“She’s so beautiful, Dad. And perfect. To me anyway. A head full of the reddest hair I’ve ever seen. Weighed in at nine pounds fourteen ounces.” Dad asked him if the mother was all right too. “The mother, only sixteen, left today without her. She knows, she told the head nurse, that she couldn’t care for her the way she’d need to be. Plus, her parents would only allow her to come home if she didn’t have the child with her.”
“Why do you suppose parents do that to their kids? I guess I can understand that a little. If the child is promiscuous, I guess. I’m not even sure that is a good enough reason. But they’d just put her in a spot that will change the course of her life and that of her parents.” He wondered if his dad was thinking of his own sister and confirmed that when he spoke again. “Holly needed us, and even though she was only a mile away, not one of us went to check on her. See if she was doing all right. I feel the worst about that, I think. Your mother is dead.”
“I know. All three of them are.” Dad nodded. “I’m thinking of adopting the infant. I’ve spoken to Rayne about it, and she’s going there now to see her.”
Dad looked at him so quickly that he thought something had happened. “Are you serious? I mean, yes, you are. You’re forever serious about things. I have learned a great deal about you in the— Are you going to make me a grandfather, Wats?”
“I have to wait on Rayne to approve. I don’t know why she’d not, but then, we’re just getting to know each other a little more each day. We have had plans to be married the last few days, but something is forever coming up.” He looked at his dad and saw that he was crying. “Don’t do that, Dad. If you start sobbing, we’re both going to be a mess when Rayne comes home, and that won’t be good. She’ll make fun of us.”
“She will at that.” Dad laughed, then looked out over the yard. “You’ll need to put in a fence in place for her when she’s able to play in the yard. I just realized that I don’t know a great deal about babies and children.”
“I only know them when they’re first born. After that, I’m a little lost. But I’m sure we’ll all do fine.” He heard someone in the house but didn’t say anything to his dad. They were having a nice talk, and he didn’t want anyone to ruin it for them. “My practice is up and running again. I told you about Rayne going to the hospital to work. She’s expecting to hear from the boards any day now. They’re sort of rushing it through so the nurses that took the test will be able to start working right away.”
“I know she’ll do well on the test. She’s one smart woman.” Dad laughed a little—it sounded sort of forced and sad. “I can still see her smacking around Tina. Best feeling I ever had concerning her. I know it’s not nice, but it is what it is, I suppose. I cannot wait to see you with a child in your arms. Any of you, for that matter. It’ll be like everything prior to that day will be erased away, and we’re starting anew. Does that make sense?”
He never got a chance to answer his dad. Rayne came out of the house with a bundle in her arms. When she started to come around and hand the baby over to him, he nodded toward his father. Nodding once, Rayne put their newest family member into his dad’s arms.
“Wesley, this is our daughter, Allison Jane Wilkerson. We’re thinking of calling her AJ for short.” Dad started sobbing when Rayne pulled the little blanket off the baby’s face. “We were hoping you’d be here when we got home today. She’s all ours right now.”
The baby stared at his dad like she was studying him. When she yawned, Dad pulled her closer to his body, holding her like she was the most precious thing he’d ever touched. Then he looked at him.
“You knew.” He said he had. “You knew you were going to be bringing her home. Son, you have no idea how much I needed this right now.”
“I think we all needed something fresh to come out of this.” Rayne looked at him while she finished. “I don’t have a great deal of experience with children, but I figure we can learn as we go. From what I’ve been told, you usually mess up your first one anyway.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that as well. But it’s doubtful to anyone who knows you two that you would ever allow that to happen. She sure is a beautiful little thing, isn’t she?” Dad pulled away the blanket and looked at AJ’s hands and toes. “Perfect, just like you said. Look at those chubby little legs. I’m betting she’ll be chasing butterflies in no time.”
