Chapter 90

The Barton women wore more clothes to breakfast than Tiffany and Molly usually did. Hailey had pulled on a pair of sweatpants beneath her T-shirt. Danielle and Madison each had on a sweatshirt.

“Lisa had the baby last night,” Beth told her with a smile. “A little boy!”

“Oh, that’s great!” Hailey said with a smile. “Is she at the local hospital?”

“Yep,” Beth told her.

“Lisa?” Danielle asked while wiping crust out of her eyes. “That Chinese girl that went out with Phil’s friend?”

“Danielle had a crush on Scott,” Madison said with a wink.

“She’s Scott’s wife now,” Beth said. “They got married last summer.”

“Bummer,” Danielle said. “I guess they got married because she was pregnant?”

“It sped it up,” Hailey answered. “They got married because they wanted to get married.”

“Oh, yeah,” Danielle said. “Sorry, it takes me a while to get my head out of my butt in the mornings. Don’t mind me until I’ve had my second cup of coffee.”

“No problem,” Hailey said. She reached out to tousle Danielle’s already unkempt hair.

“I thought you and Phil might want to stop and see her before we go to pick out the tree,” Beth said. “I know that you picked up a present for her.”

“I’m going to go get Phil’s butt out of bed,” Hailey told her, jumping up and heading upstairs.

“She is entirely too chipper of the mornings,” Danielle muttered. “She reminds me of you, Aunt Beth.”

Madison leaned over and whispered something in her sister’s ear and Danielle laughed. She also blushed.

Hailey had climbed back into bed with her boyfriend and wrapped him in a warm embrace. He rolled over and pulled her to him.

“We need to get moving,” Hailey said, kissing him softly on his forehead, cheeks and finally his lips.

“You need to get naked,” Phil answered, his eyes still closed. “In fact, I think you need to stay naked.”

Hailey laughed and kissed him again.

“Lisa and Scott had their baby last night,” Hailey told him. “I want to go visit them before we go pick out a tree. Do you think she’ll want us to babysit while we’re here?”

Phil opened his eyes and blinked in the light.

“It’s a newborn,” Phil pointed out. “Molly said Susan didn’t leave Sean for something like four months.”

“Oh, yeah,” Hailey said. “It was just so much fun to play with Sean at Thanksgiving.”

“That’s because you knew you were able to give him back if he pooped himself or got cranky,” Phil replied.

“Yeah, I guess,” Hailey agreed. “I’m not saying that I want a baby. I mean, not really. I just want to see Lisa’s. OK?”

“It’s fine,” Phil said. “We’ll get to that point. We just want to make sure we’re ready.”

“I know it,” Hailey told him. “Now get up and get in the shower before Danielle and Madison claim it.”

“We could save time and share,” Phil said with a grin.

“Behave yourself,” Hailey warned him.

Phil managed to behave as they got to the hospital. Hailey took his arm and they went into the maternity ward. Both were surprised to see Lisa’s mother sitting with Scott’s father in the waiting room.

Both were smiling, which was a good sign, Phil decided. Chet Finley got up and extended his hand toward Phil.

“Hi, Grandpa,” Phil said as they shook.

“Hi, Grandma,” he added to Li Chen. “How’s the little one?”

“He is beautiful!” Li said. She sounded as proud as she would have if she had birthed the baby herself.

“What did they name him?” Hailey asked.

“Liam Andrew Finley,” Chet told her with a smile. “Liam is my father’s name.”

“They asked if I would be upset if they did not give him a Chinese name,” Li informed them. “I told them that I would be more upset if they did. The young man is an American with Chinese ancestry. Scott told me that the first name is homage not only to his grandfather but also to me. They will stay at my home when she is released. I am pleased to have them there.”

“Uh, what about Dr. Chen?” Phil asked warily.

“He cannot come within 500 yards of Lisa,” Chet said. “If I find out he’s in the same ZIP Code, things are going to get ugly. He still hasn’t gone to trial. He’s still maintaining his innocence but the prosecutor said with the video surveillance, Lisa’s testimony and the corroboration of the other participants, it’s a done deal.”

“He is no longer my husband,” Li told them. “He needed money for an attorney so I took the house and half the savings in return for allowing him to keep the profit from sale of his practice. It was a very quick divorce.”

Phil nodded but Hailey was pulling him toward the door to the nursery viewpoint.

“He is being fed,” Li told them. “That is why we came out.”

“Oh,” Hailey said, clearly disappointed.

“Just give her a few minutes,” Chet laughed.

