34. Marcus
34
MARCUS
I just stared at Emma.
I heard the words she had spoken, but I was having a hard time comprehending them at first.
“You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant,” she said, “and it’s yours.”
“You’re… you’re what?” My jaw dropped open and stayed there. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the exact meaning of the words she was saying.
“We’re gonna have a baby,” she said with a laugh. She gently placed her hand over her stomach. There was no sign of the baby growing inside. After staring at her midsection for a while, I lifted my eyes to meet hers. I continued to stare at her in disbelief.
“I thought it was a complete and total miracle when Lily apologized, because I didn’t know how else I was going to tell you,” she confessed.
“Wow. Wow. You need to sit down.” I started bustling about the room, taking her notepad from her and guiding her to the most comfortable chair in the room “Are you comfortable? Do you need to put your feet up?”
She laughed. “Why are you so nervous?”
“Because I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.
“Maybe you should sit down,” she suggested.
I sank slowly into the chair across the coffee table from her and just stared at her more. She didn’t look any different. Shouldn’t she glow, or her skin sparkle? Or something?
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Eventually, I tried to swallow anything down my dry throat and nodded. “I am blown away,” I admitted. This was amazing and wonderful news. “What am I going to tell the kids?”
She held up her hands. “I’ve been thinking about this, and you should know…” She giggled awkwardly. “Lily gave me her approval if we wanted to date. I don’t know if she’s going to extend that to having a half-sibling, but I think the kids will be okay. And I kind of want to wait to tell them, to make sure?—”
“To make sure you and I are okay,” I finished for her.
She nodded.
It was my turn to laugh. “I’m okay if you’re okay. Actually, I am more than okay. This is amazing news, Emma.” I felt just as nervous as I did the first time Blair told me she was expecting. “How is this going to impact us?”
I was thinking out loud more than asking a question.
Emma shrugged. “We can be friends through it. We can be a couple through it. Or we can ignore it. We can pretend it’s not happening and try to ignore each other.”
“I don’t want to do that,” I said. “I very much do not want to ignore you, or this baby.”
“Good. I don’t want to do that either. I like you, Marcus. Clearly, I like you a lot, and I would like for there to be an us.”
She rested her hand on her belly, almost as if she were trying to convince herself there was something going on in there.
“I would like for there to be an us too,” I said. “I have some serious feelings for you. How about we take things slow, get used to the idea, and when you’re ready to announce that you’re pregnant, we make things officially official?”
“You want to wait on us?”
I shook my head. “Hell no. I don’t want to wait on us. And honestly, I’m ready to jump out of this chair and go tell the kids what’s going on. But I’m trying to follow your lead here. And… I’m trying to wrap my head around all the changes. I want you to move in here with me. Your apartment is entirely too small for all of us.”
“I’d like that,” she said.
“Good. Good. How soon? How soon do you think we can do that?”
“Are you okay, Marcus?” Emma was out of her seat and standing over me.
I felt oddly… not calm, but my brain couldn’t catch up with the level of excitement I was feeling in my chest. “This is a bit overwhelming.”
“Are you okay? You look kind of pale.”
“I’m… I’m… I think I’m okay.”
“You stay right there.” She walked out of the room.
Seconds later, Lily rushed in. “Dad, are you okay?”
“Here’s your water.” Jason followed, running with his arm outstretched, water sloshing over his hand.
“Oh, thank you,” I said as I took the glass and drained what was left. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” I pulled myself together.
“Your dad’s had a bit of a shock,” Emma said as she followed the kids into the study.
Lily slowly turned and faced Emma. “What did you say to him?” She sounded more scared than accusatory.
Emma looked at me and gave me a small smile. “Maybe we should tell them?”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked.
She let out a long, deep sigh. “Lily, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you said it’s okay for me to date your dad because…” Emma reached out and put her hand on Jason’s shoulder. “We’re… we’re going to be dating. And more.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I saw Jason’s face light up. “Are you getting married?” he asked.
Emma turned to face me, eyes wide, lips pursed together.
I shook my head. “We’re not there yet, kid. We’re not there yet. But potentially, she’s going to be moving in with us.”
“That’s fantastic! Does that mean you’ll play Mario Kart with me?”
“I’ll play Mario Kart with you,” Emma responded, “but right now, your dad and I have some work to get done.”
“Are you sure about this, Dad?” Lily asked.
“I’m more than sure of it, Lily. I’ve been hoping that we would be able to do this. That everyone would be able to get along and work out living together.”
“This is going to be the topic of therapy for the next couple of weeks, but I should be fine,” Lily said. She had a huge grin on her face. I thought she might be more than okay with Emma moving in with us.
Emma reached out for Lily. “I want you to be okay with this too.”
“I’ll be okay with it. I promise,” Lily said.
“I am so relieved,” Emma smiled, and the kids shuffled their way through the door.
“I thought you were going to tell them,” I said as she closed the door behind the kids.
“For a second there, I thought so too,” she admitted. “Now that that’s taken care of, we need to get this presentation situated.”
“You expect me to be able to focus now?” I joked.
“You ate all that good for your brain food. Yes, I do expect you to focus.”
“Can I at least kiss you first?” I stood and crossed the room to where Emma stood. I slid my arm around her back and pulled her in close before dipping my face down to hers. That first kiss after having missed her for weeks was tender and sweet.
The urge to deepen the kiss and turn this moment into something more intense was fierce. Having Emma in my arms was entirely too tempting. There was no way we would be able to get our proposal done if we continued kissing at that moment.
We spent hours late into the night discussing our plan. And the next week, every spare minute we had together—where I wasn’t staring into her beautiful eyes, just realizing how incredibly lucky I was—we spent focused on this presentation.
Emma was aware she had a rare second chance to rectify what had gone wrong the first time, and I was here to make sure she didn’t get blindsided when it came time to stand in front of the review board, even with Kevin present.
And when the actual presentation began, Emma spoke clearly, articulating our concerns and the needs of the ER department. She outlined how vital it was to have someone who could act as a liaison between the emergency crews, the nurses, the doctors, and the facilities. We needed someone who could prioritize triage so that those who truly needed help weren’t left waiting in fear and pain.
“Thank you for your insights into ways of improving how we care for patients,” the head of the board—whose name I couldn’t remember—said as he stood up. He extended his hand, first to Emma, then to me. “This was a fine presentation, and I see where we missed some details the first time.”
I did not miss the sharp glare he sent in Kevin’s direction.
“We have much to discuss,” he continued, “and I think you’ll be hearing from us much sooner rather than later.” He paused, looking directly at Emma. “I understand that you temporarily left us for the West Coast?”
Emma gave him a tight nod in response.
Just as I expected him to dismiss us, he added, “I’m glad you decided to come back. We definitely need people of your caliber here at Manhattan Memorial.”