Hand of Fate

Greg looked at his wife not sure what she was talking about. Suddenly he realized they weren't in the antique cars at the park anymore but in his wife's car, a new convertible Mercedes-Benz. Greg squeezed his eyes closed for a second and when he opened them again they were still in the Mercedes on the city's streets.

Molly looked at her husband then asked incredulously, "You've nothing to say? Your daughter's coming home from college and she's bringing her boyfriend and you've nothing to say about that?"

College!? After a moment he replied, "What do you want me to say Molly? That she shouldn't bring her friend home? Megan's growing up and has a good head too. She graduated from high school Valedictorian and has an almost perfect GPA at Harvard. That's nothing to be sneezed at." How did he know all this?

"That's book learning. What about common sense?"

Greg smiled. He and Megan had spent a lot of time together as she was growing up and had always been close. In a lot of ways Megan was closer to her father than her mom. Greg knew his daughter had a lot of street smarts to go with the book smarts and wasn't concerned. Well he was concerned just not as much as Molly was.

"I mean she told me she was bringing this boy home...," Molly went on clearly agitated.

"Michael..."

"What?" she snapped.

"The young man's name is Michael."

"I don't care what his name is Greg. Megan TOLD me she was bringing this boy...Michael home and then TOLD me they would be sharing her room together for the Holiday weekend. I mean if I'd told my mom that she'd have had me committed, after she'd grounded me for a decade. Are we going to let her do this...share her room with him?"

Greg sat looking out the passenger window. He knew Molly was just venting her frustrations and let her go on. But she did ask a good question...should they let the two of them share a bedroom for the weekend? Megan was twenty-one now...an adult. But it was still her mom and his house.

"I'll talk to her," he finally said when Molly had taken a breath. "I'll let her know we understand she and Michael have a relationship but this is our home and we set the rules. It'll be ok."

"Well I certainly hope so. Can you imagine our parent's reaction when they visit this weekend? Oh I'd never hear the end of it. 'YOU LET your daughter share her BEDROOM with some BOY she'd NOT married to?' Oh yeah that would be real fun wouldn't it?"

Greg smiled, amused at Molly's over reaction to the situation. He knew Megan would bow to his wishes.

Molly carried on about the upcoming weekend visit for the rest of the day and into the evening ending only when she'd fallen asleep that night.

At daybreak Greg was awakened by someone making noise in his bedroom. Opening an eye he saw Molly moving about dressed only in a half slip and bra. She was opening and closing drawers looking for something and was purposefully making more noise than was called for. He watched her for a bit and every so often she'd look to the bed to see if he was awake. Finally he opened both eyes and watched her as she moved about the room like a dervish. Molly looked his way again after loudly pushing her bedside table drawer closed.

"About time you woke up. How can you sleep so late today of all days," she said to her husband.

"What's the rush? I told you I'd talk to Megan."

"What's the rush!? Your daughter is getting married in five hours and you ask 'what's the rush'? Sometimes I just don't get you. You take everything so calmly. Look at me I'm a wreck."

Greg thought for a moment and realized what his wife said was true. Somehow he'd forgotten Megan was marrying Michael Patterson today. Why did he think today was the day Megan was bringing her boyfriend home from school? That happened what...two years ago?

And just as he predicted Megan had given in to her father; Michael had slept in the guest room that weekend. In fact it was Michael who pointed out to Megan her dad was right; they should obey her parents' rules in their house. Amused at the recollection Greg smiled to himself as he remembered Michael had remained in the guest room all night...alone. He knew this because Molly had laid awake almost the entire night listening for any sound of movement in the house, just making sure Michael stayed in the guest room and Megan stayed in her bedroom.

Greg liked Michael almost from the moment they met; he could see what Megan saw in the young man. It took a bit longer for Molly to warm up to him but she eventually came around too.

The limo taking Molly and Greg to the church arrived at their home promptly at 9:30 a.m. When the car arrived at the Cathedral the maid of honor and best man were waiting at curbside and escorted the bride's parents inside to their seats. Later the maid of honor returned and escorted Greg to the rear of the church when it was time for the ceremony to begin.

