The setback, p.21
The Setback, page 21
Navajo Falls is where I took him camping right after his dad went to jail. He loves it there. “Luckily, there are lots of great places around here,” I say.
“What about David Park’s retreat?” Will asks. “Isn’t that where Amanda and Eddy are doing their reception?”
“It’s booked,” I say. “All four weekends in February are unavailable. I guess we could look at mid-week, but it’ll be hard for everyone to come.”
“As long as you’re there.” Will jogs over to where I’m standing and wraps one arm around my waist. “We can get married anywhere. Any time. Whatever you want.”
“Let’s do May,” Aiden says. “Or June.”
“Your mom’s going to pick a time that makes her happy.” Ethan ruffles Aiden’s hair. He knows why we’re hurrying.
It might be silly, but I want to be married when we adopt our little girl. I’ve done plenty of things wrong in my life. I want to get everything right that I can this time.
“We could use a barn,” Will says. “I’ve seen pictures of that, and we have a barn. Lots of our friends do, too.”
“It’s too small,” I say. “I want to invite your whole family and all our friends.”
“How about the County Fairgrounds?” Beth asks. “You could bring in heaters.”
It’s not a terrible idea. “I’ll look into that.”
“How’s the wedding stuff coming?” Beth asks.
I shrug. “Not great. It’s hard to throw something together in two months, and being in the middle of winter makes it harder.” I shake my head. “Not all of us have people leaping through hoops to get us to use their stuff, either. I should have started an Instagram account.”
“I don’t know,” Ethan says. “Aunt Amanda doesn’t always seem that happy about it. I think she wishes she was just paying.”
I laugh. “The grass really is always greener.”
“I guess so,” Ethan says.
“Well, our grass is going to be plenty green,” Will says. “Don’t worry. I’ll call Mom’s buddy about the fairground and let you know what they say.”
“Yes, that might be our best bet.” My phone rings again. I flip off the gas on the stove, and pick up, again without looking. I’m barely conscious of the fact that someone’s calling Ethan at the same time.
“Hey,” Amanda says.
“What’s up?”
“Have you heard about Abigail?”
My heart starts hammering in my chest. “Have I heard what?”
“She’s in the hospital. Her amniotic fluid’s low, and they’re giving steroids. Looks like it’s baby time.”
“It’s two months early,” I say. “That can’t be right.”
“No one told him that, apparently.”
Oh, no. I’m worried for Abigail, of course, but something else occurs to me. I’ve been assuming this baby will come on time, in April.
What if she comes early?
Is February even soon enough?
“Donna?”
“Yes, sorry. I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“Are you going to go see her? She’s in Vernal. Ashley Regional Medical Center.”
Ethan’s standing up across the room, and he’s racing for the door.
“I have Ethan here,” I say. “I better check on him. I imagine we’ll all be going.”
“Right,” Amanda says. “Well, I’m going to go alone. Snuggles is having puppies right now. My girls are going to stay to make sure Eddy has what he needs, and I’m driving over to check on Abby.”
“If you head over here, you can ride with us.”
“Wait, Mandy wants to come, too.”
“Both of you can fit, I’m sure,” I say.
After I hang up, Will looks around the room. “We may need to get a bigger car,” Will says. “You know, soon.”
Ethan’s already outside, unlocking his car.
“Wait.” Beth left the door open when she chased after him. “You’re not safe to drive.”
“You need to stay inside,” he says. “You’re showing too much now. If you go out, everyone will know, and then you’ll have to answer all the questions you don’t want to deal with.”
“I’m coming,” Beth says. “And I’ll drive.” She jogs back to the house, throws a big sweater over her maternity dress, which I bought her online, and slides her feet into her clunky snow boots. “Ready.”
“I guess we’ll see you guys there,” I say.
“Should I stay here with Aiden?” Will asks.
"No!” Aiden grabs his coat. “I want to come. You’re talking about Gabe’s mom, right?”
