Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (11 page)

"How did you sneak in a turkey?" Eric
asked, trying not to laugh.

"They have that other refrigerator in the
garage. I bet she kept it there. And with Frank so caught up in the deep frying
process--still, I have to say that was a good job of sneaking."

Betsy sighed. "Of course, if the fried turkey
comes out okay, we'll end up with a ton of turkey."

"That's okay," Maggie said. "There
are plenty of us who will appreciate leftovers."

"Turkey sandwiches, here we come," Eric
agreed.

"Maggie, you can take the pie out of that
oven. I want to use one for the sweet potatoes."

"Uh, Betsy, just when are you going to tell
Frank about the back-up turkey?"

"At the very last minute."

Sam and Anna arrived then, bringing with them a
pumpkin and an apple pie. Maggie was surprised at how much she wanted to eat
the pie right then. Maybe she was getting dessert cravings now when she was
happy.

Sure enough, Sam was detailed to watch over Joshua
who took off immediately for the toy box in his grandfather's study. Julia and
Cody arrived soon after, with Julia putting Jennifer down for a nap. The
kitchen was too crowded with so many helpers, and some of them moved to the
dining room to set the table. Maggie noticed that Eric and Cody seemed to
vanish pretty quickly into the living room with the TV.

"Are you happy Maggie?" Julia asked.

"Yes, I really am."

"I'm glad. He's a good man. And quite
brilliant you know. What he accomplished in his work with computers was nothing
less than a breakthrough in the technology. I can't wait to see what he goes
after next."

"He never seems super smart to me. I guess
because he doesn't talk computer-speak with me. I mean, he is smart, I can see
that. But not what you're talking about."

"Well, I've had the chance to question him
about his work. It was awesome."

Maggie wandered into the kitchen to see what else
she could do. Could she and Eric really make things work together if she didn't
understand something so fundamental to him? Sure, she used computers just like
everyone else. But she didn't have any interest in programming or changes in
hardware. She just wanted it to turn on and work when she needed it. This was a
whole part of his life that she would never share.

Of course, now that she thought about it, her own
parents had very different passions in life. A cop and a fashion designer. And
they had a great relationship. She decided to stop worrying about stuff that
didn't matter. What mattered was their love for one another, and that they each
respected the interests of the other.

Holly and Jason arrived, claiming they'd slept in
after a long work day and the drive in during the night. Jason took Maggie
aside after meeting Eric.

"So is this the real deal?" he asked.

"It sure feels like it is. I'm in love with
him."

Jason smiled at her and hugged her. She and Jason
had become good friends while working together on the Sully Point Project. As
the architect, he'd worked with her on ideas for promotion. Holly joined the
two of them when Eric was called away into the kitchen.

"Maggie, he's gorgeous! Those eyes, that long
hair, that bod--"

"Holly!" Maggie laughed. "He is
pretty wonderful you guys. Everything has moved fast between us."

"Sometimes it happens that way," Holly
said with a smile at her husband.

"Yeah," Jason said, "Did I ever
tell you about the day Holly and I met?"

"You didn't and you're not going to,"
Holly said, firmly. "No matter how good a friend she is. Have you
considered any more ideas about what you'll do after you leave the P.R.
biz?"

"I'm still thinking about it. But I'm
seriously wondering if I might go back to school. Go into something completely
different."

"That's a thought," Holly said.
"I'm seeing more and more of that in my work." The personnel agency
that Holly ran in the city was renowned for finding the right person for the
right job. "People are going back to school to get skills to start over in
another field."

"First, though, I need to figure out what
direction I want to go in. It will take me some time, but I'll get there."

Holly patted her on the arm. "I know you
will. I have no doubt that you'll find what you're looking for and can be
passionate about. Aside from Eric, that is."

They both laughed.

Ultimately, the frying of the turkey was presided
over by all the men, in the back yard. They stood around in a circle, bundled
up in their coats and drinking hot toddies. It was a much shorter cooking
process, with the turkey being done in an hour. Betsy 'hid' the roasted turkey
under a tent of foil on the back of the counter. The green bean casserole was
reheated, rolls were warmed, gravy was stirred and stuffing came out of the
oven. They began to take dishes out to the buffet in the dining room, where
they would each take a plate and go down the line of food.

Frank did, of course, eventually notice the
roasted turkey. He proclaimed it a stroke of genius, because now they could
have a true taste test of the best cooking method. Betsy was greatly relieved.
Two hours past noon, they all gathered in the dining room for the meal.

Jennifer and Joshua had special chairs by their
parents, and the whole family sat down to the table with laden plates. Frank
bowed his head and said a quick grace of thankfulness. Much to Betsy's chagrin,
the deep fried turkey won the taste test, although everyone proclaimed the
desire to take home roasted turkey leftovers.

Maggie looked around the table at her friends who
had become family. The room was so filled with love that it brought tears to
her eyes. Eric noticed and leaned over to whisper, "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just really happy," Maggie
replied. Love was making her more emotional than usual she decided. She
wondered how all of them would get along if the rest of her family were to join
a gathering like this. Probably pretty well.

The sound of a spoon against a wine glass quieted
the table. "Everyone," Jason said. "We have an announcement.
Holly and I are going to be adopting a child in the spring."

There was surprised silence for a second and then
a loud wave of congratulations. Anna got up and went around the table to hug
her sister.

Eric asked Maggie quietly, "Adoption? What's
the story here?"

"They tried to get pregnant and then found
out that there was a problem. At first everyone thought they would just go
without children. But I guess they've realized they want a child, even if it isn't
theirs biologically." She wiped another tear from her eyes.

