Infinite

The flight took almost three hours to make it to California and land. I was on edge the entire ride, anxious to know what was going on with Gina and the baby. Her last labor had lasted over eighteen hours but this was a new baby and a new experience and if she was in a hurry to come out into the world, there was a chance that I could miss it all.

I had called Heather and Aiden from the plane and said that I was coming to pick Arch up but they demanded that I go straight to the hospital and that they would meet me there as soon as possible.

So I ran off the plane, grabbed my things as fast as I could, and hurried to my car to hurry to the hospital. I was on the phone with Max when I arrived and he directed me through the hospital to them.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I hurried over to the motley group of Gurewitz’. Much like the last time we were at the hospital, they were seated in a row that lined the wall of the waiting room. Frida on the end, Nico at her side, Max in the middle with Kasey clutching his hand from her seat next to his.

My brother hopped out of his seat when he saw me and grinned as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Everything’s fine. Dad just went back. Gina’s some number dilated, I guess.”

“That’s real specific, Maxi,” I replied, letting the excitement creep in despite my sarcasm, “Maybe this one will be quicker. Ms. Moon wanted to stay all warm and toasty forever.” I winked at my little sister as she smiled and climbed out of her seat, ignoring Frida as she tried to wrangle her back.

“Nico Moon,” I cooed as I lifted her into my arms, “Ms. Moon is gonna be a big sister.” I bounced her in my arms as he laughed.

“Where’s Arch?” Max asked as he settled down on Kasey’s other side, letting me take the chair that he’d just been sitting in.

“Heather’s bringing him,” I replied. I set Nico down in her own chair again and she reached for the bag of toys that had been packed for her. The plan was to stay here as long as we could and wait for Holland, but eventually one of us would have to take Nico home if she got too tired and started acting up.

“Dad mentioned that you went to Colorado,” Max said, his eyes meeting mine hesitantly, “What was that about?”

“Ronnie fell of stage and got pretty banged up,” I answered, “He was pretty grouchy about the whole thing so the guys needed me to mediate.”

“I thought you broke up?” Frida questioned, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at me, her eyebrows raised.

I frowned. “It’s complicated, but yeah, we did. He was just having a rough time and I wanted to make sure he was alright.” I crossed one leg over the other and settled in, figuring that we would be here for a while.

Aiden, Heather, and Kyat came walking into the waiting room about twenty minutes later with Arch leading the way. He grinned when he saw the family sprawled out and hurried over to hug me.

“I missed you,” he said as he turned around and sat on my lap.

“I missed you too,” I answered as I pressed a kiss to the side of his head, “I promise if I ever go anywhere again that you’ll be able to come with me.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled at the married couple and their beautiful son. “You two want to hangout for a little while?” I questioned, “I’m pretty sure my dad packed a couple of board games in Nico’s bag.”

Heather glanced at her husband who shrugged with Kyat in his arms. They pulled chairs closer and sat across from us. Heather grinned. “I feel like I haven’t seen the bunch of you in an eternity,” she breathed, taking a look at each of my siblings, “I mean, Max, you could easily pass for drinking age.”

He grinned and shook his head at her enthusiasm. “I’m perfectly happy being eighteen for the time being.” He turned his head towards Kasey as her fingers slid into his. “You guys met Kasey, didn’t you?” he questioned.

Everyone nodded their heads. “At Gina’s baby shower,” Heather answered, remembering the pinked out party from not too long ago.

Kasey nodded. “We ended up at the same table for awhile,” she explained, smiling at the baby, “There’s no way I could forget those dimples.”

“I know,” I cooed, reaching across the gap to lift Kyat from Aiden, “I have the cutest little god-son.” Arch sat on my lap and I gently sat Kyat on his as I held onto them both.

Frida had turned her chair into the circle previously and now pulled her buds from her ears, deciding to join the conversation. “I like kids, but I don’t want any,” she said, watching Kyat as he pulled his fingers from his mouth and grabbed Arch’s arm with his slobber-covered hand.

“Maybe you’ll change you mind when there’s another baby around,” Heather replied, wiggling her eyebrows at the girl playfully, “Who knows, maybe some mommy instinct will kick in.”

Frida glared at the blonde woman. “If that didn’t happen with Nico I don’t think it ever will.” She crossed her legs on her chair and offered a bright and sarcastic smile.

Max frowned in disgust. “Can we stop talking about my baby sister being a mom? I don’t want that image in my head.”

“Ah, Max, shut up,” I groaned, “Nobody was thinking that but you, you nasty teenage boy.” I lifted Kyat when Arch shifted and moved off my lap to sit in his own chair next to Aiden. He was oblivious to the topic and I was very grateful.

Frida glared and we couldn’t help but chuckle at her discomfort.

Gina’s best friend arrived around ten. Heather and Aiden had left a little bit earlier to put Kyat to bed and promised to be back in the morning to meet the fifth Gurewitz child. When Cemi arrived she renewed the party, waking Nico and Arch up enough that they couldn’t technically be considered sleeping.

