The Stupid Side of Practical

Chapter 2

By the end of the evening Josh couldn't eat another bite of food if there had been a gun to head. Maria had made all his favorite foods and had wanted to hear all about his plans after residency. He had known that coming back was going to be hard, but he hadn't imagined quite how torturous it would be. Jealously was a bitch and there he was trying to avoid the green-eyed monster as he sat at the table with Nick and Sheena. He watched them sneak glances at each other, knowing smiles, inside jokes and the occasional touch every so often that was obvious even from under the table.

His mother also kept an eye on him, cautious of everything he did. Reminding him every so often that he looked so much like his father. She would compare his voice, his smile, his eyes, even the way he held the fork. It was almost as if seeing her son brought back the ghost of her late husband. He clamped down on the annoyance of it because he could tell by the look in her eyes that she was happier than she'd been in a long time. However, the emotional toll was beginning to wear on him. He wanted just wanted to shout out that he wasn't Jack. To tell her that Jack had passed away. But he also knew his mother state of mind was fragile and recovery was rough. So he said nothing.

At that moment Sheena's voice let out a laugh that came from deep within, a laugh that caught his attention and made his whole world shift just a little bit. He loved the sound of her laugh. He could see himself listening to it for hours. Growing old and hearing that laugh beside him as they watched their grandchildren play in the front yard.

He had many dreams for them, a single family home in the suburbs. A tabby cat just like the kind Sheena use to have when she was younger. A few kids running around the house and her smile greeting him every day after a long day of surgeries.

But of course it was all just silly dreams.

Realizing that this wedding was going to happen had put his emotions through the ringer. If there was ever a man who needed to get his shit together and his head on straight, it was him. Having fallen for his best friends girl, runaway from home so that he didn't have to watch her fall in love with his best friend, and now return all these years later to watch them be married. It hadn't been an easy pep talk to get here.

But he needed to let himself get over it. On his own terms. In his own time.

"Just didn't count on it taking six years," he muttered as he reached for the big glass of wine he'd snagged from the secret stash in the kitchen.

"Taking six years for what?" someone said in a soft southern accent.

Looking across the table he saw Louie's wife Rachel who had plopped down across from him. "Just residency and all that stuff," he lied.

Rachel nodded, "You decided where you're going to settle down, not going to lie. It would be nice if the boys had their own doctor in the family."

Josh smiled, "I'm considering it." Another lie, as soon as this wedding was over he was going to get as far away from Chicago as possible. The last thing he needed was to end up being little Nick Junior's Doctor. No thanks. He lifted his glass for another swig.

"You're a doctor?" came another female voice from the other end of the table.

Eddie, the second oldest Costa who was just getting settled into his new job, after having come back from his tour this last year, had taken an interest in coaching. Currently he was working at their old high school, probably crushing all the hearts of every prepubescent female in his tracks with his Italian charm and military stature.

He'd also introduced Gloria, to the family this evening. She was an inner-city girl, raised just as the Costa family had been by another big Italian crew a few blocks away from them. She was brash and bossy, confident and sexy. And from what it looked like so far she kept Eddie on a tight leash, through she let him pretend he was in charge.