Chapter 8 #2
How was it that we went from talking about the baby to talking about me? “I have a lot of responsibilities. I have to be all business.”
“Why is it that you feel like you can only do your job if you’re a pill?” She flicked up her gaze. “You must know that they call you Dr. Grumpenstein.”
“Not until you called me that in the ER.” I was startled again, on the inside, anyway. This visit was starting to chip away at my mental health.
“Telling people who never leave work on time because they care about their patients that they can’t eat a slice of pizza behind the desk is just…wrong.”
Now I was angry. Except my mad feelings were blunted by me having flashes of her lying next to me in bed, her softly rounded shoulders tanned against the bright white sheets. “I’m glad you have me all figured out.”
“I don't have anything figured out. Especially not myself. Even you referred to me as a problem.”
No—that wasn’t it at all. I couldn’t let her think that. “You’re a problem to me because I don’t know what to do with you.”
Tiny creases appeared again in her forehead. “How so?”
I tried for a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve thought about you a lot. Sometimes I even wondered if you were real.” I rubbed my neck. Then I gave up the pretense and looked straight at her. “That was the first completely honest thing I’ve said to you.”
Her eyes grew wide. She flushed. She waved a hand dismissively. “We did something crazy. It was desperate times.” But her voice cracked a little.
This time, I didn’t run from the truth. “I’m not only talking about the sex part.
” My turn to blush. I looked around cautiously before I dropped my voice.
As if the infants might get the gossip train rolling.
“Well, that was unforgettable, but the truth is…I really like you. You’re smart and honest and funny.
I’m sorry I pretended that we hadn’t met.
I was discombobulated when I first saw you and I… I screwed up.”
“I forgive you.” She shifted the baby into her arms, who was back to being sound asleep. “Also, I’m going out on a limb here, but I really like you too. But remember, I don’t have the best judgment with men.”
I tried to pretend I wasn’t suddenly very aware that something between us had shifted. I tried to make light of it. “We aren’t at a tropical destination far away from our cares, our lives. We’re here—where it matters.”
“Right. We’re much more sensible now.” Was she kidding? Being sarcastic? A little while passed. “Unforgettable, huh?” she said, lifting a brow.
I gave a slow nod. “But the truth is, I’m still really…I can’t be counted on for a relationship.”
“I feel like that too. I’m okay with taking things one day at a time. Like, friends.”
“Friends is great.” Wait, no. What just happened?
Somehow, our gazes locked. I felt that same inexorable pull, that same exact heat that I felt months ago—hell, a few minutes ago.
I wanted to hold her hand. To touch her.
And I really wanted to kiss her. So why on earth had I agreed?
Friendship was the very last thing on my mind.
Across the nursery, one of the babies let out a long, loud wail. The bright lights flicked on, and Dale rambled in to tend his flock. He was followed by an older woman with shortish, nicely styled gray hair wearing a tweed skirt and jacket.
“Over there, Daria,” Dale said, nodding toward us as he wheeled a baby out to join its mother.
“Thanks, dear.” The woman patted him on the back and walked over to us.
“Are you the social worker?” Ani asked, an edge of concern in her voice. She sat up and held the baby a little closer, a little more protectively.
“I’m Daria,” the woman said, extending her hand. “Yes, I’m a social worker, at least until Monday, when I officially retire. Nice to meet you, Dr. Green.”
I glanced at my watch. “It’s high time you showed up, Mom. It’s after eleven.”
“Busy day. And don’t talk to me like that at work.” She turned her bright green gaze on me.
Ani, eyes wide, looked from my mom to me and back again.
“Mom, this is Ani, our newest pediatrician in town and—a friend of mine.” There, that time I made sure to try and do it right. “Ani, meet Daria Lowenstein. My mother.”
Ani
I tried to process this information: that Dr. Grump had a mother who not only worked at the same hospital as he did, but who was also capable of throwing him shade.
Also, she looked like him, except she was shorter. Like, my height. I felt an instant camaraderie.
Why, oh why had I said the friend thing?
He’d said he wasn’t ready for a relationship, and I’d said we could take it slow, and then I had to go and add the friend thing.
I guess I was afraid of trying again in general.
Or maybe I was afraid of losing him. Even though he’d called me smart, honest, funny, and unforgettable.
I wondered if you were real. Wow, I loved that.
Adam’s mother nodded toward me. “Is she the woman from the vacation?”
I blinked, and my heart dropped straight into my stomach. The surprises just kept coming. And so many questions, starting with, What exactly had he told his mother? Also, I was a topic of discussion? And was that good or bad?
Before I got too carried away, I reminded myself that it could simply mean, I met a woman clinging to the edge of sanity and I helped her back onto the cliff.
Adam turned pinker than his mom’s scarlet nail polish. He cleared his throat. “Mom, Ani does shifts in the ER. That’s how we know each other. Professionally.”
“You told your mother about me?” I blurted. Because…I couldn’t believe it. And should I be afraid? I could only imagine what he’d said: “I met this woman when we were both miserable. I impulsively slept with her. And here she is!”
Adam was sending his mother stabbing glares. I stood there deriving a lot of pleasure from watching such an unflappable person be…well, very flappable.
He waved off the topic. “Only very briefly.”
His mother said, “He said he met a woman on the plane who had just stopped her wedding, and he was worried about you.”
“Mom.” Adam gave his mother a lethal stare. “You’ve been talking to Brax, haven’t you?”