Nico had been really well-behaved so far, which wasn’t too surprising, but she didn’t act at all like being here was bothering her. At three years old, her personally had two possibilities; cranky and annoyed or easy-going. Tonight we ended up with tired Nico.

“Gurewitz’s,” Cemi greeted grandiosely, “I’m so glad to see all you beautiful kids together for the introduction of your new sibling.” She elegantly sat down in one of the chairs and chuckled at her own grandeur. She plastered a genuine smile on and took a good look at the five of us. “Have you heard anything lately?”

I shook my head. “No, Dad talked to Max before I got her but he’s not much help with remembering the details of that conversation,” I answered, “We’re hoping someone will make their way out here soon.”

“Getting antsy?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I just want to know how everything is going. Too bad Dad can’t give us text alerts along the way.”

“Yeah,” Max chortled, “Maybe snap a couple pictures.”

“God, Max, why are you so gross today?” Frida questioned, shooting a venomous glare at our only brother, “You’ve obviously got your head in the gutter tonight.”

“Just because it bothers you, Fri,” he answered, “Everything I do is to annoy you during every waking minute of your life.” He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head towards Kasey. His shoulders drooped as his sarcasm faded.

Everyone was starting to get a bit fatigued. Arch had already climbed back into my lap and was starting to fall asleep with his head on my shoulder. Nico curled up in her chair with one of her blankets and was lost to the world.

“Do you think the cafeteria is still open?” I asked the group, “I could really use a cup of coffee or something. Wasn’t able to sleep much last night.” I kept the reason why to myself, but I could practically hear Max’s snippy reply in my head.

“Closed at nine,” Cemi answered, “Same time as the gift shop. Saw a sign on the way in when I was trying to locate some balloons.”

“Figures.” I shifted Arch in my arms. Asleep, he was a heavy forty pounds. “I hope Holland comes soon. I don’t think Gina could handle another difficult birth.”

Cemi nodded slowly. “She’s a tough one,” she responded, “She’ll be alright either way, but me too. I can’t wait to meet, Little Girl.”

The group of us who were still awake turned our full attention over when the door opened, half-heartedly expecting it to be a doctor or our dad to come tell us that everything was great and over with. Instead, it was a group of people with young children moseying in.

I slapped Max lightly and he moved his feet off the coffee table as the man holding a small boy went to set his coffee down on it. “Sorry,” Max grumbled, glaring towards me as he rubbed his arm.

The man smiled and shook his head. “It’s no problem. Feel free to kick back, we don’t mind.” He met my gaze and then moved to sit in a chair and wait like the rest of us.

This was the maternity floor and the other large group was also waiting for a little new life to be brought into the world. Whatever baby they were waiting on would share Holland’s birthday.

They were a group of two women, one guy, and three children. Each adult had a child draped in their arms, all of them awake except for one of the light haired little girls who looked like she was on the brink of sleep.

Max’s feet were back on the table, Kasey was curled into his side, and Arch was groaning in his sleep as he buried his face in my hair and wrapped his arms around my neck, mumbling something.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I questioned quietly, trying to pull back to better hear him.

He just groaned and frowned at me without opening his eyes right away. “What time is it?” he questioned as he adjusted to the light, “Is the baby here? I want to sleep.”

“No, she’s not,” I answered, holding him in my arms as he leaned back on my lap, “It’s almost eleven. You should be asleep.”

He perked up as he laid eyes on the other family. They sat off to our left and Arch was instantly intrigued by the sight of other kids and people that he hadn’t seen before. He turned his blue eyes back to me and asked, “Are they waiting for Holland, too?” His attempt at whispering wasn’t successful and I watched as the adults smiled at him.

“No, they’re waiting for their own little baby,” I answered, hugging him tightly to me, “Hopefully we’ll be able to meet ours soon.”

He shuffled so that I’d let go and he turned the best he could to look at the other kids. “What’s your baby’s name?” he asked the person closest to us.

Everyone turned their attention to Arch as he repeated the question and then waited expectantly for their answer. The women in the middle, whose hair was mid-length and blonde like everyone’s but the small boy’s, answered, “We don’t know yet,” she replied politely, “All we know is that there’s a baby coming soon.”

Arch nodded interestedly. “Why don’t you know?”

“Because the baby’s parents wanted to keep it a secret and be surprised tonight,” she answered with a smile, “What about you? What’s your baby’s name?”

Arch grinned. “She’s a girl and she’s Atti’s sister. Her name is Holland Gurewitz,” he replied, throwing in the family relation part due to the conversation we’d had when my father welcomed him to the family, “Do you want a girl or a boy?”

“I bet you’re going to be a good little caretaker,” the other women replied, smiling politely at the rest of us as only a mom could, “and it doesn’t really matter to us, but we know the baby’s parents are hoping for a little boy.”

“How come?” Arch questioned, leaning back against my chest.

I went to tell him to stop asking them so many questions, but the woman answered anyway, promising that he wasn’t bothering them in the slightest. Then she explained to him that the two little girls with them were the baby’s twin sisters. When Arch asked about the little boy, he found out that he was their cousin, not their brother.

