by Len Webster
“Go,” his best friend encouraged. “Alex needs you.”
“Thanks, man. We’ll all have dinner soon.”
Hunter grinned as he got up from his chair. “Gilmore, go be with your girlfriend. You’re about to become a father. You can worry about dinner another time. And let me be the first to say congratulations. I bet you anything she’s going to be as beautiful as her mother.”
“Thanks, Hunter. I’ll keep you updated,” Evan said as he stepped away from his desk and tightened his grip around his car keys. As he and Hunter exited his office, he found his newly hired college graduate assistant at her desk. “Nina.”
“Yes, Mr. Gilmore?”
He smiled at her. “My girlfriend’s water broke. Could you tell Mr. Schmidt that I had to take her to the hospital?”
“Of course. And congratulations, Mr. Gilmore. Please tell Miss Parker the very same.”
“Thanks, Nina.” As he and Hunter headed out of Fenway Park, Evan returned his phone to his ear. “AJ, you still with me?”
“I’m still here.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Baby, I’ll be there soon,” he promised.
Fifteen minutes later, Evan pushed his front door open and rushed into the house he shared with his girlfriend.
“AJ!” he yelled out.
“I’m in the kitchen.” It was a small shout.
Evan ran down the hall and into the kitchen to find her sitting on the floor next to the puddle, cradling her stomach.
“I felt some pressure and had to sit.”
Stepping over the puddle, he bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Just pressure. I haven’t had any contractions just yet. But I think we should go to the hospital.”
He nodded as he grasped her hands in his. “We should definitely go to the hospital.” Then he helped her to her feet. “You’re two weeks early.”
“I know. But I think she’s ready to meet her daddy.”
His chest tightened. “I’m so ready to meet our Little Atom.”
“Me, too. Come on. We need to get the hospital bag and get to the hospital. Then we can call our parents and Kyle.”
Wrapping his arm around her, he helped her over the puddle and walked her to the staircase. “I’ll grab the bag. Stay here.”
“Okay,” she said.
Evan climbed the stairs and ran down the hall to his baby’s nursery. When he stepped inside, he took in the room.
For months, it had been almost perfect. They had a crib and a changing table. The walls were painted a soft gray. The stained-glass panels hung on the wall. The planets mobile hovered over the crib. It was just missing one last addition.
Their daughter.
And as Evan took in the room, he knew it would be perfect once they welcomed her home.
Almost twelve hours.
That was how long Alexandra was in labor.
For the first four hours after she was admitted into the hospital, she had been calm. But that pressure she had felt quickly became contractions. And each hour that passed, they seemed to become stronger. There was nothing Evan could do but sit by her side and hold her hand when she wanted to.
The longer she was in labor, the more pain she was in, refusing his touch.
But by the ninth hour, she had begun to cry, and Evan held her.
And at the eleventh hour, Dr. Livingston announced that Alexandra was ten centimeters dilated and ready to push.
“You’re almost there, Alex,” Dr. Livingston said. “Keep pushing and breathing.”
His girlfriend’s grip tightened around his hand, and Evan bent down and kissed her temple. “You’ve got this, AJ. You’ve got this. I’m so proud of you.”
“I can’t, Evan,” she sobbed. “I can’t push anymore.”
“Just one more,” he pleaded with her. “One more, baby.”
She gulped down some air and nodded, blinking her tears away. The sweat dotted her forehead, and her face was red. “Okay.”
“Are you ready to push again?” Dr. Livingston asked.
“Yes,” AJ answered in a weak voice.
“Okay, deep breath in for me, Alex,” the doctor instructed. His girlfriend inhaled a deep breath. “As you exhale, I want you to push, okay?”
AJ nodded.
“And push!”
“Ahh!” AJ cried as she strangled Evan’s hand once more.
“Good, Alex,” the doctor praised. “A few more and I think we’ll meet your beautiful daughter.”
Evan squeezed her hand, reached up and brushed the drenched strands of hair from her sweaty face. “One more, baby.”
AJ groaned as she breathed in quick breaths. Then she nodded and inhaled deeply before she said, “Okay, I’m ready to go again.”
“Okay, and push!” Dr. Livingston encouraged.
The next few minutes were a blur. He concentrated on his girlfriend as she pushed. Her face contorted in agony, sweat, tiredness, and determination. And Evan thought she had never looked more beautiful than at this moment.
Then he heard the most perfect small wail he had ever heard.
The very first sound their daughter had ever made.
101Md
mendelevium
ALEX
One month before Alex’s Boston return
Alex had made a lot of mistakes in her life but had few regrets.
Her biggest regret had been returning to Zürich after she had spent the night with Evan Gilmore.
The moment she arrived back in Switzerland, she felt wrong.
It felt as if pieces of her were missing.
Alex knew why, but she also had obligations.
She had promised the Rodahawe Institute three more years, but most of all, she had promised Dr. Rodahawe a completed formula. Since she landed, she had spent all her time on it while fantasizing about home.
