Monday morning was often marked by the entire crew coming into the office and having a meeting, mostly to go over the week’s goals and any changes to personnel or expectations. There was a dozen or so crew members on top of Wendy, Deacon, Lauren, and Carter, so Helen and I had made twenty-four of them. I figured any extras were just going to end up in my stomach by the end of the day.
“Morning, everybody,” I said as I walked in a few minutes late. It was purposeful. I wanted everyone to be there.
“Are those muffins?” Lauren said from the reception desk.
“Fresh baked by Helen and myself this morning,” I said.
“Fresh baked by—” Lauren began and then stopped. “Helen? This morning?”
I nodded, grinning like an idiot and handing her one off the stack.
“Everett!” she shouted.
Most of the guys were in the lobby, and I went around handing muffins out to everyone before Carter and Deacon came out of their offices. I greeted each one with a muffin, which they took cautiously, exchanging looks between themselves. I didn’t blame them. I had been known for pranks.
“Everybody, before the Monday morning meeting begins, I have a little announcement,” I said, getting everyone’s attention.
“What’s this all about?” Deacon said, still examining his muffin.
“As some of you might know,” I said, ignoring him completely, “I have started seeing Helen from Dina’s Diner. I just wanted to announce that we just got the happy news that we are going to have a baby!”
A loud chorus of cheers rose, and I laughed as I was suddenly surrounded by people shaking my hand and congratulating me. Lauren ran over and wrapped her arms around my neck for a big hug and then shouted over to Carter that she was leaving. Apparently, she had called an emergency meeting with Harleigh and Rebecca. They were going to the diner.
When the meeting wrapped up, Deacon and Carter ushered me into the office, where I got a playful punch to the gut by Carter and a slap on the back by Deacon.
“Everett!” Carter said, smiling wide. “I didn’t even know it was official. Geez, man.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ll be honest, things were a little strange with us until she figured out what was going on and told me.”
It wasn’t a lie. It was just stretching timelines around, so the truth got confused.
“Well, I want you to know if you need anything, and I mean anything, during the pregnancy, you can count on me,” Deacon said. “I mean it.”
“Me too,” Carter said. “We’re doing great up here. If you need extra time or if you need an advance or something, just let us know. We will figure it out. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks, guys,” I said, overwhelmed by their love and support.
“We did it,” Deacon said, looking at Carter and myself. “We made it out of the uniform and into civilian life. And now we’re all going to be parents. Just like we said when we were in that hospital.”
Carter nodded. “I couldn’t be happier to know that Carson is going to grow up with Eloise and your baby. You two are my brothers, and I love you both.”
We all shared a hug and then Deacon slapped our backs hard.
“Alright, that’s enough mushy shit,” he said. “Now it’s time for cigars and alcohol.”
“No alcohol in the office,” Carter said. “It was one of our rules, remember?”
“I didn’t think we were going to drink here,” he said. “The girls are at Dina’s. Let’s go to Sergio’s. Call Brett. He will want to meet us.”
“Sergio’s?” Carter asked, looking at me. I nodded.
“Hell yeah.”
The week flew by, and work seemed easier than it had been. Whether that was because it was easier or because I just was in such a better mood, I didn’t know. All I knew was that every day that I came in, before I knew it, it was lunch time. And then five in the evening showed up not long after that and I went home.
Most of the time I went home, Helen was there. She had moved her schedule around so that she mostly worked in the morning and afternoons, leaving Finn and Tony to monitor the evening shifts. They seemed to enjoy that better anyway, and when I came to pick her up one afternoon, they told me so.
I enjoyed being around those two guys, both because they were genuinely nice people, but also because I could trust them to protect Helen at work and make sure she was doing what she needed to stay hydrated. Apparently, Tony was a fiend about hydration, bringing a giant two-gallon jug of water with him every shift and guzzling it during the day. He and Finn cooperated to make sure for every quarter of the container he drank that Helen was at least getting a couple glasses in.