Press Release

50: Press Release

It's as the boy is finishing the last few bites of his waffles that the gate buzzer sounds, and I open the door to a rapturous Meg and Xavier.

"Looks like you two had a fun night," I tease, while Meg blushes and Xavier punches me in the shoulder.

"Where's my man?" Meg calls.

"Uh, right here, Meg," Xavier responds, and the woman's face turns a different shade of red.

"Oh. Yeah. My 'little man' is what I should have said," kissing X on the cheek.

Entering the dining area, Meg grins when her child squeals, "Mama!", starting to spring from the table with his fork still in his hand, syrup dripping down it.

"Stay there, Titus! I'll watch you eat," she tells him, and he settles back in his seat, stuffing the waffle in his mouth with renewed vigor.

Minnie offers coffee all around, but I'm the only one who accepts.

"A second cup of coffee?" Meg inquires. "That's unusual for you."

Xavier joins the group at the table, greedily staring at the waffles until Minnie brings him a plate and silverware.

"You two are practically glowing," Minnie remarks, sitting on my lap since the other chairs are taken.

"And you two look exhausted," Meg adds, scrutinizing us closely.

Dejected, Minnie picks up my fork, scraping patterns in the leftover syrup on my plate. "We're apparently not parent material." Her voice is small, and I grip her around the waist more tightly. Hearing the words spoken is harder than I'd expected, but we might as well face the truth now.

"She's right," I chime in, "There's way more to this parenting thing than we can handle. We're just not naturals at it. So I guess we'll just raise dogs. Maybe a fish or two."

Xavier starts laughing and Meg joins in. I look at them curiously. Who are they to laugh at our pain?

Wiping his eyes, Xavier finally notices Minnie's stricken face. "Oh. You were serious?"

Meg stops her giggles too (although really she'd been guffawing more than giggling).

Meg looks between us, finally landing on my girl, "Olivia, you're going to be an amazing mom. I've watched the way you worked with X, and you give your whole heart to everything and everyone. Your babies are going to be so lucky to have you as their mother. Besides, you've got nine months to learn how to raise a newborn, which will get you through the first month or so. Everything else is just winging it."

Speaking up, Xavier clears his throat, "And Harry, if anyone's been a father figure to me lately, it's you. I could not have made it through promo without you, and I certainly would not now be with my sweet Meg-pie if you hadn't given me some great fatherly advice. Look, the kid is alive. Nothing is broken. He even looks sort of happy. That's important. You're going to be a great dad."

Minnie and I look at each other, and my throat closes up. What these two are saying makes sense. I'm choked up at their words, and I can tell that my sweet Minnie is too when her eyes fill with tears, and she turns to them.

"Thank you," she very sincerely tells them. "And, uh....I think there's something I need to share with you both." She looks at me, and I'm confused, but then I realize where she's going with this, and I agree that it's time.

"Uh. My full name is Wilhelmina Olivia Wakefield, and I go by Olivia for professional reasons. But my friends call me Minnie. And I consider you both friends, so I would be honored if you called me by my name." My girl is visibly nervous at having given a private piece of herself to these two.