Chapter 5 #2
“Are you telling me that her teachers reported her actions to you?” Evan knew it was true.
It had happened when Kylie had gotten into trouble in third grade.
One of Genevieve’s friends was her teacher and there were some bullying issues with a little girl from the south end of the island where the homes start at two million dollars.
“Well, let’s just say you have the asshole rich boys or the cocky SEALs filling the dating pool on this island.” Leave it to Genevieve to cut to the chase and accurately describe the situation.
“Let’s hope she picked a SEAL.” Given those choices, his men won every time.
“Let’s hope she didn’t.” Genevieve stared at him from the other side of the vehicle. “That didn’t work out well for us.”
“True,” he admitted.
Parking was easy and they went straight to Kylie’s room but were stopped at the nurses’ station by Lieutenant Sanders.
“Captain Hubbard, ma’am, I’m so sorry for your loss.
” The nurse straightened her shoulders, almost coming to attention as she blanked her face.
“Per hospital policy, your daughter has been taken to the morgue. We are required to perform an autopsy.” Her face seemed to soften.
“It’s highly unusual that a healthy woman passes away during childbirth, but it does happen.
Statistically, seven in ten thousand births end in the mother’s death according to the CDC. I looked it up.”
“Do I need to go to the morgue and identify?—”
“No, sir.” Thank Christ the lieutenant cut him off before his voice broke.
Evan knew Genevieve was designated next-of-kin, but he didn’t want her to have to go down and identify the body. He’d seen dead bodies before and didn’t want Kylie’s cold blanched face to be Genevieve’s last memory of their daughter.
“We knew who she was since she was a patient, and because she passed away under our care, we are legally obligated to determine the cause of death,” she explained. What she didn’t say, was that the hospital may have fucked up and needed to know if they were legally culpable.
“Can we…see her?” Genevieve asked with bright eyes as she fought back tears.
At that, the young lieutenant glanced up at Evan.
“I don’t have the authority to allow you into the morgue.
That permission needs to come from the administration who won’t arrive until approximately seven-thirty.
” She straightened her shoulders again. “Mrs. Hubbard, you were designated as next-of-kin. Our records show that Kylie was considering putting the baby up for?—”
“No. She’s decided to keep Ian.” Genevieve whipped out her phone and shoved the text message toward the lieutenant. She stepped closer to Evan. “We’re going to help her raise the baby…Ian. She named him Ian.” She was talking so fast it was hard to keep up.
Then she broke into tears and buried her face in his shoulder. He automatically wrapped his arm around her.
“Kylie texted us both last night. She’d decided to keep the baby.” He glanced down at his ex-wife who looked up at him with questioning eyes. “We’re keeping our grandson.”
As though infused with strength, she smiled up at him, looking like the hopeful bride he’d married. She turned to face the nurse and lightly leaned into him, crossing her arms. “We’re keeping Ian.”
Lieutenant Sanders smiled. “He’s in the nursery. Let’s go see your little boy.”
Evan glanced down the hall where his daughter had given birth a few hours ago.
She'd been exhausted after the childbirth, dozing while he and Vivi fussed over their new grandson who stared at them with unusual green-gold eyes. When the baby fell asleep in Genevieve’s arms, she laid him in his bassinet.
Glancing at a sleeping Kylie, she had whispered, “We should go.”
Their daughter stirred. “I’m awake.”
“We’re going to let the two of you sleep.” He’d kissed Ky on the top of her head and told her, “I love you, sweetie.”
“I love you too, Dad.” She gave him a huge smile. “Thanks for being here.”
“Thanks for letting me share in this…” he couldn’t find the words to describe the joy and wonder he’d experienced the moment the doctor handed him his grandson.
The baby was the ugliest and the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Covered in gross goo that Evan refused to think about, the tiny face that was smaller than the palm of his hand scrunched up and let out a howl.
At his panicked look, the doctor reassured him, “it’s good for him to exercise his lungs.”
He looked at his grandson. “Then you scream all you want. Lung capacity is extremely important when diving.” When he realized what he’d said, he glanced toward his daughter who wasn’t paying any attention. He’d already presumed that the precious infant in his big hands would be there all his life.
Evan sent up a small prayer asking God to guide his daughter to make the right decision for her as well as for the new life he cradled so tenderly.
We’ll support you in your decision is what he’d said, but he truly hoped she’d decide to keep his grandson.
He’d wanted more children, hoped for a son who he could teach to catch balls, every kind of ball.
Footballs. Basketballs. Baseballs. He’d played nearly every sport in school, was very athletic.
Then he’d wanted to teach his son to swim and dive.
Evan loved the water. They’d explore the underwater world together.
But none of those secret plans had developed. He and Genevieve had decided to space their children out. Four years sounded great. Get one out of college before the next one entered.
When the time came to work on having a second baby, he and Genevieve were already arguing constantly over his lack of attention to either of them. His job had become all-consuming of his time and energy. He was too exhausted to deal with a wife and baby when he got home.
He could now admit that Vivi had been right.
He hadn’t taken the time back then to appreciate what he had in either his wife or daughter.
He could have taught Kylie all those things.
He was stateside more than enough to spend time with her, and Vivi.
But he’d made his choices back then, albeit bad ones in retrospect.
She had been right. He’d been a selfish, self-centered bastard.
Even in his own mind, he’d convinced himself that he was focused on his career, being the best SEAL possible.
In truth, that tiny baby girl back home scared the shit out of him.
He didn’t know what to do with girls. He’d never been around them as a child, and until middle school, didn’t care about girls.
By the time he was in high school, girls were too much bother for anything other than sex.
And when Evan thought about that, he went ballistic. No little prick was ever going to try to smooth-talk his daughter into having his way with her.
But some man had.
The proof had been asleep in the hospital bassinette as he gave his grandson one last, longing look. He practically had to tug Vivi out of the room.
In the hall, he’d pulled her to a stop and into his arms. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when you went through that,” he confessed. “You were right, I was a self-centered bastard.”
She raised her head from his shoulder. “Are you that old that you’ve forgotten, or is it your selective memory again?
You were out to sea, deep water training.
Even the Red Cross couldn’t get hold of you to let you know I was in labor.
” She shrugged one shoulder. “I had my girlfriends there to help me through and admire our little baby girl.”
“But I wasn’t there for you,” he insisted.
She stepped back, out of his arms and miles away. “That was the story of our married life.”
Back in the present, Evan gave the darkened hallway one last sweeping glance before he followed the women to the nursery…to his grandson.