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“Summers?” Moffy asks.
“All good,” Xander says, wiping his watery eyes with the back of his hand. “What’s up with you? Why the call?”
“MK is in labor,” Moffy announces. “Farrow and I are at the hospital with her.”
Oh wow, it’s happening. “Is everything going okay?” I ask.
He assures she’s doing great. He just wanted to let us know before the news inevitably leaked to the media. Xander and I start calculating the time it’d take to fly to Philly from San Francisco. But Moffy doesn’t want us to cut our trip short.
“Take a ton of pics. I want to see all of them,” Moffy tells us, a smile in his voice like he’s imagining the dorky photos we’ll send him. Which I already have a few of Xander and I posing like action stars in the hotel hallway. “Your niece will be here when you get back. Just be careful. We’ll FaceTime later.”
My heart is torn. I want to be there, but I like this time I’m spending with Xander.
“Okay,” I whisper. “We’re sending our good energies towards the baby and MK.”
“Me too,” Xander breathes.
Moffy says, “I love you both more than Dad loves Hellion, Cyclops, and Quicksilver all rolled in one.”
“Bullshit,” Xander nearly smiles.
“My love is that big, Summers. Better believe it.”
I begin to smile now. “I believe,” I whisper. The love of my family is the easiest thing to have belief in.
“Well, at least Kinney will be happy she gets to hold the baby before us,” Xander says, lying on a queen-sized hotel bed and flipping through the TV channels. After attending one Fanaticon late-night party, which awesomely included foam and 3D sunglasses and EDM music, we’re chilling in my brother’s room and waiting for news on the baby.
“Yep,” I say. I’ve been writing a little on my laptop, lying on the other queen-sized bed. Which is actually Donnelly’s bed. Xander requested security to stay in his room. It’s not that unusual, but it is unusual when said bodyguard is a guy that I have feelings for.
Feelings that’ve been difficult to make sense of.
Right now, Donnelly has an arm bent against the wall, gazing out the window at views of the bay. He’s been checking his phone every couple of minutes.
I’m not stalking him. I’m just observing. I can do that without it being obsessive. Can’t I?
Cheeks hot, I go back to writing Human Him, Cosmic Her where I last left off. Not even five minutes later and my phone rings.
“Is that them?” Xander nearly leaps off his bed.
I set aside my laptop while he dives onto my mattress and collects my phone first. “It’s him!” Xander clicks into the FaceTime, and I scoot closer to him.
I glance up, and Donnelly is so far away still, just watching us. Isn’t Farrow his best friend? “Do you wanna come see?” I ask him.
His chest rises, then he nods. Sitting beside me, Donnelly joins our video frame.
“Moffy?” Xander calls. “We can’t see you, man.”
We hear Farrow tell our brother, “Click the video button.”
“Yeah, I got it, thank you for that helpful instruction,” Maximoff says.
“Anytime, wolf scout.” Hearing the smile inside Farrow’s voice instantly calms me. All must be well.
They suddenly appear, Farrow and Maximoff—and my brother is cradling a swaddled rosy-cheeked baby with the cutest little pout. They angle the camera to show MK in the background, still in her hospital gown but sitting up on the bed. She looks swoony watching the new dads, and she gives us two thumbs up.
“Everyone’s healthy,” Farrow tells us.
Donnelly makes a hand gesture, one that I think means love.
Xander can’t stop smiling, and I feel more overwhelmed.
Moffy’s eyes are bloodshot like he’s been crying, I hope only happy tears, and Farrow touches the back of his skull in affection. To us, Moffy says, “Xander. Luna. You have a niece. Her name is Cassidy Keene Hale.”
Cassidy? If they told me about this name before, I’ve forgotten it. Sadness envelops me, and I try to banish every last bit of it. But it’s starting to feel insurmountable.
I want to hang on to the amazing pieces of life. Seeing my niece for the first time. This is spectacular, a singular moment in the timeline that I’m witnessing. I might not have the past just yet, but I have this.
Tears build. “It’s cosmic,” I suddenly realize.
“What is?” Moffy asks.
“Cassidy’s birth. Maeve’s birth. Ripley’s birth,” I tell everyone. “They were all born on the 15th. One in November, one in December, and the last in January. Cosmic happenings bring good fortune, I’ve always believed.”
“The lucky few,” Donnelly grins, but as our eyes briefly meet, we acknowledge that we’re not so fortunate. And I hope they won’t ever be unlucky like us.
I have an adjoining hotel room to my brother’s, and I lean in the doorway between our rooms, about to let my brother go to sleep. Donnelly is saying goodnight to me, his hand perched high above my head.
