Bittersweet Irish Cream Ch. 18

"Yea. We are."

~~~

Ethan found himself in the dining room after dinner eating the desserts with his mother Suzanne, his mother-in-law Marie, Mina and Henrietta while the rest of the men sat in the den to watch football and take turns passing baby Jamie around. The children were scattered about in different parts of the farmhouse.

"He really is the sweetest baby ever," Becky commented as she came into the dining room. "I've been trying to convince your brother to adopt again." She grabbed a spoon and joined them by eating the apple crisp.

Ethan laughed. "Yea? Good luck with that."

"I don't know, he seems pretty cozy with Jamie right now," Marie said. "Gosh I hope June is having a girl."

"I think a little girl would be perfect," Suzanne said. "We don't have enough girls in our family."

"I know, Mom, help me convince him," Becky said to her mother-in-law. "How great would it be to adopt another girl, an infant this time."

"Hey, are you officially adopting Jamie?" Mina asked. "Jack isn't saying much about it."

Ethan sighed as he dipped his spoon into the chocolate pudding. "Technically I don't have to adopt him. I received the birth certificate in the mail last week. I'm his legal father."

Suzanne looked at him, startled. "Ethan you didn't tell me that! She put your name on the birth certificate?"

All the women in the room turned to look at him. He shrugged. "I think that was her way of making sure he went home with me, by declaring me as the father."

"And you still haven't heard from her?" Becky asked.

"Not a peep," he said sadly.

Suzanne scoffed. "I still can't believe she did that. Or better yet, I can. Patricia has always been ridiculously irresponsible and flighty."

"Well Jack thinks she was trying to be responsible by leaving him with us," Ethan told them.

"Still, this is a shitshow waiting to happen," said Henrietta. "If or when she does come back, what happens then? You just hand the baby that you've been raising for the first few months of his life over to her? He doesn't even know her anymore."

Ethan was quiet, then said, "I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

~~~~~

On Christmas Day in the afternoon Ethan's phone rang in the living room where everyone else was. Jack shook his head, his husband was always leaving his cell phone around somewhere. Jack looked at it and saw it was a video call, but he knew it wasn't really for Ethan.

He passed it to EJ. "It's your grandparents."

EJ pressed the green button on the phone screen and said, "Hi grandma, hi grandpa! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Tim and Mallory Reedlin chorused together. "How's our favorite grandson?"

EJ was about to say what he always says, 'I'm your only grandson," but then realized it wouldn't be true. "I'm fine. Thanks for the new games on my Ps4 and the clothes."

"And you'll have another present for you on your confirmation day!" Tim said. "Can't wait to see you in two weeks."

"It's been too long," his grandmother said. "We miss you. Did your mother call you for Christmas?"

EJ frowned. "No. Did you hear from her?" he asked.

They both hesitated, then she said, "Not for Christmas, no. But we know wherever she is, she is thinking of you."

"Oh. I doubt that but okay," he said with a shrug.

Tim tried to comfort him, "I know, son. I know it's been years since you've seen her but sometimes your mother just needs a break from everyone, then she comes back to us. When we spoke to her in November she seemed like she was going through a rough time, but hopefully she is getting better."

"Wait, what?" EJ said, confused. "You spoke to mom last month? She told you about Jamie?"

It was their turn to be confused. "Who is Jamie?" his grandmother asked.

"Is it your mother's new...friend?" his grandfather asked.

"No. Jamie is...." He paused and looked at his Pop who was holding his little brother. "I gotta go."

"Wait!" they both cried. "Who is Jamie, son?" Tim asked this time.

"Have you seen her recently?" Mallory asked in anticipation.

EJ looked at them with wide eyes and said, "Merry Christmas!" Then he hung up quickly. "Daaaad!" He practically screamed.

Everyone looked at EJ as Ethan came into the living room. "What's wrong? Something with Jamie?"

"No I... I think I messed up!"

Jack also stood up with Jamie in his arms and walked over. "What happened, EJ?"

EJ started crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Ethan walked up to him and held him by his shoulders. "Whatever it is, we can fix it." EJ stood there shaking with tears down his face. Ethan looked at Jack. "What happened?" he said as he patted his son's back.

Jack shook his head, also confused. "I don't know. He was talking to his grandparents. They called your phone to say Merry Christmas and I gave it to him to talk to them."

Ethan asked EJ, "Did they say anything about your mom? Do they know where she is?"

EJ sniffed. "No, I accidentally told them about Jamie!" he cried.

