Birdie
“Igrabbed Juniper’s sun hat, and your mom said they already have the little splash pad set—”
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, hands full of the last minute things I realized we needed before heading over to Lachlan’s.
It was literally a five minute walk back to Beau’s if we forgot anything, but I didn’t want the two of them to miss a moment of their special day together.
Beau was speaking to a woman I hadn’t seen before.
“Beau?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
The woman nodded, not extending her hand toward me. That’s when I realized she was holding an envelope in her hand. “Ms. Calloway, we spoke on the phone at the beginning of your administrative leave.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Would you like to come in?”
“No, thank you. I’m simply here to tell you that your privileges at the hospital will remain suspended as we launch a formal investigation into several reports made to the Texas Board of Midwifery.
Due to the severity of the claims, which you can find inside this folder—” she shoved the envelope out towards me, but Beau grabbed it before I had a chance to, “—the hospital has no choice but to move forward with this, reviewing not only these claims, but your entire case load with us. You, of course, are allowed to find representation and dispute any of the claims made against you. The hospital will be in contact about next steps soon. In the meantime, I must remind you to not have any contact with your coworkers or anyone at the hospital during this time. Your council can coordinate record requests through me, my card is in the paperwork. Do you have any questions?”
I shook my head, too dumbfounded to speak.
“Have a nice day.”
I stood there, staring as she walked down the steps and out to her car.
My career was everything to me. I’d sacrificed years to hone my skills. If I lost that—putting off having a family, saying no to all the memories I could have made with people I love over the years—it wouldn’t have been worth it. I wouldn’t be worth anything.
Darkness tinged the outer field of my vision.
Everything in my chest felt tight and itchy.
Every birth for the last six months flooded my mind.
There had been nothing that stood out. My notes were meticulous.
That would be reflected in the records. I couldn’t think of a single patient, pregnant or not, that I hadn’t handled with extreme compassion, understanding, and given my best care to.
“Chickadee?” Beau’s hands wrapped around my waist. “Hey, baby. Everything is going to be okay. I promise, I’m going to make sure it is. But right now, I need you to take some deep breaths with me, okay?”
I blinked slowly. No. There had to be something I was missing.
A patient at the clinic. Something not pregnancy related, but women’s healthcare.
I thought back through every birth control consultation, every pap smear, every peri-menopause chat, every IUD insertion.
Nothing came back as something that could cause someone to report me to the state.
“Birdie, breathe.” The rumble in Beau’s chest was enough to ground me.
I looked up at his face, only to crumble under the weight of his confusion.
He held onto me, guiding me back into the recliner opposite of the couch.
The fabric, normally cozy and comforting, grated against the exposed skin on my back and arms. I didn’t want to be sitting down.
I needed to be moving. I needed to take action.
To set the wheels into motion to clear my name.
“It’s going to be okay.”
I shook my head, the words refusing to come to the surface. I was overreacting. This was going to be nothing. I would be cleared.
Or I wouldn’t, and I’d lose the career I’d poured my heart and soul into. I’d lose the patients I cared so deeply about. I wouldn’t be able to serve the community. I wouldn’t be anything to anyone…
“I’m getting really sick of people taking the goddamn light out of your eyes. Take a deep breath for me, sweetheart. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. But I need you to listen to me right now, and take a fucking breath.”
Beau was right. I needed to calm down and think. Being hysterical or letting my panic control me wasn’t going to get me anywhere. We had a party to go to, and I wasn’t about to let this ruin the day.
Beau’s warm hands held mine as his thumbs stroked gently over my skin.
“It’s going to be okay. I have never met a more thorough, compassionate, or caring medical provider before. There’s no doubt in my mind that whatever this is, it won’t hold up. Do you want to look in the envelope together? I’ll be right here with you.”
I shook my head. I’d already spoken to the lawyer Beau got ahold of before.
All I needed to do was reach out to them again.
They’d tell me what the next step was. It took every extra ounce of energy I had to push down my anxiety, but I did.
Clearing my throat, I set my hand on his arm.
“No. I don’t need to see what’s inside there right now.
You can send it to the lawyer for me, right? ”
“Of course I can. Are you sure you—”
“I’m sure,” I interrupted his half-asked question. “I’m not going to let this stop us from having a great day. This is some other day's problem. Whatever is inside that envelope doesn’t matter. Right now, we need to get Juniper over to Lach’s so we can start the celebrations.”
I got up from the chair and scooped Juniper out of her play pen.
“What do you say, my little lemon drop? Should we go see what this crazy family of yours has put together to celebrate your big day?”
“And then he poked me in the eye with the mascara wand!”
It had been the right call to push through.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard.
The grill was going, filling the backyard with mouthwatering smoke from the steaks and burgers Danny had just dropped on, and my heart was so happy.
A squishy Juniper was in my arms, chewing away on the strap of her sun hat.
Violet choked on her sip of lemonade, Hayes lightly slapping at her back while balancing Connor in his other arm. “Hold still, wiggle worm,” he teased his nephew. “We need to hear this whole story in case we need to blackmail Uncle Beau with it!”
“No,” I laughed, “no blackmail. It was so sweet of him! My wrist has been feeling so much better, and then today it just was aching out of nowhere.”
“You look great.” Vi reached out and squeezed my arm. “You and Juniper are so cute in your matching dresses.”
I smiled, looking over at him talking to Jessie. “That was another Beau thing. He ordered me a dress so we could match.”
Violet’s hand went to her heart.
“Damn, he becomes a girl dad and finally locks down the girl of his dreams, then what? Becomes a sap?”
“Don’t be mean.” I locked my jaw and widened my eyes.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed. “I probably need to be taking a few notes. I’m the best looking brother and I’m going to be single forever!”
“Debatable,” Violet laughed.
“Thanks for believing in me, Vee.”
“Oh, no.” She patted his back. “I wasn’t talking about the ‘being single forever thing’—that might be true. I think it’s debatable whether or not you’re the best looking Ford brother.”
Hayes’s mouth dropped open. “Damn. You know what…that’s probably fair, because you never saw me in the Silver Springs charity calendar from a couple years back.
They let me use the hose for my picture, it’s amazing.
You know what? Here.” He handed Connor back to Violet.
“I’m going to go inside and see where Lach’s copy is.
I gifted one to everyone in the family, I’m sure he still has it…
Birdie, you’re getting a little red on your cheeks. ”
I didn’t give it a second thought as Hayes pulled his hat from his head and plopped it onto mine. I’d worn a long braid to keep my hair mostly off my neck, and I knew it could handle the hat without looking terrible when Hayes would come and take it back.
“Thanks. I’m surprised at how strong the sun is today. My gosh.”
Violet chuckled as she settled Connor on her hip. “He’s not going to like that, you know?”
“Who?”
“Beau. He’s not going to like that Hayes’s hat is on your head.”
I shrugged, laughing as I saw his eyes narrow on me. “He can come take it off if it bothers him that much.”