Pregnant Nurse, New-Found Family

by Lynne Marshall

  “Yay. Peanut-butter cookies. OK?”

  “Sure.” She glanced back at Gavin, who was still shaking the sleep from his head. “You gonna be OK?”

  “Absolutely.” Gavin stretched and yawned. He staggered on his way to standing, as though his foot had gone to sleep, and attempted a good-natured smile.

  “Follow me.” She draped her arm around Patrick’s shoulder and led him toward the door. Gavin and Jillian followed a few feet behind.

  When they reached his Mercedes, Jillian said, “Holy hot tuna, Dr Riordan, they sure pay you well at Mercy Hospital.”

  Gavin looked at Beth. “Hardly well enough according to my ex-wife.” He gave Beth directions to his house, glanced at his watch and clapped his hands together. “OK, so how soon should I have some coffee ready?”

  An hour later, Beth drove on streets she rarely had reason to. Upscale and exclusive, the area where Gavin had directed her seemed of another world despite being only a few minutes from her apartment. She proceeded up a winding, narrow road and pulled the car up in front of what looked like a mansion.

  A huge California Spanish-style villa complete with an arched porch and massive decorative wrought-iron fencing rose before her. In awe, she shut her mouth. She agreed with Jillian, they must pay him well at Mercy Hospital.

  He’d been waiting and the wrought-iron gates opened for her to enter. Once she had parked and walked up the steps, he greeted her again.

  Inside, Beth tried her best not to gawk. Real artwork adorned the warm brick-red walls; soft leather chairs and couches, sconces, chandeliers and sculptures filled the rooms, each with its own fireplace. She felt out of place amidst such wealth.

  Gavin approached her with the same look on his face as the night before when he’d walked her to the car. Wasn’t he tired? And where was Patrick?

  Beth struggled to breathe. Why did he torment her so? Her mouth felt dry, but she needed to tell him.

  “Let me get your sweater.” He touched her neck when he helped take it off. Chills tickled on her skin and she tried her best to ignore what he did to her ear.

  He caught her mouth with a soft kiss that robbed her of breath. She wanted to kiss him back, but that wasn’t why she’d come. She longed for more of his sweet talk and crafty moves but tonight, after she was through with Patrick, she had to tell him the truth and face the consequences.

  She dared to look Gavin in the face and found dark, smoldering eyes drawing her deeper under his spell. She tore away in time to find Patrick entering the room.

  “This place is spectacular,” she blurted.

  “Thanks,” Gavin replied, watching her. “It was a gift from my grandmother.”

  “She left it to Dad in her will,” Patrick added, sounding like an expert on wills and probate.

  “I see.”

  “I grew up here,” Gavin offered with eyes filled with memories. “My parents split up, and my grandmother raised me. When I got married, and she was ready to move into senior housing, she insisted we move in. With the outrageous cost of realty in California, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  Beth nodded at Gavin’s good fortune, and Patrick took her hand. “You want to see my room?”

  An hour later, she and Patrick giggled in the living

  “OK. So you understand how to record your peak-flow readings on this sheet, right?”

  “Yes.” He yawned and smiled, making a silly face.

  She tried not to laugh, again. He really was a cute kid. “And you know how to take both of your inhalers?”

  He nodded.

  “Which one is your rescue inhaler?”

  He pointed to the gray canister.

  “Do you use it every day?”

  He shook his head, wispy light-brown hair flopping around.

  How could she hold his attention for the next few minutes? Gavin was sprawled out on the sofa, looking sleepy, but she guessed he’d listened to every word she’d said. He was merely trying to be inconspicuous while he monitored how well Patrick followed the lesson on asthma care.

  “One more question before you get that cookie. As I recall, you were allergic to grass and some trees. Do you remember if your cat test got itchy and bumpy?” She noticed a tiny response in his eyes. They got bigger momentarily then he quickly looked away. “Does your friend, by any chance, have a cat?”

  “No,” he quickly responded. “Can I go now?”

