The Neurosurgeon's Unexpected Family

by Deanne Anders

Finding a set of dishes in the cabinet, Hannah took a few minutes to fix Lindsey a plate of pasta and meat sauce. Setting it in front of her, she turned and was surprised to see William had returned. He’d changed into a pair of khaki pants and a clean button-up shirt of light blue that almost matched the soft blue of his eyes.

  “That was my housekeeper, Angela, who wanted to make sure I knew her daughter wouldn’t be here in the morning. She says Shelley told her that I’d found a friend to help out with Avery, so I wouldn’t be needing her anymore.”

  “Yeah, about that Dr—I mean William...” Hannah set the dishrag down beside the sink. If there was a contest for someone screwing things up for themselves, she’d be a top contender. All hope of asking the man to help her get the clinical hours necessary for graduation disappeared. “Maybe we should step into another room,” she suggested, looking over at Lindsey.

  With a raised eyebrow, William motioned for her to follow him along the short hallway beside the front staircase. Opening a door, he stepped back so that Hannah could enter what appeared to be his home office. A large chair sat behind an even larger oak desk in the center of the room. In front of the desk sat two leather chairs, which looked very inviting after spending the last fifteen hours on her feet.

  Hannah took a seat and waited. She knew that he couldn’t really be angry with her. It had simply been a misunderstanding that had caused the girl to quit. That could be fixed. Right?

  * * *

  Shutting the door behind him, William leaned against it as he looked over at Hannah. From what Angela had said, he could tell something had happened to give Shelley the idea that she wouldn’t be needed anymore. Thank goodness her mother had called to confirm the information. The last thing he needed was to get ready for work in the morning only to find he had no one to watch Avery. Now he just needed to find out what had really happened.

  “Hannah, relax. I don’t know what gave Shelley the idea that I didn’t need her anymore, but I’m sure it was some misunderstanding,” he said, trying to keep the stress out of his voice. He was exhausted. Between long hours at work and even longer hours at home with Avery, he was running on empty. Three days and his whole life had been totally uprooted by one child who hadn’t even had her first birthday. What would the next seventeen years be like? His heart rate shot up.

  “Well...” Hannah said.

  William watched as she rose and stepped closer to his desk, her back to him. His highest priority right now should be finding a live-in caregiver, but the thought of someone he didn’t know being in his house didn’t appeal to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people. He just liked his own space and privacy—something he would never have again.

  No, that wasn’t true or fair to Avery. He couldn’t blame the child for interrupting his life after her own life had changed forever with the death of her parents. She was so young to have to go through this. Was she better off without the memories of what she had lost, though? He knew the pain of memories of someone close to him being taken away. He didn’t want that for his half sister. Neither did he want her raised by nannies and stepmothers—people paid to care for her. But what was the alternative?

  Not moving from the door, he returned his attention to the woman in front of him. He’d always liked Hannah. She was known throughout the neuro unit as not only a talented nurse, but also a compassionate one. She was a pretty, bright, responsible woman and, from what he had seen of her spunky daughter, an excellent mother. But today Hannah had been more than that. She’d been a friend who’d stopped everything in her life to help him. After tonight, it would be hard to think of her as just a nurse he worked with. He found himself wanting to listen to her explanation of what had transpired with Shelley.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Hannah said as she turned to face him.

  “Of, course.” He leaned further back against the door and crossed his ankles.

  “When you hired Shelley, did you interview her?” Hannah asked. She’d apparently worked off whatever nerves that had been driving her and had come to lean comfortably against his desk.

  “I’m afraid I wasn’t given the type of warning that would allow me that luxury. I called the only person I thought might know someone who could help me,” he said.

  “But you didn’t actually talk to her yourself before you left her with Avery?” she asked in a voice that didn’t hide her disapproval.

  “Like I said, there wasn’t time. Angela has been my housekeeper for over two years now. She has kids. She knows what kids need. I don’t,” he said. A bit of unease settled in his stomach. Had he left Avery with someone who had put her in danger? “Did something happen to Avery?”

  “No, of course not. Shelley is a bright young girl who would be great as a fill-in babysitter for date night, but her life is too busy with her classes right now and that’s her priority.” Hannah added, “I’m pretty sure taking care of Avery was the last thing she was interested in.”

  “It’s okay, Hannah. I know Shelley wouldn’t work out in the long run. Her classes do have to come first. I understand that. I just don’t understand why she thought I didn’t need her anymore.”

  “Well, that’s kind of my fault...” Hannah hedged. “When she told me about your parents passing—”

  “My father and stepmother,” he amended.

  “Yes, and I am so sorry to hear that, William.” Hannah’s eyes shone with a genuine sympathy that he had seen in only a few of the people attending his father’s funeral service.

  “Thank you,” he said, raw pain eating at him, though he couldn’t understand where it came from. It had been years since he’d been close to his father. Why was he feeling so much now?

