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Josh sat next to his lawyer and looked around at the familiar faces in the room. He clenched and unclenched his hands nervously. Sam and his lawyer had been out of the room for nearly half an hour hashing over the deal Josh’s team of lawyers had spent days putting together. Basically Josh offered Sam to have the kids two-to-three weeks of the year for vacation in any spot of his choosing sponsored by Josh. In addition to that there was a large lump sum of money involved in it if he were to agree to let them live in California with their mother. If he didn’t agree to the settlement then there was no alternative. Josh would live in Ohio so Karen could continue to share custody of their children with Sam. He laced his fingers together in his lap, closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that he would be open to it. Just then the door swung in and the two men entered the room, solemn. The two other lawyers who had been pacing the room sat down at the table across from Sam. Sam kept his head down, eyes lowered while his barrister spoke.
“The agreement …” He began. Josh felt a knot in his throat and his stomach tightened; he swallowed hard. “Is acceptable to my client.” Josh felt an immense weight being lifted off of him and until he went to blow the air out of his lungs he hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. “Do you have a check for him today?”
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After Sam signed all the papers and had been paid, everyone stood. The men began shaking hands. Josh turned to Sam and stuck out his hand. Sam looked at Josh and for a fleeting moment Josh thought he saw some hint of regret in his eyes but that look quickly fled and was replaced by a smile. Sam took Josh’s hand slowly and pumped it up and down.
“It’s good doing business with you, Josh. I hope you and Karen are happy.” Josh pulled his hand away and sighed.
“Thanks.” He said. The men began to file out of the room and Josh sat down hard in the chair. He suddenly felt a wave of nausea sweep over him and tried to sort out what it was exactly he was feeling. When the nausea had passed grief had settled in it’s place. After some soul searching he figured out that he was sad because he would never be able to tell Karen or the kids that he had paid off Sam to let them go. It was something he would never, in his whole lifetime ever understand when a father could replace his children with a very large sum of money. He hoped he’d never be able to understand it. Slowly and unsteadily Josh made his way out of the room, down the hall and into the elevator. He leaned against the wall as the elevator descended and the Muzak played vowing he would never let Karen know what had transpired that day. Josh burst out of the law building and into the icy world. He pulled up the collar on his coat and headed towards the parking garage …
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Karen paced nervously around the small room. Her mom sat on a nearby chair and fanned herself with a paper plate.
“What time is it?” Karen asked. Her mom instinctively looked at her wrist but found no watch there. She sighed and glanced around the room, nothing. She was about to tell Karen she didn’t know when she found a small clock on a side table near the loveseat in the far end of the room.
“Ten-to-two.” She said. Karen sighed. It was almost time. She went to the mirror and checked her make-up. Even in the heat it was still perfect. She daubed on a little more lipstick and then Tony stuck his head in the door.
“Time!” He said. Karen headed for the door, smoothing down her silk and lace white dress, her mother following closely behind. She met her father in the entryway. He held out his arm to her. She slipped hers inside it and they both looked forward as the violin began to play.
As Karen made her way slowly down the aisle of the quaint little church that was nestled in a small town near Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Josh watched with a nervous smile plastered across his face. His body trembled and Chris watched him closely. He’d been jittery all day, complaining of not being able to breathe, taking shallow breaths and blowing them out audibly. Now he stood, hands clasped together to prevent them from visibly shaking. Chris leaned forward placing his hand against Josh’s back. Josh sighed again. ‘He’s gonna go down’ Chris thought and winked at Jack. Jack watched carefully, ready to leap at a moment’s notice. As Karen approached, Josh reached out and took her hand. They turned to the minister and the ceremony began. When it was over and they had made it outside, Josh finally took his first deep breath – and then fainted.
EPILOGUE
“He’s just beautiful, isn’t he?” Josh said as he stared into the petite face of his newly born son. Karen sighed. He looked just like Josh. She smiled. “He looks just like you.” She snickered.
“Nooo …” She said. “He looks like you!” Josh frowned and then looked from the baby to Karen and back to the baby.
“I think he looks like you.” He insisted. She sighed. They lay together on the small, single bed in the hospital, baby between them, sleeping. It had been a surprisingly easy labor and delivery even after 8 years and three cesarean sections. She wasn’t sure she could do it but her obstetrician assured her she could and he was right, the baby was born after only four hours of labor. Baby boy Groban woke suddenly and yawned. Josh grinned, bit his lower lip, and looked at Karen. The baby’s eyes blinked open a few times and he looked around.
“What do you mean he looks like me? Look at him, he wakes up just like his father.” Suddenly the baby started to cry out with hunger. Josh squinted his eyes and glared at Karen. She laughed. “Exactly like his father!” Josh slid off the bed and picked up the baby. He cradled him in his arms as Karen got situated on the bed then Josh lay him down between her spread legs. She changed his little diaper and then, after he was tightly bundled in his blanket, gave him her breast. Josh sat on the end of the bed and gazed proudly at his wife and his son.
“I suppose he ought to have a name.” He said. Karen nodded and they began to toss names back and forth to each other. By the time the baby was finished eating they had decided and so the life of little James Kenneth Groban had begun.
~~<0>~~ THE END ~~<0>~~
P.S. There is no significance to the name that was chosen, I just liked the sound of it … they will call the baby Jamie …