Holly was explaining. "We've decided not to
get a baby, but to get a child who is older, like six or seven maybe. It's just
going to depend on which child needs us the most. We both have a couple of work
projects we want to get out of the way between now and March. We want to have
plenty of time to devote to the child when we get him or her. Unless there is a
situation that needs us immediately. We've got an agreement with the agency
that they'll call us before March in that scenario."

Frank raised a glass in a toast to the future
parents. "May you find all the joy I have had as a parent."

Holly cried and got up to hug her father. Even
Jason looked a bit teary-eyed. As everyone settled back down at the table, Sam
announced that his latest book was finished which started another round of
congratulations. Then Julia explained about Eric's contribution to the new
computer lease program. Several people at the table had not known about it, and
Maggie saw surprise and approval in their gazes as they thanked Eric.

Everyone was too full for dessert just then, so
they agreed to have some after cleaning up. Betsy was made to sit down with
Frank in the living room to watch football, while Holly, Jason, Julia, and Cody
took on the clean-up chore.

"Here," Julia said, thrusting her
daughter into Maggie's arms. "Look after her until I'm done, okay?"

"Uh, okay, sure." Maggie turned to Eric.
"Did you want to watch football? I'm going to take Jennifer here into the
study where the toys are."

"No, I'm not that big a football fan. I'll go
with you for play time."

She smiled at him and shifted Jennifer to her
other hip. She was growing fast, Maggie thought. "Come on, kiddo, let's go
play."

The little girl clapped her hands.

After fifteen minutes in the study, Maggie knew
two things. Eric didn't talk baby talk to a child, but talked to them like an
adult. And he was great with children. Sam had dropped off Joshua to play, and
Eric had Joshua and Maggie involved in some imaginary game with the blocks that
had them completely absorbed. What impressed her was his patience.

He turned to look at her from his place on the
floor. He was sitting cross-legged surrounded by toys. "What is it?"
he asked. "You have a funny look on your face."

"I'm surprised. You said you'd never been
around kids, but you're doing great with them. Are you remembering your own
childhood games?"

"Oh, this?" he spread an arm out over
the game with the blocks. "Not really. It's from a program I wrote. The
blocks represent pieces of ram. Of course, they don't understand exactly what
they're doing, but I do. I find it fascinating how their random choices affect
the final result. Completely unexpected. I'll have to consider this the next
time I--"

"You're playing programming with them? Or
some kind of computer thing? They're children. They don't understand any of
that."

"Well, I wouldn't be so sure. First, they are
having fun. Second, who knows how much of a difference training like this might
make to their understanding of computers later on as they get older."

Maggie wasn't sure how she felt. She was startled,
but the kids really were having fun. And Eric was having fun. So what was the
problem? He had told her he wasn't used to kids, so he wouldn't play with them
in the way she might have. And his childhood fun had always involved computers.
She guessed it made sense. It just seemed odd. It was another one of those
differences between them that she'd have to get used to.

Eric had turned back to continue watching the kids
on the floor, looking at them with utter fascination. Maggie shrugged, and
realized that part of what she was reacting to was that he didn't treat them
the way other adults treated children.

Sam came into the room and sat down beside her on
the couch. He watched the play on the floor for a minute, and then said to her,
"Eric seems to be getting along with them quite well."

"Yes. He's playing a computer game with
them."

Sam raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.
"With blocks?"

"Don't ask me."

"Well, whatever he's doing they seem to be
hanging on his every word. But that's not why I came over here. I wanted to let
you know that Mom and Dad are talking about coming here for Christmas."

"What? Why?" Maggie felt nervous and
wasn't sure why.

"I thought that would get your attention.
They've heard about Eric--"

"From you, obviously."

"And they want to meet him since you seem to
be serious about him. You know how they can be a bit over-protective."

"But I'm not ready!" she blurted out.

"Ready?"

"I mean, I haven't even known him that long.
But I do love him. What if they find something wrong with him?"

"Do you really think they would?"

"How do I know? I realized tonight that there
is still a lot that I don't know about him."

"Does that make you feel more cautious?"

"No," she said automatically. Then she
smiled at her brother. "No, I feel perfectly safe with him. Thanks for
asking that. I've been wondering about the differences between us, but the
bottom line is that we love each other. Everything else can be worked
out."

He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her.
"I'm happy for you. And you sound ready for Mom and Dad to meet him. At
least he has a reputation they can check out before they get here. When they
came to meet Anna, it was, hmm, stressful."

"They love Anna!"

"Now they do. But they had to get to know
her. It all turned out okay once they got to know her. Anyway, just be prepared
to see them around Christmas."

"Okay."

"Is he trying to explain binary numbers to
those kids?" Sam asked.

"Beats me. He's all excited about their
random choices."

"Interesting, the way the genius mind
works."

"He really is a genius then?"

"Oh yes. I've been reading up on him. In the
computer world he's been known as a phenomenon since he was a teenager. I'm
frankly surprised at how well he fits in with people outside his area of
interest."

"I never really notice that side of him.
Maybe it's time I did. I know he worked hard to be more than just a nerd when
it came to socializing."

"Come on. Let's go rescue him from the
kiddos. Or them from him," Sam said with a laugh.

Maggie and Eric took Jennifer in to her parents,
who were watching the football game. The little girl fell asleep in her
father's arms almost immediately.

Cody looked at them and said, "What did you
play that wore her out so much? We need to try it at bedtime at home."

Holly and Jason came over and grabbed the couple
before Eric could respond. They went to the dining room and sat at the table
where Jason proceeded to grill Eric about everything in his life. Maggie wondered
if every man around her was over-protective. Maybe it had to do with her looks.

She had a good time talking to Holly, who had some
different ideas for her.

"How about taking some aptitude tests? I have
a variety of tests that we give at my agency. It might help you, especially if
you're thinking of returning to school, to narrow down your interests."