Feels Like Summertime (21 page)

K
atie lies naked
on the bed of our hotel room, her arms flung open wide. I stand in the doorway and stare at her. I saw her when she was pregnant with Hank, but I only got to experience the end of that pregnancy. This time, I got to experience it from start to finish. I got to hold her hair back every time she puked from the smell of eggs in the morning. I got to watch the little flutters of the baby’s heart when we had the first sonogram. I got to see Katie’s face when she felt that first tiny little jolt in her belly when the baby moved.

That day, we were sitting on the couch watching a movie with the kids. She suddenly gasped and reached for my hand. She smiled at me, lifted her shirt, and said, “Can you feel that?”

I couldn’t feel anything but the soft skin of her belly, but
she
could feel it and that was all that mattered. It was another month before I felt the first kick. But as the days passed, her belly grew bigger, and the life inside her became real. It was a life that we created together, and it was my first baby, but this baby wouldn’t be my first child.

You see, I already have four children, and they are mine in every way, including in name. They hyphenated their last name, adding Jacobson to it, when I adopted them all. But they had my heart long before that.

Gabby will start college in the fall, and while she’s a brilliant, beautiful, sweet girl, she is still a teenager, and teenagers are challenging by nature. She wants to grow up, and I desperately want to keep her a child. I’m not getting my wish. She’s becoming her own person, and she’s leaving Katie and me behind.

Alex just turned eleven, and he’s still obsessed with sports. I’m coaching his Little League team and his football team. Sometimes I have to do it with Hank strapped to my chest, but we get the job done. Alex is still hesitant to call me Dad, but when he has to make portraits of his family in art class, he makes me the biggest figure in the picture, and I know I play a very important role in his life.

Trixie, on the other hand, started calling me Daddy as soon as we signed the adoption papers and the court granted the name changes. There is nothing that warms my heart more than having that little girl look up to me and take my hand. Every now and then she still asks for blue raccoon spray. It’s usually when Alex runs into her room and farts on her, but still…

Hank is turning two this weekend, and he’s walking and getting into everything. You can’t set him down without having him take off and run in the opposite direction. Thankfully, we still have Sally, and we’ll have him for many years to come. Just last week, Hank ran away from Katie when she was unloading groceries from the car and Sally dragged him back by the tail of his shirt, with Hank kicking and screaming the whole way. He flopped down on his diaper and screamed bloody murder. Sally licked up the side of his face, and Trixie patted Sally on the head and promised him a new tutu for saving her little brother.

We did decide to move to the lake at the end of the summer. We moved right in with Pop. I’ve never regretted it. Pop’s health is good, and he’s just as cantankerous as ever. He keeps the kids entertained, and he has Trixie and Alex fishing with him every afternoon. As long as Katie’s not around, they get to keep the fish.

Right now, we’re in New York to attend Fred and Laura’s wedding. Katie was way too pregnant to fly, so we drove all the way up. Imagine driving for a whole day with four kids, a dog, a very pregnant wife, and a grumpy old man. We tried to board the dog at the kennel, but Trixie cried so hard when we left him that we had to go back and get him. We paid a big pet deposit so he could stay in the hotel with us. If he craps on the floor, we’ll all be in trouble.

I set his leash on the side table. “Are you hungry?” I call out to Katie. I walk to the mini fridge and get a bottle of water. Katie’s lying on the bed, bare-ass naked, and the dog climbs up on the couch in the living room. They’re both flopped out like they’ve never seen a bed before.

“No, I’m not hungry,” Katie calls back. “My back hurts, though. Come and rub it for me.”

I smile to myself. I am chief cook, bottle-washer, and back-rubber around here. You should see me when I clean. I am too sexy for my shirt.

“When are the kids coming back?” I ask.

“Not for hours,” she says as I rub her back. “That feels nice.”

My wife is completely naked and we are all alone. “Hey,” I say as I scoot up closer to her, “do you realize that we’re all alone?”

She smiles at me over her shoulder. “Did you have something in mind?”

I kiss her naked shoulder. “Only if you fee like it.”

“I feel like it.”

I get up to go and close the bedroom door, because Sally’s on the couch, and just in case the kids come back too soon, I want to be prepared. We’ve become really good at doing this quickly. When you have four kids, you learn some shortcuts.

I reach into her luggage, get out her shiny little toy, and carry it to the bed. I toss it to her and she turns it on. She doesn’t roll over. She’s too pregnant and that belly gets in the way. She just places it on the right spot and sighs a happy little sigh.

“Don’t start without me,” I complain. I shuck my clothes quickly and slide in behind her, and then I slide inside. And within minutes, she’s coming apart around me, and I’m finishing inside her.

I’ll never forget to be grateful that I have this every day.

“What do you want to do now?” I ask her. “You want to sleep?”

She rolls onto her back and her big belly stands up tall. “No, I don’t think I can. I’m hurting a little.”

“Hurting how?”

“Hurting like tightening up. That’s all. It’s probably nothing.”

“You should have told me. I wouldn’t have done what we just did.”

“
What we just did
is good for us, Jake.” She turns her head to face me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You want to go walk around some?” she asks. “I haven’t seen this part of the city.”

We’re in the heart of New York.

“You know that place that they film for TV, the tattoo shop, that is near here. I think it’s called Reeds’.”

I know exactly where it is. “You want to go see it?”

She shrugs and holds out her hand so I can pull her to her feet. We both get dressed. I leave a short note for Pop and the kids to let them know we’ll be back soon. Sally looks up at us once before we go out the door, then he lays his head back down with a heavy sigh.

