Chapter 42: July 3, 1981

Melanie has been accepted to finish out her residency in the Winchester Hospital. It’s not far from where I live, and won’t be a bad commute.

“I’m so happy, but if you end up in an OB rotation in a couple years, you have to call out on my birthday. Ok?” I said into the phone.

“Is that where you will be born?” There was a bit of the ‘aww precious’ sound in her voice that she employed with Elliot.

“Yes.” I told her, and that I was a c-section baby.

She told me that she wasn’t going to be able to wrap everything up and switch until her next rotation, which would be at the beginning of September. That’s fine. Elliot and I will make do, and then we’ll be much happier when she gets here.

* * *

I actually got to see my grandmother, my father’s mother, this morning at work. I had taken Elliot into Boston, and we were strolling around, and I went to where the Christian Science Center is. She works there, for the Christian Science Monitor. I think she works in ‘advertising layout.’

The last year and a half, without seeing her, has been the longest I’ve gone in my life. She is one of my favorite people, and I have missed her. I want to tell her everything. If I were in 2010—or I suppose it would be 2012 by now?— I would be telling her everything. Instead, I have to settle for seeing her out in public.

She was sitting out on a bench, eating her lunch. There were no other free benches. So I walked over with the stroller.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” I asked her about the far end of the bench.

“I don’t mind,” she said. I sat on the bench and started prepping a bottle for Elliot.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling as I got it ready for him.

“You’re welcome. Is he yours?” She asked. I get this question a lot when out in public.

“Kind of. Not biologically, but I’m taking care of him for a friend while she sorts out some life troubles. I suspect he may be staying with me pretty long term.”

“Well, he’s a beautiful boy.”

“Thank you. He’s 6 months, and I’ve had him for about 5.”

“6 months, he’s the same age as my grandson.”

I looked at her and did a double take, she was 45 or so. I hadn’t really thought about how young she was when my cousin, Matthew, was born. She’d only be 48 when I was born. It seemed much younger to me at that moment. “Grandson?”

She smiled politely. “Yeah, my first. My two daughters are both married, and my son, my youngest, just proposed to his girlfriend a couple of months ago. Life goes pretty fast, so if he’s yours, or maybe if you just want him to be, cherish the time.”

I nodded.

We talked for another minute, then Elliot got finicky and I used that as an excuse to end the conversation. I didn’t want to be too weird.

I wondered how things would go with my parents, and if I would be enough a part of their life to see my grandmother through them. It would probably be a while if I did. Would she remember meeting me on that bench? If I knew what was going to happen for sure, I would tempt going back there more often, seeing if I ran into her again. But I worry about if she then found out that I’m her son’s friend if it would add up to too much of a coincidence. 

Could I tell her? I want to. Especially once my other grandmother is gone, I’ll want to be able to talk to her. 

That’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Once my grandmother dies, assuming Judy doesn’t get out of jail, and who knows how long Melanie stays with me, I could end up having no one who knows again. It’s terrifying me.