Prologue #2
“Brady will get there in time,” Sandy assured her breezily. “First babies take a long time to arrive. And since I’m head of HR, I’ll make sure the paperwork starts today regarding your maternity leave. This is so exciting, Kylie. You’re going to be meeting Amy Marie soon!”
When Brady had resisted any attempt for them to choose a name together, Kylie took it upon herself to select their daughter’s name.
Amy and Marie were the names of her two grandmothers, and she thought they sounded beautiful together.
Of course, Gwendolyn Masters would be upset that the baby wasn’t named for her, but Kylie was done with trying to please her antagonizing mother-in-law.
They reached the hospital, and Sandy parked, insisting on going inside with Kylie. They stopped at the registration desk. Thankfully, she had done online preregistration, so she only had to answer a few questions before a nurse appeared with a wheelchair.
Kylie took a seat in it and looked to Sandy. “Thank you again for all you’ve done.”
“Text me when Amy Marie is here,” Sandy said and waved goodbye.
The nurse rolled her to a bank of elevators, asking about Kylie’s contractions. She was taken to one of the rooms which was multi-purpose. She would do both labor and delivery in this room. That is, if no complications occurred.
She was examined by an OB resident, telling the resident that she had last eaten at breakfast, around six-fifteen this morning.
“Just ice chips from here on out,” the resident told her. “Will your husband be here soon? Or partner?”
“I’ve tried to reach him. Hopefully, he’s on his way now.”
Not that Brady would be much good. He had skipped the prenatal classes, as well as those where Kylie and other expectant mothers had worked on their breathing. She had been the only one in the class without a partner and caught the pitying glances from others.
Once the resident left, Kylie dug her cell phone from her purse and called Brady, angry when it went to voicemail again.
“I’m at the hospital now, no thanks to you. You need to get here now, Brady. I don’t care what meeting you’re in or what case you’re working on. This is the birth of our first child. Don’t miss it.”
She hung up, her thoughts going places they shouldn’t. That wasn’t good for the baby. Instead, Kylie began breathing slowly in and out, trying to calm herself.
Her contractions increased over the next several hours, with the resident checking her progress frequently. When she was dilated to a seven, the resident said, “I’ll let Dr. Blankenship know you’re getting close, Kylie. You’re doing great. Keep hanging in there.”
The woman gave her a sympathetic smile, and she knew it was because Brady had yet to appear.
If only her parents weren’t so far away.
Driftwood Bay seemed a million miles from Dallas at this moment.
Kylie felt a wave of homesickness wash over her.
She had grown up in a Texas coastal town and was always happiest near the water.
She’d hoped one day to return to the Bay.
Marrying Brady changed all that, however.
He wanted to be an attorney who raked in a huge salary and lived in a big house, driving the latest sports car.
When they had bought their first house after he’d been with his law firm for a year, she had thought four thousand square feet to be way too much.
They still hadn’t furnished many of the rooms in the house.
Brady had said he wanted a professional interior designer to decorate it, and they didn’t come cheap.
He had hired someone who had furnished the great room, dining room, and their bedroom.
All the other rooms in the house stood vacant, except for the nursery.
Kylie insisted that she would take care of decorating it, and she’d gone with a Noah’s ark theme, with a mural on the wall of the ark and pairs of animals on all the walls.
How many women in the middle of a contraction contemplated divorce?
That was exactly what she was thinking as the strong pain rippled through her.
Her husband seemed to have no interest in their daughter and little interest in Kylie herself.
He had changed so much since they had first begun dating in college.
His head had been turned by money, prestige, and power, while she valued relationships and family above all else.
Dr. Blankenship came into the room. “How is my favorite mama-to-be?” he asked.
“You say that to all expecting mothers,” she teased back, pushing aside all thought of Brady so she could concentrate on Amy Marie’s impending arrival.
“Let me have a look, Kylie.”
The OB checked her. “Just past nine centimeters. We’re going to be having a baby very soon.” Then he frowned. “Did Brady step out? If so, text him to get back here pronto.”
Even though her husband had come to none of her appointments with this physician, her doctor still knew Brady’s name. That was the kind of man she wished she had married. One who was caring and nurturing.
“He’s not here,” she said flatly. “I left numerous messages. I haven’t heard back from him.”
