Unexpected Arrivals(68)
When she finished with the call, she greeted the two of us standing in front of her. The only sign of fear either of us showed was the trembling in our clasped hands.
“James and Cora Carpenter. We’re here to see Karen Clary.” My husband’s voice was calm and cool.
She typed something on her computer, waited for a moment, then stood and escorted us back. The conference room sat empty except for the pitcher of water, a carafe of coffee, and cups in the center of the table.
“Mrs. Clary will be right with you. Please help yourself to coffee and water. There are some snacks on the table in the corner if you’d like anything to eat.” When James nodded at her, she turned and closed the door behind her as she left.
I didn’t have a chance to finish making a cup of coffee before a woman in her mid-fifties strolled in. She was full of confidence, primly dressed, and wearing the most fabulous heels. Any other time, I would have inquired about them, unfortunately that seemed a tad inappropriate given the circumstances.
“I’m Karen Clary. You must be James and Cora. It’s nice to meet you.” As she shook both of our hands, the two of us remained silent and let her lead.
“As you know, Chelsea Airy passed away two weeks ago, naming you the sole guardian of her five-year-old son, Legend.”
It was totally inappropriate, but I couldn’t stop the giggles that erupted. James glared at me, horrified by my outburst. Regardless, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop running this kid’s name through my head. Legend Airy—legend-ary. Who would do such a thing to their only child, their first born? It was horrendous—poor guy was going to be the laughing stock of the playground.
“What is wrong with you?” James hissed at me under his breath while giving the lawyer a sideways glance to show he didn’t have a clue what was going on or approve of my behavior.
“I’m sorry.” I tried to whisper, but my voice carried. “Legend Airy…that’s your son’s name.” The weight of what had just come out of my mouth hit me. And then the tears did as well. My fingers met my lips, and in total wonder, my giggles morphed to awe. “You have a son.” Those four words were barely heard.
The hand that had hidden my astonishment now cupped his jaw. I didn’t bother to hide the overflow of emotions from my husband or the attorney. I kissed his lips and repeated myself. “You have a son.” I smiled as if I’d just given birth and the doctor had presented us with our new addition.
Karen didn’t interrupt our moment or rush us back to whatever information she needed to share. She gave us time to process what we’d just learned. When we finally turned back to her, she waited with a smile on her face.
“I have to admit, Mr. Carpenter…I worried about how this would all play out when we first spoke. I’m glad to see you and your wife are open and possibly even excited about your son.”
“He doesn’t have any other family who wants custody?” My eyebrows rose in question, and suddenly, it seemed hard to imagine that no one would fight us for this little boy. My emotions were all over the place. If I weren’t careful, I’d give myself whiplash.
“Chelsea didn’t have any family, but Legend has been staying with Chelsea’s friend—”
“Dottie?” James interrupted her.
“Yes. Chelsea and Legend lived with her, so the court granted temporary custody to her until the paternity testing was completed and you were able to get back to Florida.”
“So, he’s okay?” The worry in James’s eyes was something I’d never seen before—not on him. Although, I’d seen it cross my own father’s expression countless times when I was a child.
“As well as can be expected. Chelsea did a good job of preparing him for her death.”
“He’s five…why would she have prepared him? Did she have cancer or something?” James wasn’t quite as eloquent as I would have liked him to be. He responded based on emotion, and I’d just had an explosion of inappropriate laughter.
“Mr. Carpenter, Chelsea had juvenile Huntington disease.”
“Her mom died of Huntingtons. I thought it took years, and the decline didn’t start until her forties or later.”
“I’m fairly ignorant about the disease; I just know that Chelsea was in late stage one when she was pregnant with Legend. Juvenile Huntingtons is very aggressive, and death usually occurs in less than ten years.”
James sat there stunned, apparently unaware this girl had been affected by the disease at all. Although, now wasn’t the time to ask him how he could have missed something so monumental.
“When will we meet him?” My question was soft and shy.
Somehow, I felt like it wasn’t my place to ask. At the same time, this was my husband’s son. Now our son. Nervousness and excitement rolled into an emotional ball of frenzy that whirled around inside my mind and did somersaults in my stomach. One minute the idea of James having a child was terrifying, and the next, almost natural. My heart and mind bounced over all the emotions in between, but never at the same time.
“Does he know about me?” James had been relatively quiet sitting next to me, so when he blurted out this question, it was as if the answer was the difference between life and death.
“He does. He’s also been told that someone special is here to see him. Since you hadn’t communicated what your intentions were, Dottie didn’t think it was in his best interest to get his hopes up, and then you walk away.”