The sound of their son laughing and gurgling in the other room finally brought them back to reality, and Casey reluctantly climbed off the bed to see to him, or at least, she tried to. Robbie pulled her back, pulling her down to sit next to him.
“Case, now that I’ve fixed my… problem, we really need to think about this whole “getting married” business; I spoke to mom, and Karen, and when you’re ready, they want to take you shopping; mom’s decided she’s gonna be organizing our wedding, and she’s got a vision of how it’s going to be, so be prepared! Also, I’d like you to think about this; how about we wait until she’s recovered from the birth, then have a dual wedding with your mom and Elio?”
Casey gaped, then flung herself at him.
“You’d do that? Really? Oh Robbie, thank you, thank you, I know mom will love the idea, thank you baby!”
Just after midnight, Casey was awakened by the phone. She answered sleepily, but was wide awake a in a few seconds as Elio told her that Angie had gone into labor and had been taken to O’Connor Hospital in San Jose. She shook Robbie awake, and while he dressed, Casey strapped the baby into his carrier and packed the baby-bag for him.
The cross-town and freeway traffic was light at that time of night, and they made good time, arriving at the hospital less than 40 minutes after receiving the call, to be met by a jittery Elio, and the news that Sarah and Steve were also on their way. Casey took little Robbie to see her mother, while Robbie took Elio to get some coffee into him and calm him down.
Angie was in no danger; her pregnancy had been entirely normal, so the Obstetrician was unconcerned, even though she was almost three weeks early; his attitude was that the estimated Due-Date always had two weeks or more leeway, because of the inaccuracy in calculating when conception actually occurred, and in his opinion, three weeks early was as normal as three weeks late; that was enough calm Elio’s fears, although impending new-father jitters were still there, naturally enough..
Sarah and Steve arrived soon after, with little Caitlin in her carrier, and now the family was all there, awaiting the arrival of Angie’s daughter, Casey’s new sister.
Robbie offered to watch over the babies while Casey went into her mother, but Casey decided that she’d let Elio share this with his partner. It still gave Casey a small twinge now and then that Robbie still hadn’t found a way to connect with Angie, his biological mother, not even in the most superficial way; as far as he was concerned, she was just plain ‘Angie’, his business partner’s wife, and his prospective mother-in-law. Even though he was intellectually aware that she was his real mother, for Robbie there was only one Mom, and Sarah was it; after Sarah came Caitlin Novak, his beloved Aunt Kat, and there was no room in that particular niche for anyone else.
So while Robbie and Sarah sat and talked and watched their respective children, Steve and Casey nervously paced, both of them wearing a groove in the waiting area carpet. At last Casey could stand it no longer.
“I’m going in there, babe; she’s my mom, and she needs me too!”
Robbie grinned at her tone, and nodded his head in the direction of the Obstetrics Unit.
“Go on, Case, you’re making me dizzy with all that pacing! We’ll wait here, she probably does need you right now, go to her.”
Casey shot him a grateful smile and spoke to the Charge Nurse, who took her away to get her gowned-up. Robbie, Sarah and Steve settled down to wait for their newest family member to make her appearance.
At 4:45 A. M., Casey poked her head through the door of the delivery room.
“Guys, she’s beautiful! You have to see her, she looks just like Mom, God, she’s so gorgeous! Wait a few minutes, then you can come in one at a time!”
Robbie nudged Sara, who came awake with a start, indicating she go in first. The first thing Sarah saw was how tired Angie looked; healthy or not, this had really taken it out of her, and she was muzzy with exhaustion; she may have borne two children before, but that had been nearly 25 years ago, and she’d been a lot more resilient then; now, she was feeling every second of her 43 years, and she looked like exactly like a woman who’d just been through several hours of agonising labor, but she still had enough strength and composure to smile and beckon Sarah closer.
“Sarah, thank you for being here. I’d like you to meet your niece, Sarah Caitlin Vargas; Sarah Caitlin, this is your Aunt Sarah, say hello!”
Sarah’s eyes filled at the compliment, the last fragments of hurt from the old days finally disappearing at the olive branch Angie held out to her. Sarah held out her arms.
“May I?”
Angie smiled and passed her daughter to Sarah, who took her and looked in rapt wonder at the newest member of the clan. Casey was right; she did look like Angie, and a lot like Casey, as well.
