Caroline looked up into the rafters of the church. There he stood with his baby son.
"Richard." She said.
Richard looked down at her then left the balcony.
"Whats he doing here?" Caroline asked Annie how had then joined her.
"I don't know. Charlie must have told him about the wedding when he was in Italy." Annie surmised.
"Oh my god." Caroline said to herself.
"Whats going on?" asked Del.
"Richards back, and he has the baby with him." Annie said.
"What are you gonna do Caroline?" Del asked.
"I have to talk to him, make him understand." Caroline said. She walked away from them with her dress clutched in her hands.
Richard was descending the back stairs with his son. Caroline just barely managed to catch up with him as he entered the rectory.
"Richard." Caroline said.
"Caroline." He said.
"Why are you here?"
"Charlie told me. I had to come, see it for myself." Richard sighed. "Why are you marrying him of all people?"
"I couldn't wait forever for you." She said.
"Six months is barely forever!"
"A lot can happen in six months." Caroline said. "Look at Del and Annie."
"I'd rather not, if thats all the same to you." Richard said. "Who'd ever thought they'd get together?"
"Nobody did." Caroline said. "It just happened."
"Sounds like a lot of Annies dates."
"This thing with Randy also just happened." Caroline said. "He said he wanted to have children with me. Something, if you remember, you were not exactly ready to do half a year ago."
"That was before him." Richard said referring to his son. "I never knew that I would bound with him. How much I would love being a father, it came as a complete surprise to me." He shook his head. "I have to go."
"Richard."
"Caroline." He said as he went to the door. He turned to her. "I can't be at a wedding, especially if I'm not the one you are getting married to." He turned his head back around. Hot tears burst from his eyes. He closed them to hide them from her. "Goodbye Caroline. I hope you enjoy your new life."
"What about the strip?"
"You'll get a new colorist. You always do." Richard said. "Maybe you'll have better luck with someone who isnt as lovable as me." He said half jokingly.
He went out the door.
"Richard!" Caroline cried as she raced to the door. Her wedding dress worked against her and held her back. "Richard!" She watched him put his son in the rental car. He turned and looked at her one last time, then got in the car and drove away.
She sighed and walked back to the main part of the church. Annie was there waiting for her.
"So what happened?" She asked.
"Nothing. He's gone." Caroline said.
"You didn't change your mind did you." Annie asked as they went back down the isle. Here comes the bride was reprised.
"I'm sorry." She stopped. "I can't get married today."
"What?" Del said.
"I can't get married. Not now, now that he knows."
"But he left. Thats practically giving you premission, isnt it?" Annie said.
"I can't do it, I got so many things in my mind. I'm not gonna remember anything." Caroline said. She looked at Randy. She walked up to her and took his hand. "I'm so sorry. I have to do something."
"You have somethings to sort out. If you want to marry me, I need you all here. Not in incomplete pieces." Randy said and lightly kissed her on the cheek. "When you're ready I'll be here. Well not here, they will want to have other weddings here, but you know what I mean."
"I do." Caroline said. "Come on Annie, I need to get this off, its suddenly hot and uncomfortable."
"Okay." Annie said. She looked at Del. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah." Del said with a weird goofy laugh.
"Let's go. I don't think you'll be able to use this dress again if you pit it out." Annie said as she helped her friend to take the dress off.
Caroline laid down on her bed with an ice pack. She had a horrible headache. It came out of nowhere right after she left the church that day. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a long t-shirt.
"I'm so confused Annie." Caroline said as Annie came back into her bedroom. "If I wanted to marry Randy so much, then how come I couldnt?"
"If Richard wasn't there, you'd be on your honeymoon by now." Annie noted. "I suppose we shouldnt blame Charlie. He had no idea what would happen when he told Richard."
"I know." Caroline said. "I think I need to be alone for a while."
"What if Randy calls, or comes over?" Annie said.
"I don't know."
"I could intercept him."
"I have to see him sooner or later. Same if Richard if he suddenly shows up, though I can't imagine why. Its not like any of his stuff is here anymore." Caroline said. "Go om home Annie, I'm sure someones waiting for you." She said hinting at Del.
