As we walk around the corner, we find Jake sitting on top of the almost-completed shed, hammering shingles. He’s moving slowly and with difficulty, but he’s moving. Bess sits next to him, a tool belt tied around her hips. Katie runs a saw that we left set up last night, and the noise from the blade makes me feel like my head is going to split open. I grab for the sides of my head and squeeze, but it doesn’t help.
Mr. Jacobson walks up and holds out two beers. “Hair of the dog that bit you,” he says.
“You have to be kidding me,” Aaron says. He waves the can away with a grimace.
“Why are you all up so early?” I ask.
Jake looks up from his perch on the roof. “Because my lovely wife woke me and Pop up this morning by banging a large metal spoon against a large metal pot.”
“Impressive,” Aaron says with a nod.
She winks at him. “They were still up singing about an hour after you left them on the doorstep. They woke up all the kids, and then they both passed out in the living room on the rug.” She shrugs. “It seemed fitting.”
“Does anybody know where my children are?” Aaron asks.
“They’re at my house. Sam and Alex are helping Gabby take care of them.”
“Sam’s helping?” I ask. I snort out a laugh, but that makes my head hurt too.
“Sam had a talk with Kerry-Anne this morning about your health,” Katie says to Aaron.
Aaron freezes. “What did she say to her?”
“She explained what’s going on in a way that Kerry-Anne could understand. I listened to the whole conversation. I was very proud of her.”
“Huh,” Aaron says as he scratches his head. “Was Kerry-Anne okay?”
“She seemed to be.” Katie quickly cuts another board, the whine of the blade making my head feel like it’s going to explode. “Alex actually helped and talked to her a little about his dad.” She blinks hard. “It was touching, really.”
I’ll have to talk to her, to be sure she doesn’t have more questions that I can answer.
Suddenly, Bess starts to sing the little ditty that we were all singing on the golf cart last night. Katie joins in. Jake stares at both of them, until he finally smiles and starts to sing along with them.
Mr. Jacobson offers me the beer again as he joins in on the chorus, singing loudly. I take it from him and mutter, “Why the fuck not.” I crack it open and chug it down.
“Language,” Mr. Jacobson warns. “There’s ladies present.”
But then Katie and Bess get to the bawdy part of the song and they sing it loudly and proudly. We all laugh, and I throw my arm around Aaron’s shoulders and join in. He stares at me like he’s appalled, until a grin finally breaks upon his face and he starts to sing too.
When the song is over, everyone gets quiet, and the only sounds are the normal morning campground sounds as people wake up and get ready for another summer day at the lake.
“Umm, Jake?” Katie says.
Jake looks down from his perch on the roof, his eyebrows raised, but they slam down when he sees the expression on her face. “Now?” he asks.
“Either I just peed myself, or it’s now,” Katie says. She holds her hand against her huge belly.
Jake scurries across the roof and down the ladder. “Pop, you got the kids?” he asks.
“I got the kids, Jake,” Mr. Jacobson says. He walks over and gives Katie a big kiss on her forehead and she grins at him. “This one’s my namesake,” he reminds her.
“We are not calling her Poppy,” Jake says, shaking his head at his dad.
Jake and Katie leave together in a rush to call the doctor and get her bag.
“They’re having a baby,” Bess says, and she rubs her hands together in excitement. I immediately worry that she’s going to be hurt by it, but apparently she’s not. She’s beaming from up there on the roof. She looks at me. “Get up here and replace Jake, Eli,” she calls. She drops her voice to a low tone so she’ll sound like Mr. Jacobson. “There’s a shed to be built.”
I suck in a deep breath, grab the tool belt that Jake just discarded, and climb the ladder. When I get up to the top next to Bess, she leans over to give me a kiss, but at the last minute she leans away. “Did you puke?” she asks.
I grin. “Not yet. But I’m still willing.” I’m actually feeling a little better since drinking the beer. Maybe there’s something to that hair of the dog thing.
She leans a little farther and finally kisses me. “How much do you remember about last night?”
“Bits and pieces,” I admit. I whisper to her, “I remember Mr. Jacobson’s dick.”
“Quite impressive, wasn’t it?” Bess says with a grin. “Now I see why all the ladies at the bingo hall love him so much.”
I chuckle as I start to apply the shingles. “So, Jake and Katie are having a baby,” I say quietly so only she can hear.
“I know, right? So exciting.” She grins at me.
“You’re okay?”
She looks up, startled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I wish I could have given you just one,” I say quietly. I reach over and brush her hair back from where it has fallen in front of her eyes.
“It’s okay,” she whispers fiercely. She holds up three fingers. “Aaron is giving me three!” She laughs out loud.
Aaron yells, “Everything okay up there?”
“Fine!” Bess calls out.
“I’m going to go check on my kids!” he yells.
“See you later,” Bess calls back.
Suddenly, his head pops up over the edge of the roof, where he has climbed the ladder. “Sorry you had to see my ass last night, Bess,” he says with a grin.
“I’ll try not to hold it against you,” she says with a laugh. “I can’t believe Lynda never told me how hairy your ass is. You’re like a damn Wookie down there.”
“You suck so bad, Bess,” he says more to himself than to her, and then he disappears down the ladder. Bess watches as he walks up the hill toward the big house.
“If you ever get that much hair on your ass, I’m going to wax it while you’re sleeping,” she warns, pointing her hammer at me.
“If I ever get that much hair on my ass, I’ll ask you to wax it for me,” I reply.
“You saw his ass last night?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve seen it before. Many times. We used to shower at the bathhouse, remember, when we were younger.”
“The good old days,” she says with a grin.
“I prefer having my own private bathroom, thank you very much.”
She leans over and kisses me, lingering long enough to make it sweet. “You told me you love me last night.”
I nod. “I remember.”
“Did you mean it?”
I am shocked by the question. “Of course I meant it. Why would you ask me something like that?”
“Just checking.”
“I vaguely remember you responding likewise,” I say quietly. “Did you mean it?”
She leans over and kisses me again. “I meant it,” she says softly.
“If you two will quit making cow eyes at one another, we can finish this up!” Mr. Jacobson yells. Bess gets busy hammering, laughing softly to herself. We work until lunch time, then come down from the roof when Mr. Jacobson gets a phone call. Bess practically dances in place as she waits for him to finish talking.