When It Was Us

by Larissa Weatherall

  “You can’t come right now, little girl,” Beth whispered to her belly. “Daddy isn’t home, and neither is Doc Stevens. It’s three weeks early. You need to stay in there a little longer.”

  “Beth, honey, are you in labor?” Anna said gently, forcing her sister to look at her.

  “I can’t be in labor,” she practically screamed as another contraction hit. “She can’t come out tonight.”

  Beth squeezed Anna’s hand as the contraction subsided, and they sat in quiet silence. Anna watched the clock, ticking off the minutes until her hand was squeezed again. Less than five minutes.

  And as much as she didn’t want to say the words, for her sister she’d face it. “I’m calling Drew.”

  ***

  Drew

  The sound of a nearly forgotten ringtone startled Drew awake. The Beatles sang about being in love on a sunny day while his foggy brain registered that he needed to pick up his phone.

  “Anna, what’s wrong? Are you having trouble breathing?” He bypassed a hello when his mind leapt from sleep to worry.

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “How’d you know it was me?”

  “Your ringtone…” Ah, hell. Why didn’t he just say caller ID? He’d changed phones a handful of times over the years, and every time he’d tried to delete the tune Anna had added during her Beatles obsession. He was never able to make himself do it.

  Drew only heard the tone once since he ended things between them on that riverbank. She called a few years ago with her condolences the day his grandmother passed away. Watching one of his favorite people move to her heavenly home had brought him to his knees. Hearing Anna’s voice that same day caused a burning need in his chest to have her by his side, holding her in his arms while she held him together. But she’d been in someone else’s arms for years at that point, been his wife for one of them.

  He decided on skipping over it all together; maybe she hadn’t noticed. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

  After seconds of her silence, he heard a strangled growl of pain on the other end. “Anna!” he urged.

  “Oh right, sorry. I’m pretty sure Beth is in labor.”

  “I’m not in labor,” he heard Beth shout in the background.

  In labor?

  “It’s three weeks early. How far apart are her contractions?”

  “She’s squeezing the crap out of my hand every…man, that hurts!”

  “Anna?”

  “Every four minutes,” she forced out.

  Beth…having her baby now? In the middle of the night when Drew’s dad was a plane ride away? He’d trained for delivering babies, actually delivered a pretty good number of them during residency, but he hadn’t brought a life into the world in almost a year. While he knew he could do it, that didn’t stop the sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. Drew smacked the side of his face; he would suck it up and be a damn professional.

  “Okay, have Kevin meet—”

  “Kevin and my parents are eight hours away, and you told me not to drive. The kids are asleep. What am I supposed to do?” Anna’s voice rose an octave in the early stages of one of her mini freak outs. It was damn adorable, and under different circumstances, he might tease her a little about it. Beth and Kevin’s little girl had not chosen the best night to come into the world, but he’d take care of them. All of them.

  “Sunshine, I want you to take a breath.” He jumped from the bed, pulling on a pair of jeans and his Saint Louis U Med School hoodie. “I’m calling Ruby to come watch Beth’s kids. I’ll meet her there in ten minutes and drive you to the hospital. It’s going to be fine.”

  “Ruby? She’s like…”

  “Almost twenty years old.” Drew laughed. “My baby sister grew up. Even started dating boys, though I try to threaten them as much as possible to stay away. She babysits for Beth and Kevin all the time, so they won’t be scared when they wake up with her there.”

  Anna pulled in a breath, letting it out slowly. He couldn’t see her through the phone, but he damn well knew she was biting that lower lip in concentration before going into determination mode. The sound of drawers closing on the other end of the line tugged a smile from his lips. “Right, okay. I’m packing Beth and the baby’s bag now. I’ll get dressed, and we’ll be ready when you get here.”

  Drew pushed the rogue thoughts of Anna getting dressed from his mind, called and woke his sleeping sister, brushed his teeth, and rushed downstairs. He added food and water to his German Shepherd, Roxy’s, dish and unlocked her doggie door. Keys and wallet shoved in his pockets, he started his truck and made it to Beth’s three minutes faster than promised.