They went into the house when the baby started fussing. The weather was just a little too cool for her, he supposed. Lighting the fireplace, Dad sat on the floor and took the baby’s shirt off. That was all she had on besides her diaper. Dad counted her toes, tickled her little feet, and kissed every part of her. Rayne sat down by him while the two of them watched his dad with their daughter.
“My aunt and Grandda are going to be jealous now. Not that I care. They’ll get to know her soon enough. Tell me what you think of the staff there asking if we’d be willing to be foster parents of newborns when they come in. All I can think of is we’ll have a houseful of Wilkerson children if we do that.” He laughed and told her that’s what happened with AJ. “I bet. All they had to do was put her in my arms, and I knew I’d be bringing her home. Something so warm and fuzzy about holding a baby. Don’t you think?”
“She’s going to be very popular with her new great uncles too, I’m thinking. Also, we can’t tell them any mistakes we make. If we do, they’ll learn from them and be better at this than we will.”
“We can’t have that.” He laughed with her. “We do need to get her some things to wear. The staff made sure I knew the things we’d need, as well as the things parents fall for and don’t need. That list is longer than the one that she needs.”
“I did know that. When I’m delivering a baby, that’s what all the parents are told by the staff. Only buy what you need for a week. Nothing will be as useful as the stores make them out to be. You have no idea how many times I’ve had mothers come back for their check-up to tell me that the nurses were right.” Rayne handed him the list of things they needed to get. “I can go into town and get the essentials if you’d like to stay here with AJ and Dad.”
“She’ll need a few sleepers too, I was told. Really, it’s all she needs to wear around to keep her warm.” Rayne looked at him with such sadness on her face. “I wanted to pick out some cute little outfits for her too.”
As much as they didn’t want to leave AJ at home, Dad said he’d make sure he never left her. It was Rayne that told him that she’d be all right with him. Dad looked like she’d given him the keys to the castle just then. Leaving her behind, however, was about as hard as it could get, he thought.
They were still deciding on the sleepers when he just took them away from Rayne and put them in the cart. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t afford anything the baby needed and didn’t need, he told her. After that, she started picking out cute girly outfits, but only two. She would grow out of them quickly if they got her any more than that.
Formula was something they’d had to call Dad about. Neither of them could remember what kind they’d been given at the hospital. Dad whispered his answers to them as AJ had fallen asleep on his lap. Then they’d had to call him a second time when they were in the diaper section. Dad seemed to be having the time of his life with AJ and helping them out as well.
They were home later than they’d thought they’d be. Dad was still on the floor with AJ, but he did tell them that he’d been up and around too. Dad told them that he’d fed her, one of the best things he’d ever experienced. Then he said he was sorry.
“For what? Feeding your granddaughter when she was hungry?” Dad told him why he was sorry. “Dad, don’t think of that. Don’t worry that you didn’t feed me bottles when I was a baby. That’s all in the past. AJ is giving you an opportunity to make up for things that you missed because of Mother. Our daughter will absolutely love you being there for her because I have no doubt that you’re going to be her hero in all things.”
“I’ve never been a hero to anyone.” Wats told his dad that he was his hero now. “I don’t believe you have any doubt that I was a screw-up. That I messed up royally with not just you, but I think I let a great many people down.”
“Are you still doing that?” He said he’d not planned on it. “So, as I said, it’s over and done with. They’re gone. Not just out of our lives, Dad. But gone to the point where we don’t need to worry about them or their deeds from now on. You’ve said that you feel like a new man. Then be one. I need you to just move on as though you’ve been given a new life. A fresh slate, if you wish.”
Dad looked down at AJ—watching her sleep was the most relaxing thing he’d witnessed. When Dad started talking, he didn’t know at first if he was explaining things to him or his daughter. Either way, he could almost hurt for his dad.