  “So...” Hannah continued, “I told her that I wasn’t aware of that or that you had a baby sister to take care of. I explained to her that if we, the staff at the hospital, had known, we would have offered to help. I think she took that to mean her help wasn’t necessary any longer.” She paused. “I really didn’t mean to mess things up for you and Avery.”

  “I know you didn’t. This is all just so new to me that I panic sometimes. I’m afraid I’ll mess things up myself. I really don’t know what I’m doing.” Saying the words out loud, admitting to someone else his fear, seemed to quiet the angst that always seemed to lie right below the surface.

  If he could just get one thing taken care of as far as Avery’s childcare was concerned, he knew he’d feel better. Just having someone who knew what they were doing, someone with experience with a child Avery’s age, would give him some small amount of comfort. At least then he would have someone to ask all the things he needed to know to be able to take care of the little girl. He didn’t want to mess this up. He didn’t want to mess Avery up the way his father had messed up with him. His father’s answer had been to find a wife and a nanny and to leave William’s care to them. That wasn’t what William wanted for his sister. There had to be another way.

  “Tell me something. Who takes care of Lindsey while you’re at work? Or is she too old for a babysitter?” William asked.

  “She thinks she is, but she’s got another year before I’ll be comfortable with her staying by herself,” Hannah said. “She goes to after-school care provided at the school, and most of the time it works well with my schedule. I do have another mom who picks her up if I’m working late. Also, there’s a group of mothers with children who have had heart transplants, or who are waiting for transplants, that’s very supportive. We share childcare when needed.”

  “She’s doing okay now?” William asked. With the energy and spunk Lindsey had displayed earlier, it was hard to imagine her before the transplant. He felt a guilty punch to his stomach. Hannah had taken care of a child with a heart defect and had gone through the processes of transplant surgery, all, apparently, while studying and working. And here he was wallowing in feelings of incompetence? It was time for him to man up. He could do this.
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br />   “Oh, she’s doing well now. It’s a miracle the difference the surgery has made. I never would have dreamed that she could be as healthy as she is today,” Hannah said, wiping at her cheek.

  “I’m glad to hear that. It sounds like it’s been hard on both of you,” William said. He should say more, but what? He wasn’t good at all this sharing of emotions. He cleared his throat. “So what is it you look for when you have to hire a babysitter?”

  “Well, the first thing I look for is someone I can trust with Lindsey medically. She’s old enough now that she understands how important it is to take her meds on time, and she’s been taught the signs of early rejection, but I still want someone who knows what to do if there was an emergency.

  “A lot of the teenage babysitting classes teach CPR now, which is wonderful and I know that there are day cares that require it.” Hannah took a quick breath before continuing.

  “Second, I check references. I need to know the person is responsible and has taken care of a child of Lindsey’s age before. It’s a lot different taking care of an infant versus an older child. Someone caring for a child Avery’s age certainly needs to make sure that she’s fed and clean, but Avery also needs playtime. It’s very important for her development. And last, but still very important, I usually let Lindsey meet them before I hire them so I know it’s a good fit.”

  “A good fit?” he asked. “Would that be a good fit with both you and Lindsey?”

  “For a good working relationship, I think both the parent and the child should be comfortable with the caregiver. Of course, your needs are a bit different,” she admitted. “What you really need is someone to help you become comfortable taking care of Avery. If you’d had other children, this wouldn’t be a problem, but getting hit with all of this at once has to be challenging—N-not that you’re doing anything wrong,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean that.”

  “It’s okay. I’m the first person to admit that I’m struggling,” he said.

  He’d tried to explain to Avery’s former nanny that he didn’t know anything about babies, but the woman had refused to listen. It had only taken Mrs. Adams five minutes to inform him that his sister was his responsibility and that since he was a brain surgeon, he certainly should be able to figure it out. She’d then handed him Avery and stomped back to her car. How the woman had thought being a neurosurgeon was going to help him with caring for his sister, he didn’t know. Was he supposed to suddenly understand childcare because he had a doctorate?

  Hannah didn’t seem to expect that from him. She understood. She’d said exactly what he’d been thinking all day.

  He needed someone to walk him through this whole process of taking care of a child, and he now had a good idea who that person should be. He needed a teacher, and Hannah had all the qualifications. Not only did she understand how demanding work in healthcare could be, she also understood the inherent challenges. Plus, there was the added bonus that he was comfortable around Hannah. She didn’t make him feel self-conscious. And if Maria, Avery’s great-aunt decided to protest his custody, he needed to be able to show the courts and children’s services that he knew what he was doing. Hannah could help him prepare for that. There couldn’t be anyone better to help him with Avery than Hannah. But how could he ask her to help him when she already had more than anyone else could handle between her job and caring for Lindsey? Was there some way that he could help her?

  “I know the perfect person for the job,” he said as he pushed away from the door. He’d find some way to make things easier on her if she agreed to help him. “You do?” Hannah asked, relief in her voice.

  This woman who had only spent a few hours with Avery really was worried about the child’s care. More proof that he was making the right decision.

