by Marie Force
“There was nothing gory about those details.”
“Depends on which side of the conversation you were on.”
Victoria laughed. “I suppose that’s true.” She sighed again. “I’m so afraid of bringing this up with him. The last thing I want to do is hurt him.”
“Maybe you could bring it up without mentioning her name. You could say, ‘I understand that you have reasons for not wanting this to be more than it already is, but I was hoping we might talk about the future and where we might be heading.’ That would give you a chance to tell him what you want and to hear what he thinks.”
“Why does the thought of saying that make me feel sick?”
“Because you’re scared of losing something that’s come to mean a lot to you.”
“I don’t want to lose him,” she said softly, blinking back tears that made her feel weak. Victoria Stevens, badass Certified Nurse Midwife and overall happy person, did not cry over men. At least she never had before, even when she broke up with Stuart before he could propose and force her to turn him down.
David put his arm around her, and Victoria rested her head on his shoulder.
“Thanks for letting me dump this on you.”
“You can dump on me any time. That’s what friends are for.”
“I need to check on my patients.”
“I’ve got Tiffany and the baby. You focus on Jenny.”
“Thanks for sticking around to back me up.”
“Happy to help.”
Victoria left the office to stash her leftovers in the fridge. She went into the bathroom to wash up and brushed her teeth so she wouldn’t knock poor Jenny out with her garlic breath. Then she put her hair back up and stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Where’s the magic mirror when you need it?” she asked the familiar face looking back at her.
Even after airing it out with David, she was no closer to a plan than she’d been before. Although she did like his idea to infer that she knew about Fiona without specifically saying so. That would be better than directly confronting Shannon’s painful loss. With nothing she could do about her own life at the moment, she went to see to Jenny and the new life she and Alex would welcome into the world tonight.
* * *
Blaine couldn’t stop staring at his baby daughter as she slept in his arms. Everything about her fascinated him, from the quiver of her feathery eyebrows to the purse of her little bow lips to the squeeze of her tiny hand around his finger, he was completely besotted with her.
Adeline… His grandmother would be so pleased when she heard the baby’s name. He had a daughter named Adeline. Tiffany said they’d call her Addie since Adeline was too much name for a little girl. That was fine with him. After what Tiffany had given him today—and every day since he’d had the good sense to marry her—she could have whatever she wanted.
Tiffany awoke with a groan that had him immediately on alert.
“What’s wrong, babe?”
“Everything hurts.” She shifted to a different position and winced. “Even my hair hurts. I’d forgotten how bad the aftermath was the first time around.”
Still holding the baby, Blaine stood, moving carefully because God forbid he should drop his precious bundle. “Let me see if they can get you something for the pain.”
“In a minute. I want to see her first.”
He turned so she could see the baby’s little face. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“She sure is.”
“Just like her mama and her sister,” he said, leaning over the bed rail to kiss Tiffany. “I’ll check with Vic and David about giving you something to make you more comfortable.” Reluctantly, he handed the baby over to her, hoping she’d give her back when he returned. He was nowhere near finished holding her.
Blaine went to the desk in the hallway where David and Katie were working on computers.
“How’s Tiffany feeling?” Katie asked.
“She’s hurting. Is there anything you can give her for that?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be in with something in a minute.”
“Thank you.”
Blaine was heading back to Tiffany’s room when a shout from the other end of the long corridor got his attention. Ashleigh broke loose from her aunt Maddie and ran for him. He bent to scoop her up and loved the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him so hard, he nearly choked.
Laughing, he kissed his stepdaughter’s cheek. “Is someone excited to meet her baby sister?”
“What do you think?” Maddie asked when she caught up to them.
“Can I see her?” Ashleigh asked, her green eyes big with excitement. She had her mother’s shiny dark hair and exquisite face.
“You certainly can, but you have to be gentle with her and with Mommy, okay? She’s tired after having the baby.”
“Okay.”
Blaine carried her into the room. “We have a very special visitor, Mommy.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Tiffany said, lighting up at the sight of her firstborn.
Blaine settled Ash on the bed next to Tiffany and stood back to watch while Ashleigh met her baby sister.
Tiffany gently placed the baby in Ashleigh’s arms. “This is Adeline, but we’ll call her Addie.”
“She’s so little!”
“I know, and we have to be extra careful with her.”
“I will. I’ll take such good care of her.”
Blinking back tears, Tiffany looked at Blaine, extending her hand to him.
He went to join his family, taking the hand of the woman who’d given him everything, his heart overflowing with love for all three of his girls.
“Let me get the first picture of the new family,” Maddie said, holding her phone. “Get closer to Tiffany, Blaine.”
“Nothing I’d rather do,” he said with a grin for his wife.
“Put it on ice, buster. No extracurricular activities for six weeks.”
“What does that word mean, Mommy?” Ashleigh asked. “Extracrricula.”
Blaine cracked up laughing. “Yes, Mommy, what does that mean?”
“It means,” Tiffany said with a pointed look for him, “that Blaine has to keep his hands to himself—literally—for six weeks.”