“I need to tell you this one thing, then I’m going to take your advice and not think of any of them ever again. When we first heard that Holly was going to have a baby, I went to see her. I was there for about twenty minutes when Tina found out where I was and came after me. As I said, I wasn’t there long, but I did get to see that she was doing all right. I gave her ten thousand dollars. I don’t know why, but it felt like I needed to do something. Then Tina showed up.” Dad looked at him while he continued. “She beat Holly. Beat her so severely that she was bleeding badly. Me too, but I wasn’t going to have a child, and I was terrified for my sister. Calling the police, the only thing I could think to do, they came just as the other four of them showed up.”
“Christ.” Dad nodded. He put his finger into AJ’s hand, and she curled her fingers around it. “Dad, you don’t have to finish the story.”
“But I do, Wats. I really need to finish this.” Nodding, he watched his dad as tears rolled down his cheeks. “It was a nightmare. Holly was taken to the hospital while the others stayed behind to teach me a lesson. And what a lesson it was. I had three broken ribs on my right, two on the left. My wrist was shattered, and my jaw had been broken. I had to eat liquids for three months. And your mother managed to be home when I was ready to eat. She would heat my food up so hot that it burned me. And she was right there making sure that I drank every drop of it before I could be finished.”
Sobbing now, Dad finished the story. He told him how he’d never gone against them again, not in all these years. That occasionally he’d be cornered by any one of them, and they’d remind him again, harshly.
“Then one day, after Tina had left, Holly came by. She wouldn’t come into the house. Didn’t want to sit on the back deck either. She just wanted to make sure I was all right. That nothing too bad had happened to me.” Dad cried harder. “I was so worried that Tina would find her there. Don’t you see what a coward I was? Instead of making sure my sixteen year old sister was all right, I was worried that I’d get caught by my wife and her friends.”
There were no words for him to give to his dad to comfort him. Wats had felt the wrath of his mother and her friends. It hadn’t stopped him from seeing Holly, but he had friends. There were the other cousins there to help him. Not that it was a good reason for his dad to have gone for his own comfort over his child sister. But Wats also knew to hold this against his father wasn’t going to make either of their lives any better.
So, instead of telling his father he was a coward—Wats never thought that—or that he was ashamed of him—which he wasn’t—he did the only thing that would heal them both. He pulled his father up from the floor and hugged him as tightly as he could.
Dad held onto him as if he was never going to let go. Wats thought it might be the thing they both needed, to hold onto each other like it meant their very lives. Because in a lot of ways, it did. When Dad seemed to calm down, he sat on the couch after picking up AJ.
“Do you know why I think you’re going to be good at being a father? Because you’re braver than I am. Smarter too.” He started to tell his dad that it wasn’t true when he handed him AJ. “I have to take a walk for a little while. I’ll be back in time for dinner. I need this. Just a few minutes to me. All right?”
“Yes. So long as you know to come back here.” Wats knew what he was telling his dad, not to do something stupid. It took his dad a little longer than he thought it should have for him to answer. However, he said he’d be back. He promised. When he left, Wats looked at his daughter. “You’re going to have to keep an eye on Grandpa, little one. He needs you more than we do, I think.”
After a while, he and AJ took a nap on the sofa. The room was nice and warm, her diaper was dry, and she had on the cutest little sleeper that Rayne had picked out. He still had to tell the rest of his family that he was a father.
Sitting up, Wats nearly spilled AJ to the floor. “Holy Christ, honey, I’m a father.”
He didn’t tell Rayne his revelation. He was sure she’d call him a dork or something like that. So when she came into the room with them, he shared the couch with her and didn’t say a word. Sometimes things were better left untold. Wats knew he’d be teased less if he kept that little part to himself.
Chapter 7
Rayne didn’t want to go to work today. She had gotten the shift she wanted and more money than she’d thought she’d be making at this point in her career, but she wanted to be home with AJ and watching her grow. Rayne was sure AJ was growing every thirty seconds, and if she wasn’t there during that time, she’d miss something important.