"Ok." Annie wemt down the stairs. She stopped and looked back up. "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay." Annie said and went out the door.
Caroline rolled over in her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Richard got home to his apartment. The first thing he noticed, however, was that his place wasnt exactly the best place to raise a baby. But he knew he couldnt afford to move at that moment. The trip to Italy has drained his funds down to a dribble. With a painting or two, he would be able to pay the rent for that month at least. Without Caroline as his employer, he had to find something to do. Anything but go back to that god awful ice cream shop.
"Ok." Richard said setting his son in a hastily improvised bed. "Stay there. Please stay there. I havent been in here in months, there might be a veritable zoo in here!"
His phone rang. The sound of the ring surprised him. He had half expected it to cut off by now. He picked it up.
"Hello?" He said.
"Richard?" Julia said. "It's me. I had no idea you brought him stateside."
"I didn't think I was going to stay as long as I did. I'm back at my old place." He said.
"I have some news for you. You might want to sit down." Julia said.
"I am." Richard said.
"I had to make sure." She said with a pause. "Remember when we went to the hospital to give blood to the charity thing?"
"Yes?"
"Well, it turns out that you don't have the same blood as little Julio." Julia said.
"What?"
"I couldn't believe it myself. We were so certain." Julia said. "But now its apparent that you are not his father."
"How is that possible?" He asked.
"I don't know." Julia said. "I'm sending the nanny over to collect him. He has got to meet his real father."
"I thought I was."
"Well things change. I guess we gotta both accept it." She paused. "By the way how was the wedding?"
"I don't know. I left before the I do's." Richard confessed looking at Julio. He was really not his son?
"You mean you don't know if it went on or not?"
"Right."
"Oh thats sad." Julia said trying to feel something. "I can't honestly say whos happier right now."
"I'm willing to take that bet." Richard said.
"Rosalia will be over in the morning." Julia said. "I'm so sorry. Will you come back home?"
"Why? Theres nothing I want over there anymore."
"What about Julio?"
"He's not my son." Richard said. "And you said I gotta accept that." He said curtly and hung up on her. He crashed back into his seat. The phone rang. He picked it up. "I don't want to talk to anyone!"
"Does that include me?" Caroline said softly.
"No." Richard said. "I didn't mean you."
"Good." Caroline said.
There was a long uncomfortable pause.
"I didn't get married Richard." She said finally.
The phone crackled in his ear. "What?"
"Randy and I. We didnt get married."
"Don't tell me I stopped you." Richard said. "I just found out my sons not my son and now I stopped your wedding to whats his face..."
"Randy."
"Right." Richard said. "So right now I'm ruining everyones life."
"Not really." Caroline said. "If you ruined my wedding, I wouldn't call you."
"True." Richard said. "So what did Randy the great have to say about it."
"He said he would wait for me." Caroline said. "I have things to sort out."
"Thats funny, that last time I went to sort out a baby thing, no one waited for me." Richard cracked, still stunned from his call from Julia.
"I suppose I deserved that." Caroline said. "I don't know if I can ever put into words clearly what my intentions were when Randy asked me to marry him at Remos." She said starting to cry again. "I don't know if I really loved him enough to even marry him. I mean we were'nt even formally dating. Its like he was the next best thing."
"How would Randy feel about being the next best thing?" Richard said.
"Probably the same if you found out that I was marrying you instead of Del." Caroline thought for a minute. "I think anyway. I'm very tired."
"Me too." Richard said.
"Do you want to meet in person to talk?" Caroline asked.
"Sure." Richard said. "But not at the office ok? Your place."
"Deal." Caroline said. "Good night Richard."
"Goodnight Caroline." He said and hung up. He looked at little Julio. He somehow felt better for talking to her. "Well its just me and you Julio. Until tomorrow anyway."
He sat and watched him fall asleep.
Richard woke up to a persistant knocking at the door. He rolled over and checked the baby. Sleeping soundly as a hound, thought Richard as he checked the clock.
