Fix You ~Completed~

Act Ninety

The remaining kids- Elizabeth, Sal, Lizzy's best friend Miranda, and a set of twins Edith and Jesse- were playing Life in the living room after cake with Dame and the other moms. Gale held court with Eddie and I in the kitchen.

"So, when is she due anyways?" Eddie spoke up while Gale poured us each a glass of Coke. He always had a two liter stored in the very back of the fridge, hidden. Dame didn't approve of Elizabeth getting so much sugar, but she usually got snuck some anyways. Gale was the cool dad, I guess.

Between Ed and I, I wasn't sure who was the cool dad, or if either of us were the cool dad. Sal was spoiled, no doubt about that, so maybe we were both the cool dad?

Gale grinned like he'd just won the lottery. "We think April or May. I really hope it's a son. As much as I love my Lizzy, I'd love to have a little boy."

"One of each?" I asked, sipping my drink. There was a large chunk of cake still left on my plate. Somehow, I'd managed to eat most of the monstrous slice Gale had slid me, but I just couldn't stomach all of it. Eating had gotten much easier for the most part. Between my therapy, Sal, and Eddie constantly shoving high carb, high calorie food at me, I'd managed to gain enough weight to be deemed healthy. I was finally above my BMI, though not by much. There was a chance I'd never reach where the doctor wanted me to be and I could live with that.

When Gale glanced over his shoulder, he chuckled, "How about two of each? Or three of each?"

"That's so freaking weird. I never expected you to want a big family. Hell, you never even wanted to date until we were in our twenties," Eddie teased, twisting his plastic fork until it snapped it half. He'd already downed two large slices of cake, twice the amount I'd had. Eddie still played hockey with a local team a few days a week and Sal kept him on his fifty twenty-four-seven, so he could manage eating a truckload of food and still remain in decent shape. The following summer, he was planning on taking a break from the swim team to give Sal lessons after having taught me only a few years ago. (He taught me in a secluded lake near his hometown while his parents, Georgie, Gale, and Dame were at a movie in the park. It was the first time I let Ed see me without a shirt on, and it honestly wasn't that bad.)

"You just gotta meet the right person. Dame changed everything for me, same way Clem changed everything for you."

Eddie's hand landed on my knee. I tried not to blush too hard. "Fair enough," he laughed, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

"Are you two gonna adopt more kids or is Sal it?"

Our hands were still clasped when Eddie said, "We decided one kid was just right for us. Although, I get the feeling that Clem will just wake me up in the middle of the night being all Eddie, I want a baby, and I'll be alike Alright, sweetie. Then I'll wake up and find twelve kids in the living room."

It had been a tough decision to simply let one kid into our lives. As much as Eddie wanted a baby, I knew he was hesitant and it was my fault. I still wasn't doing so hot around the time we were married, but I started getting much better the following summer. Therapy and medication really helped me. Tossing Kyla's urn into the lake back in our hometown helped. Burning his hoodie and our old post-it notes helped. My husband being the most patient person in the world helped.

Eddie decided I was stable enough around a year after we'd gotten married. That was when we started the long road to adoption and it paid off well. Sal was the light of our lives. If I hadn't gotten better, we never would have gotten him. If Eddie hadn't saved me, Sal might still be in the system. If we never met at Karaoke Night, thanks to Gale, our family wouldn't be together right now.

I laid my other hand over Eddie's and squeezed his in between both of mine. All we needed was our Sal. Anything more would be too much, anything less would be inadequate.