  Beth knew when she’d worn out her educator welcome. “OK, but remember to stay away from your asthma triggers. When you’ve finished playing outside, put your dirty clothes in the hamper right away. And always shower at night so you won’t get the pollen in your hair all over your pillow. And if something makes you wheeze, remember what it is and avoid it.”

  He’d already made it halfway to the kitchen before she finished the sentence. She glanced at Gavin, whose eyes had popped open.

  “I think he’ll need another session with you. Want to stick around for the night so you can pick up where you left off tomorrow morning?”

  Knowing he wasn’t serious, she rolled her eyes. “As if.” All kidding aside, she knew now was the time to tell him. She couldn’t put it off another second. She took a deep breath. “Listen, Gavin?”

  He sat up with a playful, sexy glaze in his eyes. “Yes?”

  “Will you stop for a moment, please? I’ve got something important to tell you.”

  He took her seriously and immediately changed his demeanor. “OK.”

  Oh God, how should she say it? She’d practiced nonstop on the drive over, and had thought she had the perfect words, but now her mind went totally blank. How hard was it to say, “I’m pregnant”? She sighed, and distracted herself by cleaning up her asthma education equipment and charts.

  A strong, warm hand wrapped around her wrist and stopped her. She looked into his inquisitive eyes and swallowed.

  “What do you need to tell me?”

  She blew a light breath through her lips and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. He didn’t let go. “Well, it’s been exactly five weeks since we…ah…met.”

  “I remember it well. Go on.”

  “And earlier this week when I passed out, they ran some lab tests on me.”

  His grasp grew the slightest bit tighter. He stared intently into her eyes. She blinked. “How should I put this?”

  His head tilted the tiniest bit and his eyes grew more serious.

  “The thing is…I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

  Instead of a huge reaction, he didn’t move. His hand stayed exactly where it had been with the same amount of pressure, his head tilted in the same direction. The only thing different about his expression was a raised brow. “You’re pregnant,” he repeated, as if he hadn’t heard her correctly.

  “That’s right.” She nodded, suddenly thankful the horrible moment of truth was over. Now all she had to do was live with the fallout, and from the look of Gavin, he was neither shocked nor pleased.

  “And do you have any plans for this pregnancy?”

  She sucked in a quick breath. “I…I plan to keep the baby.”

  In that instant, Patrick appeared at the door. “Dad? Will you put me to bed now?”

  “Sure, son.” He didn’t look away.

  “It’s time for me to leave anyway.” She twisted her wrist out of Gavin’s grasp and stood, quickly gathering her bag and purse.

  “Stick around, we need to talk.” He pointed to the couch in a no-nonsense manner.

  “Look, it’s been a long day, I’m really tired. You must be, too.” She raised her hands. “I’d like some time to clear my head before we talk more. OK?”

  A silent, simmering shift just below the surface of his expression made her tense up. “You’ve had a lot more time to think about this than I have.”

  “I only found out on Wednesday.”

  “What’d you find out, Beth?” Patrick asked.

  With the gravity of their situation, she’d forgotten Patrick was still in the roo
m. What in the world should she tell him? “I just found out that your father is allergic to…ah…” Think of something. Anything. “Cats. Just like you. Only worse.”

  “Cats?” Patrick asked.

  “Yeah. Highly allergic.”

  The boy’s eyes grew huge and filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to…”

  “What are you talking about Patrick?” Gavin asked.

  The tears brimmed and spilled down Patrick’s cheeks. “Mom got me a cat, and you got mad, and then you got divorced. I didn’t know you were allergic.”

  Gavin darted to his side. “Son, you weren’t the reason for our divorce. That was between Mommy and me.” Patrick curled into his father’s arms and Gavin gave Beth a pleading glance.

  Great. She’d tried to put the kid off track and had only managed to upset him more. How was she to know they’d had an issue with a cat? Of all the luck.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said, taking her cue. “It sounds like you and I aren’t the only ones with something to talk out.”