"What do you mean accidentally?" Ethan asked.

"Because I know you didn't tell them about Jamie and I messed up and told them," EJ said with his face still buried in his father's side.

Jack reached out and touched his shoulder. "Oh EJ, that's not on you, that's on us. You did nothing wrong."

"What!?" Suzanne began. "You mean all this time you never mentioned to the Reedlins that their daughter had a baby and left him with you?"

He turned to her. "Ma, they didn't even know she was pregnant. How was I gonna-"

Ethan's phone buzzed in EJ's hand. He looked at it and looked up at his father. "They gonna be mad," he whispered in fear.

Ethan took the phone from him. "Yes, they probably will be. But not with you. Jack is right, you did nothing wrong." He let EJ go and said, "Stay here."

Ethan glanced at Jack then walked into the kitchen. Jack followed him. Henrietta shook her head as she watched them leave the room. "See? A shitshow."

When the door closed, Ethan took a deep breath and pressed the video call button. "Merry Christmas."

Both Tim and Mallory were looking at him. "Ethan," Tim said gruffly. "What is going on?"

Ethan decided to get right to it. "So the reason you haven't seen Trish in about two years...well I don't know what she was doing last year but this year she got pregnant. And the reason I know that is because she showed up in my town on Halloween nine months pregnant asking me to be her labor partner."

He stayed quiet to let his words sink in. Mallory put her hands over her mouth in shock. Tim's face became hard. "Are you trying to tell me... that my daughter... got pregnant again? Had another baby? And didn't tell us?"

"Yes," Ethan simply said.

"Where is she, Ethan?" Mallory said with a shaky voice. "Where is our daughter?"

"I honestly do not know, Mallory," Ethan told her. "She was supposed to come back to Rockville with me after the baby was born on November 4th. She was supposed to tell you about the baby and introduce you to him on Thanksgiving. She was supposed to raise her own child and we were going to help her. Instead she snuck out of the hospital three days after he was born without her clothes or her car with a note to me saying 'I can't do it' and I haven't seen her since."

"Oh my God," Mallory said as she leaned back in the chair.

Tim's stoic face had not changed. "Did she relapse?"

"I don't know," Ethan said. "She swore she didn't use the whole time she was pregnant and I believe her. The baby was born healthy. But if I had to guess, I would say that she probably has relapsed by now."

"Oh my God," Mallory said again and put her face in her hands to cry.

Tim said, "So Jamie is...."

Ethan sighed. "Your grandson."

Tim leaned back as Mallory sat up. "Can I see him? Can I see my grandson?" Ethan turned the phone around to face Jack, who was holding Jamie outward.

Mallory stared intently into the baby's face. "He's so precious."

Tim leaned in to get a closer look. "He's..."

Jack smiled and waved Jamie's hand. He mimicked a child's voice: "Say 'Yes Grandpa, I'm brown skinned.'" The baby responded with a yawn.

"What in the hell?" Tim said with disbelief. "Who's the father?"

"We have no idea," Ethan said from the background. "Someone named Ulysses that she was engaged to."

They looked at each other in surprise then back at the phone. "Engaged? We have no idea who that is either," Tim said.

Ethan turned the phone back to himself. "I wasn't trying to keep him from you. I just wanted to give Trish the opportunity to come back and tell you her side of the story. I didn't want to leave him at the hospital and I heavily considered dropping him off with the two of you, but you didn't even know she was pregnant, there was no way you were prepared to take on a newborn. We weren't really prepared either but at least we had baby stuff in storage to get started. So I took him home and Jack and I have been raising him."

"Did you baptize him yet?" Tim asked.

"No. We didn't want to do it without her but-" He looked at Jack and spoke to him when he said, "I think we should now. He's almost two months."

"I'll call Father O'Donnell. We'll do it privately, maybe the morning before EJ's confirmation," Jack decided. "That way the whole family can be a part of it."

"Thank you, Ethan," Mallory said between sniffles. "Thank you for taking care of our grandson. We know you didn't have to do it. But we also know that you still love her very much and want the best for her. We can't wait to meet him."

"Yes, thank you," Tim said curtly.

"You're welcome," Jack said loudly and sarcastically. Tim and Mallory had a tendency to forget Jack was in the picture, probably on purpose.

Ethan looked at Jack's smirk and back at the camera. "Merry Christmas Tim, Mallory. We'll see you in two weeks at EJ's confirmation, and you'll meet Jamie then when we baptize him."