Dr. Blankenship took her hand in his. Concern filled his eyes. “I’m here for you, Kylie. We’ll get this done together. You aren’t alone.”
Another contraction came, and her previous low moans shifted in volume and intensity. She felt something odd in her belly and bit her lip. Her gaze met her OB’s.
“Something isn’t right,” she got out, severe abdominal pain crashing into her. The contraction didn’t let up. It only grew in intensity and became constant, even as the fetal heart rate monitor began to sound shrilly.
Immediately, Dr. Blankenship sprang into action and examined her again, then he barked succinct orders at the nurse. Something about preparing an OR.
“But I’m supposed to have the baby here,” she protested weakly, the sharp pain cranking up, causing her to scream in agony.
“Kylie, the baby is in fetal distress. Your uterine wall has torn open. We need to hurry and get the baby out and operate to stop your bleeding. You’re both in danger.”
She couldn’t reply because the pain now overwhelmed her. Kylie knew she sounded like an animal in the wild, but she couldn’t help it.
Staff appeared and rolled her from the room, heading for the elevators. She realized they had just passed Brady and heard him call, “Hey, wait a minute.”
Her vision was clouded by pain, and the next thing she knew, she was in an operating room, the harsh, bright lights causing her to squint. A tent had been erected at her waist, shielding her from the doctors working on her, and she had no idea what was going on.
Suddenly, Brady appeared next to her.
“I’m here,” he said.
Kylie looked up, seeing him wearing a hospital gown and hairnet, thinking he would be horrified if he looked in a mirror and caught sight of himself.
“Take her hand,” one of the nurses demanded. “Comfort her.”
His hand enveloped hers, and she gripped it tightly, agony flooding her.
“Ow!” Brady said, shaking her loose.
She couldn’t help it. Kylie began laughing hysterically. Here she had done all the heavy lifting all these months, and now she felt her body was being ripped apart, yet Brady complained that she had held his hand too tightly.
Kylie was done. She would ask for a divorce as soon as they were alone and she could speak coherently.
She couldn’t remember much after that. She heard a baby’s weak cry and hoped all was well. A nurse said something to her, but Kylie was beyond understanding by that point. Darkness enveloped her.
When she came to, she was in a hospital room. Had she passed out from the pain? Or had they given her anesthesia? Most likely, the second, because she felt groggy, her mouth dry as a desert, her head pounding with a dull ache. She glanced around the room, spying Brady sleeping on a nearby sofa.
Then a nurse appeared, a bundle in her arms. Kylie’s heart leaped, knowing her daughter was inside that blanket.
Her daughter. Not theirs. She already knew Brady would be an absentee father if she stayed married to him.
It would be up to her to do all the work of raising Amy Marie, so she might as well cut ties with him and do it on her own.
The nurse said, “Dr. Blankenship and Dr. Peters will be here in a few minutes. They want to speak with you and your husband. In the meantime, please leave your baby swaddled in her blanket for her safety.”
Kylie thought that odd, but she nodded. She felt so weak and dizzy, but the moment the nurse placed Amy Marie in her arms, strength poured through her. She gazed down at this perfect child, love bursting from her.
This was what motherhood felt like. Pure love and joy.
Yes, there would be crying when her baby was hungry or tired or not feeling well.
Conquering stubbornness as she became a toddler.
Arguments over when she could get a phone or how old she had to be in order to date or when she could drive a car.
But now, in this moment, a powerful bond formed between Kylie and her girl, one which would never be broken.
“I love you, my precious Amy Marie,” she said softly, kissing the baby’s brow.
Then her daughter opened her eyes, causing Kylie to fall even more in love with her. At the same time, something seemed … different.
It came to her. The almond-shaped eyes which slanted upward. The tiny nose. A wave of emotion swept through her.
Amy Marie had Down syndrome.
And it didn’t make a bit of difference to Kylie.
It would to Brady, though. He was obsessed with looks.
He had joked with her when they were first dating, telling her that she should marry him because they would have amazingly beautiful children.
She had laughed at the time—but she’d never forgotten his words.
Now that he was so into money and appearance, wanting them to have the perfect house and the perfect marriage, this darling infant wouldn’t fit his idea of the perfect baby.
Maybe he would let her go more easily because of it.