We take the elevator down to street level and start to walk. I get between her and the street, and between her and all the elbows. Then we see the flashing neon sign that says
Reeds’
.

Katie rubs her hands together. “I’m so excited.”

“You want to go in?” I ask.

“Can we?”

I shrug. I don’t tell her that I know these guys from when I used to work in this area. I’d rather surprise her.

We go inside and find not just one Reed, but all five of them. And Friday Reed is there too. The Reeds are five brothers who own a tattoo shop in the city. They do a lot of good in the neighborhood. They also are the stars of an extremely popular reality TV show. The oldest one is Paul, who’s married to Friday. Friday is a brunette bombshell in fishnet stockings, a short skirt, and sky-high heels. All the brothers are blond, and the youngest two are twins. They all come out to shake my hand. I used to work security for their events, so I know them pretty well.

“What are you doing here, man?” Paul asks. “We heard you moved away.”

Katie stands completely star-struck, unable to utter a word.

“I was just showing my wife the city.” I introduce Katie and she finds her tongue long enough to say hello to them.

“So,” I say. I rub my hands together. “I was thinking about a tattoo.”

Katie smiles and rolls her eyes.

“Can you guys hook me up?” I already know they’re booked up for months in advance.

Logan Reed, the middle brother, the one who got the cochlear implant a few years ago, says, “I can do it.”

“
Really?
”

“My last appointment just cancelled.”

Katie grabs my arms. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asks.

I raise my brows at her. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

Paul punches me on the arm. “Pussy-whipped mother—” Friday pinches him. Hard. “Sorry,” he mutters.

I wrap my arm around Katie. “It’s all right. I don’t mind. I live for her. If that means I’m pussy-whipped, then I’m damn delighted to be pussy-whipped.”

“Damn straight,” one of the twins says. I can never tell them apart.

“Come on back, so you can tell me what you want,” Logan says. “I’ll doodle something up.”

Logan is the best artist in the city, and he and Friday listen to what I want. I tell them the story about how Katie and I met when we were sixteen, how we didn’t see one another for a long while, and how we came back together. Then they put their heads together and start to draw.

When they’re done, they show me what they’ve come up with.

I smile and show them where I want it. “Right here.” I point to my shoulder. It will take up the whole area.

Logan nods, and he sets up his machine.

Friday sits and talks with Katie about the kids, and the other Reeds come and go, bullshitting all the while.

Finally, Logan lifts his machine. He points to the mirror on the wall. “Take a look.”

I
stare at it
, taking in the sweeping lines and meaningful symbols. “It’s perfect.”

Logan applies ointment and wraps it up. Then he looks at his watch. “My wife is coming by with the kids. I know she’d like to say hi.”

I haven’t seen Emily in a long time. I knew her back when everyone called her Kit, and she used to busk for spare change in the subway tunnels and the park. Now she plays guitar with one of the most popular bands in the country, Fallen from Zero, and her songs are played on the radio every day.

When Emily walks in the door, Logan’s face lights up like he’s seeing her for the first time. She’s stunning, with dirty-blond hair and a blue streak right behind her bangs that runs all the way down over her shoulder. She has a little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl with pigtails gripping her hand, and a baby with a blue cap on his head on her hip.

“You have
two
now?” I ask as I say hi to Emily.

“We’re trying to catch up with you,” Logan says as he gives me a playful slug on the arm.

I look over and find Katie clutching her stomach. “Hey, Jake,” she says.

“Hey, Katie,” I reply. “You okay?”

“I think it’s time,” she says. “And the last one proved they don’t just walk out.”

“You mean
now?
”

“
Now
, Jake,” she bites out around a grimace.

I reach for my wallet to pay for my tattoo, but Logan tells me this one’s on the house. “Are you sure?” I ask him.

“Positive.”

“Jake,” Katie warns.

“Oh, shit,” I say. “We need to go.”

“Unless you want to have it right here,” Katie says.

All the Reeds rush to help us out and get us into a cab. “Good luck to you, Jake.”

“Let us know how it goes.” And the door of the cab slams.

“Oh my God,” Katie says. “I just went into labor at Reeds’ Tattoo Parlor. I’ll tell this story forever.”

I call Pop, who brings the kids to meet us at the hospital, and five hours later, we have a seven pound, six ounce baby boy. His name is Erik Jacobson, III and he is perfect. Katie’s tired, but fine, and we spend the night at the hospital while Pop takes the kids back to the hotel. Gabby can help Pop with Hank.

“I think we might miss the wedding,” Katie says. She smiles at me as I sit next to her holding Erik.

“We’ll send them a nice present,” I say.

Katie laughs and opens her arms. But I don’t just give her Erik. I give her me too.

“Did you set up the appointment for your vasectomy?”

“Not yet.” I tuck Erik’s little hand under his blanket. “You sure you don’t want to try for a girl named Summer?”

“No.” She glares at me.

“Sure?” I bat my lashes at her.

“I’m fairly positive.” Then she rolls her eyes. “You know we can play Scrabble as much as we want, even if we don’t have more children, right?”

“I know.” And to tell the truth, I’d be happy forever with the family we have now, but I also wouldn’t be opposed to having a little girl with Katie’s dark hair and my green eyes.

“I’ll think about it,” Katie mutters. She pretends to be annoyed.

“You still feel like summertime,” I tell her, and I kiss her.

I hope summer never ends.