24. Lucas

Thankfully Bernadette's mother was able to come to the dinner that I had organized. And, better than that, she actually agreed to it too.

Bernadette had said she said something along the lines of, "I guess if they're going to be part of my legal family then I have to get along with them," which was certainly enough for me.

All I wanted, all Bernadette wanted, was for our two families to be able to get along decently. Which they hadn't since my family had moved out of the neighborhood.

They hadn't actually seen each other at all since my family moved, as Bernadette's mother completely refused, and I always had to go over to her place to hang out at all. And even that had been iffy.

But now the five of us would be sitting down to all have dinner together.

Bernadette and I arrived first and were immediately greeted by my mother.

"Hello Mrs. Wilson," Bernadette said with a smile, taking her hand and shaking out.

"Oh please," my mother said. "You're practically part of the family already! Feel free to just call me Ophelia, or even Lia for short."

"I think Ophelia is fine, thank you," Bernadette said.

"Come, come in, the table is all set." My mother ushered the two of us in and to the exquisite dining room. The table was set with matching china and there were new flowers in the vases. They matched the patterns on the plates, and the floral motif was carried through to the impressive silverware.

It was one of the things that my mother was especially proud of: matching all her tableware. She had never really been able to do that before my father's investments paid off, so I was glad that she could take joy in it now.

My father came out of the kitchen then, carrying a roast duck.

"Ah, Bernadette," he said with a cheery smile. "It's so lovely to see you again. I'm glad that my son finally got up the courage to propose to you. You're the daughter-in-law we deserve." He winked, and Bernadette giggled.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll go get it," my mother said.

We all knew who it was and held our breath as she opened the door and greeted Sarah, Bernadette's mother.

Thankfully, it was cheery conversations and good tidings that floated back to grace our ears and not hurled insults or thinly veiled jabs. It would seem that everyone was on their best behavior tonight.

Bernadette's mother came into the room then, a smile on her warm face as she surveyed the table.

"This setup is excellent," she remarked to my mother.

"Well thank you, it's one of my newest acquisitions. I remembered that tulips were one of your favorites and wanted to show it off for you. If you want to get one like these, I know a place that has a great deal."

My mother winked, and Sarah let out one of her real laughs.

I looked over at Bernadette with a smile, squeezing her hand tight under the table. Things were going well so far, and I was glad of it.

Then Sarah got a very serious look on her face.

"I've been realizing lately that I was quite overprotective of Bernadette, especially when she was younger. I want to apologize for assuming the worst of you. It wasn't right of me, but I hope I can make things right now."

My mother gave her a gracious smile. "Of course, please don't worry about it. I can understand being protective of your child, especially when she's as lovely as yours. The point is that you've come to understand us now and we can put aside our differences to be there for our children."

"Yes, I would have to agree with that." Sarah nodded solemnly. "I'm hopeful for what this new relationship will bring for all of us, and the time that we will get to spend together. And that roast duck also smells amazing." She turned to my father with a smile.

"Well thank you, just roasted it myself," he said, looking awfully proud of himself. "I figured a home cooked meal was the only proper way to welcome our new prospective in-laws. I wanted this dinner to be a special one."

"It certainly is shaping up to be one already," Sarah said with a laugh. "I look forward to seeing what else you've prepared."

"Want to help me finish things up? It should only take a few minutes."

She shrugged. "Why not." And then she followed my father into the kitchen.

"Well, this is going unexpectedly well," Bernadette said, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "I at least expected there to be a little more tension, but she seems to be handling everything really well."

"Your mother is quite something," I agreed. "I don't think we really have anything to worry about."

Several minutes later, all the main courses for the meal, including dessert, were brought out. There were fresh dinner rolls with butter, mashed potatoes, roasted duck, salad, and an autumn harvest soup. Then for dessert there was a fresh apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream.

My parents had labored over the making and setup of the dinner all day. They wanted it to be perfect, as they knew the importance of making a good impression on both Sarah and Bernadette. I tried to tell them that it was okay, they didn't have to do so much, but they had just waved me off.

So, dinner was nothing less than lovely. The food was delicious, and the conversation was even better. There were a few moments where Bernadette and I exchanged looks, but it was overall very good.