I nod. “Her baby isn’t supposed to be born for a while, but he may come a little early. If that happens, the doctors there will take really good care of him, okay? But he may have some special tubes and wires connected to him to help him breathe.”
Aiden’s lip trembles and his eyes widen. “Okay.”
“But don’t worry. That little boy’s daddy is a doctor. They know what to do. Okay?”
Aiden nods.
I can’t help thinking about our February wedding the entire ride over. Mandy and Amanda ask me things about three or four times that I don’t even hear, but Will covers for me pretty well.
“Ethan’s probably there already,” I say, as Will makes the turn to head for the hospital.
“Is this the best place for them to come?” Mandy asks. “I mean, do they even have a neonatal unit?”
“Neonatal?” I shrug. “Not sure, but they’re closer to Salt Lake from Vernal, so it’s probably better than Rock Springs if something goes wrong.”
“Everyone stop talking about worst case scenarios,” Amanda says. “Maybe we’ll get there and everything will be fine.”
“She’s over forty,” I say. “That’s why we’re talking. But hopefully it’s fine.”
“Age isn’t everything,” Mandy says. “Abby’s in great shape.”
When we arrive, the nurse at the ER doesn’t look very pleased, and Ethan looks like he might punch her.
“This woman, Abigail Archer,” the nurse is saying, “she’s not even in active delivery. She can’t have more than two people in the room with her.”
“Well, we’ll just wait in the closest waiting room, then,” I say. “Can you tell us where that is?” I place one hand on Ethan’s wrist, which is shaking a little bit.
“That’s not protocol.” The woman frowns. “You folks ought to head back home. They’ll call you if they have news.”
“It’s fine,” Steve’s voice surprises me. Thank goodness for his level head in times like this. “I talked to the charge nurse,” he says. “The floor’s not full.” He’s standing behind the nurse’s station, waving us over.
“Whittni said it’s fine for them to go back?” The crabby woman who was waving us off looks unsure now.
“She told me to tell you not to worry.” He smiles. “You run a tight ship, which is why we came here, but our little boat is full of sailors, and they all fret.”
The woman heaves a sigh. “Fine. Follow him, I guess.”
So we do, like scared baby ducks.
The idea of the mighty Abigail being sick or having a problem is a little disconcerting. “Is she alright?” I ask.
Everyone’s head swivels toward Steve.
“I told you guys that you didn’t need to come,” he says. “She’s going to be fine. We have excellent treatments for this sort of thing. They didn’t find evidence of a leak, and the baby seems to be alright. But with such low amniotic fluid, they’re worried about complications. They’re still wanting to give him a few days to develop his lungs a bit, and then they want to induce.”
“They want to?” Mandy asks. “What does Abby want?”
“You’re a smart lady,” Steve says. “She’s currently fighting with them. She’s absolutely convinced that this little guy is not ready to come out yet.”
That sounds more like the woman I know.
“She’s not someone who backs down easily.” A smile’s playing at the corners of Steve’s mouth.
“So what do you think?” Amanda asks.
“As a father?” Steve stops and turns. “Or as a doctor?”
“Both,” I say.
“As a doctor, I think we should play the odds. Give him the steroids, then deliver. That’s what the book says to do.”
“But as a father?”
“I’m absolutely terrified, and I want to run around screaming.”
That makes me smile, but it’s not the right mood.
“You’re a great dad,” Will says. “But your doctor hat might be more helpful here than your father one.”
“We have some awesome doctors on the case,” Steve says. “I’m happy, for once, to be here in another capacity.”
It must be strange for him to be in a hospital but not be in charge of the medical care of the patient at issue. Steve opens the door, and Abby’s voice hits me like a flyswatter to the face.
“But I already said that I want to delay as long as possible.”
“Right, but we think putting it off more than a day or two—”
“You’re just nervous,” she says. “Any bad outcome will be on you.”
The woman looks about the same age as Abby. “A bad outcome is bad for everyone. By definition.”
“I want to hear from Doctor Peters,” she says. “I’ll wait until we do.”
“He’s going to say the same thing.”
