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At the house, I made her some toast and tea, which she gobbled down and complimented far more than toast deserved to be praised. As she finished off her fourth slice, she tilted her head to one side and seemed to study me. “I hope the baby has your smile,” she said. I couldn’t help smiling at that. I felt like a teenager getting a compliment from my first crush.
“Do you have any idea how happy I am with you, Julie? I never imagined anything like this for my life. I always thought of myself as the marrying kind, but always in a few years. Then, you happened. I’d been aware of you as part of Kendall’s life, as a friend of the family, but I never registered you as an individual, as the grown woman you are, until the barbecue on Labor Day weekend. Then you just whipped through my predictable life like a whirlwind.”
“That’s me, Jeremy, the kind of woman you compare to a damaging weather event,” she said with a laugh.
“Not quite. But definitely more forceful than a breath of fresh air. More like a force of nature that knocked me over. Made me see things differently. I was astounded by your courage and your honesty, your candor when we met for lunch. You gave me a very straightforward and almost unsentimental description of your abusive relationship. You were so strong it humbled me and made me want to protect you at the same time. I admire you so much for the bravery it took to leave him, to testify against him, and then to come to me and open up all the details of your past. Most people would be too self-conscious, cowardly even to disclose what they went through and look at it the way it was, without making excuses for themselves. I don’t know if I could have done it, if I’d been in your shoes. I like to think I’d be resourceful enough and brave enough to escape a dangerous situation like that, but I don’t know if I’d be willing to be on the other side of the interrogation that takes place in a courtroom. I’m a lawyer and I know how we can be, dogged and callous when we want to make a point, establish something important to the case. I’m not sure I could face being on the witness stand. I’m still in awe of all you’ve accomplished during that time and since then. I’m not even sure you realize how remarkable you really are, Julie.”
She didn’t look at me, seemed embarrassed. I tipped her chin up with one finger. “No, you need to own that. You’ve earned the respect and admiration of anyone lucky enough to truly know you. I mean that,” I said earnestly. She lifted her eyes to meet mine, blushing, and looked away.
“Thank you,” she said softly, humbly. “I don’t quite see it that way myself. But my counselor said something along the same lines. I’m flattered but I have a hard time reconciling that description with myself.”
“You’ll get used to it. You haven’t had much in the way of unqualified acceptance and love in your life until now. We’re going to make sure you know it’s no more than what you deserve.”
“I’ve had Kendall, and she’s amazing. I wouldn’t have survived the last few years without her that’s for sure. I’m still shocked that she’s been so—on board—with this whole thing.”
“She loves you and likes seeing you happy. Plus, like Rory said, it’s not like she’s strait-laced and narrow minded herself. It’s unconventional, so I understand why you were nervous to tell her, but seeing the smile on your face, there’s no way she could have wanted anything else for you,” I said.
“She must see how much I love you all,” she said shyly.
“Then she sees how much we love you,” I replied, looking in her eyes so she knew exactly how deep that went.
I got to my feet and cleared the plates, then returned to her. She was still perched on a high stool at the kitchen island and it brought us almost to eye level with one another. I tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned my forehead against hers. “Look at me, Julie. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone in my life. All I want from now on is to make you happy, to listen to you and make decisions with you and rock this baby so you can get some sleep. I can’t imagine anything in the world better than our future together. You know how much we’re going to love teaching her to swim? Teaching her the words to ‘Defying Gravity’?” She smiled up at me, tears in here eyes. “You know you want to,” I teased. “Taking her to her first Knicks game and getting her one of those big foam fingers, which you know Rory is going to get her. She’ll probably want to sleep with it and also insist that we take it to her piano recital and cheer for her with it.”
