Chapter 50 #2
Ava shakes her head. “I want Trevor to do it.” She looks at me, grimacing through another contraction. “You deliver her.”
I look at Dr. Russo, who shrugs. “You do work here.” She steps back. “I’ll be right here in case you need me.”
My heart thunders loudly as excitement, gratitude, and elation course through me. Yeah, I’m a doctor. And yeah, I’ve delivered babies before. But it never crossed my mind that I’d be delivering my baby.
“Is… is that okay?” Ava asks. “Do you want to?”
“Hell yes, I want to.” I hold my hands out as Kara drapes me in a gown.
I put on a mask and gloves as Kara drops down the end of the bed to prep for delivery.
“Is the photographer here?” Ava asks.
Now that’s an odd question I definitely wasn’t expecting. “Um, I don’t know. Why would she be?”
“Can you ask? I want to have pictures, Trevor. Please?”
My wife, ladies and gentleman. She’s got a wedding dress hiked up to her armpits. Her hair is sweaty and matted, and the veil has fallen slightly to one side. Yet she wants to record this for posterity. Or maybe she wants to record it for me—so I never forget.
I shoot a glance at Kara.
“I’m on it,” she says, racing from the room.
Two minutes later, just as another contraction hits and Ava starts pushing, Kara returns, the photographer in tow.
“I’ve only ever done weddings,” the photographer says, looking uneasy.
“Keep it modest,” I tell the woman. “Nothing too graphic.”
As she’s turned a shade paler since entering the room, I doubt that’ll be a problem. I hear the click of the camera as she starts taking pictures of Ava. Then, up near Ava’s shoulders, she aims the camera at me. And I realize what a genius my wife is.
We’re going to have photos of me delivering our child. I can’t think of a better memory to have captured in pictures.
And as Ava bears down and I see the top of the baby’s head appear and go through the cardinal movements of labor, I’m transcended into a different man. I’m watching myself from above, an out of body experience, as my daughter slips through the birth canal and I become a father.
Suddenly, Jordan is in my arms. She’s pink and perfect and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Barely able to see her through my tears, I carefully stand up and place her on the waiting blanket on Ava’s chest. I rip off my mask and lean over to kiss my wife. “Great job, Mommy.”
“Mommy,” she blubbers, taking in our daughter. “I never thought this day would come. I’m a mom.”
The quiet awe in her voice slays me as I watch the woman I love become even more beautiful as her dream comes true.
Umbilical cord scissors are handed to me. “Dr. Criss,” Russo says. “Or should I say Dad? Would you like to do the honors?”
I take them. “You bet your ass I would.”
Ava laughs as I untether her from our daughter.
Someone else appears around the curtain. It’s Cam Gordon, a pediatric resident. “I hear there’s been some excitement down here.”
“There has,” Kara says. “Dr. Criss just delivered his own baby.”
Cam’s eyebrows rise. “Well, damn, you really are a jack of all trades. We’re sure going to miss you around here.”
For just a moment, the happiness I’m feeling flickers into something else. But it passes as soon as Cam tells us Jordan looks good, something he’ll confirm when he takes her up for the usual tests.
I sit gently on the bed beside Ava and put an arm around her. “I told you everything would work out.”
The clicks of the camera remind me how every moment is being recorded, and that these pictures will surely become some of the most cherished of my life.
“Let’s move these two up to the maternity ward, shall we?” Russo says.
Ava is transferred to another bed for transport as I pull the curtain aside, ready to help out. But Ava stops me. “Go tell them.” She nods to the front of the ER. “I’m sure there are some people waiting. Your parents, anyway.”
“Some?” the photographer says. “Try all.” She laughs. “I think the entire town is out there. You two sure are lucky to have such a great group of family and friends.”
Her words wrap around me like a warm blanket, right before sending a dagger into my heart.
“Two minutes,” I say, assuring Ava I won’t be away from them any longer than necessary.
With my phone, I snap a picture of Jordan, now swaddled in a baby blanket and sleeping peacefully. Then I kiss Ava. We smile at each other as the two most important people in my life are slowly wheeled away.
When I push through the doors to the ER waiting room, nobody even notices me.
I stand for a moment and take it all in.
There are dozens of people, still decked out in their fancy clothes, some eating finger foods off a makeshift buffet table in the corner.
They’re all talking, laughing, and reminiscing.
And a fundamental shift occurs inside me. This is our village. Our tribe. Our family. I can’t fucking take her away from this.
Mom notices me and runs over, others swarming after her.
“It’s a girl!” I shout jubilantly.
People whoop and cheer and clap. They all knew it was going to be a girl. But now she’s here. And she’s healthy. And we’re the family Ava always dreamed we’d be.
