare, guess who was often first in her brother's room, cooing at him and giving him a drink of water and telling him it was going to be all right?

Of course, then she'd turn right around and torment him during his physical therapy sessions, calling him a weenie every time he'd say, “I can't” or “It's too hard.” Many's the time Mala was convinced Lucas's prime motivation for doing whatever he was supposed to that day was based less on wanting to regain use of his leg than it was to just shut Carrie up.

Who, natch, would be the first to throw her arms around his neck in congratulations every time he overcame his fears.

Whatever works, was all she had to say.

Mala wriggled her butt onto the sofa between her brother and her husband, sighing when Eddie slipped his free arm around her shoulder. Her oldest daughter was turning out to be a Nice Person—even if Mala already sympathized with the man crazy enough to marry her—Lucas had a backbone made of far sterner stuff than even she could have imagined, and Eddie…

She laid her head on his shoulder, toyed with Abby's chubby little hand.

After the guy Galen had hired to run
Galen's, Too,
left after less than a month, she again offered the job to Eddie. This time, he grabbed. The hours were long, but that was okay. He was happy. Content, Mala would guess. Wouldn't be long before he and Galen went into full partnership, she didn't imagine.

Mala and the kids had talked to Eddie's father over the phone a lot, and several videos had made the trek between Detroit and Albuquerque. Come spring, they were all going down there for a visit—Eddie's idea, one she knew took a lot of guts to implement. The kids couldn't wait: a
second
set of grandparents to spoil them rotten?
Yes!!!

During a commercial, Del crouched in front of Eddie to dis
cuss an idea he had for the house remodel they'd been talking about for the past six months but hadn't yet gotten around to. They'd already unblocked the stairwell and shifted everybody around to accommodate this new little person, but now Eddie and Del were in hog heaven talking about family rooms and playrooms and real master baths with dual showerheads.

A blush warmed her cheeks. Then she chuckled.

For some time after their marriage, Mala found herself wondering what she was happier about: that this wonderful, loving man had found his way into her life, or that his finding them had helped heal his lonely heart. Except eventually she decided it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were together…

Assorted bony elbows and knees jabbed into her as Carrie and Lucas—spitting nonstop loud, whiny insults at each other—wriggled both little skinny butts into the nonexistent space between their parents. The baby's arms flailed; then she settled back to sleep in the crook of her daddy's arm, her little rosebud mouth sucking away. Eddie looked over at Mala and winked.

…and would be together for the rest of their lives.