Family Ties

Chapter 22

They were all exhausted when they got back to Annie’s apartment. Ted was waiting for them, and he cried in relief when he hugged his sister. Annie put her to bed a few minutes later. Katie was asleep before she left the room. It had been an endless day, particularly for Katie, who had been so sick.

Tom stretched out on the couch as Annie and Ted talked quietly in the kitchen and looked for something to eat. Tom wasn’t hungry, and he was too tired to think as he turned on the TV. He was watching the news on his own network, when they interrupted normal programming to announce a terrorist attack in Belgium. A bomb had gone off right outside the NATO building in Brussels, and fifty-six people had been killed.

“Oh shit,” Tom said out loud as he called the network, and reported in.

“Where are you?” his producer asked him. They’d been calling him for hours. “I’m in New York. I got back two hours ago. I was in Tehran this morning,” he said in an exhausted voice.

“Sorry, Tom. We need you.”

“I figured when I saw the news.” He sat up, guessing that he’d be in Brussels soon.

“Can you be on the midnight flight to Paris? We can get you a helicopter from Charles de Gaulle to Brussels, if that works for you.”

“Sure.” This was his life and what he did. He walked into the kitchen to tell Annie. “I’m leaving,” he said, looking tired, but he smiled at her.

“Don’t you want to stay here tonight?” She thought he meant that he was going back to his apartment.

“Very much. I’ve got to go to work. I have to catch the red-eye to Paris. There was a terrorist attack in Brussels.”

“You’re going now?” She looked stunned. She could hardly move. She couldn’t imagine how he could do it after the day they just had traveling from Tehran to New York on two flights. “Can’t you take a day off or something?”

“No, not when there’s a breaking story like that one. I can sleep on the plane.” Annie looked sorry for him as she followed him into the bedroom so he could grab some fresh clothes and pack a bag. She handed him an empty suitcase, and he filled it with on-air shirts and three suits, some jeans, and sweaters. He didn’t know how long he’d be gone. “I’m sorry to leave you so soon,” he apologized, and she smiled at him.

“After what you did for us, how can you apologize to me?” Her eyes were full of everything she felt for him, and he kissed her.

“My ex-wife hated this stuff. Every time I try to make plans or try to do something, I wind up on a plane flying halfway around the world in this business. My ex-wife said I was never there when it counted.”

“You just were,” Annie told him as she put her arms around him and held him. “You went all the way to Tehran to bring two kids home. I’d never have gotten Paul out without you. His uncle wouldn’t have listened to me. I’d say that’s being there when it counts. Wouldn’t you?” He smiled at her, grateful for the praise. In his marriage, he’d always been made to feel guilty. Annie made him feel like a hero, and he was to her.

After he packed, he took a shower and changed. And she made him a sandwich. He leaned close to her and kissed her, as Ted and Katie drifted into the room.

“Where are you going?” Ted asked him when he saw the suitcase.

“Brussels, on a story. No rest for the wicked.” Ted smiled and looked at him in amazement.

“I don’t know how you do it.”

“You get used to it,” Tom said as he stood up and put an arm around Annie, although the last two days had not been normal fare, even for him. He hadn’t been sure how it would turn out for Katie and Paul, although he didn’t show it. But he was tired too. He’d been on four international flights in two days. “I’ll call you,” he said to Annie as he kissed her again, and they walked out of the room together. He picked up his suitcase and smiled at her. And then he laughed with a rueful look. “You know, that broken arm I got playing squash is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.”

“So was my ankle.” She smiled back at him. “Take care of yourself. I’ll see you on TV.”

He saluted her and then was gone, and she walked back into the apartment and smiled at Ted. It had been an incredible few days, and Ted was happy for her and happy to have his sister home safe and sound. And it had all worked out because of Tom. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind. He was an amazing guy.

The apartment was quiet an hour later. They were all in their rooms, falling asleep. Annie glanced at the clock and realized that Tom was taking off at that moment. It felt good to know that somewhere in the world, he was there, and he’d be back soon. She couldn’t imagine a life without him anymore. And she no longer wondered if there was room for him in her life. He was part of the landscape now. He was one of them. And there was just as much room for the kids as there was for Tom and Annie. It was their turn now.

Katie woke up feeling better the next morning. The trip to Tehran felt like a dream. It seemed so unreal and far away. She called Paul when she got up, and he sounded sad when he talked about leaving his family in Tehran, even though he was happy to see his parents again too and be back in New York. And he had been frightened when he thought of being trapped in Tehran against his will. He promised to come and visit Katie that afternoon. Katie could hear something different in his voice. He sounded quiet and distant.

It felt strange when he came to visit her at the apartment. The trip to Tehran had been exciting and fun, but his almost getting stuck there had shaken both of them. Katie had a sense now that she was in over her head, in a relationship that she wasn’t ready for yet. They had talked about marriage as though it would be simple and easy. Now she realized how different their lives were and how much more complicated his was, torn between two families and two worlds, the old and the new. They both needed time to recover from the discoveries they’d made on the trip. It was a lot to digest, and she realized that neither of them was ready to be fully adults yet, and they both needed a break. Paul thought so too. It was too soon for either of them to make decisions about the rest of their lives. They needed time to just be kids, and things had gotten too intense for both of them. They needed time with their own families and friends in their own familiar worlds. Paul kissed her when he left, and they both knew that they needed time to grow up and just breathe. And Katie looked sad as she closed the door behind him.

They had taken a big bite out of life in the past few weeks and found it too much to chew. Life had turned out to be much more complicated than they thought, and they were both grateful to be home and just be kids again. Neither of them was ready to be a grown-up yet, and they were happy not to be. The dream of blending their two different worlds had turned out to be harder than they thought, no matter what their origins or religions. They had gotten much too serious much too fast and way ahead of themselves.