Despite Molly's never ending concerns the ceremony was beautiful and went off without a hitch. The bride was stunning in her white lace Vera Wang dress, the groom handsome in his Gianni Manzoni tuxedo. The bridesmaids all wore scarlet Barijay gowns and the groomsmen wore Ecko tux's. Even Michael's young six year old cousin serving as ring bearer did as he was supposed to, although after delivering the rings he turned to the congregation and took a bow to most everyone's delight.

Among the women there were few dry eyes in the church that day and while some men shed tears as well Greg turned out to be one of the more notable criers, male or female. He was so filled with pride and happiness as he walked his daughter down the aisle he thought he would burst. But when he placed his baby's hand in Michael's at the altar that's when his first tears came. He didn't stop crying until after the ceremony was over but he felt no shame. He only felt and shared the joy of his only child's happiness on her special day.

After the ceremony Molly and Greg got back into the limo for the ride to the reception hall. But when Greg stepped out, it wasn't the limo he'd gotten out of. It was a cab and they were at the hospital. Molly slid out after him and seeing Greg just standing there said a bit snippily, "Pay the man Greg. Michael said the baby's ready to come soon. Hurry up!"

Greg paid the cab driver and walked quickly to catch up with his wife. Waiting for the elevator she told him, "Honestly Greg you'd think being Executive Vice President and CFO of a huge company like Turner & Marks you'd be a bit less drifty. Sometimes it's like you don't even know what's happening around you."

Greg said nothing knowing this was the way his wife coped with stress. She often struck out verbally when stressed but also knew she'd eventually calm down and most likely apologize for anything hurtful she'd said.

They went into Megan's private room where she'd give birth to her first child. Megan lay in bed and looked tired, her sweat dampened red hair hung down with some plastered to her forehead. It was obvious Megan was uncomfortable, the contractions coming quickly now. She was brave about it and tried to talk with everyone but it was becoming more difficult for her to concentrate. After about twenty minutes the OB/GYN chased everyone out except Molly and Michael's mom because the baby was ready to make its debut.

Greg, Michael, Michael's dad George and Michael's sister Lee sat in the waiting room. Michael had opted not to be present in the birth room because he had a thing about seeing blood, anyone's blood. If he saw even a single drop he'd get woozy and if he saw any more than that, well he'd simply pass out. He wanted badly to be in the birth room when his child was born but knowing his weakness he didn't want to take anyone's attention away from Megan and their child so he sat in the waiting room too. Three or four minutes after they sat Greg's mom and dad arrived.

"Isn't this wonderful, our first great grandchild," Greg's mom said as she hugged her son and kissed his cheek.

When his mom let him go his dad took her place and hugged him as well. A few minutes later after they'd sat his dad said, "Seems the older you get the more we have in common. Now my son will be a grandfather too." After a minute or two's hesitation he leaned towards Greg and said confidentially, "Unlike his old man you were a great father Greg and you'll be a great grandpa too."

Greg stared at his father for a minute then said, "Thanks dad, but that's not true, you were a good dad. Don't ever let anyone tell you different." While Greg and his father had not been especially close, like him and Megan was they'd still had a reasonably good relationship. While they had spent some time doing things together like fishing or model building, his father never came to one of his ball games or went to the science fair at the school to see the project he'd worked so hard on, nor had he ever just sat and talked with Greg. Yes, they'd had a fairly good relationship but it could have been a lot better. Nonetheless Greg was somewhat surprised at the open display of emotion from a man who normally held himself rigidly in check.

Peter Hunt smiled, patted his sons hand then sat back. "Molly's in the delivery room?" he asked a bit later.

Greg nodded and added, "Along with Michael's mom."

Greg's mom asked, "Michael, did you and Megan ever find out the sex of the baby?"

Michael shook his head and responded, "No, but I think we might find out today though."

Megan and Michael had not found out beforehand about their baby's sex wanting to be surprised, although Molly and both of Michael's parents had tried their best to convince them otherwise. Greg didn't care what the sex was as long as the baby was healthy.

