Everyone was busily finishing up their setup, but almost everything seemed done.
All they were waiting on was me.
“Nice to see you, Allison,” Dr. Addleton greeted me with a smile as my bed stopped right next to the operating table. A light hung overhead, but had yet to be switched on. Blue paper material lined nearly everything in sight, and a flash of silver tools caught my eye before I looked away.
Down went my rail, and working together, the team of them moved me from the bed to the table seamlessly.
“Just relax,” Sarah coaxed, rubbing my knee more like a friend than a doctor. “Surgery should be done in an hour and half, two hours at most, and then you’ll be in recovery for an hour or two after that. One of the nurses will keep your family apprized of the goings on, so no need to worry about that. All you need to worry about now is going to sleep. We’ll take care of the rest.”
I nodded my agreement, settling my head into the table below me.
Activity waged on all around me, but for me, this was the easy part.
Placing the mask over my face gently, the anesthesiologist looked kindly into my eyes.
“Just count backwards from fifteen, Allison. By the time you’re finished, this’ll all be over.”
With one last deep breath, I did what I was told.
Fifteen years spent making it on my own.
Fourteen days of freedom.
Thirteen years since my parents died.
Twelve nights of heaven.
Eleven
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four people who’d give anything.
Three tries to get it right.
Two broken hearts to mend.
One chance in sight.
“ALLISON WHITFIELD?” THE NURSE CALLED from the doorway. A mask hung open off of her ear and her blue scrubs faded into practical white tennis shoes.
Haley shoved off of the wall and stepped forward, Danny’s hand at her back almost immediately.
“Yes. I’m her daughter.”
As much as I wanted to be the one to claim her, I just listened.
Walking closer to Haley and lowering her voice, the nurse spoke. “Dr. Addleton just wanted me to let you know that we’re starting the surgery. She expects it to be easy, and for the most part minimally invasive since we’re going in vaginally.”
“How long do you think the surgery will last?” Danny asked.
The nurses eyes flicked from Haley to him and back again before answering. “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. As long as there are no surprises once we get in there, she’ll remove the uterus and cervix and take the ovaries if she can reach them.”
We all nodded numbly. Allison had told us all of this, but it was different to know she was going through it right that instant. I had to fight the churn in my gut at having no control over anything.
“I’ll be out if there’s anything you need to know, and I’ll let you know as soon as the procedure is over. For now, it’s just like she’s sleeping peacefully. Perhaps getting the nap that none of you ever give her the chance to have?”
“Ha!” Hunter laughed softly. “You can tell she talks about us.”
The nurse smiled. “Do you have any questions?”
Haley looked at all of us to check, but I shook my head. The sooner the nurse got back and Allison was done, the better. I’d just have to suffer through the wait until then.
“No. I think we’re good,” Haley replied, sinking her weight into the support of Danny at her back.
I could see her fight the sting of tears as it hit her nose.
Once the door swung shut, Haley shook off the tears and shocked herself back to life. Turning to Danny, she spoke animatedly. “Is that enough time?”
“Yeah, doll. No sweat. I’ll be there and back in no time. Tommy said they were all done and waiting for me.”
“Excellent!” she cheered, clasping her hands together excitedly.
“What?” I asked, wondering what was going on. “You guys are leaving?”
“No!” Haley snapped vehemently. “Just Danny is.” She looked to him once more. “And you’ll be back in time, right?”
Even though she’d literally just asked him, he cooperated patiently. I’d never seen him like that. He was her rock.
“Yep. Promise, babe. Plenty of time.”
“Okay.”
“Where are you going?” I interrogated further since they weren’t volunteering any extra information.
“The project we talked to you about.”
“Ah,” I said with a smile. “The shirts.”
Haley nodded excitedly. “Yep. Danny’s friend Tommy did them on a rush order, thank God.”
Danny rubbed her back with a smile. He knew she was nervous underneath all of that boisterous exterior.
Reaching out for her hand and curling her into my arms, I took over. “Go ahead and go, Dan. Hunter and I’ll take care of Hales. Right, Hunt?”
“You bet, Wade,” he responded dutifully.
“Great!” Danny agreed, taking the opportunity to go while he could. He weaseled his way in, despite her safe place in my arms and put one last kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” she nodded again, slumping into my chest like she’d done it her whole life.
Squeezing her just slightly, my world came into focus. After all these years, all this time, I finally had a family. Danny and I both did, and it was more than just each other.
Thank God we added a couple of prettier members.
As Danny disappeared out the door, Haley let out a ragged breath. I leaned into the wall, taking her with me and settling her in to the crook of my long arm.
“Waiting is the hardest part, huh?” Haley asked a couple minutes into the silence.
“Excuse me?” I asked, curling her far enough away that I could see her face.
Instead of answering, she gave my ribs a pat. “You must hate hospitals.”
Danny had obviously told her about Melly.
I chuckled without humor. “They’re not my favorite.”