She gave herself two months.
Two months to finalize the formula as much as she could before she left Zürich for good. If she didn’t finish, she’d work on it from her bedroom back in Massachusetts. She had purchased her ticket home two weeks ago and spent the past two weeks working and rewriting the letter in her hands. Alex glanced down at it one more time and exhaled a heavy breath. Then she formed a fist and tapped on the glass wall.
Dr. Rodahawe stopped what he was writing on the board and spun around. He smiled the moment he saw her and set his marker on his desk. “Ah, Alexandra. What can I do for you?”
She stepped into his office and then stood in front of his desk. “I have some good news,” she announced.
Surprise and excitement dazzled his eyes. “Oh, please share.”
“I got accepted into MIT,” she revealed. “I got the letter yesterday.”
“That’s amazing, Alexandra. I knew you’d get in.”
Her heart warmed at his belief in her. “All because of your recommendation.”
Pride brightened his face. “I’m so proud of you—Oh.” His lips spread across his face, and she saw the bittersweet emotions in his smile. “You’re leaving us.”
Alex reached out and handed him her resignation letter. “I am,” she said with sorrow in her voice. “I have learned so much here at the Rodahawe Institute and from you, Dr. Rodahawe. You have inspired me to go forward with my academic goals. I appreciate everything you and everyone at this institute have done for me. But after almost two years here, I think it’s time I go home.”
“You love him more than science,” Dr. Rodahawe said.
She knew who he meant by him, and she nodded. “I do. And I should have chased after him when he left. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to stay for another month to finish all my obligations here. That should give you enough time to find someone to take over my position. I am so thankful for every
thing you have done and taught me, Dr. Rodahawe.”
“And I am so thankful to you, too. You have been an honor to teach and mentor. You remind me every day of why I became a physicist. To inspire and teach those who love physics just as much as I do.” Then the doctor walked around his desk and wrapped his arms around her. “I am very proud of you, Alexandra.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled her back, and said, “You will always have a home here at the Rodahawe Institute. Whenever you’d like to return—even to just visit—you are always welcome. You will always be family—Evan, too.”
“Thank you,” she said, holding back her tears.
She would always be thankful for her time, experience, and every person she had met at the Rodahawe Institute, but it was time for Alex to return home.
Two weeks before Alex’s Boston return
Alex sat in the waiting room of the health center near her Zürich apartment, anxiously waiting for her name to be called out to see her doctor. It was the same health center she visited when she had the flu a few months ago. Alex knew very well that her blood tests would confirm what she already suspected.
“Miss Parker,” Dr. Amsler called out. The handsome doctor was tall and blond with blue eyes. The kind of man you’d find modeling in perfume advertisements instead of treating patients.
She got up from the chair where she had been sitting for the past half an hour and followed the doctor into the room. Once they were inside, she sat on another chair and watched him take his seat in front of her.
“Guete Morge, Alexandra.” Good morning.
“Guete Morge, Dr. Amsler,” she said in a soft voice.
He smiled. Her doctor knew her Swiss German wasn’t very good and only knew the basics and understood some phrases. But to hold a conversation was out of her league. “You look lovely today. How are you feeling?”
Her smile faded as anxiety washed over her. “Okay. I’ve been thinking about the results.”
He reached over and picked up a folder. “Well, I have the results. Are you ready?”
She inhaled a deep breath. After she exhaled the air from her lungs, she nodded. “I’m as ready as I can be.”
“All right,” he said as he opened the file. His eyes scanned the page, and then he lifted his chin. “Your blood results came back.”
“And?”
His lips pressed into a tight smile. “They came back positive.”
Although she had expected the results, it still surprised her.
“Positive?”
He nodded. “Congratulations, Alexandra. You’re pregnant.”
Pregnant.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Alex was pregnant.
It didn’t take much for her to put the math together.
She was six weeks pregnant.
Six weeks ago, she had been with Evan Gilmore. She hadn’t been with anyone else since him. It had only been him since they got together during the end of their sophomore year of college. Six weeks ago, they’d had unprotected sex. Alex wasn’t on birth control. She hadn’t thought of it when she was with Evan. She had stopped taking the pill and was about to move onto a different form of birth control. Her night with Evan had been spontaneous and unexpected.
It resulted in them creating a life.
“If you’d like, we can perform an ultrasound and see how the baby is doing?”
Alex blinked at Dr. Amsler in disbelief. “You can?”
He nodded as he stood. “I can. With how early you are, it will have to be a transvaginal ultrasound. I promise, you don’t have to worry. It won’t be dangerous.”
“Okay. I’d like to have an ultrasound.” Then she stood and followed the doctor out of his office and into an examination room.
He opened a drawer by the table, pulled out a paper gown, and set it on the table. “I’ll give you a few moments.”