Sue, Michael's mom appeared in the doorway of the waiting room a half hour later crying so hard she couldn't speak. No one knew what to expect; did something happen with the baby, with Megan?

Greg stood but couldn't move. He was frightened and frozen in place because of the look on Sue's face. "Megan," he said to himself, his thoughts with his only child.

At the same time Greg stood Michael leapt from his seat and rushed over to his mom. He placed his hands on the sides of her shoulders, stooped down a bit to look into her face and asked urgently, "Mom, mom what is it? What's happened?"

Sue's mouth opened and closed a couple of times but she still couldn't speak. She took a deep breath, sniffled a few times and after blowing her nose was finally able to get out between sobs, "Everything's fine. We have a beautiful baby granddaughter."

Greg felt the weight of the world leave his shoulders and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had to sit back down for a second because until that sigh he hadn't taken a breath since Sue had entered the waiting room.

With the tension broken congratulations, hugs and smiles went around between all those in the waiting room, including some from family members of other women in the hospital waiting to have their babies. After the initial burst of emotion ended the Patterson's and Hunt's started towards Megan's room to meet their new granddaughter.

Allowing the others to go before him Greg walked through the door of his daughter's room last and saw her holding the swaddled bundle cradled in her arms and felt tears filling his eyes again.

Megan looked up from the baby and saw her dad standing there crying. "Daddy," she said, "Come meet and hold your granddaughter, Margaret Theresa Patterson."

Greg took the offered bundle and couldn't help himself. Sniffling and crying like a baby himself he held the precious bundle and studied the baby's face. Her bright brown eyes seemed to be staring back at him then she smiled. On some level he knew the baby wasn't necessarily reacting to him but he chose to believe she was.

Molly stood at his shoulder and he handed baby Margaret to her grandmother. He went to his daughter's bedside bent over and hugged her best as he could then kissed her on the forehead. "She's beautiful Megan. Next to you she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Father and daughter held each other and cried holding onto each other for nearly two minutes. Still leaning over his daughter he moved some of the sweat dampened hair from her forehead, moving it from where it hung in front of her face.

Greg stood and shook Michael's hand then pulled the younger man to him. Greg hugged his son-in-law and said, "Congratulations son. You have a beautiful healthy baby girl."

"Thanks dad," he replied meaning it sincerely. Michael was thankful he had such a good relationship with his in-laws. For the three years he and Megan had been married Greg in particular had been more a father to him than his own had been. He was aware of how close his wife and her father were and knew how emotional and passionate Greg was about his daughter. Inspired by his father-in-law he hoped to have the same relationship with his child too and would work hard to do just that.

Later as they rode down in the elevator Molly passed her arm through Greg's and laid her head against his shoulder. Neither said anything, lost in their own thoughts about their new grandchild.

When the elevator door slid open Molly and Greg stepped out into a large ballroom. The room was filled with more than three hundred people most of whom they'd known for years, but every person was older than he remembered. Everyone was on their feet applauding Greg and Molly's arrival as a young attractive couple approached them. The girl was about seventeen and the boy looked to be around the same age but was actually eighteen months older.

"Grandma, grandpa we're here to escort you to your seats," said the young man as he offered Molly his arm and the young lady took Greg's.

Although he'd been surprised when they entered the ballroom somehow Greg knew before the young man had spoken these were also his grandchildren. They were Michele and Michael Jr., Margaret's siblings.

God he was seventy-nine years old now and retired for many years. He and Molly had traveled quite a bit after he retired but in recent years they had settled down to a routine home life. Golf was his passion but he'd also taken up a hobby, model trains of all things. He had a huge HO scale layout in a room he'd had specially built for that purpose. Molly kept busy too with her community and civic volunteer work and even helped with building some of the structures on the layout. All in all they'd had a good marriage and a wonderful life together.

When they were seated Greg saw a banner stretched across the dance floor of the ballroom. It said, 'Happy Fiftieth Anniversary Greg and Molly'. He reached to his left and took Molly's hand and affectionately squeezed it.

