Chapter Forty-One
Darla
I could stay wrapped in Theo’s arms forever, but the mommy guilt kicks in. I should be in the waiting room in case Stella needs me.
Theo props himself up on his elbow and leans in to give me another kiss. “In case there’s a fire, my name is Theo Edwards. And you are…”
He makes me laugh. “Darla, and we have a child. So if there is a fire, let’s please go get her together before we run out of here.”
“Absolutely. Together forever.” He points at me. “And no more important information by email.”
I hold up my index, middle, and ring fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
He cringes.
“What’s wrong?”
He buries his face in my chest. “I, uh, I need to do a better job of stashing condoms in my wallet.”
And we have now come full circle. I laugh, making his head bounce on my chest. “Dr. Edwards, you should know better.” If we got pregnant again, I would think we won the jackpot.
“Excuse me, but I don’t make a habit of having… S-E-X at work. I’m shocked I even have my wallet with me.”
His phone buzzes, making us both snap out of our sex-induced haze. He grabs it off the bedside table. “It’s Dr. Michaels.”
My lungs stop. I clutch the sheet and pray that everything’s okay.
“This is Theo,” he says into his phone. He bites his lip and listens intently. All of a sudden, his eyes get big, and he gives me a thumbs-up.
Finally, I can breathe again.
“Thank you. Yes. We’ll see you first thing in the morning.” He hangs up the phone and grabs me in a big hug. “She’s out of surgery, off the vent, and breathing on her own. Everything’s good. She should be awake in the morning for us to visit with her.”
When I think I have no tears left, I produce about a gallon more. My breath catches in my throat. Theo rubs my back to help calm me. I bury my face in his chest.
He takes a deep breath. “As much as I want to stay here all night, I left my diabetic kit in the waiting room. I need to check my blood sugar.”
“Of course.” I wipe my eyes and sit up. When I do, my hand lands on the call button. It lets out a loud beep.
I gasp.
Theo flies out of the bed, his legs tangled in the sheet. “We gotta go.”
I jump up but can’t find my clothes. His T-shirt is still on the blood pressure machine, so I snatch it and throw it on.
“Hey, what am I supposed to wear?”
I shrug and point to my sweatshirt on the floor by the door. “Wear that.” I throw on my jeans and stuff my bra and panties in the front pocket.
Theo jumps into his pants, not wasting time trying to find his underwear. He yelps when he zips up his jeans. He should have slowed down for that. He throws on my sweatshirt, inside out, picks up his sneakers, and peers into the hall.
“Let’s go.”
I grab my purse and shoes and let him lead me toward the elevator. A security guard rounds the corner at the other end of the hallway as we safely scoot into the elevator. I balance on one foot at a time while I put on my shoes. Theo doesn’t even bother. We face each other and bust out laughing.
As soon as the elevator deposits us in front of the ICU waiting room, Theo puts a finger to his lips, signaling me to stay quiet. Our baby is getting better, but so many other families are still in anguish. I have to be respectful to them. We tiptoe into the dark room. Theo grabs his kit from his usual corner and a blanket from the cabinet. I lead him to my designated loveseat. He wraps a blanket around us, giving us a tiny bit of privacy. Theo places a chaste kiss on my lips before he unzips his kit and checks his sugar. After he has given himself his insulin, he tugs me onto his lap. Theo’s hand slides up my thigh, making me giggle.
“Shh, you’re going to wake up the other parents,” he whispers. With the other hand, he thumb wrestles me. Even in his weakened state, he can still whip my butt at thumb wrestling.
“You’re part of the problem,” I say. “I cannot believe we did that.”
“I can. I’ll never be able to go into room S5104 again without smiling.” He nibbles on my ear and presses my thumb down. Of course, he would be thinking of thumb wrestling. No fair. I’m distracted.
“And no protection… again,” I say.
“You are such a tramp, Nurse Battle. What am I going to do with you?”
“Me?”
“Shh. Yeah, you. First of all, Stella was conceived at a frat party. What if you’re pregnant again? This time, it was in a hospital bed—S5104 in case you forgot—while this baby’s big sister is in surgery? Our kids are going to be so messed up.”
Thinking of having a house full of little Theos converts me into a giggly schoolgirl. “All my fault, right?”
His hand creeps up my side under my “Don’t trust atoms” T-shirt that he was wearing an hour ago. He’s so adorable, wearing my inside-out sweatshirt. I wonder if anyone else noticed.
“Yep. That’s my story.”
“Her sister? So you’re convinced that I’m pregnant and that it’s a girl?”
“Uh-huh.” He kisses my neck. “I’ve got a name picked out too.”
“Thanks for consulting me. Is this payback for not being involved in the baby naming the first time around?”
He slides me onto my back on the loveseat. “Um, something like that. I’m kind of partial to Juliet.”
I giggle. “Uh, no.”
“Lady Macbeth?”
“Stop it. I like the name Grace.”
“Perfect. Can our third child be conceived in the old-fashioned way? In the backseat of a—oof.”
I’ve cut off his sentence by goosing him in the ribs. I tickle him until he slides to the floor with a thump.
“Are you all right?”
He gives me the thumbs-up. “I’m good. Uh-oh. I think I broke my pump again.”
“Ooooh, Stella’s going to be mad at you.”
“I liked it better when they hated each other,” one of the dads says from across the room. An oof comes from him. Moms have to stick together.
The next morning, we line up outside the entrance to the ICU, waiting for visiting hours to commence. Theo holds me close, and his fingers draw little circles on my back.