After she nodded, the doctor left her alone in the examination room. With shaky hands, she unbuttoned her jeans as she stepped out of her flats. Alex shimmed out of her jeans, folded them and set them on a chair. Then she removed her underwear and covered them with her jeans. Exhaling, she grabbed the paper gown and put it on. Once it covered her, Alex grasped the sheet on the table, climbed onto it and set her feet on the stirrups. As she covered her lower half with the sheet, the doctor knocked and then opened the door.
“Everything okay, Alexandra?”
“Yes, Dr. Amsler. I’m ready.” She watched as he entered the room, closed the door behind him and headed over to the machine. He turned it on before he smiled at her. Once he put on some gloves and sat between her legs, Alex kept her eyes on the screen. She heard a wrapper crinkle and inhaled a sharp breath.
“I’m just putting a condom over the probe. Then I’ll put some lubricating gel on it.” A few moments later, Dr. Amsler said, “You’re going to feel a little bit of pressure.”
“Okay,” Alex said, then she felt the pressure he warned her about. It was uncomfortable but manageable as Dr. Amsler conducted the ultrasound.
She was in awe to think that she had life growing inside her. In the next eight months, her stomach would swell. Her baby would grow.
Their baby would grow.
Evan’s baby will grow.
She smiled at the thought of their child being half Evan. Her heart fluttered at the thought of him holding their child. But then her chest tightened. She had no idea if Evan wanted to be a father. When she had planned her return home, she had no idea she was pregnant.
But now, it felt as if everything was falling into place. Right now, she’d experience her very first ultrasound. Later, she’d think of Evan and how she’d tell him that she was pregnant with his child.
“And there is your baby, Alexandra.”
“Where?” Anxiety crawled up her throat as she searched the screen for her child.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed the smile on his face. “It’s okay. Most new mothers don’t see their baby either. That dot right there on the screen. Do you see where it’s different from the rest of the screen?”
She nodded. “I see that.”
“That’s the baby.”
“He or she is so small,” she said in bewilderment.
He let out a small laugh as he removed the transducer from her and set it on the table. “He or she is. Would you like a copy of the ultrasound?”
“Yes, please.”
The doctor stood from his chair, removing and disposing of the condom from the probe and his gloves before he handed her a towel. On instinct, Alex closed her legs and sat up. Moments later, Dr. Amsler handed her a printed picture, and she glanced down at it.
“I’ll give you a minute,” he said, and he stepped out of the room.
She smiled as she took in the small little dot. It reminded her of atoms. The little dot was her Little Atom.
She dropped the towel next to her and pressed her hand on her stomach. “Hello, Little Atom,” she breathed as she peeked down at her stomach and then back at the picture. “I’m your mum, and I hope I’m a really good mum.”
Tears slipped down her face. The sudden swell of love in her chest was so new, so different from anything she had ever felt before. It was unconditional and perfect.
She would love her child no matter what.
Then Alex reached up and pressed her fingertips to the necklace Evan Gilmore had given her for Christmas all those years ago.
“I promise you’ll see your daddy soon,” she said in a small voice.
Alex had two weeks.
Two weeks to prepare herself to see Evan Gilmore and tell him that they were expecting a child. For a moment, she was terrified. But it disappeared when she remembered just what a good, loving man Evan Gilmore was.
He might have broken her heart, but he would love his child wholeheartedly until his very
last breath.
Alex was sure of that.
1:02 am
time of birth
EVAN
Now
He was a father.
Alexandra was a mother.
They had a daughter.
Evan swung his focus in the direction of the small cries to find Dr. Livingston handing his and AJ’s daughter to the delivery nurse who held out a sheet. He glanced back at AJ to find her still crying. He wrapped his arm around her and let her sob. Evan knew it was out of relief because she had endured the very worst pain possible.
“I am so proud of you, AJ,” he whispered.
“Evan, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?” Dr. Livingston asked.
He nodded and then reluctantly pulled away from his girlfriend. He stepped toward the end of the bed, and his eyes found his daughter for the very first time.
Even though blood and mucus covered her, she was perfect and small.
Ten fingers and ten toes.
She was still crying, and Evan thought her cries were perfect.
A nurse handed him the scissors, and he cut just where he was instructed. Then the nurse took his baby away, and Evan handed the scissors back to Dr. Livingston who smiled at him.
“Congratulations, Evan, you’re now a father. You should be proud of Alexandra. It wasn’t easy for her,” Dr. Livingston said. “We’ll look over your daughter, and then we’ll bring her right back. Go to your girlfriend.”
“Thank you, Dr. Livingston,” Evan said with so much appreciation.
The doctor smiled, and Evan returned to AJ’s side. She was staring at the nurses as they attended to their daughter. Evan grasped her hand and linked his fingers with hers. She faced him and directed her small smile his way.
“How did she look?” she asked, her voice full of concern.
“Perfect,” he assured as he squeezed her hand. “You did amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
“Oh, God. That was …”
He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. “I know. Don’t think I don’t appreciate everything you did today. You brought our beautiful daughter into this world.”