He snorted out a laugh at her double meaning.
“They tell us that at camp,” Ashleigh said. “You should know that, Blaine, cuz you’re a policeman.”
“I know, honey,” he said with a long-suffering sigh and playful scowl for Tiff. “Don’t worry.”
“Everybody smile,” Maddie said, framing the first picture of the four of them together.
Blaine, who hadn’t stopped smiling all day, happily complied and then forwarded the picture Maddie sent him to his family, letting them know Tiffany and the baby would be home tomorrow if they wanted to visit. He had no doubt they’d have a line out the door. His parents had been so excited to see him become a father.
After an hour-long visit that got more exciting when Tiffany’s mom and stepfather, Francine and Ned, showed up, Maddie took Ashleigh home with her for a sleepover with her cousins, Thomas and Hailey.
“She’s some kind of excited, huh?” Blaine asked Tiffany after everyone had left.
“She’s going to be the best big sister ever. Well, except for Maddie, of course.”
“Of course. I’m glad Ashleigh has a sister. I know how much you love yours.”
“I do love my sister. But you know what this means?”
“What’s that?”
“We have to try again to get you a son.”
“I don’t care about having a son. I love my three girls.”
“Still… I may have one more baby in me if you’re game.”
“You say that now that Katie gave you pain meds. When they wear off, you might not be so agreeable. And PS, I’m always game for making babies with you.”
“I want to try for a boy.”
“Not today,” he said with a teasing grin.
She groaned. “Not any time soon.”
&n
bsp; “No extracurriculars, Mommy.”
“Oh my God! I can’t believe she asked me what that meant!”
“I can. She’s a parrot. If you say it, she says it.”
“I know. It’s awful. I have to watch my mouth so closely these days. What if she goes to camp and tells them Mommy and Blaine were talking about extracrricula activities?”
“I’m the police chief, babe. They won’t arrest you.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
Addie came to life with a little squeak that was among the most adorable sounds Blaine had ever heard. “Was Ashleigh like her as a baby? I hate that I missed that time with her.”
“She looked just like Addie does, and she used to wake with an indignant squeak, too. I’d forgotten about that.”
Addie’s squeak quickly became a howl.
“Is someone hungry?” Tiffany asked her new daughter.
“How do you know that?” Blaine asked, fascinated.
“She’s not wet, and she just woke up, so she’s not tired. Process of elimination.”
He watched, enraptured, as she opened the front of her hospital gown and guided the baby to her breast. “That is, without a doubt, the coolest—and sexiest—thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
She smiled at him and moved gingerly to one side of the bed. “Come up here with us.”
Careful not to jar her, he got on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean back against him as she fed the baby.
“Ahhh, that’s better,” she said with a contented sigh.
“This has been the greatest day of my entire life, Tiffany. Thank you so much for her—and for everything else. You and Ashleigh and now our little Addie… I love you all so much.”
With her head resting against his chest, she smiled up at him. “We love you, too. You think I’ve given you so much, but you’ve done the same for me. You waited all that time for me to be free.”
He ran his finger over her cheek. “Waiting for you—and our family—was the best and smartest thing I ever did.”
Chapter 4
By the time Jenny was ready to push at one in the morning, Victoria suspected she regretted her decision to forgo pain meds. Jenny was having trouble focusing on her breathing, despite Alex’s steady support and encouragement. Her friend Erin Barton had come in around ten and stood by the other side of Jenny’s bed, wiping her face with cool cloths and feeding her ice chips to keep her hydrated.
Victoria prepared the bed and the room for delivery, again proceeding through the checklist. She had long ago memorized the steps involved in delivering a baby and went through each one with ruthless attention to detail. Ensuring the safety and comfort of her moms was her top priority along with delivering a healthy baby.
Although it wouldn’t be her preference to deliver an older mom on the island, Victoria was determined to make sure the delivery was smooth, and David and Katie were nearby in case she needed them.
She eyed the monitor, watching for the next contraction. “All right, Jenny. Let’s get this baby out. On the next contraction, I need a big push.”
Jenny pushed for a long, difficult hour before her son emerged into the world, screaming with outrage at the bright lights, the noise and the general inconvenience of leaving the womb. He was absolutely perfect—and close to nine pounds.
“You have a son,” Victoria said to Jenny and Alex, who were overcome with emotion. She wiped away a few tears of her own, knowing the long and difficult path Jenny had traveled from losing her fiancé in the World Trade Center on 9/11 to falling for Alex many years later to now becoming a mother.
Katie quickly cleaned up the baby and wrapped him in a receiving blanket before taking him to meet his elated parents and Aunt Erin, who was the twin sister of Jenny’s late fiancé.
“Hello, little man,” Jenny said softly to the baby, who stared up at her with big dark eyes. He had a smattering of dark hair and his father’s olive-toned skin.
“What’s his name?” Victoria asked as she tended to Jenny’s post-delivery care.
“George Alexander Martinez the second,” Jenny said. “After Alex’s dad.”
“I love that,” Erin said. “He looks like a George.”
