Culpables years later...

Chapter 19

Noah

After about five minutes, we decided to go in. At the reception, Anabell, Mike and Alex were waiting for us. "There you are! We were worried." Anabell hugged me and greeted me. The next thing I did was say hello to Mike and Alex. After everyone had said hello to each other, we were taken to our table. Alex stood off our table. He could sit and still keep an eye on us.

The mood was good, only Lion and Nick were missing. My phone didn't show any more messages from them either. Jenna, sitting across from me, didn't seem to know where they were either. "Where is my son?" Good question Anabell. Andy, who was sitting next to me, was happily chatting with Mike and William. I still couldn't believe that my mother and Nick's mother could sit at the same table without having a bitch at each other. Maybe it was because Maggie was sitting with them.

Jenna was fooling around with her sons, and my seat on the right is empty, just like Jenna's. The waiter eventually came in with menus and took our drinks orders. Just as he was leaving, four figures walked in. 

I was stunned. My face froze. "Noah, honey? Are you okay?" My mom and all the other adults followed my gaze and turned to the mens. "Good evening." Lion started to loosen up. I didn't know which of the four looked worse. Lion had a laceration to his head, Steve had a huge bruise on his neck, Nick had an open lip and a green eye, and Luca had a broken nose and a black eye. I couldn't believe it. Are they kidding me? It took me one look at Jenna to know she was very pissed off. But we couldn't make a scene because the kids were there. The boys wanted to sit down, but without me. "Nick? Can you come outside, please? I want to show you something." His look was enough for me to know he knew what was coming. "Lion, you too, please." Jenna seemed to have the same idea as I did. Lion and Nick looked at each other and didn't feel like talking. As we walked out, our parents kept the kids busy. Maggie kindly played with them, too.

Outside, on a remote corner, Jenna and I looked at the boys angrily. "What did you do, Lion? Nick?" Jenna seemed even angrier than me. The two men looked overwhelmed. "Luca had problems with Ronnie's gang and they came to collect their debts and stupidly they beat us up." Why Luca? Why Ronnie's gang? What happened? "Why is Luca back here and why is he in debt and you were beaten up?" 

Nick came up to me and wanted to hug me, but I went back. "Freckles, come on." Tears came to my eyes. I pinched them. "I had offered him money to help him, he didn't want it. He bought the garage and became a dealer with them. I just wanted to help Noah." He took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes. "I don't want to scare you, Noah. I love you and look forward to the evening."

I nodded my head, but I was fighting an internal struggle. Nick couldn't help it, but I was afraid because it reminded me of bad memories. I looked at Jenna and Lion, but Jenna was finished. "Jen? Are you okay? I'm sorry I've been absent the past few weeks, but I love you!" She backed away and shook her head with tears in her eyes. "You didn't tell me again, Lion! I was alone so many times, even when you were there. You didn't pay attention to me! If it was up to me, I'd take the kids and go to my parents' house, but it's Noah's and Nick's night, with great news to announce."

Nick and I watched silently. Lion tried to talk Jenna into it, but she didn't want to. "Hear me, Lion! I'm sitting next to you tonight, trying to enjoy the night that you two, or rather all of you, have ruined. However, I don't see sleeping somewhere else because of you, you're going to find another place to sleep in the near future." "Jenna, please! I'm sorry, what am I going to do?" Jenna walked up and down excitedly. "To be honest, I don't know. I don't know how we can help each other. I want a break from our marriage. Please give her to me, too, Lion. We'll see how we do it for the kids." 

"For how long?" Jenna turned pale and sad. "I don't know." Just before she shed a tear, she quickly went to the bathroom. I looked apologetically at Nick and followed her. 

You could only hear the voices of Nick and Lion, which were lost in the evening. The toilet was empty, just Jenna and I. "Shit smudges my mascara." I stood next to Jenna in the mirror and watched her sadly. "Are you okay?" She forced a smile on her face and nodded. "Yeah, my husband's in trouble doesn't tell me anything and is in shit again." My mind wandered to a conversation we had years ago. "Remember, idiot one and idiot two?" She laughed in her tears. I hugged her, and she dropped. She was crying in my arms. "Why Noah? Why? Why aren't you so mad at Nick?"

To be honest, I didn't know myself. "I don't know. As the years go by, it's getting less and he couldn't help it and just wanted to help." She sniffed. "You have some snot on your dress." I stroked her back, rubbing away her tears. "How are you going to go on? Let's go on with the break?" "I don't want Lion around. But I have to think about the kids. I don't want to take away their father. Let him sleep on the couch or with a friend, just not in the same bed as me."

Lion and Jenna were always the perfect couple, and seeing them like this hurt. After about ten minutes, we returned to the table. Jenna had put her happy face on and sat between Lion and her children. Steve sat next to Alex and wanted to smile cheerfully and apologetically. I sat down next to Nick and Andy. Andy smiled at me and I forgot all my worries. Suddenly a hand grabbed my hand and I looked into Nick's face begging me to apologize. Smiling, I squeezed them. I could feel everyone else's eyes on us, but it didn't matter. The waiter soon arrived, too, took our orders, and the conversations began. The evening was tense, but kind of normal. Soon came the time when Nick and I wanted to announce it.

When the dessert was ready and there were a few more drinks, Nick nodded to me. Nick pushed the glass with a spoon and got all the attention. "Thank you all for coming today. I know it was a weird start, and yet it had a nice ending. The reason you're all here is because Noah and I want to say two things to you." Everybody looked at us excitedly, and Nick let me go first.

"Well, something nice happened. I'm pregnant. And we're going to move to a nice house." There was silence. Then everyone started giggling and congratulating. "Am I going to have a baby sister or a brother mom?" Andrew was excited and excited. "We don't know yet, honey." He fell on my lap and hugged me. Everyone else stood up to congratulate us. "We have to capture the moment. Excuse me, can you take a picture of us?" Mike handed his cell phone to the waiter, and everyone stood behind us. We smiled, and it was a beautiful moment. Andy on my lap, Jenna and my mom on my left, Maggie in the middle between me and Nick, Lion on his right with his kids, and Mike, Anabell and my parents behind us.

It was a wonderful moment.

        

When I got home, my mother couldn't stop raving about the new baby. William was also happy to be a grandpa again and didn't let go of Nick. They both said goodbye to us to go to bed. Nick put Andy to bed, and I stayed in the kitchen with Maggie. 

"How does it feel to be pregnant, Noah?" I smiled at the question. "Why? Do you want to be a mom?" Laughing, she shook her head. "No. Not yet. Only it's weird to see my big brother as a dad. Sure, he's a great dad and all that, but it's so surreal." "Yet you're always his blond darling. He loves you. How are you?" She took a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down at the bar chair. "It's okay. It's hard with boys and girls. But I'm strong and above things." I took her hand. "If you ever want tips or girl's time, give me a call, okay? I'll be happy to spend time with you. You've taken me well from the start." She nodded and stood up. "Good night. And congratulations. You're going to be great parents." 

She left, and I stayed behind. What a night. Typical Leisters. We are the Modern Family of Los Angeles.