"Its noon. Who could that be?" Richard mumbled as he got up. He pulled a shirt on and headed to the door. He opened it just as his visitor was about to knock again.
"Hola senor Karinksky." The woman said.
"You must be Rosalia." Richard said as the woman walked past him. So rude, no wonder why Julia liked her. "I gather you are here for the baby."
"Si. Is this all the babys things?"
"Yes," Richard said. "it should be all here."
"Good. Senorita Julia doesnt want to be kept waiting."
"Shes here?" Richard asked.
"No. She wanted me to fly right back with the baby." Rosalia said "It'll be like I was never here."
"I wish that was really true."
"Que senor?"
"Nothing. Uh nada."
"No comprende."
"You can adios now." Richard said sternly.
"Oh si. Have a nice day." She said leaving with the baby.
"Hold it." Richard said and walked up to her. He touched his sons face. "Be good to your mother."
The baby sniffled a bit but didn't cry. Rosalia turned and walked out the apartment door. Richard watched her go for a minute, then closed the door when she was out of sight.
Caroline was just barely getting dressed when she heard the buzz at her door.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Its me." Richard said. "Uh I think you know?"
"Come on up." She buzzed the door. Caroline quickly fluffed her hair at the mirror. Richard knocked, then came through the door.
"Hi." Richard said. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Oh no." Caroline said. "I been up for an hour."
"Good, I was hoping we could talk. Julias nanny came for Julio today."
"Oh god I'm so sorry." Caroline said.
"I'm alright, it'll just take a while. For almost a year I was a father." Richard said. "Something made me wonder."
"What?" Caroline said. She looked at him. "It might be the same thing I am. If she abandoned it, then why did she care so much when it turned out to be not hers?"
"I think I may have an answer." Richard said. "She wanted to be with the father, but when that turned out to be me, she didnt want anything to do with me. Thats why she was so reluctant about me seeing the baby in the first place. So when she found out it was this other guy, she somehow changed her mind. I don't know."
"Yeah." Caroline said. "Would you like some coffee?"
"Sure." Richard said. He walked over to the desk he and Caroline once worked at. She had some new drawings on the desk.
"You been busy?" He asked.
"Yeah. Del sold our offices. And I moved back here. It seemed to work out better that way." Caroline said. "He lives part time at Annies now. Its hard to imagine those two together! Once enemies, now lovers? Its weird what the world throws at you."
"You can say that again." Richard said. "You dated these drawings. They're a week old."
"I haven't gotten around to coloring them in yet. With the wedding and everything, I havent had time to get a temp assistant."
"Oh." Richard said. He opened a drawer and grabbed his old spare set of colors. "Allow me."
Caroline looked at him. "You don't really have to. I'll get it done sometime."
"You have a deadline right?" Richard said.
"I'm on vacation right now." Caroline said. "Those were just some advance things."
"I need something to do with my hands." Richard said. "It'll keep them from trembling."
"Why?" Caroline said and grabbed them. "Whats wrong."
"I still love you." He said. "Even though you were gonna marry this Randy jerk yesterday I thought we might have still had a chance. But I guess I was wrong. Then I was wrong again cause I thought you would have gotten married after I left."
"I think I know why now." Caroline said. "I still want you too."
"Really?"
"Really." Caroline said. "And babies, that will come in time. Now that you've had your first taste of fatherhood."
"It'll take some time, so I'm not gonna totally eliminate being a father from the future." Richard said. He kissed her on the lips.
"So now what?"
"I don't know. We'll just see." Richard said. "What are you gonna tell Randy?"
"Randy who?"
"Thats what I thought." Richard said. "You want to go somewhere else."
"Yeah. Let's go tell the guys the good news." Caroline said.
"I think they may be busy. We'll wait. After all, we've got all the time in the world." Richard said. "For now, let's get back to work."
"Right." Caroline said grabbing a stack of paper. "Welcome back. This ought to make for an interesting story for Caroline this week."
"Why not, its already happened to the real thing." Richard said from his side of the desk.
Caroline smiled. "How about that coffee?"
"Sure. We'll be here awhile."
"You got that right." Caroline said grabbing the coffee pot.