His family bursts into the waiting room. When they see Theo and me cozied up together, his mother raises her hands in the air. Her tears of joy are no match for Jennifer’s. She envelops Theo in a huge, all-consuming hug. Tommy wraps an arm around me and gives my shoulder a squeeze.
Isaac and Shelby enter, and when Isaac sees me shaking my head, he backpedals. I grab each of them by an arm and sit them down onto a couch away from Theo’s family. Theo stands by my side.
“How could you?” I ask.
Isaac curls into a ball. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I stuff my hand into Theo’s front jeans pocket.
“Down, girl,” Theo says. “Not here.”
“Oh, hush.” I retrieve the Hangman puzzle and throw the wadded piece of paper at Isaac. “Don’t try to deny it, Mr. Dyslexic.”
He cringes. “Oopsies, but it was her idea.” He points at Shelby.
She gasps. “That is not… well… it’s not completely true.”
I take a step forward, but Theo holds me back.
Shelby stands and takes my hands in hers. “We were joking around and thought there had to be a playful way to get you two together.” She grins at Theo. “I didn’t know Isaac actually did anything.” She bats her eyes at me and sighs. “Fine, I may have slipped him some useful information from time to time.” She points at Isaac. “Thanks a lot for getting me in trouble.”
She turns back to me. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but don’t be mad at him, or me for that matter. We love you and Stella. In Isaac’s crazy way, he wanted you to be happy.”
I peek over Shelby’s shoulder to see Isaac’s sad puppy-dog face.
Theo sticks his hand out to help Isaac off the couch. He gives Isaac a back slap and a hug. “Thanks, brother.”
If Theo isn’t mad at him, I certainly can’t be. He’s my best friend, and even if he deserves for me to be a bit angry at him, I can’t do it. I bury my head in his chest and wrap my arms around him. “From now on, let me be in charge of the games. You suck at spelling.”
His laughter rumbles through his chest. “You got it.”
Theo and I are finally admitted into Stella’s room, and we sit on her bed, obsessing over her. Her face isn’t sweaty, and her cheeks aren’t blazing hot anymore. And that damn tube is gone from her mouth. Theo cannot wipe the proud-papa grin off his face. He holds my hand and Stella’s and prays over us. He blesses our little family and thanks God for everything.
Dr. Michaels comes into the room. He’s beaming also. He has become so attached to Stella that he feels like one of the family now. “She came through the operation splendidly. We closed up her incisions. Her cultures are all negative. I think she’s turned a corner.”
He looks at Stella. “How do you feel?”
“My throat hurts,” she says hoarsely.
“Yes, that mean old tube scratched your throat. Ice chips will help. And soon, you can have ice cream.”
He focuses his attention on us. “I want to keep her a few more days, but I think she’s ready to taper off the steroids and start on oral antibiotics. As long as her leg appears free of infection and she doesn’t spike a fever, she may get to go to a regular room for a couple of days then go home.”
I grin at Stella. “Did you hear that? You might get to go home soon.”
Stella smiles sleepily.
I stand and hug Theo. He kisses me sweetly on the lips. Stella giggles.
I hug the doctor. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m only doing my job. I love it when it works out well.” His eyes brim with tears when he pats Theo on the shoulder. “You two seem like a couple now.”
Theo shrugs and pulls up the sweatshirt he’s wearing. He glances down at his waist then gets an oh shit expression on his face. “I, uh… I guess I lost my big-girl panties.”
I cover my face. My ears are flaming as I remember the yelp he let out when he zipped up his jeans without first putting his underwear back on. I cannot believe he said that in front of Dr. Michaels and Stella.
“Mommy, do his panties have Sleeping Beauty on them?”
“No! I mean, I don’t know. I, er, probably not.”
Dr. Michaels chuckles. “Ah, big-girl panties, huh?”
Theo giggles like a little girl. “Took me long enough, but I finally put them on.”
Dr. Michaels leans in to Theo. “My wife makes me wear mine every day.” He fist-bumps Theo and hugs me. “I’ll give you some time with Stella, but not long because she needs to rest.”
After he leaves, Theo and I are all over her again, showering her with lots of hugs and kisses. Her giggles are music to my ears.
“I’m so glad you’re feeling better. I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mommy.”
She touches Theo’s face. “I got a dimple just like you.”
He beams with pride.
“Can you roll your tongue?” she asks him.
He rolls his tongue.
She giggles. “Mommy can’t do that.” Her poor voice is almost completely gone.
Theo holds her face in his hands. “Did you know that my mommy’s name is Stella too?”
“Really?” Her eyes are so heavy that she can hardly keep them open.
“Yep. That’s your grandmother.”
That woke her up. Her eyes grow big, and she fist-bumps him. “Yes!”
I tickle her. “You’re a mess.”
“Daddy, can I ask you for something?” Her voice is so raspy, I can hardly make out her words.
I think Theo is a big puddle on the floor. He heard his daughter call him “daddy” for the first time. His face glows, and his eyes well up with tears. He wears a perma-smile. “You can have anything you want, Stella Bella.”
She motions for him to come closer. He leans down, and she cups her little hands around his ear to whisper to him. Clearly, this is a conversation not meant for me.
He gets an “oh my God” face. “Really?”
She nods ferociously.
A pink blush creeps over his face, and he giggles like a ten-year-old girl. “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll see what I can do.”
Oh dear, no telling what she wants. After all she’s been through, I might have to find room in my budget to get her a pony.
He smiles at me. “She wants a sister.”
In every game, there are winners and losers. But love is more than a game, and if played right, everyone wins. I know the three of us did.