CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nash
When I pull my phone from my locker I can see I have four missed calls from Beth. Punching redial, I call her back, a sense of panic rising inside me.
“Beth?”
“No, its Gretna, Nash, Beth has been trying to call you.”
“I didn’t have my phone on me. What’s going on? Is she okay?”
“Beth was bleeding, she’s in with the doctor at the moment. Can you come now? She needs you.”
“I’m on my way.” My heart sinks, Beth had been bleeding. What does that mean? Is the baby okay? The stupid argument we’d been having this morning felt incredibly trivial now.
I see Gretna in the hall and head directly for her, skipping the formalities. “How is she?”
“She’s tired, but she’s going to be okay.”
“Thank you for being there for her Gretna.”
“Sure, Beth is like my sister, we take care of our own, we look out for one another.” I can’t help but feel like Gretna has more to say, but we are interrupted by the ward nurse.
“Mr. Gibson, Bethany is asking after you.”
Beth is curled up on the bed, I have never seen her so tiny and fragile. “Sweetheart?”
“Nash?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m here now.” Her eyes are red and her cheeks are streaked with tears.
“I called and called you. I needed you, we needed you.” The sadness in her eyes is unmistakable. “Where were you, Nash?”
“I know, and I should have been there. I’m so so sorry.” I climb on to the bed beside her, thankfully she doesn’t resist me as I pull her back into my arms. “I was at the gym and had left my phone in the locker. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve never been more frightened in my life.”
“I am so sorry Beth.” I plant a kiss on her forehead as she snuggles in closer to me. “It’s going to be okay, I promise you, I am here now.”
“I needed you here with me. Please don’t leave me again.”
“Never, sweetheart, you should get some sleep. I’m here.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“Of course, there is nowhere else I would rather be.”
It doesn’t take long before Beth’s breathing shallows and evens out, I close my eyes resting my chin on the top of her head and I am suddenly flooded with the emotion of the possibility of losing our baby.
I wake up and Beth is watching me. It is slightly unnerving and I am a little disoriented.
“Oh hey.”
“Hi, stud.”
“How are you, sweetheart?”
“I’m much better now.”
“You’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine, really.” Her smile lights the room, and I know that she really is.
“And the baby?”
“Baby is fine. A little blood is nothing to worry about Maria said, I know that now.” She offers me a smile, I wonder if it is for my reassurance or her own.
“Oh, sweetheart, as long as you are both okay that is all that matters.” I kiss her forehead and hold her tight.
“We are. Hey, Maria said she would do a scan this morning. Will you stay?”
“Definitely.” I kiss her forehead, this had been a wakeup call and I vow never to let her down again. London was going to have to wait, there was no chance I was flying anywhere right now.
We’re interrupted by a soft knock on the door as Maria steps into the room. “Good morning, Beth. Nash, nice to see you again.” Her smile is reassuring and gentle, I climb off the bed as she fusses with a machine off to the side of the room. “So are we ready to see this baby of yours?”
Maria explains the process as she squirts some gel on to Beth’s stomach and runs a wand around on her skin. She presses some more buttons and then suddenly the room is filled with a racing heart, for a moment I thought it was mine, but the smile on Beth’s face tells me it is our baby’s. There are unshed tears in her eyes.
I lift her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles, afraid that if I don’t do something else to distract me in that moment I would be in tears as well.
“Okay folks, here is your baby, nice and strong heartbeat, everything looks good. Perfect in fact. Would you like a photo?”
We both nod, grinning at each other like idiots.
“That is our baby, Nash.”
Kissing her forehead I reply to her, over the lump in my throat. “Yes, sweetheart, it is.”
We watch while Maria takes some images of the screen, everything else in the world seems to fade away; all the stress and worries and stupid arguments seem ridiculously trivial as we watch our baby move on the screen.
Maria gave us the okay to go home later in the afternoon, but she stressed if there was any more bleeding then she wanted us to come straight back in. Beth was under strict instructions to rest for the next couple of days; I knew I would have to be on her case to make sure she followed orders. I got free reign to be bossy and I knew Beth was going to hate it.
As soon as we get back to her house I run Beth a bath, insisting she has a relaxing soak whilst I make us something to eat, she insists I make only sandwiches as to not burn her kitchen out again. So we made a deal and held up both our ends of the bargain.
Dressed in pajamas she comes to join me on the couch a little while later. She tucks her feet under her and snuggles in under my arm.
“How are you doing, Mumma?”
“Tired, which is ridiculous considering how much time I’ve spent in bed lately.”
“Well once you have eaten something we should get back into bed.”
“Oh really, Nash, what did you have in mind?”