She nodded in understanding, and then rested her head back on my chest.
“Right now though, because your mom’s here, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
Her bobbing head moved the fabric on my chest, a sudden smear of wetness alerting me to her tears.
“You okay, Haley?” I asked softly, trying not to catch the attention of anyone else including Hunter. I didn’t want to make it a big deal if she didn’t want me to.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’ve just been waiting forever for her to find someone like you. She’s always deserved it.”
“I don’t know . . .” I started to say, doubting my ability to live up to what Allison deserved. Thankfully, I realized what I should have understood sooner and changed my answer. “I’ll do whatever it takes to be the guy she deserves.”
“Good,” Hunter called out from across the room. I hadn’t even known he could hear me. “Because I’ll find a way to kill you if you don’t.”
“Don’t worry,” I laughed. “I saw what happened to the last guy.”
“He was dirty all on his own,” he spat with unconcealed disgust. “You, I might have to make a little mud.”
“Enough said,” I murmured, extending my hand for him to shake.
He’d spent his entire life–childhood included—looking out for the two women in his life. With Haley finding her happiness with Danny and me entering the picture, he finally felt like he could pass the torch.
As long as neither of us fucked up.
I had a feeling he’d still be keeping a close watch.
The sound my phone ringing pulled Haley out of my arms, and I reached around to the clip at my side to answer it.
Heads around the room popped up at the song. As much time as Allison had spent trying to educate me, and she’d still left Taylor Swift set
to play. There was no question in my mind that she’d done it on purpose.
I supposed it was time to get used to having them all against me.
“Hello?” I said softly, trying to keep the volume of my voice waiting room appropriate. I wasn’t sure why, but hospital waiting rooms were one of those places where you were expected to be quiet. Like funeral homes. I never quite understood.
“Hey, Wade,” my boss Gerry greeted. “How’s your vacation? Going crazy yet?”
“Hey, Ger. No.” At least not for the reason he thought.
“How’s your shoulder?”
As I talked, Haley’s big eye’s watch me from the protection of Hunter’s arm. Not to know what I was saying, but just because. She cared about me, and she cared about all of the ways I factored into her family. It wouldn’t have taken much perception for her to read the uneasy look on my face.
“It’s doing good, Ger. But listen, now isn’t really a good time to talk.”
“Okay, no problem, Wade.”
“I do need to talk to you about some changes going forward though.”
“Changes?”
“Yeah.”
He was quite for a nearly thirty seconds. “I don’t think you’ve ever used that word in the thirty years I’ve known you. You’re done, aren’t you?”
At least he made it easy.
“Yep.” I looked right into Haley’s eyes—her mother’s eyes. “I’m a few years later than normal, but I finally started my family. Now I’m gonna live it.”
“Good for you,” he murmured with a smile, clearly happy for me but not all that ecstatic for himself. He’d be the one tasked with working in a replacement. If he was lucky, he’d be able to keep whoever had been called in for me temporarily with the injury. “We’ll talk details later.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
We both said goodbye before hanging up, but I wasn’t finished before Haley was back in my arms.
“Welcome to the family, Wade,” she whispered into my chest with a hug.
Unable to speak, I just squeezed back.
Minutes ticked by fairly slowly as we waited, and it wasn’t long before Danny came back. He’d come and gone with efficient speed just as he’d promised and reclaimed his woman almost instantly.
The silence was eery in this crowd, but somehow, right then, it just felt right.
Allison was the life of us. She might not be the wildest, most boisterous member, but without her, all of us felt incomplete.
She gave us everything.
And now, when she really needed us, we finally had the opportunity to give it all back.
I’D JUST EATEN THE BEST pack of peanut butter crackers I’d ever had in my whole life.
Of course, my take was probably a little skewed, the hunger that comes with fasting for surgery powerful enough to make anything look good. And I do mean anything. If Amy hadn’t snatched her fingers back quickly enough, I might have considered giving them a taste.
Okay, gross. Not really.
My Coke quenched my thirst, rolling down my throat and bringing me to life for the first time that day. A day didn’t start until the heavenly liquid found it’s way down my esophagus and into my stomach, and thus, this one was officially only going to be twelve hours long. That was going to be my first post-surgery request from my family. That they petition the local government for a retroactive shortened day.
The surgery had gone well, or so I’d been told. About an hour and a half in length, and I was officially without any of my female reproductive organs.
As a silver lining, I couldn’t wait to hop on a scale. If this didn’t buy me a couple of pounds I didn’t know what else short of exercise would. And I was talking realistically. So dieting was out.
Amy came strutting back into the room, a secret smile painted all over her pretty face. Her lips looked forced over the line of her teeth, and her nose wrinkled all the way into her eyes.
“I’ve just come from telling your family that they can come back, so they should be here shortly.”
“Thanks,” I murmured, wondering what the freaky look on her face was about.
She reached over and grabbed the wrapper from my crackers off of my tray, laughed to herself, and waltzed out of the room, leaving me to speculate.
