Mag-log in(Isaac)My grandmother I affectionately call Nagyi, Hungarian for Granny, watches me tear a piece of bread and sprinkle it with salt.“You’ve been smiling at that for a full minute, Isaac,” she observes.“Have I?”“Unless you’ve discovered something extraordinary about bread and salt, tell me what’s going on with you.”Mother looks up from her soup. “I can tell you. Dr. Ivy Calloway.”I put the bread down.Nagyi settles back in her chair. “Ah. Now we have a name.”“He’s walking away from the family empire for her,” Mother says.“No. I’m walking away in protest of how you want to do business. We aren’t thugs, Mother.”She huffs and keeps eating.Sunday lunch has always been compulsory in this family. Family is compulsory.We can disagree about acquisitions, resignations, or who should control several billion dollars.We still arrive on time and eat together.The soup is the same one Nagyi insisted the cook learn from her handwritten recipe. The bread is fresh.The chicken waiting on th
(Ivy)Eleanor asked me to meet her for coffee at the club.Given everything we’ve been through lately, I agreed.But honestly, all I want to do on this Friday afternoon is get home.Kate is sleeping and Joan and Robert are taking turns with her and the twins.I’m going to give them some relief over the weekend.I see Eleanor smiling and waving from a corner table and I head over and sit.I’m regret my decision when Nash appears and pulls out the chair beside her.Piper follows him to the table.“Eleanor! Are you ambushing me now?” I ask. I go to get up.“Just hear him out,” Eleanor says as she raises her hands. “Please, Ivy. He isn’t staying long.”I sit again. If they don’t get me here they’ll just find me elsewhere, so I may as well get it over with. “About what?”Nash sits opposite me. “I’m issuing a media statement pending the will reading.”“Congratulations,” I say.He ignores my sarcasm. “It’s about taking responsibility. Getting treatment. Becoming a better husband and father b
(Ivy)“We’re good friends. We worked together a lot.” She looks at me. “He helped get me home. But I was too scared to tell him what happened, in case…”“Whatever has happened to Elias, it is not your doing, okay? They were going to do whatever it was all along. You can’t reason with these people. But we owe Elias at least to ask the question, I think,” I say.Kate nods. “I know you’re right. It’s just so hard.”“Would you like me to contact Adrian Cole? Will he speak to me, do you think?”Kate holds my gaze.“Yes. Tell him I need his help. He’ll come.”“Then I will do exactly that. Right now. Let’s call this talk done and I’ll let you know how it goes.”“Thank you. Thank all of you. I’m lucky to have you.”“You just get well. I’m going to head to my office and make some calls.”Mary looks up when I enter my office.“I need to contact the Secretary of State.”Her fingers stop over the keyboard. “Alright. Do we have a number?”I love this woman.Anyone else might have asked whether I’d
(Ivy)Robert steps in but he doesn’t rush up to Kate’s bed.Joan stops just inside the door.For a moment, she only looks at Kate.Then Kate says shakily, “Mom.”Her tears flow freely.Joan is beside the bed in seconds.She bends carefully around the equipment and holds her daughter.Kate’s sobs become quieter but more intense.Not the quiet tears I’ve seen her trying to hide.These come from somewhere she’s been keeping closed for months.“I’m sorry,” she says into her mother’s shoulder.“Oh, darling. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t support you more. Let’s not think about ‘may have been’, let’s deal with the now. We love you. We’re here for you.”Joan eventually sits, still holding Kate’s hand. Robert takes the chair on the other side.Dr. Helen introduces herself. “I’ve been talking with Kate. She’s asked me to stay while she talks. Is that okay with both of you?”Robert nods. “Of course. However Kate needs it to be.”Kate looks at me. She still looks defeated.I give her a nod.
(Ivy)Sarah looks past me toward the door. “Where’s our VIP?”“Here.”“Yes, I can see you. Where’s the patient?”I put my bag on the chair. “You’re looking at her.”She stares at me.Her eyes go wide. “Ivy?”“Dah Dahhhh! I’m pregnant.” I wave my hands in the air.“Oh, my God.”She comes around the desk and hugs me before I’ve worked out whether I’m going to laugh or cry.I do a little of both.“I’m so happy for you,” she says.“Thank you.”“When did you find out?”“A while ago.”She steps back. “You’ve been keeping this to yourself? Are you okay?”I nod. “A few people know. But I haven’t had many opportunities to actually enjoy talking about it.”“Well, we can fix that. You’re going to be an amazing Mom.”I wipe my cheeks. “I’d like to think so.”She locks the door and comes back to me. “Nash?”“Yes.”“Does he know?”“No.”Sarah takes a moment with that. “Okay. First, let’s have a look at your gorgeous baby.”“I did an early scan. Kate helped me. Almost got sprung by Eleanor and Piper
(Piper)“I’m not interested in writing a collection of captions.”The woman on the video call smiles politely.“Neither are we, Piper.”Good.Because apparently everyone thinks being an influencer means I spend my day taking photographs and waiting for free lipstick.There are contracts. Deliverables. Negotiations.An audience that expects something every single day.I built that before Nash married me.Now I have a much better name to put on it.“The Mrs. Hawke Official,” I say. “That’s the brand. The book needs to work with it.”“We’d need something more personal for a book to sell.”“How personal?”“The story behind the image. Your family. Your marriage. Becoming a mother while dealing with public criticism. How you and Nash found your way to trust and real love…”She’s from a publisher my sponsorship agent introduced me to.Not Ivy’s publisher.I’m not crawling to them asking for her leftovers. Apparently they don’t take submissions, they make offers.Serves them right. Their loss







