He drove her home after lunch, and she thanked him. The questions had been answered for her, without putting words to them. They had their separate paths. They had known that when he graduated from high school in June, and her getting pregnant had confused everything for both of them. But they weren’t confused anymore. They were best friends forever and they had both grown up.
“I’ll be home for Christmas. I’ll see you then,” he said when he dropped her off. She kissed his cheek and slid out of his car. He didn’t try to kiss her on the mouth, and much to her own surprise, she didn’t want him to. Best friends was better. “Take care of yourself, Pen,” he called after her, and she turned with a broad smile.
“You too. See you at Christmas!” She ran into the house then and smiled as he drove away. Seeing her had been good for him too. He had felt guilty for months about what had happened, that she’d had to go through so much because of him, and he hadn’t been there. He thought he owed it to her to marry her because of it. But they had been relieved of a burden neither of them was equal to. And now they could be friends, and they knew that would last, maybe longer than a marriage would have.
Chapter 9
Pennie turned eighteen two weeks before Christmas. She finished the last of her college applications the weekend before. With her mother’s constant nagging, urging, help, and encouragement, she had finished them early, so she would be free over the Christmas vacation, unlike many of her classmates, who hadn’t started them yet, and would have a mad scramble to get them done by the deadline. She had gone back to volunteering on Saturdays at the homeless shelter, her board scores were perfect, and her teacher recommendations were excellent. Her first choice school was still Harvard. She wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps if she could get in. She wasn’t sure she would. She was applying to Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, Columbia, and NYU, although she was less excited about staying in New York for college. She wanted a completely new experience, and would like to be a little farther from home. She could always work in New York later. Tim had encouraged her to apply to Stanford. He loved it so much, but she didn’t. She didn’t feel like a California girl, although it would have been fun to be at the same school with him. She thought she might need a little distance from him too, so she didn’t become dependent on him again. She had done that for three years, and was ready to try her own wings, not rely on his.
Eileen took Pennie and the twins and two of Pennie’s girlfriends to dinner for her birthday at their favorite restaurant, and they had a lovely evening. It was a big deal for Pennie, turning eighteen. Her father had taken her out to dinner in New York to celebrate it the weekend before. They went to La Grenouille, the fanciest restaurant she’d ever been to, and she felt totally grown up, in a short black dress and heels of her mother’s. They had dinner there alone, he did not suggest that Olivia join them. He made no mention of her at all. It was a father-daughter night.
After they came home from dinner on her birthday, Eileen sat down to consult with them about something. For a minute, they all thought that she was going to tell them that she had filed for divorce, but Pennie didn’t think she’d announce that on her birthday, and she didn’t.
“I want to ask your opinion about something,” she said. “I felt like something important was missing when your father didn’t spend Thanksgiving with us this year. I don’t think he celebrated it. We’re the only family he has.”
“Wasn’t he with his girlfriend?” Mark piped up, and his sister gave him a quelling look.
“It didn’t sound like it,” Eileen said calmly. The children hadn’t seen Olivia again, and Paul had kept his love life away from them since the fateful lunch at Serendipity. “What do you think if we invite him to dinner on Christmas Eve? If you’d like that, I’ll do it. If you don’t care, I won’t. But it might be nice for us to be together for Christmas this year.” She didn’t want to do it forever, but this once might be a nice transition for all of them.
“Does this mean you’re getting back together?” Seth asked her, and she shook her head.
“No, it doesn’t. I just thought that for Christmas, we could relax a little.” Paul hadn’t been back to the house since October, and she hadn’t wanted him there. She hadn’t seen him at all and didn’t want to. They’d arranged for visitations by email and phone, but had no contact in person. He hadn’t asked to see her either.
“I’d like it a lot if he comes for Christmas,” Seth said, smiling broadly, and Mark seconded it.
“What about you?” she asked Pennie.
“I think it would be nice,” she said softly. “Would it be hard for you?”
“Maybe, but I’m the one suggesting it. Christmas is Christmas, but I’ll do whatever you like.”
“Let’s invite him,” Mark said, grinning, and Pennie and Seth nodded. Eileen sent Paul an email that night, extending the invitation. She made it clear that there were no romantic implications to the invitation. It was a joint family invitation from her and the kids. He answered her half an hour later, said he was deeply touched by her generosity and accepted with pleasure. She had already figured out that he could sleep on the couch in his old office, which she was using now. Paul knew that Olivia would be with her family again for Christmas and hadn’t invited him, so he was grateful for Eileen’s invitation. He didn’t want to be alone on Christmas, missing his kids.
The day after Pennie’s birthday, Eileen got a large envelope in the mail that she’d been expecting for weeks. It was full of forms to fill out. It took her nearly all day to do it, but she completed all of it and sent it back the next day.
A week after Eileen had emailed Paul about spending Christmas Eve with them, Olivia was curled up in his arms after they made love, and she smiled up at him. Christmas was a week away.
“How would you like to have Christmas Eve dinner with my family?” she asked him in a husky voice fresh from their lovemaking. He smiled at her and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Their sex life had never been better, and they were happy with each other.
“I’d love to,” he said gently, “but I’m spending it with my children.”
“In the city? At your apartment?” She looked startled but didn’t want to invite them. She wasn’t ready for that, and neither were his kids. She was still smarting from their last encounter, and was sure they were too, since he had never suggested another one. And she hoped he wouldn’t anytime soon.
“No, in Greenwich. Eileen emailed me about it last week, with an invitation from her and the children for Christmas Eve. I figured you would be with your family, and you haven’t said anything, so I accepted.”
“Why didn’t you ask me first?” She was visibly disappointed, and worried.