Everything worked out just as Megan had planned. Her parents really had been surprised by this anniversary party. She'd invited them on the pretense it was an award banquet for Michael in recognition for his service to local and state government bodies. The ballroom was beautifully decorated, the caterer she'd used so many times in the past provided a fantastic meal and the band, well the band was just terrific.

Everyone seemed to be having such a wonderful time so between dinner and dessert Megan decided now was the time. She tapped the side of her champagne glass with her butter knife while holding the wireless microphone the hotel provided near to it. As the din of the room quieted she brought the microphone up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to thank you for coming this evening. Tonight marks another milestone in the life of my parents and I'm so pleased you found the time to join us in this celebration. What can I say about my mom and dad you don't already know? I'm not sure how much of this will be novel to those of you who really know my parents well, but I'd like to try to tell you something you may not know about them anyway. My mother...my mother has always been the very definition of the word mother, but to me she has always been more than that too. To me she has always been Mom. I like the word Mom better then mother because at least to me it carries much more warmth, meaning and feeling than the label mother. She loved me, cared for me, nurtured and supported me. Mom taught me how to be a lady but gave me the freedom to experience life as it came. She allowed me to make mistakes and taught me to learn from them. She taught me right from wrong, truth from lie. Mom encouraged me to be more then the sum of my parts, to aspire to be more than that. It's because of mom I'm a doctor today. She taught me the importance of asking why when I didn't or couldn't understand and that being curious wasn't being nosy. She's instilled in me an awareness of my civil responsibility, taught me social grace and my sense of duty to God, country, community and to family. But the greatest thing mom gave me was life. And during this life she's taught me the importance of living life to its fullest as well as the importance of having a family. She taught me how important it was to have a family not just in name but in substance and making sure to find time to commit to that family over self interest or career."

Turning to face the guests of honor she raised her glass in a toast and said, "Thank you mom."

Molly's eyes were tear-filled as she acknowledged her daughter's toast. One hand was clenched over her breasts and the fingertips of her other covered her lips. Taking her hand from her mouth she mouthed, "Your very welcome baby."

After toasting her mom and the applause died down Megan went on. "My dad. I know this is probably a cliché but no one has ever had a better dad then I do. Every day since I can remember until I thought I was too old for that sort of thing we read the funny papers together. I've got to admit I was wrong about being too old Dad, I wish I could still sit on your lap and we read the funnies together. My dad played an equal part in teaching the same things mom did but he did more than that too. Dad taught me to ride a bike, how to whistle and how to swim when I was five. He taught me to fish at six and how to ride a pony that same year. He taught me to water ski when I was seven and snow ski at eight. Dad taught me how to drive a boat at ten and a car at fifteen. He taught me to play chess at nine, golf at twelve and poker at fourteen. He took the time to explain and show me how the lessons of those games were applicable to life, how you could learn about people and how to deal with difficult situations through understanding the intricacies of these games. Dad taught me right from wrong, truth from lie but also taught me to be aware of the light and dark in people. If mom taught me it was ok to be curious dad stoked that curiosity. We talked about so much; life, love, philosophy, religion, country, duty, family, gardening, business, fishing...you name it we talked about it. Like I said I'm a doctor today because of my mom's influence but I'm a surgeon because of my dad's. I could have chosen a less demanding practice than surgery but dad made me see myself in a different way, made me challenge myself, made me see what it was I could do with my talents to help people the most. I remember when dad walked me down the aisle on my wedding day twenty-seven years ago. I could sense the pride and happiness he felt and the big baby was crying more than I was. Two months ago Dad stepped in when my husband Michael, still in a cast with a broken hip and leg wouldn't be able to escort his daughter at her wedding. I saw the same pride, happiness and tears as he walked Margaret down the aisle that day that I had twenty-seven years before. My dad...big, tough captain of industry who rose to CEO and Chairman of the Board at Turner & Marks and held that position for more than a decade before retiring crying like a baby at his granddaughter's wedding. Over the years he may have fooled a lot of people about how tough he was but he could never fool me or mom. He's always been a big softie and we love him for it."