  Taking the porch steps two at a time, Drew reached to knock on the door as it swung open. Anna stared at him, his brown eyes locking with her green. A smile tugged at her lips before she looked away, hiking the duffle bag higher on her shoulder. The door opened further, Beth joining them in the entry way.

  Drew took Beth’s hand in his with a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s get you to the hospital and meet this impatient little girl.”

  Her eyes squeezed shut, and she looked down, clutching her belly with her free hand. “Drew Stevens is about to deliver my baby,” she grunted out through the contraction.

  “I went to medical school and everything. It even says so on my shirt.” He pointed a finger at his chest as her eyes snapped to his.

  “You’re not a doctor!” she shouted. “You are the boy who I walked in on making out with my sister more times than I can count and who convinced me to climb through the back sliding glass window of your moving truck to get to the cooler!”

  He risked a glance at Anna, who now glared at her sister. Her gaze met his, and he winked before turning his attention back to Beth. “Well, sweetheart, I’m afraid I’m all you’ve got right now, so let’s get to it.”

  Drew led the girls to his truck, just as Ruby pulled her little green Toyota into the drive. She grabbed her bag from the backseat and met them on the driveway.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control,” Ruby said, hugging Beth but blatantly turning her back to Anna.

  “You remember that Kinley can’t have dairy, and Charlotte will fuss if you try to change her diaper right when she wakes up. Give her a few minutes and she’ll settle down.” Beth’s face grew tight again as another contraction hit.

  Ruby moved toward the front door. “We’ll be great. Don’t you worry about any of it. Just go have that baby so I can snuggle her.”

  “Thank you, Ruby,” Anna added as Beth lay down across the backseat of Drew’s truck. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Drew caught an eye roll as Ruby turned her back without a word and walked toward the house. Anna took her seat in front with him.

  His focus should be on Beth and delivering that baby, but he couldn’t stop the side glances in Anna’s direction. There wasn’t a time when she’d ridden in his truck and not been right by his side, her head on his shoulder, his hand on her thigh. He wasn’t naïve enough to think eleven years apart hadn’t changed them both, but having her this close fueled a fire of regret that still burned deep in his gut. One that said she would always be his. He needed to break the silence before he did something stupid like grab her hand.

  “You know, when I told Beth to make you rest today, I expected you to stay home and actually rest. Not visit Dawn at the salon.” He looked her way with a teasing smile but quickly realized from the crease between her eyes that he’d somehow poked the bear.

  “Well I didn’t expect to see you all cozy with Avery, so let’s call it even, shall we?” She crossed her arms over her chest, always her opening move in a fight, and stared out the passenger window.

  Damn, was she jealous?

  “She and I…” he started, but Anna cut him off.

  “I don’t need to know details. I saw too much already. Avery? Really?”

  “Well, if you really want to know, I coach her son’s little league team. She just wanted to ask me
a question.”

  Anna turned back his way, eyes a fierce inferno. “It’s still winter. You think she’s really looking to talk RBIs and strikeouts? I’m guessing she’s more interested in the home run she always wanted to score from you.”

  Drew burst out laughing, and she punched him in the arm.

  “Ow, what was that for!”

  “And why does Ruby hate me?”

  That one wouldn’t be easy to explain, but he knew staying quiet wasn’t an option. “Well, she worshiped the ground you walked on when she was little. You remember we couldn’t get a moment to ourselves. She even wedged herself between us on the couch.”

  “I remember. I also remember holding her when she was born. So why does it seem like she can’t stand me?”

  “Because you left,” Drew said.

  Anna’s mouth dropped open, and he quickly clarified. “In her mind, you left for college and never came back. I tried to make her understand, but it was easier for her to blame the one of us not there.”

  “You’re the one who left,” she whispered, so quietly he wasn’t sure if she’d intended for him to hear.