  “I have rounds in the morning.” Gavin stood, holding Patrick close to his side and giving Beth a serious stare. “After that I’m taking Patrick to his soccer practice. And after that, you and I will talk.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “PATRICK, what made you think Mommy and I got divorced because of you?” Gavin wrapped his arms around his son, who felt tiny and vulnerable, and squeezed him.

  “You didn’t come home sometimes, and Mommy got mad at me a lot.”

  “We were angry at each other, not at you, son.” He kissed the top of Patrick’s head, wishing things had been different.

  Patrick looked up at him. “I heard her tell you on the phone she wanted to keep our cat not you. Then we moved away.”

  A strange stinging started behind Gavin’s eyes. Patrick’s precious face, along with its pained expression, blurred. His son had only been six when they’d gotten divorced, yet Patrick still remembered a phone call and angry words, and above all he continued to feel sad about the breakup three years later. If he could only turn back the hands of time and fix things.

  Gavin couldn’t recall the last time he’d gotten all choked up. Had it been the day his son had been born? He may not have been around as much as he would have liked

  “Will you ever quit loving me?”

  “No.” Gavin gathered Patrick closer and the boy snuggled against his chest. “I’ll always love you.”

  “No matter what?”

  “No matter what.”

  “Good.”

  They stayed like that for several seconds, holding each other and breathing in sync, and Gavin tried to concentrate on his son and not the bombshell Beth had just dropped on him. Pregnant? Another child? Hell, he’d botched up enough with Patrick. How in the world would he handle another kid? “Anything else you want to talk about?”

  “I miss my old friends.’ Specially Bobby. The kids here don’t like me much.”

  “I know this is hard, Patrick, but I’ll always be here for you. Why don’t the kids like you?”

  For the first time, Patrick smiled. “I can run faster and make more baskets.”

  Gavin grinned back. “Well, then, I’d say they’re jealous and that’s their problem, wouldn’t you?”

  “I guess.”

  “Isn’t there anything you can all talk about?”

  “Well, we all like the Lakers. They think my Kobe jersey is cool.”

  “There you go. You can talk about sports.”

  “I guess.”

  “And maybe we can invite Bobby to spend the weekend here some time.”

  “Cool!”

  “Just promise me if you ever have anything on your mind, you’ll come and talk to me about it.”

  Patrick’s eyes drifted downward. “OK.”

  “Do you see a fracture?” The next morning, Gavin clipped an X-ray onto the glaring fluorescent view box for the other doctor to examine.

  Julius White stopped studying his own films to help. He squinted and moved his face closer to the picture of the child’s radius and ulna.

  “Looks like a possible greenstick fracture right there.” He pointed with a large finger to the spot.

  Gavin grunted in agreement. “Hey, I didn’t get a chance to tell you what a great job you did on that dog bite last week.”

  “Andrew. Yeah, that was interesting.” Julius smiled at Gavin in the pitch-black radiology room. “Thanks, but it’s what I get paid for.” He continued to review his own series of X-rays beside Gavin. “So how’d the head of ER wind up with Sunday call?”

  Gavin crossed his arms and stared at the films on the box. “Actually, it’s only a half-day and I volunteered. I’ve got to give my residents some time off, you know.”

  “I hear you.” Julius towered over Gavin’s six-foot-one frame. He looked benignly downward at him and continued. “Andrew’s father gave me some tickets for the Lakers

  Gavin gathered his X-rays up and began stuffing them back inside the file jacket. “Man, you know I’d love to, but I’ve got my son living with me now.”

  “Are you kidding me? It’s the Lakers,” Julius said in an incredulous tone. “And I’ve got sweet seats.” His face seemed to question Gavin’s sanity.

  Gavin scratched his jaw. “It’s awfully tempting but I’m going to be around for Patrick this time. He’s at the age where he needs me more. I don’t want to let him down again.”

  “I hear you. You’re doing the right thing, man. Listen, why don’t you bring him along? I’ve got four seats, and McGuire can’t go.”

  “Yeah, his wife had a baby on Friday night,” Gavin said.

