The Moment Before You Fall

Forty-two: Right on Track

*** Three years later ***

*** Benjamin's POV ***

Sitting in the auditorium of my old high school, I waited anxiously yet again. Mom and Dad sat next to me and could sense my agitation.

"Calm down, son. When have you ever known Abigail to be on time?" My dad joked at my girl's expense.

"Plus Whitney and Mary have everything covered." Mom tried to assure me.

"Fair, but I should be with her too." I grumble.

"And you will be. After you support your baby sister. It's bad enough that we're going to have to explain that Abigail isn't here. You are right where you need to be." Mom insists.

And she's right. Abigail insisted that I come to record Carlie's high school graduation. She was disappointed that she was missing it, but when her water broke this morning, she didn't have much choice. I just hoped that I wasn't going to miss the birth of my first child.

"Why do they have to go alphabetically?" I groaned, tapping my thigh nervously. FINALLY, after what felt like days, I watched proudly as Carlie was announced and she crossed the same stage that Rebecca and I had crossed, the same stage that Carlie had owned as a lead actress for four years, the same stage that Abigail, my now wife, had stumbled across behind a curtain, first rousing my interests with her stark white Converse shoes.

I whistled loudly and stood for her. She waved excitedly and jumped off the stage into the arms of her long-term boyfriend, Brandon. The dude had earned major brownie points and although I didn't like that he was older than her, it ended up being a good thing. And he was always respectful at least.

"Do you think he is going to take a page out of your book, Benji?" My mom teased, following my gaze to where Brandon bestowed kiss upon kiss as a teacher tried unsuccessfully to usher Carlie back to her seat.

"Nah. He wants her to get through her first year of college and see where they go." I shared. I had caught up with Brandon one-on-one several times about a variety of things, acting as an older brother figure. He asked my opinion on early marriage, knowing I had been there. Carlie is cut from the same cloth as Abigail and with no time pressure like Rebecca's situation, I advised that he let her make it through this next transition, high school to college, before complicating life. He seemed relieved and while Carlie was a hopeless romantic, she also had a good head on her shoulders and wasn't chomping at the bit to get married.

But seeing them together does trigger memories of me and Rebecca. Dad squeezes my shoulder, likely sensing where my mind was. "How are plans coming on your next great success?"

"It's good. You know I work well under time pressures." I reply. I hadn't landed another big coaster since my first year, but right around the time Abigail was entering her second semester and we decided to share the news with everyone, I was granted another go ahead on a model. We had fun with that, issuing the announcements simultaneously. We're expecting a new coaster! Oh, and a baby!

But the timing had of course created stress because I was due to be out for at least a couple weeks with the birth of our child. The designs needed to be done and submitted to keep the project on track. And as luck would have it, I finished just in time, submitting final drafts earlier this week.

I told Erica I could do the presentation to the approval committee if our little one hadn't arrived yet, but it looks like Laura is going to have to take lead. After my out of the gate success, Laura took over and had an assertive run, landing the next three projects, including one big coaster. So she was no stranger to the process.