“Tell me all about him,” Hailey insisted.

Chet and Li filled in Hailey and Phil in on the details of Liam’s birth. They had all the information: his time of birth; his length and weight; the length of labor. Hailey was excited to hear everything.

A few minutes later, a nurse told them that mother and child were finished so they could come back. Hailey led the charge and stopped at the foot of the bed. Lisa was sitting up in bed with Liam in her arms. Scott sat in a chair beside them, beaming at his wife and son, with his hand supporting the little guy’s back.

“Isn’t he adorable!” Hailey said in a whisper.

“Scott hasn’t changed since the last time you saw him,” Phil deadpanned.

“You goof!” Hailey said. “Yeah, Scott still looks like a dork. I was talking about the baby.”

“Oh, yeah,” Phil said. Lisa smiled widely at both of them as Hailey moved around to look at the new arrival. He favored Scott more than Lisa, Hailey decided. He had Lisa’s dark hair but his skin was lighter than his mother’s.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Finley,” Phil said, shaking Scott’s hand. The pair had married in a civil service after they had returned to college. They planned a larger ceremony the following summer.

“Thanks, Phil,” Scott said. “Sorry we didn’t do it while everyone was around. We were still talking about whether we wanted to wait until after Liam arrived. We didn’t really make up our mind until we got back to school.”

“No problem,” Phil said. “I’m just glad you’re happy.”

“I am, man,” Scott told him.

“Me, too,” Lisa said. “Of course now that I’m not carrying this little guy inside me I’d probably be happy with just about anything. The last couple of weeks have been brutal.”

“What do you plan to do next?” Phil wondered.

“We’re already in couples housing at school,” Scott explained. “Lisa is going to take off next semester and catch up during the summer or go an extra semester. I’m going to keep going. We’re going to get enough help that we’ll be OK.”

“Let me know if you need something,” Phil said, looking at his friend.

“We will,” Scott promised. “The school has on-campus daycare that’s affordable and that’s a huge help. I’m big enough to put away my pride when it comes to Liam and Lisa.”

“You don’t have to put away your pride,” Hailey said as she put her hand on Scott’s arm. “I got a better understanding of you and Phil last night from his cousins. You’re a brother to him. Our help is no different than accepting something from your father or Lisa’s mother.”

“Your cousins are in town?” Scott asked with a groan.

“I heard Danielle had a crush on you,” Hailey said, winking at Lisa.

“I told you!” Lisa said from the bed.

“Uh, is it too soon for me to hold him?” Hailey asked.

“He’s a baby,” Lisa said. “It’s pretty hard to break them unless you try. That’s what they taught us in prenatal classes.”

Lisa lifted the small bundle off her shoulder and held him up toward Hailey.

“I, this sounds terrible,” Hailey said. “I’ve never held a baby before.”

“Just make sure you support his head,” Scott said. He took Liam from his wife and demonstrated. “The neck muscles aren’t developed and won’t be for a while.”

Liam Finley had a little blue bonnet on his head to keep him warm and a tiny onesie from Scott and Lisa’s school. Scott extended his arms and Hailey took the baby, looking down at his perfect little face. Liam’s eyes were closed and he had a tuft of black hair coming out of his cap.

“He’s so cute,” Hailey said in a soft voice.

“Hold him close to your body so he can hear your heartbeat,” Lisa advised. Hailey pulled the baby to her chest and looked up at Phil with tears in her eyes.

“We got you a little something for Liam,” Phil told them, not wanting to get into another discussion about adding a child to the mix at this point. He held out an envelope to Scott. The envelope held two things: a $1,000 savings bond from David and Beth and a year’s supply of diapers from Phil, Hailey, Katelyn, Tiffany and Molly.

Scott passed the items over to his wife and then wrapped his oldest friend in a hug.

“Thanks, man,” he said. “That’s ... that’s really sweet.”

Phil patted Scott on the shoulder.

“Uh, we hoped you would be Liam’s godfather,” Scott said when he pulled back.

“I’d be honored,” Phil said. “I can’t wait to tell my mom that she’s a god-grandmother.”

They stayed for a few more minutes until it became obvious that Lisa was getting tired. Phil and Hailey kissed her on the forehead and then made their way out of the hospital to let the grandparents back into the room.

Laughter and giggling filled the Great Christmas Tree Hunt. Hailey kept looking at trees that were much too large for the house – and might have been too large for the White House. The house had only nine-foot ceilings and Hailey was looking at trees that were 13 or 14 feet tall.