“So they’re tired of girls?” he asked, staring at the fraternal girls with a deep frown, “Are they going to get rid of them?”

The twins were automatically worried about the question seeing as it put new ideas in their little heads. I instantly told Arch to stop with that thought, apologizing as the twins turned to their aunts and uncle and began to question him. They were five years old and in tears at the idea of being traded in.

I apologized profusely as Arch questioned why they were crying. “It’s okay,” he tried to console despite my shushing, “You’ll find a new family someday.”

I picked Arch up in my arms and hurried out of the room. The looks on the faces of the people around us, even my own family, were of shock. The Gurewitz’ knew the circumstances of Arch’s history and understood that there would be some fallout, but they’d never heard his viewpoint on the world before.

And I didn’t know how to explain to a family of strangers that Arch’s view on the world wasn’t concrete. Family structure would never be the same for him as others and he hadn’t realized yet that his circumstances were the exclusion to regular families. He wasn’t trying to be vindictive, he just didn’t understand.

He had spent half of his life surrounded by kids who were in the same situation as him, in a foster home where kids were picked and chosen and then let go of again. He didn’t understand the difference between the world of orphans and children with loving parents.

“Arch,” I breathed as I set him down on one of the plush chairs in the hall, “Arch, you can’t say things like that to other kids.”

He frowned in confusion. “I was just asking.”

“I know, Sweetheart,” I replied, kissing his face, “but now those little girls think that their parents might not want them anymore. It scared them.”

“But she said they wanted a boy,” he answered, terribly confused by the dynamics, “Do they want all of them?”

“Of course they do, Sweetheart,” I answered, brushing his hair back, “Parents have babies all the time and they do it because they want more kids to love, not because they’re tired of the kids they have.”

I looked back to the doorway as the man stepped out, absent of any of the three kids. He stood there with the door closed, looking at me, so I turned to Arch and told him to remain seated.

“I’ll be right back,” I promised, touching his cheek with my fingers, “Stay here.” I stood up from where I was crouching in front of Arch and walked over to the uncle and father, following him around the corner.

He turned back to face me and asked, “Not to pry, but I’m wondering what that was about,” he said, arms crossed over his chest, “When a child claims that little girls will have to find a new family because their parents don’t want them anymore, it worries me.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, “Arch has been through a lot, he doesn’t have a very good concept of regular family dynamics. I’m really sorry that he blurted that our like that.”

“Myra and Nyla will be alright,” he commented, “My sister and her husband are just going to have a conversation with them about all of this.” He sighed and shook his head.

“I’m sorry again,” I repeated, “He’s a great kid, he just doesn’t understand that most families are permanent.”

I could tell that he wanted to ask what happened in Arch’s life, but didn’t out of respect. I glanced back around the corner at the little boy, who was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest.

“His biological parents are no longer in his life,” I explained, folding my arms across my chest, “He spent a little time in a foster care where the other two children got adopted and he was going to be sent to a group facility, so family doesn’t mean anything to him. There was no permanent family structure in his life until now and he’s still learning.”

The man, whose name was Brandon, sighed compassionately, taking a look past me to the child. “I can’t imagine a little boy going through all that,” he answered softly, taking in the sight of Arch, “My son is my entire life and if I thought he had to grow up without knowledge of family, I would lose it.”

“He just has to learn by living it,” I answered, offering him a smile, “He’s a great child, honestly. I promise he won’t upset them again.”

“It’s fine, I understand,” he answered, the tone lightening as we stepped back to head back to the rest of our families.

He headed inside the waiting room and I stopped back at Arch, who was watching me with large, worried blue eyes. The sight of him being upset like that, due to his own misunderstanding, broke my heart.

“It’s alright, baby,” I consoled, wrapping him up in my arms, “Everyone’s fine. There’s no need to be upset.” I lifted him from the chair and carried him back inside. The other family’s expressions had changed from shock to compassion and as the women each held onto one of the little girls, they offered me a comforting smile. I walked in with Arch wrapped around me, his arms and legs holding on for dear life. He was now more upset than the little girls.

I set him down on the love-seat that was pushed into the corner and covered him up with Nico’s other blanket. His tiredness and confusion had mixed together to upset him.

“I want to be awake when they come back with the baby,” he rebutted, sitting up to stare at me.

I chuckled at his view of having a baby and nodded. “I’ll wake you up, I promise. When Dad and Gina get back from their long, hard journey I’ll let you know and you can come meet Holland.”

He stared at me suspiciously and then finally agreed when I put on my more innocent, believable face. “Fine,” he allowed, lying back down on the patterned couch as he let tiredness seep in.

I leaned down to hug him and he wrapped his little arms around my neck. “Atticus,” he whispered purposefully, causing me to pause, “Atticus, I’ll never get tired of you.”

I squeezed him tightly and kissed his cheek. “I’ll never get tired of you either, Arch. I love you so much, Sweetheart.” I stepped back and sat back down without him. But I watched him as he fell asleep, his features evening out until they were as calm as his breath was shallow.