I show Mom and Dad the picture and then my phone gets passed around from person to person as I quickly tell them about the delivery.
Dad grips my shoulders and looks into my eyes. “You’re a great doctor, son. I’m so proud of you. And wherever you go, you’re going to do amazing things.”
I smile. “I’m not going anywhere, Dad.”
Carter sidles up to me, having overheard. His eyebrows slash low. “What does that mean exactly?”
I clap a hand on his back. “It means I’m doing fucking better.”
He eyes me strangely, but I don’t say anything more. I have to get back to my wife and daughter.
I heave in a deep breath as the entirety of the situation strikes me like a bolt of lightning.
I have a daughter.
I’m a dad.
“I have to go. I’ll keep you all updated.” I race past them and toss a look over my shoulder. “Save us some cake!”
Up on the maternity floor, I’m greeted and congratulated by everyone I pass. One of the nurses directs me to Ava’s room. When I enter, it’s completely quiet. She’s been changed into a hospital gown. And she’s sleeping.
I take a moment to study her. Her hair is down now, flowing off the pillow in long, loose curls. Her face is fresh and cleaned up from the wedding makeup that was smeared with sweat and tears. She’s so peaceful. So goddamn beautiful.
The door opens and Cam appears, pushing a wheeled bassinet. Usually nurses do this, so I prickle with concern.
“Everything’s great,” Cam says, clearly noticing my change in demeanor. “I just wanted to report it myself being you’re one of my favorite fellow doctors.”
I shake his hand. “I feel the same about you.”
“I don’t see any reason why your daughter won’t be able to be released on schedule. No surprises. Her lungs are fully developed. She’s perfect.”
It’s hard to hold back tears when I’ve just been told my daughter is perfect. I pick her up and tuck her into the crook of my arm, reveling in the feeling. Vowing to remember every moment, cherish every second, remember each wonderful emotion coursing through me.
“I’ll leave you three alone.” He pats me on the back. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, man.”
Ava stirs when the door clicks shut. Her eyes open, she sees me holding Jordan, and a happy sigh is forced from her lungs, as if in sleep she’d forgotten what happened.
“She’s really okay?”
I nod proudly. “She’s amazing. She’ll be able to go home when you do.”
“I’m so glad it was you, Trev.”
I know she’s talking about the delivery, but I also know it’s a reference to the same words I spoke to her not so many months ago.
I sit on the side of the bed and put Jordan into her arms. “We’re not leaving.”
She looks up, confused. “But you just said—”
“Calloway Creek. We’re not leaving Calloway Creek. I’m not taking the job.”
Her elation over Jordan turns to concern. “You can’t turn it down. It’s an amazing opportunity.”
“I can and I will.”
She shakes her head. “I love you too much to let you do that.”
I chuckle softly and kiss her head. “I know you do, which is exactly why we’re staying.”
“But you’d be giving up so much.”
“I’m not giving up anything. Babe, I love you.
As much as I know you love me and want me to follow my dream, that’s how much I love you.
That’s how much I want our dream. I love you more than any job.
Remember the letter I wrote to you when I said I lived to make you happy?
That’s still true. You aren’t going to be happy living in Atlanta, and I’m not going to be happy if you aren’t happy. ”
“Trev—”
I put my fingers to her lips. “Listen to me. There will be other jobs, Ava. But there will never be another place like this. There will never be another Calloway Creek. Or Criss Coffee Corner. And there sure as hell will never be another tree like our tree. You and Jordan deserve to be around everyone who loves you. This is where she should grow up. This is the village that’s going to help raise her.
I can’t take you away from that. I love you too much. ”
Tears stream down her face. “We really are soulmates, you know that, Trevor Criss? I know it for sure now. I know it because we’ve both been willing to give up something we love for the other. But just to be clear, I’m not the one who needs to win here. And you need to be one hundred percent sure.”
I run a thumb across Jordan’s soft cheek. “We’re both winners here, I promise you. I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.” I laugh, because my life only started seven short months ago, and for the first time, I’m not even upset about it anymore. “At least I don’t think I have.”
I kiss away her tears and snuggle in bed next to my new family knowing this is exactly where we belong. Not only that—it’s where I belong.
After a few more moments of bonding, I face her with a broad, wry smile. “I hope you’re not too tired.”
Her brow rises, waiting for an explanation.
I gesture to the door. “There’s a man out there somewhere waiting to marry us.”
Her jaw hangs open. “Here? Now?” She looks down at her hospital gown.
“Babe, you’ve never looked more beautiful.
And I can’t think of a better time to do this than right now with you holding our child.
” I lean close and lightly brush my lips against hers.
“This day is already the best day of my life. Let’s go all in and make it one neither of us will ever forget. Say yes, Ava.”
Her misty eyes and reverent smile are all the answer I need.