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“I’m sitting right here,” Emma protested loudly. Neil leaned over the playpen and lifted Olivia out. She babbled happily, her little arms and legs waving with excitement. One struck her grandfather in the face, and his surprised “ow” made her squeal with delight.
While everyone was distracted with Olivia, I took advantage of the moment, studying everyone’s happy faces. Mom, enviously eyeing Neil with the baby, plotting to get a turn. Michael trying not to scarf down his dinner—Emma really was a horrible cook—and making the occasional, subtle exhale of grateful pleasure. Emma, laughing as her father struggled to remove his nose from Olivia’s grasp. Emma’s smile was her father’s.
And Neil, wearing his stupid sweatpants that Mom would definitely complain about later. I’d been so afraid that he would be different after he quit drinking, and he was, but not in the way I’d feared. He was himself, but an enhanced version. His enthusiasm and passion for life had increased tenfold. His enthusiasm and passion for me had gone off the charts. No, every day didn’t feel like falling in love for the first time, but a lot of them did. I was grateful for them all.
Maybe our life would never be “normal”. What the hell was normal, anyway? I sat at a table with my family, my stepdaughter and son-in-law who were the same age as me, and my mother who was younger than my husband. In a week, I would turn twenty-seven, and I ran one of the hippest digital fashion magazines on the internet. And I was a grandma. Talk about being advanced for one’s age.
There’s no such thing as a guaranteed happily ever after, and no indication of what should happen after you ride off into the sunset with your handsome prince. But sitting at the kitchen table with Neil and our family on a Sunday night… It sure felt like happily ever after to me.
Neil and Sophie will return in
THE BABY
