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- As Things Change
- Part XIX
Rex and Lauren are already seated in a booth at Rodi’s when
Michael and Marcie hurry in. Lauren stands and hugs Marcie as
they approach the table. “You’re okay? I’ve been
worried sick about you!”
-
- Michael slides into the booth.
“I can vouch for her. What’s going on with you two?”
-
- Lauren waves her hand in
front of Marcie so she can see the ring. “Oh, just a few
minor changes…”
-
- Marcie grabs her hand. “Omigosh!
You’re engaged!” She pulls Lauren into a bear hug before
sliding into the booth to give Rex the same treatment. “I’m
so happy for you! How did this happen? I want ALL the details.”
-
- Rex playfully pushes her
away. “I asked, she said yes. End of tale.”
-
- Marcie gets up again and
grabs Lauren’s hand to inspect the ring more closely. “It’s
beautiful. Don’t tell me Rex picked it out by himself?”
-
- Lauren slides into the booth
beside Rex. “He did. I love it.”
-
- Marcie takes a seat beside
Michael. “So, how did you take the news about being a daddy?”
-
- Rex grins. “I’m
excited! Just so you know, I didn’t propose because of the
baby. Remember when you saw me in the grocery store?” Marcie
nods. “Well, I was making a special dinner so I could propose,
except Lauren walked out on me and ruined it.”
-
- Lauren shrugs. “Momentary
insanity.”
-
- Rex chuckles. “Probably
the hormones.”
-
- Michael shakes his head.
“I can’t picture you with a kid.”
-
- Rex pretends to be insulted.
“Hey, I’m great with kids!”
-
- “More like you are a
big kid.”
-
- Marcie nudges Michael. “Leave
him alone. I think this is very exciting. You’re engaged
and you’re having a baby!”
-
- Lauren is all smiles. “We’re
so excited. Now that everything is out in the open, we can make
plans.”
-
- Marcie grins. “So you’ve
set a date?”
-
- Rex turns to Lauren. “A
date? Um… We’re working on that, right?”
-
- Lauren nods. “Yeah,
we’ll get right on that.”
-
- Michael chuckles. “So
you don’t have a date. Nice work on that moving forward.”
-
- Rex glares at him. “Look,
we just got through with telling her parents and Roxy. I think
that’s enough trauma for one week, don’t you?”
-
- “Have you told Bo?”
-
- Lauren shakes her head. “No,
we’re going down to the ranch the end of the week so we
can tell them in person.”
-
- Marcie smiles. “Oh,
that sounds like fun! I hear the ranch is beautiful.”
-
- “Me too.” Lauren
takes Rex’s hand under the table. “Maybe we can talk
wedding things – like dates and size and budget…”
-
- Rex rolls his eyes. “Yeah.
Boy, I’m looking forward to that…”
-
- Lauren frowns at him. “Don’t
start.”
-
- He kisses her. “You’re
right. Stress isn’t good for the baby. Maybe we should put
off the whole wedding thing until after…”
-
- She frowns at him. “Are
you going to use the baby as an excuse for everything?”
-
- Rex can see she’s getting
wound up. He looks to Marcie for help. “So! Speaking of
babies… Michael and I have news…”
-
- He looks at her curiously.
“We do?”
-
- “Well, not about babies
exactly… We’re meeting with Andrew tomorrow to discuss
adopting Miki.”
-
- Rex shakes his head. “Who’s
Miki?”
-
- “She’s this little
girl I met at the Center. Andrew has been trying to find someone
to adopt her. We wanted to meet with Nora, but since she’s
out of town, Andrew is going to help us until she gets back.”
-
- Rex looks at her curiously.
“Miki? Is this little girl about 3?”
-
- Marcie nods. “Yes, she’s
completely adorable. I just couldn’t help but fall in love
with her. She needs parents and since we’ve been unable
to have a baby of our own… It just seems like a perfect
fit.”
-
- Lauren looks at Rex. “What’s
wrong?”
-
- He quickly shakes his head.
“Nothing. Let’s get the waitress over here and order
drinks. We’re supposed to be celebrating here.” He
turns to Lauren. “No booze for you. We can celebrate later
in private…”
-
- Michael rolls his eyes. “Oh,
geez. You’re going to be so annoying.”
-
- Marcie laughs. “Leave
them alone. They’re new at this.”
-
- “That’s true. Give
it some time. Just wait until you’ve been together as long
as we have.”
-
- Lauren smiles at Rex. “I
can’t wait.”
