Unexpected - Ch 13
Spinelli couldn’t believe his ears. “You just said you love me!” He smiled brighter than the sun.
Maxie giggled. He was so cute. He had this amazing way of making everything feel new and precious. “I did. I do.” She leaned in and kissed him sweetly.
Spinelli closed his eyes and reveled in the moment. “No words have ever sounded sweeter.” He pulled her closer.
Maxie snuggled against him, wanting to stay in this moment forever.
-
Thanksgiving arrived quickly, but Maxie and Spinelli were ready for it, having been planning for weeks. It was the first time either of them had hosted such an event and they were excited.
Despite Mac’s unease, Spinelli had invited Jason. Maxie explained to her father that Jason and Spinelli were like brothers and nothing would ever break that bond, whether they worked together or not.
All through the meal Maxie and Spinelli gave each other secretive smiles, which did not go unnoticed. Finally Robin spoke up. “Okay, what is going on between you two?”
Maxie and Spinelli looked at her innocently. “Nothing,” they replied in unison.
After the main course was cleared away, Jason glanced to the kitchen and caught Maxie and Spinelli sharing a tender kiss over the pumpkin pie. He smiled and nodded. “It’s about time,” he murmured.
Robin jumped up and followed his gaze. She gasped. “I knew it!”
“What?” Mac and Patrick asked. They got up to look, but only saw Maxie and Spinelli walking in with the dessert and coffee.
Robin stood with her arms crossed. “Okay, when did it happen?”
“Excuse me?” Maxie asked as she set the pie on the table.
Spinelli set the coffee service on the table. “Who wants French Roast?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“I thought dessert was the subject.” Spinelli looked at her in confusion.
“My cousin speaks in riddles, Spinelli. Just ignore her.”
“I just saw you two in the kitchen!” Robin stared accusingly at the young couple. “Were you planning on keeping it a secret forever?”
“Keeping what a secret?” Mac asked.
“They had sex! It’s written all over their faces.”
“Of course we had sex. That’s how I got pregnant,” Maxie laughed.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Don’t play dumb with me. You’ve had sex recently!”
Spinelli gulped. “Might I suggest some more appropriate dinner conversation?”
“Really, Robin, you’re making Spinelli uncomfortable. He’s very modest, you know.” She leaned in and whispered, “Though he really has no reason to be.” She bit her lip and wiggled her eyebrows, making Robin giggle.
“I’m sorry, Spinelli,” Robin apologized. “I just wanted to know when things changed between you. Patrick and I made a bet on how soon you two would get together.”
“A bet?” He turned to Maxie with a frown. “Was Maximista aware of this particular wager?”
“No! I swear!”
Robin shook her head. “We’ve been waiting for you two to figure out how much you love each other and now you have. I’m so happy for you!” She hugged Spinelli and then Maxie.
“So when’s the wedding?” Mac asked seriously.
Spinelli and Maxie stared at him with wide eyes.
-
Christmas Eve was spent in the new house with family and friends. Robin and Patrick were there with Emma. Jason brought Elizabeth and Maxie was actually nice to her. Lu Lu came over with Johnny. Kate and Sonny even dropped by for a few minutes on their way to Manhattan. But when Mac arrived late with Felicia on his arm Maxie was stunned into silence.
“Surprise,” Felicia said softly.
Maxie found her voice. “Mother,” she sneered. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Spinelli walked up behind Maxie and put a reassuring hand on her back. “Ms. Jones, it’s an honor to have you in our home on such a special occasion.” He welcomed them inside.
Maxie shut the door and leaned against it for a moment, trying to compose herself. She felt like she might burst into tears.
“Thank you, Spinelli. It’s so lovely to see you again. I understand congratulations are in order.” Felicia smiled brightly.
Spinelli gave her a shy grin. “Thank you. May I hang up your coats?” He looked at Mac, who took Felicia’s wrap and purse.
While Spinelli put the items into the closet, Maxie stared coldly at her mother. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Felicia turned to her daughter and gulped. “I was hoping... we could reconnect... before the baby comes.”
“How did you even know--?” Maxie looked accusingly at her father. “You told her, didn't you?”
“I thought she had a right to know,” Mac confessed. “I knew you wouldn’t tell her.”
“You’re right about that.” She turned back to her mother. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here like we’re all one big happy family or something.”
Spinelli returned and put his arm around Maxie’s waist. “Perhaps Maximista has forgotten the spirit of the season?”
She looked up at his hopeful face. This was a special night. She didn’t want to make a scene. She softened. “I’m sorry, Spinelli. I’ll try to be civil… for you.” She knew that wasn’t going to happen right then, so she turned away and headed for the kitchen.
Spinelli watched her with concern. He was about to follow her when Mac stopped him.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Mac said as he went after his daughter.
Spinelli clasped his hands together. “Humble apologies to the mother of fair Maximista. Despite the passage of time, I fear it has not healed her wounds.”
“What wounds are you referring to?”
“I believe your daughter has been struggling with issues of abandonment.”
“I didn’t abandon her. If anything, she abandoned me!”
“If I may be so bold, I think Maximista has missed you, despite her protestations. She was devastated upon your leaving again after Wise Georgie’s funeral.”
“I thought she wanted me to leave.”
“Maxie uses words as her security, much like myself. However, hers tend to be of the lethal persuasion.” He shrugged. “This being so close to the anniversary of Wise Georgie’s passing, emotions are running high. Please don’t give up on her.”
“I won’t. Not this time.” Felicia nodded. “I am so grateful Maxie has you.”
Spinelli shook his head and put his hands over his heart. “I am the one who is grateful.”
Maxie leaned against the counter and took a deep cleansing breath. She and Spinelli had been taking prenatal Yoga classes together and they had been surprisingly beneficial to her. She was definitely calmer. But seeing her mother again had thrown her for a loop.