He pressed the end button and put the phone on the counter. Then held his hands out. Jack passed him baby Jamie. Ethan held him tight to his chest, closed his eyes and rocked gently. Jack watched him for a moment then hugged them both.

~~~~~~

Bishop Martin dipped his right thumb in the Chrism and made the sign of the cross on EJ's head. "Francis Ethan Thomas, you are to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit."

EJ replied, "Amen."

Bishop Martin touched his cheek and said, "Pax tecum," (Peace be with you.)

EJ replied, "Et cum spiritu tuo." (And with your spirit.)

The bishop turned to Freddie and did the same. Freddie, who turned 12 in early December, wanted to wait until his best friend turned 12 in January so they could be confirmed together, along with their other friends.

The bishop turned to another preteen waiting to be confirmed. EJ looked at the crowd and the smiling faces, and found his parents in the front row with looks of pride on their faces. He choose Francis of Assisi as his saint because of his love for animals, and his aunt June as his sponsor because of her love for him.

He briefly thought of his mother and looked at his maternal grandparents sitting there holding onto his brother Jamie. They seemed very happy upon meeting the baby at the baptism earlier that morning, his grandmother more than his grandfather, but at least they weren't mad at him or his parents.

EJ wished his mother was there on this important day for both of them. He sent up a quick prayer in his head, asking God to protect her and keep her safe until they saw each other again.

After Mass and the confirmation ceremony, the church crowded into the basement for light refreshments. The McIntyres were on the far side of the room and didn't interact with the Frazier family except for Connor who was already with Jack's family. He had no relationship with his father at all and has a testy relationship with his brother and sister-in-law.

AJ asked him, "Hey, where's the husband?"

Connor sighed as he and Ethan exchanged looks of sadness. "Jamel is at Red Rock with BJ preparing for their confirmation party. Matty told me that in order for him to allow me to be Freddie's communion sponsor, Jamel wasn't allowed to come. And I'm sure that order came from the top, Owen McIntyre," he said darkly.

Connor continued. "At first I told Freddie no, as much as it pained me since he personally asked me, but Jamel is my husband now and I wasn't going to exclude him from such an important event. But Jamel and Ethan convinced me to be there for Freddie because he needed me, and we'll celebrate as a family later."

"Damn," AJ said sadly, looking over at the McIntyres. "What a miserable group of people."

Connor nodded. "I have other words for it, but sure, miserable is one of them."

Angie, Connor's youngest sister came over to them. "So they aren't coming to the party. Just me and Chad, Mary Kate and Dennis, and we're bringing Deann. Maddy said she wasn't coming either, she's not feeling well."

Ethan scoffed. "I figured Owen wasn't coming, but Matty and Stephanie aren't going to be there for their own son? Nah, that's not right."

He began to walk over but Jack grabbed his arm. "Let it go, E."

"No, Jack," Ethan said. "It's not right."

He walked over to Matthew with AJ right behind him. AJ knew about the history between their family and his and he didn't like how his little brother and Jack had been treated by them. He had been waiting for years for a reason to approach Matty.

Ethan tapped Matty's shoulder. "Hey, can we talk?"

Matty turned around. "What do you need, Ethan?"

"I need you to put your feelings aside and be there for your son, Matty," Ethan said first.

Matty grimaced at him. "I am here for my son."

"Why aren't you going to the party later?" Ethan asked. "He can't be the only kid there without his parents."

"We're going to have a nice family gathering after this at home. He doesn't need another party," Freddie's father said nonchalantly.

"But we planned it for them, all of them: EJ, Freddie, Hank and Ashley. They worked so hard to be confirmed and it's their day. All of the other parents will be there. You should be there."

He shrugged again. "I don't feel like being in a room with people I don't get along with."

"It's not about you, Matt," Ethan said. "It's about them. Can't you just put your feelings aside about Jack, Jamel, Ty, Afia and whoever else you hate for one night?"

"No offense Ethan, but it's kinda hard for me to see my son, who was just confirmed, partying with sinners," Matthew said with a straight face.

Before Ethan could respond his brother did. "What!?" AJ exclaimed. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. We're all sinners, including you. Yea, I know about the stuff that comes out of your mouth, and you definitively ain't no saint."

Matty looked the stranger up and down, not knowing who he was or why he was talking to him. "Yea well, I know everybody else in this town drank the Koolaid and is okay with all these homosexual and interracial relationships running around, but I'm still uncomfortable with it."

"Well get comfortable," AJ snarled. "Because your brother is gay, just like mine." Ethan touched his shoulder to calm him down but AJ shrugged him off angrily, as he was also in an interracial relationship. "And he ain't going nowhere. I been telling him to knock your teeth in but he's an upstanding gentleman, unlike me. Maybe you should take notes from your son, who's a better man at 12 than you are."

Matty said, "And maybe you should mind your fucking business."

"Make me." AJ took a step forward in anger. "Because I punch Nazis in the face too."

"Whoa," Ethan said as he held his hand out to stop his brother. "That's not why we're here. Because once again, Matt, it's not about you or me, or AJ. It's about Freddie."

"Yeah, and I'm two steps away from keeping Fred away from all of you," Matty said back. "He's a true Catholic now, he shouldn't be fraternizing with people like-"

But he was cut off by a gentle hand on his shoulder. They all turned to see the monsignor standing there. "It's been a good day, hasn't it, Matthew? Ethan?"

Matty's stance softened. "Yes Father, it has."

Father O'Donnell gave him a warm smile, then turned to Ethan. Ethan responded, "The ceremony was beautiful. And your homily on how young people can show Christ through service of others was great. Thank you."

"You're very welcome." The priest turned back to Matty. "Matthew, I would love to talk to you and Stephanie in my office for a moment. Do you have time now?"

"Sure, just let me grab Stephanie." He turned around to talk to his family.

The priest whispered, "Just leave him to me." He gave Ethan a knowing look and a nod, then went over to the McIntyres.

Ethan and AJ walked back over to Connor and Jack who watched the whole exchange. Connor shook his head. "Sorry, AJ. My brother is an A-hole."

"Well my brother is a pitbull and next time I'll bring a leash," Ethan said patting AJ's chest.

"So what's the outcome?" Jack asked.

"Father O'Donnell said he'll talk to him, so we'll see," Ethan responded. He looked over at Mallory holding Jamie and talking with his mother Suzanne. "How's that going?"

"Well," Jack started, "Mallory hasn't stopped tearing up or let Jamie go from this morning and Tim hasn't gone anywhere near him since the baptism. I think they're still in a bit of shock and handling it differently."

Ethan sighed. "Yea, well, join the party. We're all still a little shocked."