Abby crosses her arms. “Then when he does, we’ll make a decision.”
The woman rolls her eyes and spins on her heel. She nearly crashes right into Will before realizing we’re all here.
“You can’t all be here,” she says.
“Whittni says it’s fine,” Steve says.
“Whittni doesn’t run the hospital.” The woman folds her arms.
Steve scrunches his nose. “Actually, you might be wrong about that.”
The woman, surprisingly, laughs. “Fine. But you can only come into this room two at a time. Otherwise, you wait next door.”
Steve nods.
The doc lowers her voice. “Too much stress is bad for her. Got it?”
“Yes, I’ll remember that the next time I want to pick a fight.” Steve’s smirking.
“I wasn’t picking a fight. I’m advocating for that baby.”
“Okay,” Steve says. “My mistake.”
The doctor looks really annoyed when she finally leaves.
He and Ethan go inside, and Izzy, Whitney, and Gabe head out. We shepherd them all next door with us.
“So here’s what happened,” Izzy says. “Mom came to her doctor appointment alone, because we were at school, right?”
Aiden’s hanging on her every word. Actually, we all are.
“And then she calls Steve, who’s always totally calm, and after he answers, he sits up really straight, right?”
Amanda frowns.
“And then he’s like, ‘Grab your bags and a few snacks, and let’s go.’” Izzy nods slowly. “And Whitney and I got Gabe’s stuff too, and then we got in the car, and we came straight here. By the time we got here, they’d done more tests, and they were saying they needed to give Mom a steroid shot.”
“But I don’t understand what’s wrong.” Gabe looks even more worried than Aiden.
“So here’s the deal,” Izzy says. “Babies are stuck in the mom’s stomach, so they’re like, swimming in this stuff called amniotic fluid. They need it, and they like, pee in it, too.”
All the kids say ‘Eww,’ including Whitney, who probably just heard all this when Izzy did.
“But if they don’t have enough, then that’s bad.” Izzy’s clearly worried about her mom, but she’s also loving that she’s the one whom everyone’s listening to.
“How low is hers?” I ask.
“It’s supposed to be five or more,” Izzy says. “Usually it’s around twenty. Mom’s is a two or three.”
Aiden, my sweet little boy, starts crying.
“Oh, no,” Izzy says. “Don’t cry.”
“I was jealous that Gabe was getting another brother, and now he’s dying because of me.”
Will grabs Aiden under the armpits and swings him up in the air. “None of this is your fault, bud.”
Instead of pushing away, like I expect him to, Aiden grabs Will around his neck and hugs him tightly. He’s gotten so big, but he’s still so small. After a moment, Will sets him on the window seat in the hospital room and sits down next to him.
“Dad says the baby’s gonna be fine,” Gabe says. “He said not to worry. He never lies.”
It’s cute, hearing Gabe call Steve ‘dad.’
“Plus, he’s a doctor,” Whitney says. “And doctors know about this stuff a lot more than we do. That’s why I’m not worried.” She folds her arms across her chest, and I realize that Whitney and Izzy are more alike than I thought.
“So if he’s going to be fine, then when will he come home?” Aiden asks. “When will he be old enough to play with?”
Gabe shrugs. “Probably a year or something.”
“Until he comes home?” Aiden asks.
“Until we can play,” Gabe says. “I bet he comes home faster.”
“Let’s hope so,” Mandy says. “Can you imagine the hospital bill for that?”
I suppress my shudder.
“I really wish I could have a little brother.” Aiden slumps.
Apparently now that he’s decided Abby’s baby is fine, he’s back to jealousy. Kids’ moods swing so fast, I can barely keep up.
“You’re going to have a little sister,” Beth says. “It’s not quite the same, but it’ll be cool too.”
I freeze.
She told me we weren’t telling anyone. It made me a little nervous, to be honest. I was worried she might change her mind. But now she’s announcing it in front of everyone.
“What, now?” Mandy cuts her eyes toward me. “Donna, are you pregnant?” She lowers her head a bit and squints. “You are a sly dog, William Earl.”