-
- Michael shakes his head as
Marcie glares at him.
-
- Nora walks into the living
room carrying two bowls of popcorn, Matt and Bo are watching
a game on TV. She hands one bowl to Matt and the other to Bo,
kicking off her shoes and curling up beside Bo on the couch.
“Is the game almost over?”
-
- Bo glances at her. “Mavs
have the game well in hand. Only 2 minutes left.”
-
- Nora looks over toward Matt.
“Good, then you won’t mind if we have a family discussion.”
-
- Matt groans. “I was
gonna go to bed.”
-
- She shakes her head. “This
is the first chance I’ve had with just the three of us,
so we’re going to talk.”
-
- Matt continues munching on
his popcorn, dreading where this conversation was headed. “Dad
and I already discussed the Raven thing, if that’s where
you’re going.”
-
- “No, this actually has
nothing to do with you, sweetie. I mean, it does, but not like
that.”
-
- Now Matt is interested. “Okay,
what then?”
-
- Nora glances at Bo. He’s
not sure where she’s going either. “Well, your father
and I have already discussed this, but we need to know how you
feel about it.”
-
- Matt looks to Bo. “What’s
she talking about, Dad?”
-
- “Let your mother explain.
Go ahead, honey.”
-
- Nora takes a deep breath.
“Well, you remember when I spoke to you at school and you
heard a little girl?”
-
- “Yeah, you said you
were watching her for Andrew. So what?”
-
- “Well, her name is Miki.
She’s about 3 years old and she has dark hair and dark eyes
and long, curly hair…” She stops when she sees Matt
frowning. “Anyway, it turns out Miki is in foster care.”
-
- “So you’re helping
Andrew find someone to adopt her, right?”
-
- Bo jumps in. “Andrew
has been looking for an adoptive family. He hasn’t found
anyone.”
-
- “That’s too bad.
I hope he can find someone for her.”
-
- Nora takes Bo’s hand.
“Your father and I have talked about… We’re considering
adopting Miki.”
-
- Matt is momentarily speechless.
He slowly shakes his head. “You’re joking, right?”
-
- Bo puts his arm around Nora.
“We’ve talked about it, son. We haven’t made any
decisions. Of course this is something we need to discuss as
a family.”
-
- Matt is still shaking his
head. “Are you for real?”
-
- “Matthew…”
-
- “No, you can’t
be serious about this. You want to adopt a kid?”
-
- “She’s a sweet
little girl who needs a home. We can certainly afford…”
-
- “Mom, this is insane.
Are you having some sort of midlife crisis?”
-
- Bo glares at his son. “Matthew,
that’s enough.”
-
- “No, it’s not.
What is with you two? You treat me like I’m some evil kid
and now you just want to get a new one?”
-
- Nora is shaking her head,
near tears. “It’s nothing like that, Matthew. We love
you very much. Miki needs a family. I just want to help…”
-
- “You need help, all
right. I can’t believe this.” Matthew sets his popcorn
on the table and gets up, walking toward the door. “You
want to know what I think? I think you’re both insane!”
-
- Bo stands, visibly angry.
“Stop right there, Matthew. You get back here and sit down.
NOW! You do not speak to us like that and walk away.”
-
- He points to the chair. “Sit!
And you better think before you open your mouth again, young
man.”
-
- Matthew walks back to the
chair, sitting with his arms crossed defiantly, avoiding his
father’s glare. Bo glances at Nora, who is wiping her tears,
not sure where this conversation went so wrong. He turns back
to Matthew. “You owe your mother and me an apology.”
-
- He continues to stare at
the floor. “Sorry,” he mutters.
-
- Bo shakes his head. “A
real apology.”
-
- Matt finally looks at them.
“I’m sorry I yelled.”
-
- “You talk about wanting
us to treat you like an adult and then you behave like a spoiled
brat. If you have a point to make, you better make it in a much
more respectful manner. Understood?”
-
- Blake walks into the kitchen
and Stefi grabs his arm, preventing him from going into the living
room. “You can’t go in there!”
-
- “Why not?”
-
- She puts her finger to her
lips. “Shhhh… They’re having a huge family argument.
It’s not a good time.” She cracks the door, listening.
“Seems to have quieted down.”
-
- He pulls her away from the
door. “You know better than to eavesdrop. Grandpa will kill
us if he finds out. Let’s go.”
-
- Bo crosses his arms, glaring
at his son. “Whenever you’re ready to have a civilized
discussion, we’re ready to listen.”