“My dad would be so thrilled,” Alex said, wiping away tears.
George let out a lusty cry.
“I think your little guy might be hungry,” Victoria said. “Let’s see how he takes to breastfeeding.”
Two hours later, Victoria was dead on her feet but had two successful deliveries completed and two breastfeeding moms who were doing great. David had checked both babies again, declaring them healthy and strong.
It had been a great day for the clinic team—or was it two days now?
“Go on home,” David said to Victoria and Katie. “I’ll stay.”
Victoria would’ve argued with him, but his policy was to remain on the premises any time they admitted a patient. Besides, she was so damned tired, she could barely function let alone argue.
“We’ll clear your schedule until noon tomorrow,” he said. “Sleep in.”
“You’re the best boss I ever had.”
“I love how she says that, as if she’s not the boss around here.”
Katie laughed. “Seriously.”
“Whatever,” Victoria said, yawning. “I’m outta here.”
“I want my bed and my man,” Katie said as she walked with Victoria to the dark parking lot, which held many more cars than usual due to their patients.
“What you said.” Victoria’s stomach ached at the thought of having to talk to Shannon about what she’d learned about him. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight. She’d wait and choose her timing carefully. “Sleep well, and thanks for staying.”
“Of course, no problem.”
The three of them made a good team, supporting each other through the various challenges they confronted on a daily basis as the island’s only medical providers. That they were also great friends made their work environment much more fun and dynamic than it would’ve been otherwise.
After finishing the Certified Nurse Midwife postgraduate program five years ago, Victoria came to Gansett intending to spend a year gaining experience in midwifery before moving on to something bigger and better. But Gansett had worked its magic on her, and now it felt like home. She thrived on the challenge of providing top-level prenatal care to isolated island moms and liked feeling needed in her professional life.
Now she couldn’t imagine living anywhere but on the remote island where she’d found such a satisfying life. That life had become a heck of a lot more satisfying a year ago when Shannon O’Grady arrived.
She drove home to the small house they shared near the Salt Pond, close enough to smell the sea air, which, along with the scenic water views, had become one of her favorite aspects of island life.
Shannon had left the outside light on for her, and she tiptoed inside, hoping she wouldn’t wake him. He had an early morning on the ferry.
In the bathroom, she changed into an oversized T-shirt and brushed her teeth before creeping into the bedroom, where she plugged her phone into a bedside charger. She made sure she was always reachable by the expectant moms who depended on her.
When she crawled into bed, Shannon reached for her, the way he did every night when they went to bed together.
“Did I wake you?” she asked.
“Nah, I was dozing, waiting for you.”
If she lived forever, she’d never get tired of listening to that lovely accent. She took a deep breath and let it out, aching all over again as she recalled the things Seamus had told her. Thinking about what Shannon had been through broke her heart.
“Long day, love?”
“Long but good with two healthy new babies. Tiffany Taylor had a girl named Adeline, and Jenny Martinez had baby George.”
“That’s great news.”
“It’s always a huge relief when island deliveries go well.”
“They usually
go well when you’re involved.”
“That’s the goal.” Yawning, she turned to face him. “How was your day?”
“Less eventful than yours.”
Victoria kissed him. “I missed you today.”
“Missed you, too. It’s not the same around here when you’re not home. It’s far too quiet. I went over to Seamus’s for a little while. It’s definitely not quiet over there.”
She wanted to ask about Jackson and his troubles at camp, but then she’d have to tell him she’d been to see Seamus. So she didn’t ask. “That’s actually good news. I love to hear the boys are acting like little boys again.”
“They certainly are. We played football in the yard with them, and I’ve got a few new bruises.”
“Aww, poor baby.”
He slid his leg between hers and tugged her in closer to him. “You could make me feel better.”
Victoria laughed at his shameless ploy. Suddenly, she wasn’t quite as tired as she’d been a few minutes ago. Being close to him this way always had the same effect on her. If he was nearby, she wanted him. It was one of the simple facts of her life.
“But if you’re too tired—”
She kissed him, pouring all the love she felt for him into that single kiss, wishing she could take away the pain he carried with him, even if he never spoke of it.
He rolled her under him, kissing her face and neck.
Victoria wondered if he remembered his lost love when he was with her this way. Did he close his eyes and imagine she was someone else? The thought of that possibility broke her heart and had tears pooling in her eyes that she hoped he wouldn’t notice.
They’d come such a long way from the first night they met, or so she’d thought. As he helped her out of the T-shirt she’d worn to bed and left a trail of kisses down the front of her, she thought about the steps they’d taken in the beginning that had led her to believe they were starting a lasting relationship. They’d been tested so they could have sex without condoms and then officially moved in together after spending every night together that first month. Now they shared meals and bills and a bed and a life that had come to mean more to her than anything ever had before.
She’d never lived with a man or engaged in the kind of relationship she had with Shannon. But now she had reason to wonder if they’d been building a life or a house of cards that would collapse under the weight of his past. And why hadn’t he told her about Fiona himself? In all the time they’d spent together, how could he have kept such a big part of himself from her?