“Hello, baby,” whispered Sarah, brushing the tiny forehead with a gentle kiss, “welcome to your family! I have a gift for you; when I was young, my name was Sally; now it’s time to pass the name on, so I’m giving it to you, because it belongs in our family; it’s your turn to keep it now, baby!”
Angie smiled wistfully as Sarah handed the baby back to her.
“I wish I’d been able to call you Sally back then; thank you for such a special gift, Sarah, I know how much it means to you!”
And that was the moment when the two women finally became true family, after a lifetime of being on opposite sides of the fence.
Angie asked Sarah to sit for a moment, as she had something to ask her. Sarah sat on the edge of the bed and waited to hear what Angie had to say.
“Sarah, Casey told me that she and Robbie have finally worked things out, and they want to be married as soon as possible. Elio and I, we want to get married too, and Casey suggested we have a double-wedding. I know Casey would like Frank to give her away, what I want to ask is, will you ask Joey if he’ll give me away? I don’t have anyone, and…”
Once again Sarah’s eyes brimmed as she smiled and leaned down to kiss Angie on the cheek.
“Of course he will, he’ll be proud and honored to do that for you, I promise you!”
*
All eyes were on the two couples at the altar rail; the groom’s in black suits and crisp white shirts, the brides in voluminous white dresses and long flowing veils, and the bridesmaids, two tall, striking redheads, in simple long gowns of teal-green, the objects of attention of every young man in the church. Robbie and Casey said their vows, followed by Angie and Elio, no modern, New-Age poetry, rather those that had been said for generations, as sanctioned by church rite, traditional and heartfelt, while the congregation looked on in rapt attention.
Sarah and Karen watched the children, little Joey, young Robbie, Caitlin, and now little Sarah, as their parents partook of the Sacrament of Marriage. Joey had given Angie away, Kat acting as her Matron of Honor, while Morag and Moira had been both women’s bridesmaids, and true to her wishes, Frank had given Casey away, as proud as though he was actually her father.
Sarah was so wrapped up in watching her boy get married that her attention momentarily wandered, only catching from the corner of her eye someone standing behind the pew where all four baby carriers were lined up. Suddenly Karen gave a cry and slumped sideways, As she turned in shock, seeing Karen slide off the bench onto her knees, she felt a blow to her face, the shock making her cry out, seeing a blurry shape lifting baby Sarah’s carrier. She shook her head to clear it, to see a shocking sight; Steve Dolan holding little Sarah’s baby-carrier, his face twisted in a horrifying sneer of mingled hate and triumph, and Karen sprawled over the three remaining baby-carriers, blood pouring from her split lip, desperately protecting the other three children with her body.
Robby and Elio both turned at the sound of her cry, their faces also shocked, seeing Dolan with Angie’s baby in his grasp, one hand holding the baby-carrier, the other holding a retractable utility knife near her.
Casey found her voice first.
“NO! No Dad, what are you doing? Put her down, you sick bastard!” she screamed, attempting to reach her father. Robbie held her back, realising their father had lost whatever tenuous grip he had on sanity, his expression showing nothing but animal hatred and rage.
“You fuckers took everything from me, everything I had, my wife, you and all those bitches, they all lined up after you fuckers destroyed me, they took everything you left me, everything! Let’s see how you like losing everything!”
Elio was raging, fear for his daughter and outrage flickering across his face. Frank and Steve having to use all their strength to hold him back, recognising they were confronted with a madman, a madman who had nothing to lose, and had a vulnerable child in his grasp.
Kat watched in horrified silence, terrified for the babies still strapped in their carriers on the church bench, waiting for the opportunity to edge her way to where Karen was kneeling with her arms around the three remaining baby-carriers, her eyes burning with anger, hatred, and contempt as she glowered at Steve Dolan.
“You took everything from me, Angel, you destroyed me, you made my daughter hate me, now my business is gone, my house is gone, everything’s gone, and it’s all your fault; but now, now I get to pay you back, now I have your little bastard, this little bitch’s bastard is gonna die, what are you gonna do? Fuck you, fuck all of you, this is all your fault, you brought this on yourself, you fucking whore, you and your fucking whore daughter!”