  “I didn’t…”

  She stared at him, the sadness in her gaze more painful than a punch to the gut. “You looked me in the eyes and broke me into pieces.”

  “It broke me too,” he begged, instinctively reaching for her hand.

  She jerked it away. “Right. I’m sure you were really suffering back at school with every baseball groupie ready to throw themselves at you.”

  “You actually think it was easy for me? I had to watch the love of my life, the only woman I’d ever pictured taking vows with, say ‘I do’ to another man. There is no pain that compares to that, sweetheart.”

  She turned to him, those bright green eyes wide in shock.

  Beth shoved him in the shoulder. “Guys! I get that you have a lot of crap to work out, and I know I’ve been the one pushing you together, but I either peed myself or my water just broke. Can we please go inside before I deliver this baby in the damn truck?”

  Drew realized he’d already parked outside the hospital’s emergency doors. He shook his head of the emotions swirling inside and jumped out of the truck. Anna helped Beth stand as he returned with a wheelchair.

  “I’m not sitting in that,” Beth argued, crossing her arms in defiance until another contraction hit.

  Drew looked to the sky for a moment, praying for patience and wisdom to get him through this night. “Please, get in the chair. We’ll get you upstairs and comfortable.”

  She rolled her eyes but thankfully did as he asked. “Clearly you’ve never had a baby. Comfortable really isn’t an option any time in the near future.”

  Drew moved past the raised eyebrows of the nurses at the check-in desk. He sensed Anna’s curious gaze burning a hole in the back of his neck, but he couldn’t continue their argument now.

  Inside the triage room, he asked the nurse to get Beth settled so he could go change. He gave her hand another squeeze and moved toward the doctors’ lounge.

  “Drew?” He turned before rounding the corner. Anna walked toward him. Her eyes held his, and damn if they weren’t the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She stopped just in front of him, a few feet apart but still a hell of a lot closer than he’d felt to her in a long time. “The baby, she’s three weeks early. Is everything…will she be okay?”

  He took her hand in his, and this time she didn’t flinch away. “Yeah, she’s deciding to make her appearance a little sooner than expected, but she’s still full term, and everything looked great at Beth’s last check-up. I’m not too concerned. We’ll be ready for anything, but I promise I’ll take care of them.”

  Anna nodded, and Drew reluctantly released her hand. He pushed through the lounge doors and threw on his navy scrubs and a ferry boat scrub cap. He laughed remembering when Anna bought it for him during her Grey’s Anatomy obsession in high school. The room was empty, and Drew took a seat on the leather couch, head in his hands. He pulled in deep breaths, running over every possible scenario for this delivery, anything that could go wrong. He’d already studied Beth’s charts. Her other deliveries had gone fairly easily, but he wouldn’t take anything for granted.

  Clapping his hands together, he stood, moving toward the door as it swung open, almost smashing into him. Karen, one of the nurses from L&D, poked her head inside. “Dr. Stevens, you better get in here. I just checked her, and she’s going to be ready to push any minute.”

  Drew followed Karen down the hall to Beth’s room. The soap foamed on his hands as he washed them, stealing a peek at Anna dabbing a washcloth on her sister’s forehead.

  Rolling up to the stirrups, Drew slipped on his gloves. He glanced over the white sheet at Beth. “Okay, I’m going to have a look and see how she’s doing in there.”

  “I’m never going to be able to look at you again without knowing you’ve seen…all that.” Beth motioned in a circle to her lower region, and he chuckled.

  “I’ve seen it all many times before.” He shrugged, realizing his poor choice of words when Anna’s eyes snapped to his. “For work, just for the record,” he corrected.

  Dear Lord, can’t I catch a break with that one? Maybe throw me a life raft here?

  Drew went to work, and although he knew that Karen hadn’t gotten it wrong, he really, really wished she had. This news wouldn’t go over well.

  “Okay, we’re going to push in about five minutes,” he said, averting his eyes from the already angry glare of his patient.

  “I want my epidural,” Beth growled, squeezing Anna’s hand so hard tears pooled in her eyes.