Then after dinner and a hearty dessert, the five us retired to the living room to play several rounds of cards. This was where we discovered that Sarah was astoundingly good at poker and won almost every match, she played in.

Though I was much better at Hearts, and my father dominated Go Fish with his incredible memory.

It was a fun time, and we ended the night promising that there would be more, another dinner perhaps, or even a tradition of dinners altogether, rotating who hosted of course. I couldn't put all that pressure on my parents.

In the car, Bernadette and I talked about how it had gone.

"That went…really well actually," I said.

"I know, I wasn't expecting anything like that at all. I mean, I knew that my mom would at least be civil, but I expected a few more loaded comments than she actually made."

"And my parents were forgiving, which I'm sure was also very helpful for your mother."

She nodded. "I think they did a very good job of making her feel comfortable. I'll have to thank them for that later."

"I'm sure they would appreciate that."

She sighed. "I'm glad things are finally falling into place. It feels nice that everybody is on good terms again, and my mom is being so accepting and supportive. Really, it is more than I could have asked for."

"But it's definitely what you deserve," I said, wishing I could lean over and kiss her in that moment. "You're so lovely, and so good to this world. You deserve to have peace and support. I'm glad that you're finally getting it."

"Thank you," she said. "You've been with me through all of this, I really appreciate it."

"Of course. And I plan on being with you through the rest of it too."

Because of course, there was the birth and then the baby to think about. I knew that it would require all of my support and attention, but I was willing to give it to her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me and I wanted to give her a life worthy of that.

* * *

On the night of Bernadette giving birth, the five of us were gathered yet again, this time at our place. Because Bernadette wasn't feeling well and had started having more frequent contractions, we had opted to go with takeout and a movie for this night.

All the while I was measuring the time between and the length of her contractions so I could gauge when we needed to get her to the hospital.

They were getting closer, and longer, and I could tell that she was getting nervous.

"It's okay honey, just breathe," her mother said, massaging her back. "You're going to be just fine, the doctors said so. We'll get you to the hospital when you need to be there."

"I know, it's just painful," Bernadette said, pacing around the room. "It hurts, ahhh, here's another one. And…over."

I looked down at my notes. We were around the times now that the doctor said we should probably leave for the hospital.

"We should go now," I said. "It's time."

The five of us all got loaded up into my car, then we drove Bernadette to the hospital. She sat in the backseat with her mother, who held her hand throughout the car ride, squeezing it tightly and telling her everything was going to be okay.

When we arrived we were escorted to a private room. A nurse came to check up on Bernadette's vitals and take the times from me.

It wasn't much longer before Bernadette's water broke, which surprised her quite a bit.

"I don't like this at all," she said, getting up so the nurse could change out the hospital bed pad and sheets.

"I know honey, but it's going to be worth it," her mother said.

Her mother and I were the two people who were with her in the room the whole time. My parents had opted to sit in the waiting room as they didn't want to crowd the hospital room, but they came to check in on her every so often.

A nurse came too, checking the dilation of Bernadette's cervix and guiding her through the contractions.

When it was time for the baby to be delivered several hours later, there were several doctors and nurses ready to attend.

They said it would be an easier birth because the baby was in the correct position and Bernadette had been doing very well at listening to directions, but she said a sarcastic comment under her breath at that, which I laughed at.

"If this is an easy birth, I don't want to know what a hard one is," she gasped several minutes later, trying to push to get the baby's head out.

The nurses and doctors were guiding her through it, and I held her hand tightly throughout the entire process. I knew there was a very low risk of any health complications, but I couldn't help but be worried. I didn't like to see her in such pain.

Then, finally, the baby's head popped through and it was a matter of getting the shoulders in the right position and guiding Bernadette through that painful step before the baby slid out easily, right into the doctor's hands.

They cut the umbilical cord, tied it off, and cooed at the screaming, wailing child as they measured vital signs.

"You can hold him in a moment," one of the nurses said to Bernadette. "You should be proud; you've given birth to a healthy baby boy. What are you going to name him?"

Bernadette and I exchanged a look, then I finally said, "Reese. We're going to name him Reese."