Liz came back from London two days later. And she couldn’t believe all that had happened while she was away. She had dinner with them at the apartment. Ted was staying with Annie for a while until he found a new place, and Katie had told Annie that morning that she was going back to school as soon as the next term started. She had already given notice at the tattoo parlor. She was done there. She just wanted to enjoy being home with them. And she needed time to get over the virus she had caught in Tehran. Annie had taken her to the doctor and he confirmed that she was out of danger, but she still felt weak.

“How was London?” Annie asked Liz when she came to visit, and the look on her face said it all.

“It was wonderful. Alessandro is coming here next month, and I want you to meet him. He’s a grown-up. It’s so nice to be with a man who’s not a kid. He’s a man, and he acts like one. I love him, Annie.” For the first time in her life, she knew it was true. She wasn’t afraid to love him, no matter what the risk.

“That’s what I always wanted for you,” Annie said with a smile. Liz was a woman now. She wasn’t a child anymore. “Do I hear wedding bells in your future?” Annie asked her. She hoped so, but she didn’t want to push.

“Maybe. We’re in no rush. If everything works out, I might apply for a job with Italian Vogue. But not yet. We want to see how it goes. I might help him open a store in New York.”

“That all sounds good.” Annie felt as though she had gotten Liz safely home. It had taken sixteen years. And she noticed that Liz had even gained some weight. She looked happy. She didn’t look like she was running scared anymore. She wasn’t afraid to lose him, or to love him. She was willing to take the risk. And Katie had figured out that she didn’t have to take quite so many risks. Ted was enjoying being free again. They had all grown up. And so had Annie. They had each come through their rites of passage and grown as a result.

And what about you?” Lizzie asked her. “Where’s Tom?”

“He’s in Brussels. The poor guy had to fly over two hours after we got home. He didn’t seem to mind. I guess he’s used to it. That’s how he lives. Running around the world, chasing the news.” And she had the best of all worlds now. The kids she had raised, and a man she loved and wanted to be with. There was room for all of them in her life. And Tom knew it too. They were part of his life now, not just hers. They were all swimming in the same direction with quiet, steady strokes.

Tom called Annie that night, just after Liz left, and told her he was coming home. The story in Brussels had been covered. It was morning for him in Belgium, and he said he was leaving in a few minutes.

“What are we doing this weekend?” he asked her.

“Nothing that I know of. Why?”

“I was thinking that it might be nice to spend a couple of days in the Turks and Caicos again. I could use a little rest.” It was a major understatement after the past week.

“Yeah, me too,” she said, thinking of how wonderful it had been the first time they’d been there and how far they’d come since.

“Do you think the kids can survive without you for a few days?” he asked hopefully.

“I think so. Everyone seems to be back on track and relatively sane for the moment.” And she felt that way too. She had never felt saner or stronger, and she was ready for a life with him.

“It’s your turn now, Annie,” he reminded her gently, and she thought about it and nodded.

“I guess it is.” And then she corrected him with a slow smile. “It’s our turn.” She had given them sixteen years of her full attention, and now she wanted to share that with him. She was still there for her sister’s children, and she always would be, but she had the time now to give him. The kids were grown up. They were taking over their own lives. They had made mistakes, and corrected them. And they had learned from it and survived. And so had she. He had come at the right time in her life, neither too late, nor too soon.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he said, sounding peaceful and happy. He couldn’t wait to come home to her. He had something to come home to now. A woman, and a family. He was ready for that too. He never had been before.

Annie had just gotten back from the office and was making herself a cup of tea when he walked in.

“How was your flight?” she asked him as he kissed her. It seemed so normal for him to be there, as though he always had been.

“Long and boring. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Katie was out, and Ted had gone back to his apartment for a few days to pack up and move. Tom and Annie were alone, and it was peaceful. She finished her tea, and he followed her into the bedroom, and he was smiling when she turned around. “What are you smiling at?” she said as she sat down on the bed and kicked off her shoes and looked at him.

“I was thinking about how happy you make me,” he said as he sat down next to her. “I remember when I thought there wasn’t room for me in your life. I’m not worried anymore,” he said comfortably, and lay back on the bed and pulled her down next to him. “This is where I want to be.”

“Me too,” she whispered, and he kissed her. She didn’t feel pulled in ten directions. The kids had grown up, and so had she.

He drew her into his arms then and knew he was home. Finally. She was the woman he loved, and this was his home now, with her. And it had only taken a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and a lifetime for them to get here, and it suddenly all seemed so easy and just the way it was meant to be.

Annie had to give sixteen years of her life to her sister’s children in order to be ready for him. Lizzie had to make her way through countless Jean-Louis in order to be brave enough to love Alessandro. Ted had to live through the insanity of Pattie to find out who he was and what mattered to him. And Katie had to defy everything and everyone and risk it all in order to find her freedom. They had each come through their growing pains and challenges, and so had Tom. He needed to be married to the wrong woman in order to recognize the right one, even if she didn’t come packaged quite as he had expected and looked too busy for him when he got there. She didn’t know it, but she’d been waiting for him.

The lessons they had all learned had been valuable and hard but well worth it. And the rite of passage, for each of them, had been the lesson they each needed to learn. There was a perfect symmetry to it, Annie realized, as she smiled into Tom’s eyes. Even the sprained ankle and the broken arm had been part of a divine order that led them to each other. None of it had been an accident or a mistake. It hadn’t been easy, but the rewards had been so great, for all of them. Annie was so grateful for how it had turned out. It could have been so different if they had faltered or refused the challenge-they would never have gotten here. But they had all been very brave. She smiled knowingly as Tom kissed her again. The circle was complete.