“Don’t blame him—he mentioned that Ani lives here now. And she’s a doctor.” She turned to me. “I know your mother.”
“Is that right?” I hoped that was a good thing. “I’ll have to tell her that we met. How long have you lived in Oak Bluff?’
“I moved here five years ago because I wanted to retire here. Such a quaint town. This is my final weekend of work. I’ve been a social worker for thirty-five years.”
“Well, congratulations.” I wondered how this homeless baby would complicate her very last weekend here. Then I turned to Adam, “You mom seems very pleasant. Those genes must have skipped you, huh?”
He gave me a fake haha. “I think we agree it’s great to have Ani on staff,” he said in summary, like he was holding a staff meeting.
“Now let’s discuss this baby.” He turned to his mom.
“Ani delivered her. She was born twenty-four hours ago, at seven pounds, thirteen ounces. And she looks terrific. No complications.”
Wait a minute. “Except for the worst complication of all,” I said. “She has no home. Her mom is sixteen. She used a fake name. As soon as the baby was born, she legally handed her to me and took off for good several hours later.”
“Did anyone ever find out her real name? Daria asked.
“No,” I said. “Except she told me her first name. It’s Crystal.”
Daria made notes on an iPad. Then she set it down, crossed her arms, and looked from Adam to me. “You two are both young and single. Why are you both here at nearly midnight on a Saturday?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Adam said. “But I already know the answer. You always work too hard.”
Daria waved her son off. “Oh, I’m here for the same reason you are—I was worried. And I wanted to get things rolling before Monday.”
“I just wanted to make sure someone was holding her,” I said. Truthfully, I had the wild idea that I wanted this baby to know from the get-go that she was loved. Of course she was—the entire hospital was loving her. “Her mom trusted me, and I want to make sure that we’re doing all we can for her.”
Daria nodded. “It’s my job to do everything in my power to find this baby a good home ASAP.”
“Mom, tell us what happens next.”
This was so weird. I was sitting next to the guy I’d slept with last summer while he talked to his mom, who also worked here.
He clearly had a great relationship with her—easy and funny and honest. I found that all very intriguing.
Not to mention that when Adam wasn’t grumpy, he was sort of irresistibly attractive.
“A surrendered baby gets declared a ward of the state,” Daria said. “So we contact Children’s Services, and they file a motion with the court asking for temporary custody. They conduct an investigation, assume the medical care, and then find a foster family.”
“Not an adoptive one?” I asked.
“Foster first. There’s no shortage of people wanting to adopt a new baby. Often, people foster with the intent of adopting, and those folks get first priority.”
“How do they pick a foster family?” I asked.
“Sometimes it can be relatives,” Daria said, “but in this case, we don’t have that. So the case worker will pick from the pool of foster parents. Oh, and the birth mother has thirty days to change her mind.”
I stared at the infant tucked into my arm. I guess I got a little teary because Adam put his hand on my arm, which didn’t go unnoticed by his mother.
It felt like rolling the dice, who she got as her parents. That seemed really scary. “How long does all that take?” I asked.
“We’ll try to have her placed with a foster family within a week,” Daria said. “It’s the weekend, so as soon as Monday hits, we’ll do everything we can to get the ball rolling.”
“Yes, of course.”
Daria moved to go. “I’m going to look through the baby’s chart and start getting things ready. Is there anything we might need to know about the mom’s health?”
“She was healthy,” I said. “I got a brief family history—nothing really significant.” I pulled out my phone and shared my list.
The baby was asleep in my arms, her hands on her face, fingers spread.
She was so sweet, the picture of innocence.
A fierce urge to protect her welled up inside of me.
I wanted to be her shield. Her guardian angel.
I wanted to vet everyone personally and find her the most spectacular parents anywhere so that she would feel no hardship, no pain. If only that were possible.
“I’d better go start the paperwork,” Daria said. “I’ll see you both on your way out.”
“And I’ve got to do diaper duty,” Dale said as he walked over to us with arms extended. “I’ll take her, Dr. Green.”
I suppose I hesitated, unconsciously unwilling to surrender the baby right away. I wasn’t sure why I was taking this so personally.
“You want to hold her for a few more minutes?” Dale hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “I can start on the other end.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to be a baby hog. Here you go.”
I handed her over and accidentally met Adam’s eyes.
He must have sensed the turmoil I thought I was hiding. “You can come back in the morning,” he said quietly.
“No, it’s not that.” I cleared my throat.
He looked at me with kind eyes. It was a rare moment when he’d forgotten to put on his grumpy mask. “My mom knows all the case workers at Children’s Services. She’ll do everything possible to make certain that she gets a great family.”
“I understand.” He waited for me to get up, then gestured for me to go ahead of him out of the nursery.
We walked past Daria at the nursing station and walked halfway down the ward. It was very quiet, the blue floor lights illuminating the dark hall in a strange midnight way.
I was standing across from him, but I wasn’t really seeing him. My brain was spinning with ideas that seemed far-fetched and improbable and yet seemed exactly right.
“I want her, Adam.” I said practically at the same time that I thought it. It flew out of my mouth, low and soft, but not wavering.
He spun around. “What did you say?” He looked exactly like my dad did two minutes before my wedding when I said I couldn’t marry Tyler.
I put my hand over my chest to still my pounding heart. “I want to foster the baby.”