I forgot to mention something in my last chapter, friends. Jon and Eva's little girl, their new bundle of absolute heaven, her full name is Rachel Hannah Glazer Grossman, like her brother before her. Sorry I missed that but I wanted you to know, their sweet girl was just the same as their sweet son. In their hearts, in their souls, in their lives.
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Two days later, on the 19th, I brought Eva and Rachel home. It was midday when we pulled onto the school grounds and there was a big hand painted banner stretched over our driveway that said "Way To Go, Mrs. G! Welcome Home Rachel!" And the entire student body of both schools was out on the large field clapping and cheering for us. If it had been in my power, I would have given everyone all A's that semester.
I stopped the car in front of our house and the applause got louder when I helped Eva out and we brought Rachel out of her car seat. We stood on the steps so everyone could see, there were more flowers for Eva and a huge Teddy Bear for Rachel. I spoke briefly to everyone. "I wish we could invite you all in to say hello. I promise I'll post pictures on the bulletin boards as soon as I can for everyone to see and I'll be in tomorrow, if I get some sleep tonight!" Some friendly laughter. "Thank you all so much. You're all very special to us, our other family. Now everyone, back to class before I fail everyone!" More, louder laughter. more applause, and everyone returned to the school buildings. These amazing people made us feel right at home.
I took Rachel from Eva and put her in the basinet Eva's parents sent us; they were coming down for the weekend in two days. Eva was sore from her incision. She didn't want a strong painkiller because she wanted to breast feed the baby. So she stuck to mild doses of Tylenol. It didn't help much, but every little bit helped. Odette got everything Eva needed while I attended to Rachel and ran to the stores for a few things. I ran into a few women connected to the school at the market and they congratulated me and told me I should set up times for people to stop by to visit. I was non-committal about it and went off to finish my shopping. It was another thing that made us feel part of the community. The people we met who were treating us like we belonged.
That night, we brought Rachel up to her bed in our bedroom and Connor kept dangling his fingers for his sister to grasp. He already loved playing with her. But his mother was exhausted so I took him to his room (after getting his good night kiss from mom) and I read to him a little and sang something sweet to him as he fell asleep. I gave him my kiss and then left him to rest.
I went to lie down and Eva was already half asleep. She turned over facing away and I started ticking the back of her neck and down her arms, kissing her neck as well.
"Bear, that feels great, but we can't have sex tonight" she chuckled. "No sex for at least six weeks. I'm too tired anyway."
"Silly Angel. You know I'm not looking for your body tonight. I'll settle for your mind. Just for a minute. We have to give Connor his birthday present tomorrow. He hasn't complained but I know he expected something. I feel terrible that we didn't do it today. We're two days late. We're lucky he's such a sweet boy. Ten years old now. Where has the time gone?"
Eva leaned back into my chest, making soft sounds of some pain but mostly contentment. "I don't know, Bear, but I know I haven't regretted a single moment since we met. Twelve years married, thirteen together. Connor is ten. The only bad part is your parents aren't here to see what an amazing job they did with you. You are the very best man imaginable. I wouldn't trade you for anyone. Except maybe for Sylvester Stallone." Eva looked up and we smiled at each other. It was a running joke with us, her visceral attraction to Sly Stallone. Hey, she was a woman. I'd be surprised if some men didn't stir something inside her. It was the same with me. I looked a little. I was human. And if Michelle Pfeiffer ever hit on me... It wasn't real, just a couple of healthy fantasies for a couple of healthy adults who would never, ever cheat on each other. We had no desire or need to cheat. Ever.
"Tell you what, Angel. When you're all healed up and we can have fun again, we can go to the Rocky Steps and Statue and then that night, you can screw your very own Jewish Stallion." We giggled together.
"Ouch, don't make me laugh, Bear. My stitches hurt when I laugh!"
"Ok I'll be...dull."
"Don't do that either. Find some middle ground." Just then our little lady woke up and cried. I got out of bed and I changed her diaper, kissed her little nose (which made her giggle a little) and then I tucked her back into her bed.
"Thank you Bear" Eva said softly as I climbed back into bed. "Next time I'll get up."
"No, honey. You need to recover. I don't go back to work until Monday. So for now, I'll do the feedings and changings during the night. You rest." I kissed her neck.
"So good to me" she said, half asleep. "My Bear is so good to me."
"We're so good to each other, Angel."
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We made it up to Connor the next day. We gave him a whole new set of hockey equipment for the fall and, to make up for being three days late, I got tickets to see the Phillies that Saturday, for Connor, me and his grandfather and a friend of his choice. "But you buy the hot dogs and beer" I winked at him, He went to call his friend Avery from his hockey team. All was forgiven, so to speak.
Over the weekend while her parents were with us, we received a big gift basket from the board members with gourmet foods and snacks, champagne (very good stuff) and a $1000 gift certificate to the King of Prussia Mall, good at any store. It was a nice package. Friends were calling, wanting to know when they could come by to see us. While her parents were there, we did allow Patty and Larry and another couple, Kevin and Sharon, to come for a little while on Sunday. More gifts for the baby, mostly clothes or stuffed animals. And a few smart and kind souls, like Larry and Patty, also brought things for Connor. It had been his birthday, after all, plus it's important to not let a sibling feel neglected when a new child comes into the family.