  He’d made real progress with Patrick last night. When he looked into Patrick’s eyes, he knew he was loved. There was no feeling like it. How could he refuse the Lakers, knowing how happy it would make Patrick?

  Was he actually going to skip out on meeting Beth for a basketball game? Still flabbergasted over Bethany’s news, he shook his head. What in the world would they do about it? She’d said she wanted to keep the baby, and didn’t seem like the type to go after a guy for money, but he hardly knew her and didn’t really have a clue what she might do. He needed to think things through and lay down some ground rules. He already had a kid. Was he ready for another?

  Beth loomed over his conscience. He needed to face their situation head on.

  “Listen, Julius, do you have anyone in mind for that fourth ticket?”

  “I can think of ten people.”

  “The nurse I have in mind spent a lot of time with Andrew’s sister that night.”

  Julius stopped staring at the X-rays and studied Gavin, as if remembering how guilty the teenage sister of his dog-bite patient felt. “If you want it, it’s yours.”

  “Thanks, man. I owe you for that.”

  Gavin forced a smile and left Julius in the darkened radiology room. He headed back toward Emergency to question a father about how a two-year-old, for the second time in two months, had gotten another fracture that generally required twisting the arm. He suspected abuse and intended to inform the authorities.

  Patrick ran up to his side, already dressed for soccer practice. “Are you almost done, Dad?” Once again he’d been left to hang out in the resident lounge with his book and a small hand-held electronic game.

  “Half an hour.” He dug into his pocket for some change. “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “We’re going to a basketball game tonight. The Lakers.”

  “The Lakers? Wow! Wait until the guys on the team hear this!”

  “Here.” He handed him some change. “Go get yourself a snack. No candy!” he called as he walked toward the patient room.

  The boy nodded and ran off. Gavin felt as though he’d finally knocked down some of the walls between them. Far from being the trigger for the divorce, for the last year of their marriage Patrick had been the only reason they’d stayed together. Well, tonight they’d be the perfect father-son


  And speaking of newer and better relationships, Gavin needed to make a call to ask Beth to the game. If Patrick was going to have a little sister or brother down the line, he may as well get used to being around Bethany now.

  “I hear you did a great job at the homeless dinner on Saturday night,” Ruth Caldwell said, looking pleased, from across the table in the Mexican restaurant.

  “Yeah, I’m thinking I should get back to volunteering there more often.”

  “Great. As soon as my arthritis flare-up settles down, I’ll be back. It lifts my spirits to help others.”

  Beth knew how much it meant to her mother to help those in need. After her father had died, Ruth had had to spend all her meager savings on the proper burial she’d insisted he have, and depended on the kindness of others to get by for everything else. The soup kitchen was her way of giving back.

  “Have you heard from Neal lately, Beth, dear?” Ruth asked in a timid voice, forcing Beth out of her thoughts with the abrupt change in topic.

  “Why would I hear from Neal, Mom?” Beth felt raw emotions threaten to get the best of her, but she fought them off. Or perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones. “We’re divorced.”

  “Oh, you know me and my menopausal brain. I thought you two were still speaking to each other once in a while.”

  Beth tore at a corn tortilla and scooped up some refried

  Her mother had obviously forgotten how devastated Beth had been when Neal had left for a gig one night and had never come home. Beth willed herself to humor her mother’s amnesia over the lounge lizard that had once been her husband.

  “I hear that handsome young doctor of yours caused quite a stir the other night.”

  Ah, so Mom was being coy about making sure Neal was definitely out of the picture before getting hopeful about a new man. Couldn’t she just be direct and ask who the hunk was?

  “Dr Riordan?” Two could play the coy game. “I helped him out with his son’s allergies.” She purposely left out the part about causing Gavin to have a systemic reaction. “I think he was just returning a favor.”

  “Sounds like he’ll be helping out on a regular basis.”

  “Yes. He promised to provide fruit and vegetables every week and an occasional blood-pressure clinic. I hope you take advantage of it when he does.”