-
- Nora jumps in. “This
has nothing to do with trying to replace you, Matthew. You are
my son. You will always be my priority.”
-
- “I think he knows that,”
Bo says softly, sitting beside Nora and putting his arm around
her. “Why don’t we all take a deep breath and start
over.”
-
- Nora nods, looking to her
son. “I never expected this reaction from you. I know we’ve
had some issues lately but I can’t believe you would get
the idea that I’d want to replace you. Where did that come
from?”
-
- Matt slowly shakes his head.
“I just don’t know why you would want to have another
kid. Dad talks all the time about all the things he wants to
do when you get rid of me.”
-
- Bo shakes his head. “I
never said it like that, Matthew. I mean when you’re grown
and on your own. As a normal part of your life, not that I’m
trying to get rid of you. And if it helps, that’s exactly
the argument I gave your mom against this adoption.”
-
- Nora nods. “I know.
I know this is crazy and we probably are too old to handle Miki.
Look at all the mistakes we’ve made with you…”
-
- “No, Mom. I’m the
one who screws up and you have to fix everything for me. I didn’t
mean you wouldn’t be good parents.”
-
- “You just have to meet
Miki. She’s got such a spirit… She reminds me of Rachel
when she was little. I can’t explain it.”
-
- Bo pulls her close. “I
can. You want to help. It’s just who you are, Red.”
He looks at Matthew. “This is not a done deal. It’s
just something we’re thinking about, so we wanted to let
you know – so we can all think about it. I hope that now
that the initial shock is over, we can have reasoned discussions
going forward.”
-
- Nora nods. “We want
you to know that your opinion counts too, sweetie. This is a
family decision.”
-
- “I’m glad you want
my input,” Matt mutters as he stands. “Is there more
or can I go?”
-
- Bo nods. “We’ll
talk in the morning.”
-
- Nora goes over and gives
Matt a hug before he leaves. “I love you, sweetie. Just
remember that.”
-
- He kisses her cheek. “I
know, Mom. Night.”
-
- Nora sits beside Bo as Matt
leaves the room. He puts his arm around her. “Well, that
was fun.”
-
- She shakes her head, trying
not to cry. “I thought he might have reservations but I
never expected that reaction from him.”
-
- Bo pulls her close. “He’s
16 and very self-involved – like most kids his age. Let’s
just let him think about it for a bit and then we’ll talk
to him again if this is really something you want to do.”
-
- She leans up and kisses him.
“Thank you for being so wonderful about this. I know you’re
not any more excited about this than Matthew is.”
- “I just want you to
be happy, Red.”
-
- “And I don’t want
you to think I’m not happy with you and Matthew. This is
not about that.”
-
- “I know that. It’ll
work out the way it’s supposed to.” He gets up, holding
out his hand. “Why don’t we take a dip in the hot tub
and just relax.”
-
- She takes his hand. “That’s
the best offer I’ve had all day.”
-
- Matthew drops onto his bed
with an annoyed sigh. He can’t believe his parents want
to adopt another kid. He grabs the remote and clicks on the TV,
mindlessly changing channels. He tosses the remote on the bedside
table and grabs his phone. He looks at the clock, making sure
it’s not too late in Llanview as he dials the number. “Hey,
Kallie, It’s Matt.”
-
- “I knew that from the
caller ID. How’s Texas?”
-
- “It’s good. Did
you get the pic of my horse?”
-
- Kallie nods. “I did.
She’s beautiful. Are you riding her yet?”
-
- “Sure. Blake let me
get up on her the second day.”
-
- “What did you name her?”
-
- “Spunky. She kinda reminds
me of you…”
-
- Kallie laughs. “Are
you saying I remind you of a horse?”
-
- Matt blushes on his end.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant she has spirit
– spunk, just like you.”
-
- “If you say so. So how
are things going with your parents?”
-
- Matt sighs. “We were
doing better until tonight.”
-
- “What happened tonight?”
-
- “We had a ‘family
meeting’ where my mom announced that she wants to adopt
another kid.”
-
- “Really? What do you
mean by another kid? A baby?”
-
- Matt shakes his head, settling
back on his bed. “No. My mom met this little girl at the
Center who needs a family. I guess she’s about 3.”
-
- “It might be fun to
have a little sister.”
-
- “Are you kidding me?
The last thing I need is a little rugrat running around the house.
It’s fine just the way it is!”
-
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