Page 147 of The New Place

“If I don’t get married, do I get a lawyer?” Pat asks.

“I don’t know. Do you think you need to?” Ned asks.

“She said we could. That I could think about it. And I could decide if I want to be involved.” Pat lets out a bark of a laugh. “Involved?”

“Some guys wouldn’t want to be,” Ned says.

“This is so big. This is so much. It’s a baby. Oh, shit. I’m going to have a kid.”

“You are,” Ned agrees.

“Like an actual little kid that’s mine,” Pat says.

“That’s how it works,” Ned says.

“Holy shit,” Pat breathes. And then he grins. “Ned! I’m going to be a dad!”

“You’re going to be great.” Ned opens the whiskey to pour a bit into each glass. “You’re going to have a little kiddo, and you’re going to be their dad, and Pat, it’s just the best thing ever. Cheers to that.”

Abbot’s smiling too as he clinks his glass against theirs, and Pat’s grinning a dumb, goofy grin.

“Pat, it’s hard as hell and it’s so awesome. You get to tell your folks, and you get to watch them be so excited, and you get to meet this little person.”

“Peggy was so cute,” Pat says.

“She was,” Ned agrees. “And you’re at some point going to be staring at this little tyke and having the biggest feelings in the world, and in that moment they’re going to vomit into your mouth.”

“Wait, what?”

Ned grins at him. “What did you say to Claire this morning? Besides proposing?”

“I had no idea what to say,” Pat says. “I figured there was a good chance she was just coming up to dump me, honestly. Except then she’s telling me about fucking October and no, I have no idea what I said. I think I blacked out. And then I called you.”

Yes, and then lit out across the city to find him, too. Ned can see why, and he leans over to squeeze Pat’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”

“I will?”

“You will. And Claire will. Just tell her you’ll be there. Whatever this is like for you, it’s a hundred times more intense for her. So make sure she knows she won’t be alone, and for fuck’s sake don’t try to propose again, alright?”

“I’ll be there for her,” Pat echoes. “Is that it? That’s all I have to do?”

“Well, get ready to pay for a hell of a lot of stuff too,” Ned says. “But you and Claire are good. So keep it that way. That’s the most important thing, right?”

That’s what he and Abbot are banking on, isn’t it? That the strength of their relationship they carried into this latest mess will hold steady for them. It can for Pat and Claire too. “Besides, you have until October to figure out all the details,” Ned says.

“That’s so much time,” Pat agrees and then grips his thighs. “That is only a couple months, what the actual fuck? I’m going to mess this kid up so bad and then they’ll have daddy issues and make terrible fashion choices as a teenager and⁠—”

“You get to have this little buddy who adores you, and who you think is the coolest kid in the world. And it’s so hard, but they’re so hilarious, and Pat, you’re going to be great at it.”

“You will,” Abbot says and at that, Pat finally relaxes.

“Claire’s wonderful,” Ned says. “We like her a lot, and your parents will too.”

“You do?” Pat asks.

“We do,” Ned says. “There are worse people to be doing this with.”

“Better timing, though,” Pat says.