The Next Best Thing

Chapter 15 (Part 1)

Emma was sick about the date – in the best way possible. What if he didn't feel the same when she saw him tonight? What if he did? What if she was just something to do because he had time on his hands and easy access to her? Or flip it, only with her having no time for a life and him being a hole in the wall away. Most importantly, what was she going to wear?

If she'd been waiting for Gabe in Mercy's office, instead of waiting with Jackie in a drab room at the family courthouse to file paperwork, she could've at least asked an expert to weigh in on her situation with Mitch. Not that the court's clerks weren't some kind of experts by now, but only in the endings-parts of relationships rather than the beginnings.

She couldn't keep from bouncing her knee. She wasn't the only one. The room was filled with the static-y, nervous energy of over-thinking, impatient minds. Except for the air around Jackie. She was as calm as could be, as still and unbothered as a citronella candle keeping the buzz of others' anxieties at bay. Emma was very grateful for her supportive, uncritical, nature. It's what allowed her to fret about Mitch rather than be overwhelmed by this major step in her commitment to being Gabe's permanent guardian. She didn't want to jinx her date by mentioning it or anything that happened the night before. Jackie's the one who brought Mitch up, and when she did, Emma spilled.

"I think he's fabulous," Jackie said in her Jackie way, "but are you worried at all it's moving too fast?"

"Of course I am. He's already seen me naked."

"Now you'll get to see him naked, you lucky girl."

"Jackie!"

"I'm just saying. He's so handsome, like a James Garner or Rock Hudson type."

"Rock Hudson was gay. Mitch is most definitely not."

"Stop rubbing it in. Did you ever see any pictures of Frank when he was younger?"

"I don't think I have."

"He was beautiful. Manly, you know, like William Holden, or maybe Jon Hamm but fair. You should've seen how all the neighbours would come out when he was mowing the lawn in his shorts. I still see him that way," she said.

"Forever young or mowing the lawn?" Emma teased.

"I'm not kidding. It's why I never let him put in a pool. I think Gabriel's going to look just like him."

"Really? I sort of wondered. He maybe has Sophie's cheeks, but some of your features, I think. He doesn't look anything like Jake."

And thank goodness for that, Emma thought. She always thought Jake had a sandy-brown, humourless handsomeness, and that was when she liked him. Gabe was a blond cherub with a dirty face; mischievous, innocent and inquisitive.

"Jake and Colby don't look anything like anyone. Frank used to kid that I had a long-standing affair with this good looking Witness who used to come to the door, just because I let him in for coffee one time." She raised an eyebrow. "Frank was a repairman. He had to know turnabout could be fair play." A smile through pursed lips turned to a pout. " Poor Colby and Janet, though. They're so excited to have Gabe tonight. They want a little one so badly. They're getting ready to start IVF and now Janet has a fibroid."

"Jeez, does everyone have a fibroid? Seems like everyone I talk to these days does"

"I had one years ago but it got yanked out with everything else when I had my hysterectomy. Janet's is the size of a grapefruit."

"That's another thing. How come whenever someone has a fibroid it's always the size of a grapefruit?"

"Anything smaller is easy to ignore."