“Honey?”
Maxie turned to her father. She fell into his arms. “Daddy,” she sobbed. “Why did she leave me?”
Mac held her until her crying stopped. “She didn’t mean to hurt you, Maxie." He rubbed her back. "I had to convince her to come back here.”
“Oh! So she would’ve been perfectly content to stay away from her family forever!”
“No. That’s not it at all. She was scared. She thought you didn’t want her around. She thinks you hate her and it kills her. She’s been living with guilt for so long. She really needs your forgiveness. When you’re a parent you’ll understand.”
Maxie touched her belly thoughtfully. Her pregnancy was showing quite clearly now. She smoothed the red satin of her Federico original maternity dress and held her head high. “I’ll try. Spinelli says that forgiveness lightens the heart.”
“He’s right. Just think about how many people in his life he’s had to forgive.”
Maxie nodded. “I wish I could be more like him.” He was the most lighthearted person she knew. Maxie linked her arm through Mac’s and went back to the party.
Felicia had been picking Spinelli’s brain about the events of the last year, how he and Maxie had become friends because of Georgie, the mysteries they had solved together, their unexpected night of passion and how they had fallen in love. “Sounds so romantic,” Felicia sighed. “It was that way for Maxie’s father and me. Our entire relationship was one big adventure. Eventually he came to love adventure more than us, but I kept trying in vain to make things work. I think I finally realized I was just chasing the past.”
“Maximista did mention you were not with your ailing grandparent as you had claimed.”
“It’s true. I didn’t regret my actions at the time, but now I realize how selfish I had become. I hurt my daughters, not to mention the one person who had loved me unconditionally.”
“The Constant Commissioner?”
Felicia smiled. “Yes, Mac.”
Spinelli glanced over her shoulder and noticed Mac and Maxie heading their way. “I think he still loves you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Maximista said there has been no other in his life since your departure.”
Felicia smiled sadly. “I love him, too. I never realized how much until I saw him again last year. Mac and I had always been a great fit.”
“And yet you left?”
“I was a fool. Rather than stay and work through our problems, I took the coward’s way out.”
“Will you stay this time?”
“I’d like to know the answer to that, myself.”
Felicia gasped and turned around to see Mac and Maxie standing behind her. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough.”
Maxie said nothing, but it was apparent she had been crying. Spinelli was at her side in an instant. He put his arms around her and she leaned into him.
No matter how bad things got, the comfort of Spinelli’s embrace had a magical way of making all things right with the world.
Mac walked over to Felicia and they watched Spinelli and Maxie. “He’s so good with her, so nurturing,” Felicia said softly. “I think he’s going to make a wonderful father, just like you.”
“You know I’ll always be grateful for you allowing the girls to come live with me. It was the greatest gift I ever received. And now I’m going to be a grandfather.”
Felicia giggled. “Hard to imagine you as a grandpa. To me you’ll always be that handsome rogue who rescued me.”
“Thanks, but those days have been long forgotten.”
“Seems like just yesterday.” Felicia frowned. “Oh, Mac, I wasted so many years.” She choked on a sob. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered before running out of the room.
Mac started to follow her, but Maxie stopped him. He looked at her quizzically. “I’ll go,” she said. She kissed Spinelli on the cheek before following her mother.
“Should The Jackal be concerned?”
Mac shook his head. “I think they’ll be okay.”
Felicia wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around the dimly lit room. She had passed through the kitchen and found herself in a large empty space. Suddenly the lights came on and she turned around to face her daughter.
“This is going to be a playroom for the baby," Maxie said softly. We haven’t furnished it yet because we don’t know if it’s going to be a boy or girl.”
Felicia sniffled. “Do you have any suspicions?”
“I’ve been dreaming about a boy, one with messy brown hair and a sweet goofy smile.” She grinned, thinking of Spinelli. One smile from him and her heart melted. If his son was the same way he’d surely have her wrapped around his little finger.
“I’m so happy for you, Maxie. It’s obvious how much you and Spinelli love each other. I envy you.”
“Why? You had all that and more. You were the one who threw it away, like you didn’t want it.”
“You’re right,” Felicia agreed. “I didn’t appreciate the gifts I had been given. Instead I opted to live out some childish fantasy. I sure hope you don’t make the same mistakes I did.”
“I thought I would. I was so afraid I would hurt Spinelli the way you hurt Mac that I closed myself off to the possibility of a future with him. But fate intervened, as Spinelli likes to say. One night of comfort between two best friends became so much more. But even after I found out I was pregnant I told myself that I didn’t see Spinelli as anything more than a friend.”
“What changed?”
“I guess I got tired of fighting my feelings. My hormones helped out, too.” She smirked.
Felicia laughed with her for a moment then suddenly broke down in tears, covering her face. “I’m so sorry I left you,” she sobbed.
Maxie stood there and watched Felicia cry. Maybe it was the fact that she was soon going to be a mother herself and couldn’t imagine being estranged from her own child, but she felt a change come over her. She wrapped her arms around her mom and held her tight.
Spinelli played the gracious host to his guests, but kept stealing glances at the clock. It had been awhile since mother and daughter had left the room. He walked up to Mac. “Perhaps we should seek them out?”
Mac shook his head. “I don’t hear any screaming, so I’m taking that as a good sign.”
Spinelli nodded, but wasn’t quite convinced. He started to walk to the kitchen when he saw the Jones women enter the room. They were smiling! “Maximista?”
“I’m going to show my mom the nursery. Can you hold down the fort down here for awhile?”
Spinelli gave a short laugh. “Of course!” He looked at Mac who shrugged and gave him a “told you so” look.