“Nurse Wilkerson? Mr. Elliot wants you to come to his office. He said to tell you that you’re not in trouble, but he would like to speak to you.” Nodding, she left the floor she was on to head to his office. She was glad for the break, actually. They’d been busy all day.
The football season had started up three days ago. Seven injuries were game-related, and she had to laugh every time she thought of the parents being hurt and not the kids. Apparently, when you used your screaming voice at a close game for nearly four hours, things were painful to swallow.
She knocked on the door before going in. Mr. Elliot was sitting there with not just the head of nursing but Wats as well.
“Everything is all right, honey.” She didn’t care. Kissing him on the mouth, she took AJ from him and held her. It was that or hurt someone to make them tell her what the hell was going on. “You’ve gotten your test scores back. Mr. Elliot wouldn’t tell us until you arrived. That’s all.”
“I failed, didn’t I? I knew I should have waited to take my exams. Now I’ll have to—” She looked at Wats, then at Mr. Elliot. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“You had the wrong test given to you. I don’t know why you’d be aware of that, but you just took the test like you should have without questioning anything.” Mr. Elliot laughed hard. “I’ve never in all my life been so happy to tell someone that. You took the wrong test, and not only did you pass it with flying colors, but you aced it. You got every single question correct. Even the ones that most people get wrong. Congratulations, honey.”
“I don’t understand.” She was handed her paperwork. But only giving it a little glance, she handed it to Wats. “Shouldn’t you be upset? I mean, this means I can’t work in the hospital until I take the correct one, right?”
“Usually, but the board had a special meeting concerning you and your test score. They decided, after a few hours of research and deliberation, that your score stands as is.” She looked at Wats when he laughed. “You took the state boards for being a medical doctor, Rayne. You passed a test that should have tripped you up. But not only did you sail over that, but you also didn’t get a single question wrong. You’re going to be adding M.D. to your name from now on.”
He handed her a gift, and she opened it up. The paper was beautiful in that it had stethoscopes all over it with a pretty yellow bow. Inside it was a lab coat with her name on it. Dr. R. Wilkerson, M.D. She touched the letters there and looked at Wats.
“This is yours, isn�
��t it?’ He shook his head and told her it was hers, and rightfully so. “I really did pass the boards for being a doctor? And they’re going to let me be one?”
“Yes. There was only one other person that did that well. She missed one. I believe you know her too. Charlie Wessex. Her mother was the sitting judge for the county.” Was she the one that died? Rayne asked him. “Yes, that’s her. She and you were given the wrong test, as was one other nurse. Needless to say, she didn’t do nearly as well as you two did. And as I said, you are a qualified physician. More than qualified if you were to ask me.”
She didn’t know what to say. Had no idea how she had managed to not just pass her test, but one that was well above her head. Thinking of the questions that had bothered her, she realized she had questioned herself about the test and how well she was going to do on it. It had been difficult but apparently not as bad as she’d thought. Something occurred to her, and she looked at Mr. Elliot.
“You’re going to be still short-staffed with nurses. I can fill in for that if you need me to.” He said he’d not do that to a fine doctor such as herself. “But you’re short-staffed.”
“We are. We will be, I guess, but this is going to put a nice shot in our arms as a hospital. While I know you didn’t come from here, you’re a doctor that was at this hospital. That will have nurses coming here in droves.” She supposed there was that. “And when Charlie gets back from her leave, she has told me that she’s decided to live in her mother’s condo and work here. Like you, she wanted to have the small-town feel of working. As a doctor too. I’m just so thrilled about this I could dance a little jig.”
He did just that. Standing up behind his desk, Mr. Elliot danced around the room until he got to her. Pulled from her chair, she handed AJ to Wats, and he watched them dancing. It was cause for celebration, she thought. She was a doctor.
Going back to work was harder than it had been before. Questions were floating around in her mind that she wanted to ask someone. But with her still being on duty, she knew that now was not the time to find answers. It was like trying to hide her love for Wats or her daughter.
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