December 2018

Artie

Even in the dead of winter, if he wasn't working on courses for his pharmacy doctoral degree or hanging out with his fiancé, Artie Abrams could usually be found at the university aquatic center. Even when it was the first day of the winter holiday break and most people had already gone home.

There were less than two years left until the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He had won his silver medal in 2016, just two years after the third and final operation to fuse, straighten, and stabilize his spine. If he could do it then, he could do it now.

He'd made it back to the abandoned locker room to dry off when he realized that his phone was buzzing inside the locker with the rest of his stuff. He hastily tossed his towel aside and fished his phone out of his duffel bag to find that he had several missed calls, from his mother, Kitty, and Sam. Uh-oh, he thought.

"Everything okay?" He asked, when he managed to catch Sam's latest call before his brother-in-law hung up. "How's little January?"

January was the name Artie had given to the second Samy baby, a girl, due next month. His sister didn't quite see the humor in it, but ever since the anti-climactic moment where they'd simply named his nephew, August, after the month in which he'd been born, Artie had been trying to sell them on calling the new baby 'January.'

"Little January is not a patient girl," Sam said, and now Artie could hear the slight panic in his voice as he gave this report. "Amy's water broke. We're at the hospital right now. Your mom's on her way to get Auggie. We had to leave him with our neighbor. We, uh, had to hurry."

Artie heard beeping on the line, which was Kitty trying to reach him. "Kitty's calling me now," he said, knowing his fiancé was trying to reach him for the same reason. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

Unfortunately, "a soon as we can" was nearly two hours. It could have been a lot worse, had Amy and Sam not finally left Fort Wayne, Indiana when Sam finished school and moved back to Lima. They found Nancy by herself with four-year-old August in the waiting room, trying to keep him entertained with her phone. He wondered where the Evans family was and then he remembered...

"The New Directions' holiday showcase is tonight!" Artie had completely forgotten until that moment. He'd been planning to see it, as Stacey and Stevie were both on the team now. Since there were two performances, they'd been planning on going Saturday.

"And the show must go on," Nancy said, with a shrug. "They're coming here as soon as it's over. Amy's upset. She was looking forward to seeing the kids' performance last night."

"Well, of course she is," Artie commented. "It's her first holiday program as director of the New Directions. At least it wasn't a competition."

"I was able to get this while I was waiting for Artie to pick up the phone," Kitty interjected, holding out a new Paw Patrol coloring book and a box of crayons for August. The older woman gave her a soft smile, as she recalled how they'd all been coloring pictures while waiting on little August to arrive.

"So, I guess we're in for another long night?" Artie commented, giving a slight shudder as he looked around and took in the atmosphere. Even though he hadn't been the patient himself for awhile now, he still hated hospital waiting rooms.

"Not exactly," Mrs. Abrams said, with a smile. "Everything's happening a lot quicker this time around. Shouldn't be much longer."

As if on cue, Sam appeared through those double doors, just as he had the last time. But he didn't have an announcement just yet. Instead, he said, "Hey, Artie, Kitty, Stacey? Want to come on back this time around?"

"Uhhhh, there are some things I don't know if I could un-see," Artie said, just as he glanced at Kitty and Stacey, who both looked eager to go back. It looked like these two both wanted to watch the miracle of birth. "I'll stay here and keep August company."

Sam nodded, and Artie figured he expected he'd say exactly that. Kitty and Stacey jumped up and hurried to follow Sam, as Artie reached for August's coloring book to borrow something to keep himself occupied. It was interesting that he would be doing the same thing he'd done the last time around, with the child they'd been waiting on then.

August, everyone said, resembled Artie more than anyone else in the family. Except, of course, for his mouth that was like his dad's. It was pretty cool to have a four-year-old nephew. August was precocious and well-spoken for his age. He always seemed to understand things that kids his same age missed or misunderstood. For instance, right now...

"Hey, Auggie?" Artie asked, as he slipped him the blue crayon after he'd finished coloring Chase's police dog vest and was moving on to a picture of Marshall next. "Do you know why we're here?"

Auggie nodded seriously. "The doctor has to take my baby out today," he said, and Artie exchanged a smile with his mom, over the sweet way that Auggie called her my baby. "Here, you need red for Marshall."

"That's right," Artie said. "You're gonna like being a brother, Auggie."

He was about to impart some serious wisdom to his nephew, about dealing with sisters. But he didn't get any further than that, and he didn't even get to color Marshall, because the double doors swung open. Kitty was wiping tears out of her eyes but beaming, ear to ear.

"She's here!" Kitty proudly announced. "Amy only pushed for 10 minutes and she was out. She's small but doing great. Come meet her!"


Christmas Day was different than they'd expected that year. No one expected that Sadie Marie Evans would already be a part of their holiday celebrations that year.

Artie, ever the early bird, woke up at Amy and Sam's house to find Kitty in the living room holding his tiny niece. Little Sadie been much smaller than her brother, being three weeks early, but was perfectly healthy just the same. Kitty must have been in a trance or something, captivated by the tiny human, because she didn't hear Artie coming. He cleared his throat, and she looked up.

"I was just holding Sadie, so Amy could get a shower and Sam could finish getting the stuff out of the attic," she explained. "I'm glad they said we could stay over last night and watch Auggie open his gifts this morning."

"This time next year," Artie said, stopping in front of the couch and admiring the beautiful baby girl in his fiancé's arms. "We'll be getting ready to be husband and wife."

Their engagement had been longer than most, but Kitty really thought it best that she finish her degree first, and Artie respected that. He still had a little longer before he was done with his doctoral degree, too, so they'd need her to have her finance degree and, with any luck, a decent job.

"Bring on December 2019," Kitty agreed, glancing up and motioning him to come closer so that she could kiss him. "I'm really glad you wanted to get married around Christmas. I love this time of year." She glanced down at Sadie again. "Lots happening around the holidays, huh, baby girl?"

Someday it'll be our turn to do this, too, he thought, as Sadie gave a cute little yawn and stretched out her fists. Can't come fast enough.