At the sound of numerous footsteps in the hall, I didn’t have to wonder long.
“Oh Jesus. What are you wearing?” I asked as Haley strutted through the door, white ink in the shape of something scary alerting me to her wardrobe change.
She smiled huge, pushing her chest out and smoothing the fabric so I could read it completely.
There, on the black background of her v-neck t-shirt, a white outline of a uterus surrounded her cleavage and right underneath read “Got Uterus?.”
After a short allotment of time—enough for me to finish reading—she spun around to show me the equally cheeky back. It had only one word. “Nope.”
Shaking my head in wonder, I looked from her to the door when the sound of more shuffling feet alerted me to another presence.
Or, as it turned out, more than one. Apparently, they were timing their entrances.
One after another, the men of my life filed in, each of their shirts cheesier and more comical than the one before.
Danny’s was short and to the point, reading only, “Uterus who?”
Hunter was right behind him, and the words on his forced me into an unexpected giggle. “Uterus cramping your style? Cut it out of your life.”
As soon as I recovered, I moved on to Wade, where a short novel took up the space between his firm chest and taut abdomen.
“My woman’s got more femininity in the place where her Uterus used to be than yours does in her whole body.”
Laughter quickly gave way to comprehension. There was more to his than the others.
“Your woman?” I questioned. “I’m your woman?”
Someone had forgotten to tell me.
“Woman. Girlfriend. However you want to think about it.” He shrugged. The smug, high-handed bastard. “Danny advised me on the use of the word ‘woman’ though. Something from your books.”
“We have one for you too,” Haley informed me, bouncing up and down like an excited kid. She tossed it unceremoniously on my chest and stared at me expectantly.
Obviously, I’d have to go back to the Wade issue later.
I stared at her and the others’ faces, excitement, hope, and happiness bouncing between them and me like multiple ping pong balls.
Reaching up with shaky hands to unfold it, I slowly read the words aloud.
“Uterus Free Since 2013.”
“Well, it’s certainly accurate,” I murmured.
“And pithy too,” Haley offered.
Agreeing, I nodded slowly. “That too.”
Wade hung back by the door, letting my kids swarm my bedside. I could tell he wanted to be in their place, but he held back out of respect for them and me. Mostly me.
He totally got it. The importance my kids held in my life. The amount of years that it’d been just me and them.
He’d had the same relationship with Danny, the fact that he wasn’t his blood offspring of no real consequence. He loved Danny like his own, and Danny loved him back.
“So, how do you feel?” Haley asked. “Let me guess. Superior to most other women?”
I smiled.
“You feel like rubbing the whole no period thing in our faces, don’t you?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re thinking with your brain, baby girl.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
“Yeah,” Hunter joked. “And it only runs at half capacity.”
“Oh!” Danny shouted. “Burn!”
Haley’s eyes seared him with their lasers.
“I mean . . . that’s plain rude, Hunter. How dare you say such a thing to your sister?” he backpedaled, smiling a cheesy smile and begging for forgiveness.
Wade used their theatrics as an opportunity to check on
me.
“Hey, Alli girl,” he mouthed, the line of his lips turning into a curve as my name rolled off of his tongue. “You okay?”
I nodded my yes, looking at the crazy crowd around me.
Shaking my head, I looked back again with a smirk. “Perfect.”
I was absolutely perfect. This, right here, with him and my kids was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
Wade pushed his way to a spot at the side of my bed, his warm hand finding mine in the blankets and holding tight. His lips headed straight for mine, sucking me into closed-eyed abandon, but he veered off to my ear at the last second.
“You’re right, you are.”
“Huh?” I asked, pulling back to look into his lush-lashed eyes.
“Perfect,” he said. “You’re perfect.”
“WHAT DO YOU WANT ME to make for dinner?”
“What do you want?” Allison asked, deferring to me like always.
“Nope. What I want doesn’t matter. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because we’re having what you want.”
“Wade—”
“What. Do. You. Want?”
One way or another, I was going to teach her that I was here to take care of her. She hadn’t quite gotten it yet, but she would. I had no plans to give up.
It’d only been a week since her surgery, but I’d settled into catering to her every whim like I’d been doing it my whole life. She, of course, tried to do more than she should, but thankfully, I was around to stop her.
“What I want,” she groused, “Is for you to decide what you want. I’m tired of deciding. Years, I’ve been on my own, deciding night after night after night. I’m done deciding.”
Okay, geez. I guess she really didn’t want to decide.
“Okay, Al. I’ll decide.”
“Thank you!”
Surveying the contents of the fridge and pantry, I contemplated my options and finally decided on one.
“I think I’ll make a homemade pizza.”
“Pizza?” she queried, a suspicious lilt to her pretty voice. “Are you sure you want pizza?”
Christ, she was the cutest, most infuriating woman. I missed her body desperately, but I made a point not to tell her. For some reason, she already felt bad about it.
Accidental Alpha Page 21