  “I do. She meets all the qualifications,” he said. “It’s been proved that we work well together, and she would be a great help in teaching me all the things I need to know about taking care of Avery.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’m so relieved. I’ve checked with all the moms I know and no one knew of anyone that was available,” Hannah said. “Who is it? Do you think she could start tomorrow?”

  “There’s only one person I know who would be the perfect person,” William said. “And that person, Hannah, is you.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “I CAN SEE the wheels turning in your head,” he said then took a bite of pasta.

  “And exactly what part of the brain would you call the wheels, Billy the Brain Surgeon?” Hannah asked. She watched him flinch as he washed the pasta down with some wine from the bottle he had insisted on opening. The man was apparently not used to being teased.

  After William had shown Lindsey where she could watch her favorite sitcom and she’d assured herself that Avery was still sleeping, she’d listened to his sales pitch for fifteen minutes before she’d gotten tired of shaking her head and had decided that what they both needed was to eat. Thinking that, maybe with a break, she could get him to understand just how wrong she was for the job. Oh, she’d definitely been impressed by the figure he had quoted her. If she had known that taking care of rich people’s kids paid so well, she could have done that instead of waiting tables before she became a nurse. She wondered about William’s background that he could fling numbers like that out without wincing at least a bit.

  But that wasn’t what had her “wheels turning” right now. He wasn’t the only one who could come up with a great plan. Her mind was quickly formulating one of her own. What was really giving her pause, though, was the fact that his suggestion could be a way for her to clock those necessary clinical hours. She was so close to finishing her college courses and she had always dreamed of working in the neurosurgical field. She just needed hands-on preceptor hours, and it would be a bonus for her to work with someone with his reputation.

  “Let’s say I do agree to this. What would be my hours?” she asked.

  William picked up his napkin—one of the cloth ones he’d pulled from a drawer before opening the wine—and wiped at his mouth, bringing her attention to lips that were turning up in a slight smile.

  She was amazed at the difference she could see in the man now. It was like he was a different person here in his home. In just the few moments they had talked alone in his office, something had changed between them. They’d had many discussions at work, and even on the occasional outings with their peers, but there had never been a personal connection. Hannah could easily see now that the two of them would work well together.

  But still, she needed to consider every aspect of William’s plan—a plan that depended on her. There was some pressure knowing that he and Avery truly did need some help, but she could only make the decision that was best for her and her daughter right now. Lindsey would always be her first priority.

  “I need someone to take care of Avery while I’m at work, but I wouldn’t expect you to do that. What I really need is someone who could live here and teach me what I need to know to take care of my sister. My stepmother’s aunt, who raised her, is making noises about protesting my custody of Avery. My lawyer doesn’t think it will ever make it into court, but I need to be prepared,” William said as he pushed his plate away.

  “Why would she do that? You’re Avery’s half brother. That makes you her next of kin,” Hannah said. Anyone who had just been handed a child to care for would be in the same situation. He just needed some time, a little education, and hands-on experience.

  “It’s still a possibility,” William said, “and if it comes to that, I want to be ready.”

  “But you want someone to live here? That would mean leaving my apartment and moving Lindsey in here with me,” she said as she saw the hope for the plan circle the drain.

  How was she supposed to ask Lindsey to move again? They’d moved four times since coming to Houston. Sometimes the moves had been a step up in living arrangements. Sometimes a step down. Thi
s would definitely be a step up, even though the apartment they lived in now was the best place they had ever lived. Besides, living off someone else was not the kind of thing Hannah wanted to teach her daughter. She’d fought hard for her independence and she wasn’t about to give it up.

  “Of course, I would cover the expense of the housing that you would still have to pay and, of course, as I told you earlier, I’d pay for your time.” He rose from the table and took his plate to the dishwasher before returning for hers.

  “I can’t make a decision like this without talking to Lindsey, but I have a proposal of my own,” she said, rising and moving to the cupboards to put things away as she went.

  Was she crazy to even consider his offer? It would definitely make finishing school this semester easier. She might have to take an educational leave of absence from work, but she had enough saved to cover her expenses. It would be worth it to get to work with him. Being able to put that she trained under Dr. William Cooper would help her get into any neurology practice in the state.

  “Whatever it is, I know we can make it work,” he said as he wet a dish rag and began to wipe the counters. At least he didn’t seem like one of those men that would expect her to wait on him. There was no way that would go over well.

  “I’m about to finish up my nurse practitioner program at school, but I still need a lot of clinical hours before I can graduate. How would you feel about me working with you to get them? In exchange, I would be happy to help you become comfortable taking care of Avery on your own,” she said, then held her breath.

  If he agreed, her life would be so much easier. She could finish her semester strong and still be able to pay the bills and spend the time she needed with her daughter. “We could have an exchange of knowledge. How about for one month during the day you teach me everything I need to know to work in a neurosurgeon’s practice and at night I’ll teach you everything I know about raising a little girl?”