~~~

Matty did not show up to the party but Stephanie did with Connor's mother Katherine and Connor's sisters and their families. Freddie was grateful and didn't seem to mind that his father did not come. In fact he seemed more relaxed and playful to Jack and Ethan. The boys chose matching white suits and happily took pictures with their guests.

The four confirmed children appeared to be enjoying themselves, getting so much attention and being showered with gifts and money. Imani gave both of her friends' gift cards but to EJ she gave him a key chain of St. Francis Assisi. Ethan watched his son blush after she gave him a kiss on his cheek, but did not say anything to him about it.

Jack and Ethan presented EJ with Hematite gemstone rosary beads with sterling silver accents. Ethan told him, "It's a protection stone and it has been blessed by the same bishop who did your confirmation today. So you'll always be blessed, whether Jack and I are around or not."

EJ was in awe. He wrapped the beads around his wrist and kissed the cross. "Thank you, Dad, Pop," he said sincerely. "I'll protect it with my life."

Jack said, "And it will protect you."

Jack looked around to see Connor take off his 24-carat gold crucifix and put it around his nephew's neck. He put one hand on his shoulder and spoke softly to him. He watched Freddie nod a few times, then hug him tightly. Connor kissed the top of his head and let him go. Fred and EJ gravitated toward each other to compare gifts.

Jack moved closer to Connor and said, "Wow, I haven't seen that cross since high school. You never took it off. You went to the Marines wearing it, but came back wearing dog tags."

"Yea it brought me a lot of luck and blessings. I am hoping it does the same for him. But that wasn't his real gift, that was just from me. Jamel got him an engraved leather St. Christopher bracelet with his confirmation name on the inside."

"That sounds awesome," Jack said. "I noticed he chose the same saint as you, St. Christopher."

Connor smiled smugly. "What can I say, I'm his favorite person."

Jack laughed. "What did his dad get him?"

"An expensive ass white gold rosary. It cost like a thousand dollars. Mary Kate told me. I mean, what is a 12-year-old kid going to do with a thousand dollar rosary?" Connor shook his head.

Jack shrugged. "Pray for a windfall, then sell it." Connor busted out laughing, making Jack laugh too.