Infinite

When I had volunteered to plan my mother's baby shower, I had done it wholeheartedly. I hadn't thought twice about deciding against it when my dad gave me the chance. But standing just inside the doorway of my parents' oversized house as countless people poured in, I regretted my decision and wished I could nominate someone else to do the job.

I had been standing at the door for about fifteen minutes greeting women who I didn't know, when finally a semi-familiar face stepped up the walk. "Atticus Gurewitz!" she shouted excitedly as she clutched an oversized present to her side with one arm, "My god, how you have matured."

I stepped out from where I was practically hiding behind the door and smiled almost sheepishly at the woman who was now staring at me. "Cemi," I greeted easily, allowing her to pull me into a bone-crushing hug, "How have you been?"

"How dare you be so casual," the dark haired woman chided, "It's been almost seven years since I last laid eyes on you! You're like a entirely different woman!"

"I'm twenty-six," I answered easily, "Of course I'm different, but you still look exactly the same. Are you still modeling?"

The woman had naturally dark hair but highlighted it with blonde streaks. Her eyes were a strange shade of green and her skin was perfectly, naturally tanned. She was as tall and narrow as her career demanded of her, but she was a gorgeous, brilliant woman.

"Oh god, no," she responded as she shuffled away from the closing door, "I outgrew that quite a few years ago. Now I'm more behind the scenes. Doing all sorts of things, actually. I'm surprised your mother didn't mention that."

"I guess we've both been busy," I replied, although it was a terrible excuse seeing as her change in career obviously wasn't recent, "But we'll definitely have to catch up later."

"That's right." She nodded. "I need to know all about that man that everyone's been so pissed about you seeing. Gina has definitely kept me up to date on your love life, so much so that she barely even had time to tell me she was pregnant before I got her invitation in the mail."

"Great," I said sarcastically, "I'm so glad that she kept you informed."

Seeing my displeased look, Cemi patted my shoulder comfortingly and tried to justify it. "Well, she told me just enough. The internet filled in the rest."

The doorbell rang as I tried to mask my astonished reaction. "You Googled him?" I questioned, slowly reaching for the door handle.

She shrugged smugly. "Of course I did. I like to be informed." She grinned and lifted her present from the floor as we heard Gina calling out from the kitchen, asking who was at the door now and if she could join in on greeting them.

"No! Go back outside!" I replied loudly, "Go outside and enjoy yourself! I'll send them your way."

"I'll go herd the momma back to the party," Cemi said as she turned on her heel and headed towards the woman's familiar voice.

I finished welcoming the oncoming guests and then tacked the note to glass door, welcoming in any late comers and advising them to head around the house to the backyard. I followed the last group of unfamiliar women outside.

The yard was decorated with pink balloons and streamers. The pool was full of pink floaty devices and the deck was littered with pink confetti and poms tied to the rails as well as a three-tiered cupcake platter with "It's a Girl!" plastic pieces sticking into them.

The yard was full of people who chatted insistently. When I walked out through the doorway under the stairs, many of them turned to watch as I went over and wrapped my arms around my pregnant step-mother from behind. She was overtly pregnant and seated next to Frida at the patio with Nico and Arch taking up another two chairs next to them.

We had decided that we would make it a shower for women and young kids of either gender. The boyfriends, fathers, husbands, (and Max) would join us later for dinner when we grilled out and opened the pool. It wasn't just going to be a shower, it would be a celebration.

"Excuse me, everyone," I called from the top level of the large patio, "I would just like to welcome you to the baby shower and thank you for coming to celebrate the existence of Gurewitz number five."

The group of ladies cheered and laughed before I continued. "G5, as we affectionately call her, will be the fifth of us Gurewitz children, the sixth girl in our conspiracy to overrun my father and Max."

I continued after a couple of laughs and an excited holler from Frida as she bounced our youngest sister on her lap. "Lastly, I just want to congratulate Gina on her new baby. I know that my father is beyond excited to not only bring another Gurewitz into the family, but also to bring another piece of his wife into this world. None of us could imagine how beautiful Nico would turn out and now we're even more excited to welcome someone just as beautiful into our family.

Gina came into my life when I was fourteen and my brother and sister were eight and five and she stepped right in and treated us as though we were her own children. And then when she married our father a couple of years later, we were thrilled to welcome her and to make her our mother. Now, we're ecstatic to welcome their second daughter into our rowdy clan."

The countless group of women clapped as my step-mom wiped silent tears from her eyes and smiled affectionately at the the children she had claimed as her own. "I love you three," she said, speaking about Max, Frida, and I, "I don't care if you didn't grow inside my body or spend the first few years of your lives with me, you're my children and I love you very much. I couldn't imagine being part of another family. I love that ours is large and insane. You six are my life."

From there, the party continued with pink colored snacks and chatter, along with a few funny shower games. When I finally made it to where I was able to sit down, I stole Arch's chair and pulled him back down on my lap.

One of the women who Gina had known for a long time wandered up and sat down on the one next to me, setting her plate of snacks on the table in front of her. "That was a wonderful speech you gave," she complimented, "It made all of us fall in love with your family."