Will laughs. “Donna’s not pregnant, no.”
Mandy’s head snaps toward him. “Then what’s Beth talking about?”
“I’m pregnant,” Beth says. “And I’ve decided to give my baby to Donna and Will.” She smiles. “Also, it’s a girl.”
I suppose this is a decent time to tell everyone. We’re all here.
Except Abby, Steve, and Ethan. They already know, though. And Amanda’s fiancé and her kids, I guess. “Where’s Eddy? And the girls?”
“Snuggles is having her puppies,” Amanda says. “They’re all pretty excited, but they’re also nervous about Abby. I promised them I’d call with updates.”
“You could’ve brought the dog here,” Aiden says. “I want to see the puppies!”
The idea of a wolf dog giving birth in the middle of a hospital seems particularly funny, or maybe I’m just stressed. Either way, I start laughing.
“It’s not stupid,” Aiden says.
“No. Not at all.” I crouch down next to him. “I’m sorry for laughing. They don’t allow dogs in hospitals, though, not ever.”
“Oh.” Aiden frowns. “That’s dumb.”
“Some people are allergic,” I say. “And dogs aren’t always calming. Their barking might keep sick people awake.”
“I doubt Snuggles would want to have puppies here, either,” Izzy says.
Aiden frowns. “Why didn’t you tell me I’m having a sister?”
I look at his sweet little face. I’m so used to thinking of him as a baby that maybe I didn’t give him enough credit. “Beth wanted us to keep it a secret for a while, and I was trying to do that.”
“Is that why her stomach’s so big?” He glances sideways at her. “Because I thought she was eating way too much.”
Beth laughs. “That’s true too, munchkin.”
Now everyone’s laughing.
“Why is Beth giving you her baby?” Aiden asks. “Why doesn’t she keep her baby?”
Ah, kids. We love them so much, but they make things more complicated in every way.
“I’m not ready to have a baby,” Beth says. “I didn’t plan things out right, but I love this little baby a lot. I wanted to give it the best parents I ever met, so I picked your mom and Mr. Will.”
Aiden’s forehead crinkles up. “Mr. Will’s not even a parent yet. Maybe you should give her to Miss Abby and Mr. Steve instead.”
Mandy coughs, probably to cover her laugh.
“Not everyone can have the very best parents in the world,” I say. “Some people have to settle for just pretty good ones, like you are.”
“You’re really good,” Aiden says. “And Mr. Will’s really nice. I just don’t think he knows a lot yet.”
“I have faith he’ll learn,” Beth says. “When they don’t know something, maybe you can help.”
Aiden nods. “Well, I hope she’s cute. Because I’m really cute, and I would hate if people didn’t tell her that. She might get sad.”
Beth’s lip is twitching.
“Don’t worry, though. Even if she’s ugly, I’ll tell her she’s cute.” Aiden smiles. “Since she’s a baby, she won’t even know I’m lying.”
“Good idea,” Will says. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
“What does your husband look like?” Aiden asks, his neck craned so he can look up at Beth. “Because if he’s cute, the baby probably will be, too. You’re pretty.”
“My. . .husband?” Beth snorts. “Um. So. . .”
“He’s very handsome,” I say. “Don’t worry.”
“Yes,” Beth says. “He’s super handsome.”
“She’s not married, dummy,” Izzy says. “She’s Ethan’s girlfriend.”
“We may need to have a talk with him soon,” Will whispers. “I call not-it.”
“What’s the talk about?” Gabe asks. “Maybe I can tell him.”
It feels like we should have talked this over beforehand.
“Probably not,” I say. “But let’s revisit this all later, okay?”
“Can I come, too? Because I have some questions.” Gabe glances at the door. “Let’s do it before Dad and Mom come back.”
Now we’re all laughing.
Given all the madness of the past few hours, I think that’s a pretty good thing.
“I do wish you were having a boy,” Aiden says with a small sigh. “But I guess a sister’s still cool.”