“Don’t test me, woman, you’re making it very hard to be a gentleman.”
“But suddenly I’m no longer tired and there are other things I could make hard for you, stud.”
“You heard Maria, sweetheart, you need to rest, and I need to make some calls, so eat your sandwich and behave.” I need to call Walter and reschedule the meeting, there is no way in hell am I leaving Beth right now.
After I’m satisfied she is comfortable tucked up in bed, I make my way back to the living room to make the calls. Walt answers on the third ring after the international pips.
“Hi, Nash. How’s the break?”
“Hi, Walt, it’s been good, that’s the reason for calling actually I need to discuss coming back to London with you.”
“Nash, don’t tell me you are reconsidering the deal?”
“No, Walt, but some things have changed since last time we talked and I’m not confident I am going to be able to fly out as scheduled, actually I know I won’t be on that flight.”
“What does that mean, Nash? You are reneging aren’t you?” For the first time since I’d known Walt, he cursed. Colourful words he didn’t even try to disguise.
“No, I can assure you I’m not. I just need more time before I can head back is all. Look, I'm going to be straight with you here, Beth and I are expecting a baby, and the last thirty-six hours have been rather intense. Not to fill you in on all the details, it is just not the right time for me to be leaving her right now.”
“Wow, not news I was ever expecting, but that is great Nash, congratulations.” The man softens, something I’d never expected from him.
“Thanks, Walt.”
“So when do you think you will be right to come to London?”
“I’m not real sure, maybe in a couple of days, once things settle down here. I’m not leaving until I know everything here is all right.”
“I don’t imagine anyone is going to like this Nash, but I will pass it on.”
“Look, if they have a problem with it, then you can tell them it is my effective resignation.”
“That is a bit of a rash decision, Nash, over a woman especially.”
“I can imagine how you would think that, but I can assure you that it is the only logical decision I can make. Beth and our baby is my priority now. If they cannot understand that then I guess leaving is the right decision. It isn’t something I want to do, Walter, don’t get me wrong, the opportunity is appreciated and I want nothing more than to make this work for all of us.”
“Leave it with me, I’ll arrange for a conference call to work the details out, just give me some time to smooth things over and I’ll call you back.”
“I’m not trying to be an arsehole, Walt. I just see now what is important.”
“I understand, Nash, I do, I remember what it was like when Sarah and I were expecting our first child. I’ll be in touch.”
From the doorway, I can see Beth had fallen asleep. Leaning against the doorframe I watch her as she rests so peacefully, her features are relaxed and her breathing steady. She stirs as I lay the blanket over her.
“Hi, oh I fell asleep.” Raising her arms to stretch, her t-shirt lifts as well, revealing a little of her baby bump, seeing it again makes me realise I need to protect them more than ever. “Have I missed dinner?”
“It’s okay, I hadn’t gotten around to making any reservations anyway.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I know you wanted to go out.”
“Beth, it’s really okay, I don’t mind, knowing the two of you are okay is the most important thing right now.” Taking her hands in mine I sit on the edge of the bed next to her. “There will be other times.”
“I hope so, its just that it kind of felt like dinner tonight was a last ditch effort or something before you had to leave.”
“I admit, it would have been nice, but we’ll have dinner when I get back. And I’m coming back, Beth. You need to accept that it is you I want, I will always be coming back for us.”
She sighs. “I don’t mean to make it harder for you, Nash, really I don’t. It is just taking me a little time to accept that someone wants me for me, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop you know?”
“I get that, I really do and I’ve had some time to think over the last couple of days too. Don’t hate me for saying this, but, your parents are arseholes for making you feel less than what you are. I love you the way you are, you are the most independent, intelligent, gorgeous, feisty, humble and stubborn woman I have ever known. I feel like a lucky bastard just to be able to be around you.”
Lifting her knuckles to my lips I place a soft feathered kiss on each of them. “If that means we are just going to go from house to house then I will deal with that, but I need you around all the time, I need you to be there when I wake up in the morning, but I am going to wait until you are ready, no more arguing over silly things like that.”
“Nash, I have been thinking about our argument too, and you’re practically here all the time anyway, I am just being stubborn by fighting against it.”
“What are you saying, sweetheart?”
“It really is silly for us not to live in the same place, especially when the baby comes.” I could not have been happier to hear those words come from her mouth. “And these things you say you love about me… Tell me more.”
“It’s not just things about you, Beth, I love all of you.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I really do. I would rather fight with you than make love with anyone else.”
“Your total cheesiness is one of the things I love about you, Mr. Gibson.”
“Love Beth? Are you saying you have finished the pro’s and con’s list?”
“Yeah, I guess I have.”