"Thank you," I said gracefully, "We're a pretty great group."

She tucked a strand of light hair back from her face and her eyes fell on Arch. "Is he yours?" she questioned, obviously put off by his light eyes and blonde hair, "I didn't know Gina had any grandchildren."

"He's mine," I said, unsure of how to answer correctly with out confusing her or hurting his feelings.

Even though he acted like he wasn't listening, he turned from the conversation he was having with Frida and spoke to clarify. "I'm getting adopted," he said, "Atti's going to be my mom for real."

Frida was obviously surprised by the news, but I ignored her to respond to the other woman. "That's quite amazing," she said to Arch, "You're a very lucky little boy to get to be a part of this wonderful family." She nodded to Frida, Nico, and I, seeing as Gina had waddled off to mingle with guests.

"We're lucky to have him," I answered, wrapping my arms around his narrow waist.

I practically jumped out of my skin when Frida screeched, causing little Nico to cover her ears. Her outburst caught the attention of most of the people and they all became intrigued when she yelled, "You're adopting him!?"

My mouth was agape as I tried to respond with everyone's eyes on me. I regained my composure and looked to my mother as she stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching me with surprise. "Yeah," I said slowly in response to Frida's shouted words, "I decided that I can't give him to someone else to take care of. Arch belongs in our family."

"Oh my god, Atticus!" Frida shouted again, "When were you going to tell us!?"

"Not today," I answered through my teeth, "I wasn't going to steal Gina's spotlight."

Frida's dark eyes widened and she grinned at the eyes on her. "Sorry," she said to the crowd and Gina, "I got a little surprised. Carry on with the chatting."

It was too late, however; seeing as Gina was already heaving her way back up the stairs. I lifted Arch and stood up, trying to apologize before she could waste energy getting over to us. "Gina, I didn't mean to cause a commotion. I was planning on telling everyone later once all of this wrapped up."

"It's alright," she answered, "I just wanted to congratulate you, Atticus. You're going to be a mom too. I can't believe it."

"It's not official yet," I said, feeling embarrassed for some reason, "And it's not like that, really. Adopting is different than concieving."

"Still, either way you're going to be a mom for the rest of your life," she said, "It's a big deal. Congratulations, Atticus." She stepped forward the best she could due to her over-sized stomach and tightly wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She was happy for me, but somewhere in there I could tell that something was bothering her, although I wasn't sure what it could be if she wasn't upset about the outburst.

When we pulled apart, she surprised me by calling for the attention of her guests. When all eyes were on her, she said, "Everyone, I just wanted to let you know that my beautiful daughter has decided to adopt the little boy who has become like a son to her. While she'll never get the opportunity to celebrate the conception of his life like I am today, I would like to share today's good wishes with my daughter and my soon-to-be grandson, Arch."

Cemi yelled the loudest as the group clapped and congratulated.

Arch was beaming as Gina called him to our side. His cheeks were red with blushing, but he was ecstatic for someone to welcome him to our family in such a grand way. I couldn't help but smile too as I lifted him into my arms and thanked everyone for the applause and the well-wishes that were shouted out to us.

"Thanks everyone," I said as I reached for Gina's hand with my free one, "I guess tonight we're welcoming two new additions to the Gurewitz family."

The celebration continued from there and I received as many kind words as Gina did. The men joined us around six and my father fired up the grill as I stood to speak to him about my own news.

"Congrats, Dad," I said as I walked over, having already listened to the speech he gave about his new daughter entering the world in just a couple of weeks, "I can't wait to meet her."

"Me neither," he said as his eyes met mine, "She's going to be brilliant."

I nodded in agreement. "Did Gina mention already that I have some news?" I asked, watching his expression carefully, "I decided that I'm going to adopt Arch, so we're going to have two new members of the family."

He paused what he was doing and digested my words. After just a minute, he turned and faced me fully. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he questioned, "Having a child of your own this young is one thing, but taking in someone else's child is a completely different thing."

"I'm sure, Dad," I answered wholeheartedly, "I can't imagine being without Arch. He's the little love of my life. I never thought I could fall so in love with a child, let alone one that didn't come from me, but it almost feels like he was supposed to end up here, with me."

"And Ronnie?" Dad continued, "You two aren't even married yet. Is he going to take Arch in too? Are you going to raise him together? That's a big step to take before you've ever experienced married life. It's so much more than getting a dog, Atticus."

Telling my father about Ronnie and I felt so much harder than explaining that I was going to adopt a son. It was as though I was validating everything he'd felt about Ronnie and I being together in the first place. We had ended because I didn't want to hold him back or allow myself to long for something different, but explaining that to my father would be impossible. He would only hear that we were over and he would blame it on Ronnie, undoubtedly.

"Ronnie isn't going to adopt Arch," I answered congenially, "It's a long story but there's a lot going on right now. It's too much to explain tonight. I don't want to bog you down with it all. Just celebrate your daughter, Dad. We can talk another day."

He nodded slowly and his eyes tried to meet mine as he tried to detect what was going on. I plastered a smile to my face and leaned to hug him and congratulate him once more before fulfilling my hostly duties and tending to the pink fortune cookies that would be passed out after dinner.