“Wow, did you like it? Of course, you did. You did it more than once.” Natalie paused and looked at the ceiling for a second, then Hazel. “Okay, when Sam and I left after the wedding thing, my dad all but said he was okay with Sam and me hooking up, or maybe more like he was okay with it if it was more than a hookup.”
“Your dad? He must really like Mr. Sullivan,” Hazel said in disbelief.
“Call him Sam. It’s weird when you call him Mr. Sullivan.”
“Sam then.” Hazel tested the name. It was going to take getting used to. “I have no idea who John Henry’s dad is. I did a lot of sleeping around in college.”
“I figured you had dated him for a while. That you had a romantic story of love and loss.”
“No, I would pick up guys at parties and usually have sex at the party. I was pretty out of control. Having him made me realize that that was crazy wrong.” Hazel looked at the crib next to the bed as John Henry was pulling his blanket from the bed.
“What’s his middle name?” Natalie asked.
“What makes you think it is not Henry?” She leaned over and grabbed her son into her arms.
“Because Henry was always going to name his kid John Henry Beckett May. We were dating then.” Natalie pulled the boy onto her own lap.
She shrugged. There was no hiding it. “That’s his name. Henry has it written on a piece of paper on his dresser still. I saw it as a sign.”
“You named him after me?” Natalie hugged him to her and kissed his cheek.
“You were a big part of my life, even if I hated you. I named him what Henry would have named him. At the time, I had no other ideas.” In fact, she hadn’t planned on naming him anything until the nurse asked her what she wanted to name him. It was only at his birth that he became real to her, precious to her.
“Can I call him Beckett?” Natalie demanded.
“No.” She shook her head.
“I am going to name my first baby after you. Hazel May Sullivan. We will call her Hazy. And when I get mad at her, I’ll say HAZEL MAY!” She yelled the last part, making John Henry laugh in her arms.
“You will want to name your baby Hanna. Hanna May Sullivan,” Hazel said. Hanna had been Natalie’s friend, not her. Nothing that will ever happen between the two will change that fact.
“I want to name my daughter after the strongest woman I know, so Hazy it is. And I know you will name your next one Hanna. And they will be in the same class and be best friends,” Natalie said and broke down laughing.
But Hazel turned serious. “I am not having any more.”
“Yes, you will. Ruston probably wants a dozen of them.” Natalie laughed some more, John Henry joining in, though he had no idea what they were talking about.
“No, I’m done. No matter what is between Ruston and me, there’s no future in it. So just drop it.” Hazel started to get off the bed, tired of Natalie suddenly.
“Okay.” Natalie put her hands on Hazel’s knees to stop her. “Ruston is off-limits.”
“Thank you.” Hazel stopped moving.
“Just one more.” Natalie put her hands over John Henry’s ears. “Did you have sex in this bed last night?”
Hazel didn’t answer the question but knew her face was beet red, screaming the answer. Biting her lip from answering her friend, she couldn’t help but smile.
“How? This is a tiny bed. Was John Henry there?” John Henry pushed her hands off his head.
“Quietly, and since we are not both eight feet tall, we made it work,” Hazel shot back at her tall friend.
Natalie laughed at the answer because she was nearly six feet tall, and Sam was taller than she was. Whereas Ruston was about the same height as Natalie, and Hazel was quite a bit shorter than them all.
“We need to get you your own room. Being loud is half the fun.” Natalie let the little boy go finally.
“If noise is half the fun, Sam needs to work harder.” Hazel laughed, and Natalie joined in.
“Oh, Sam is very good at what he does,” Natalie replied and then blushed at what she had said.