Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 117

Bob POV

It was exciting to see my son. I have missed him since he moved out here, and my ex made it hard to visit. I am not sure why she could not accept that he had a different kind of life to us. She was the last one to talk; with all that I had been learning about her, maybe because she could never manipulate either Thomas or Bethany, she channeled all her time into cultivating what Cynthia became. In some ways, I feel bad for Cynthia; she never stood a chance against Wendy, and once she had her hooked, it was smooth sailing for the two of them to hide each other's indiscretions.

Judy looked like she was about to pop, Nate hovered around her like a fragile doll, and Thomas kept an eye on her, but she was determined to cook us lunch with all the trimming. I was glad when Bethany helped her in the kitchen, actually took over, and made it look natural.

Thomas caught up with all that had been happening since he last saw us, including how Wendy had, more or less, told him not to return to the house, as he was not welcome. I was fuming when I heard that. We have missed out on so much because of that woman.

It was interesting watching the interaction between the three of them. Nate was definitely another wife, and if Judy had let him, he would have been in the kitchen helping, but he kicked him out because of his fussing. According to Thomas, we chuckled about that; he was the mother hen. Nate set the table and made sure everything was set neatly. We had a five-star service, and it was lovely. Thomas sat in the lounge and drank a beer with us. He was all male and let the others do the fuzzing. They were a great trio, and I liked the comfortable feeling of being in the house.

After dinner, Nate did most of the dishes, saying she cooked. It was his turn to do the dishes. I had never seen someone fight over cleaning up; it was amusing.

We sat around the lounge, and I filled them up with what had happened, from my divorce from Wendy to the accident to Bethany, and before we could go on much further into it, before we even told them who was arrested or what had happened to them, Judy, who was sobbing away, suddenly had her water break and all craziness.

Bethany took over, leading Judy to a bedroom and getting her settled in. She did what she needed to do to help Judy. Bethany sterilized the things Thomas had on hand to use at the birth. Though they never expected they would really need them, they had prepared just in case, as they were far from the nearest hospital.

I had to remind Thomas to call an ambulance when Bethany said Judy was too far along in labor for her to go by car and then grab the bag that they would take to the hospital. Nate was tasked with cleaning up the mess from Judy's water breaking, and I stayed with Thomas. Theo kept Nate company, who seemed to suffer the most from the two men who both loved this woman and cared for her like she was their world.

The sound of a baby's cry had all four of us racing to the bedroom in time to watch Bethany place the newborn baby on Judy's tummy, the cord still attached. Judy was cooing over the baby; as it was facing down, we could not yet see the baby. Judy looked up with such love in her eyes and a glow on her face that melted my heart, the pure innocence of a new mother.

'Come see our son.' Judy beckoned them in. Thomas was the first to go to bed, while the rest were held back and watched. He kissed Judy on the lips and then kissed the newborn's b**t, and we all chuckled.

Bethany then offered to let him cut the cord; she turned the baby over so we could see the little boy. Thomas took the scissors and cut the cord, and we all cheered as Thomas gathered the little one in his arms and kissed his head. I took a small blanket over to him to wrap the baby in and waited for him to.

When the baby was wrapped, Thomas wanted to give Judy his attention, so he handed the baby off to me. I was shocked he did not give the child to Nate, but then Nate was a mess and may not have been up to holding the little one.

'Here, Granddad, take Bob for a while, will you?' I looked at him with shock, but his face was full of love and pride; there was no sign that he was joking about the name, and he broke into a broad smile as I took the little bundle in my arms and almost wept as I looked down to the mini-me, he was fast asleep as if the trauma of being born was nothing, and he was in safe hands. I rocked the baby as I shared him with Theo and Nate, both looking at the child, till the sound of the ambulance broke our joy; Theo raced out to bring them in, while Nate was still a mess and in no condition to do much.

The room was mayhem with the sudden arrival of the extra men in the room. One took the baby and, after a quick check, placed him in a special crib. I felt empty having to hand him over to strangers, but I had to let him go. The other talked to Bethany in medical jargon, and he checked on Judy. He placed the placenta in a bag for later inspection and transferred Judy to a gurney. Before I knew it, Judy and Thomas were in the ambulance being driven to the hospital, and I was following in my car with Nate sitting in the passenger seat, still a bit lost at what had just happened, but at least he had a small smile on his face.

'So Nate, how do you feel now you are a Dad?' I asked, trying to break the tension in the car. I know I am excited and happy, and I hope that Thomas honoring me by naming his firstborn after me will mean we can be close again. Wendy did enough damage to our family, and I hope this is a new beginning for us. I have a lot to thank Bethany for; she is why we visited Thomas today and pushed me to be happy again.

'I am still in shock; he is so very tiny, I am afraid I will break him. He said in a far-away voice.

'You will get used to it; it won't be too long, and the lad will be at school, bringing friends home, then married and gone. Time flies quickly! I chuckled at the horror that filled his face before he chuckled along with me, breaking the tension in the car. We arrived at the hospital and found Thomas in the hallway. He was staring at the door.

'Hey Thomas,' I greeted him. Nate was pulled into a hug, and the two of them stood in each other's arms. Thomas whispered something to him, and he nodded whatever was said; by the time they pulled apart, Nate was a new person, full of smiles. 'Hi Granddad. Thomas hugged me, too, and I patted him on his back.

'Thank you,' I said, and I did not need to explain why; he seemed to understand what I meant. We stood by that door chatting till it opened, and they let all three of us in. Apparently, it was a private room, and as long as we didn't upset Judy, we could all stay. A doctor came out and stopped short, staring at me momentarily.

'Are you?' he asked. I jumped in with a 'Yes! Before he could say anymore.

'Then you are the father of Doctor Bethany, who delivered this baby?'

'Yes.' I said again, wondering where this was going. Thomas and Nate stood by, listening to the doctor. They needed to be clearer about where it was going.

'Wow, the famous heart doctor delivered that baby; I thought I recognized her name. He shook my hand and walked off, chatting excitedly with the other staff about Bethany and who she was.

'Dad?' Thomas looked at me questioningly.

'Later, let's get to our girl and baby and spend time with her. We can always talk about this later. Bob pushed them in the door to see their baby. Little Bob was sleeping in a crib by Judy. The all-clear was given, and the doctors all praised the safe delivery. 'You should have heard the doctor when he learned Bethany delivered Bob. He told me how lucky I was to have the famous Dr Bethany deliver him.' Judy was telling Thomas and Nate.

'Care to share, not Dad?' Thomas asked as he handed the sleeping child to Nate, who was sitting on a chair and very nervous about holding such a small person.

'Your sister continued recently with the research on artificial hearts, transplanted one in a real person a little while ago, and another new experimental one in a monkey. The monkey was a smaller one, hoping to one day work for children, and the one in a man is still going strong; there has been a lot of news about it lately!

'Oh, I heard about that but did not put Bethany as the doctor. Yet when I heard the name, you would have thought I would have twigged. Nate said as he cooed down at the baby, starting to relax more with the child in his arms.

'What about Wendy and Cynthia? What went on?' Thomas was not going to let this one go.

'I already told you I divorced Wendy. Why? What else did you want to know?'

'What did you give that greedy woman?'

'I left her the holiday home we had, but I heard she had since sold it. I was a little sad to lose that home, but as I rarely went to it, I lost interest in it when things went pear-shaped with my marriage, which was why I left it for her.