  “No time. She’s in a hurry to meet her momma.” He gave the nurse a nod to make sure everything was set and ready, then rolled back to deliver this baby.

  “This is all your fault, Drew Stevens. I blame you for this…somehow!” The contractions were basically on top of each other now, and he could already see the little girl’s head.

  He winked at Beth and did his best to reassure Anna with a smile. “Okay, Anna, can you help hold her leg? Let’s make this a record number of pushes, shall we?”

  “Okay, Beth. I want you to take a deep breath, and we’re going to push to ten,” Karen said at his side.

  Beth drew in a breath, Anna stroking her hair away from her face. They did the ten count only three times before he pulled out a healthy baby…wait, was that a…?

  Beth slumped back into the bed as Drew sucked fluid away from the baby’s mouth and lifted him to show his mother. “Meet your handsome baby boy.”

  “Boy?” both women said in unison. Beth laughed as Drew placed the baby skin to skin on her chest.

  “You’re already a little trouble maker, aren’t you, my sweet boy?” Beth stroked the baby’s cheek. Mother and baby were incredible, but Drew could only stare at the woman he’d once thought would bring his babies into the world.

  Anna watched the two lovingly, but when her eyes moved to Drew’s, he caught a flash of sadness in their emerald depths. She gave him a tortured smile that didn’t match his Sunshine before looking away. His instinct to take away whatever hurt her had only grown with the years apart. A need to hold her in his arms came at him full force.

  Drew shook those thoughts away and completed the baby’s exam. The little guy wanted to eat, so he returned him to his mother. With a squeeze of Anna’s arm, Drew left them to catch a few hours of sleep.

  When Dr. Boyd came into the lounge for coffee two hours later, Drew knew he’d never fall back asleep. He showered and went to check in on his tiniest patient.

  Room 204 still sat in darkness as he knocked softly, then slipped past a sleeping Beth. Anna sat in the rocking chair beside her, snoring quietly with the baby boy snuggled on her chest. Drew leaned against the opposite wall and watched her, the picture of everything he’d once wanted for his life. Eyes squeezed shut, he fought the war raging inside him. The part that told him they were always meant to be and the other that wouldn’t re
cover from losing her again.

  There wasn’t another woman who made him feel one-tenth of what she did, her messy ponytail falling around her face, legs curled up under her. And he hadn’t even kissed her in over ten years.

  But what if she didn’t feel the same? She’d had a whole other life with someone else, a decade of moments he knew nothing about.

  But Anna had owned his heart from his very first memories. Like his sixth birthday, when he fell in the creek while playing hide and seek. She found him soaked and crying over his cut knee. Using her yellow sundress, she cleaned the blood from his wound and placed a kiss next to it, turning the full force of her green eyes on him.

  From that moment on, he was a goner.

  And he’d been hell bent on making her his forever until the day his parents separated. He fought the fear for almost a year until he found himself making a choice that felt wrong, but he couldn’t convince himself to change it.

  He’d loved Anna since he knew what the emotion meant, and he wouldn’t turn his back on that. Not if there was even the slightest possibility she might give him another chance.

  Drew pushed off the wall toward the sleeping baby and his aunt just as the door swung open.

  Kevin sprinted through, hands on his knees as he tried to catch a breath. He realized everyone was asleep, peeked over at the baby in Anna’s arms, and moved toward Drew.

  “Did everything go okay? I can’t believe I wasn’t here.” He scrubbed a hand over tired eyes.

  “They’re doing great. He’s a big boy even three weeks early,” Drew said.

  Kevin’s eyebrows met his hairline. “He?”

  Drew laughed and pointed to Beth, whose eyes blinked open. “You may want to ask her.”

  Kevin rushed to the bed, kissing her forehead in a moment so tender Drew had to look away. “Beth, baby, I love you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

  Beth touched his cheek, placing a kiss to his lips. “I’m just glad you’re here now. Do you want to meet your son?”

  “Son?” Kevin looked from Beth to Anna.