Until The End

I knocked softly on the door of Naomi's hospital room. She looked over from the tv and smiled. She motioned for me to come in, and I did. I smiled and sat down in the chair beside her, and she flicked off the tv.

"How're you holding up?" I asked.

"As good as I can be," she said. "Yourself?"

"I'm mostly healed up," I replied. "I'm just waiting for Emma to get released. And you, of course."

Naomi smiled and said, "Thanks, Liss. Johnny showed us a picture of Emma when you were still in bed. She's so beautiful, Lissa!"

"You and Jimmy didn't make half bad babies either," I chuckled, patting her hand.

"Have you seen Jimmy?" Naomi asked. "He said he was going somewhere, but he never said where."

"He was outside the nursery," I said.

"Oh," Naomi said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it when I discovered I couldn't find the words to say. She nodded once, then it was silent between us. I crossed my hands in my lap and looked down at them. She pulled herself up to a sitting position.

"Did you- erm- ever get those paternity tests back?" I asked.

She nodded again and looked down at her hands. She grimaced.

"I couldn't bring myself to look at them," she said. "It didn't matter enough to me anyway. I'll still be raising them as Jimmy's kids."

"He's suspicious," I said, "of Alex, at least."

"I don't want to know, Lissa," Naomi said. "They're Jimmy's kids whether by blood or not."

I made her look at me, and I said, "If they're Jacoby's kids, don't you think he deserves to know?"

"They aren't, Lissa!" she cried. "I can't do that to Jimmy!"

"Jimmy doesn't have to find out, Mimi," I said calmly, "but if Jacoby helped father those kids, he has the right to know-"

"You're asking me to lie to my husband- to put my marriage in jeopardy- for a paternity test that I don't even know the results of! I won't do it! I can't do it!"

I nodded and said, "Someday you're gonna have to find out. I'm not telling you this for anyone but Lita and Alex."

She was silent a minute before she pointed to her bag.

"In the side pocket, there's a bunch of papers folded up," she said. "Can you get them?"

I did as she said and handed the papers to her, but she shook her head. She shoved them back into my hands.

"I want you to look at them," she said. "If Jacoby is the dad, I want you to tell him. I don't want to know. I can't hold something like that from Jimmy."

"You're sure?" I asked, unfolding the papers.

She nodded, and I looked down at the white paper. I traced my finger along the words Gender: Female. Lita. I looked at the gene patterns and nodded. Consistent with the samples they'd taken from Jimmy. Match found the paper read. I moved across the paper to Gender: Male. Alex. I touched my fingers to the patterns on the page. Match...

I looked up and smiled at Naomi.

"We wasted a good worry," I said.

"Oh, thank god," she sighed. "Can you throw those out so Jimmy won't know I-"

"I've got your back," I said, standing up. "I'll go throw these out and check on Emma. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"

"Thank you so much, Lissa," Naomi said, wrapping her arms around me. "You're the best."

I continued smiling as I left the room. Once in the hallway, I sat down in one of the chairs and looked again at the paper. I pulled my phone out. My heart was beating out of its chest, but I managed to dial the number and listen to the other line ring for what seemed like hours.

"Lissa, darling," said Jacoby. "How's my little gnome family?"

"Peachy," I said. "I had Emma."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled. "And no one informed me because...?"

"Not important right now," I said. "How soon can you get to Huntington?"

"Depends on the situation. Why?"

"Naomi had her babies, too, and-"

"Say no more! I can be there tomorrow! Mind if I bring the guys?"

"Yeah, I just need to talk to you about something."

"Everything alright?" asked Jacoby

"As far as Naomi is concerned- yeah," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow."