by Marci Bolden
Jade gasped. “Oh my gosh. She’s having a baby.”
“She’s having a baby,” Liam said. While Jade felt a sense of panic wash over her, Liam calmly grabbed the paddles as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Hopefully, she’s not having a baby in my shop.”
Widening her eyes, Jade looked at the shore in the distance. “My God, Liam! Row faster!”
Jade and Liam rushed into the store to find Parker sitting behind the counter looking terrified as she held her stomach and panted.
“How far apart are the contractions?” Jade asked.
“Uh. I, uh…”
“It’s okay.” Jade pressed her palms to Parker’s face and held her gaze. “You’re okay. Everything is okay.”
“The more times you say that the less I believe you,” Parker whimpered.
“Okay.” Jade bit her lip so she didn’t laugh at herself. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Liam helped Parker stand. “How many rentals are on the water?”
Parker panted. “Seven.”
Liam cursed under his breath as he scanned the store.
“You stay,” Jade told him. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks. I just can’t…”
“I know,” Jade reassured him. “Help me get her to the car.”
Once they had her tucked inside, Liam closed the passenger door and sighed at Jade. “She’s like my kid sister. Maybe I should close the store? I could put up a sign or…”
“Are you her birthing partner?” Jade asked.
He winced. “No.”
“Then you can’t do anything to help her anyway. I’ll stay with her.”
“Thanks. I’ll be over as soon as the last raft comes in.”
Parker knocked on the window. “I’m having a baby here, guys! Can you wrap this up?”
Jade chuckled. “I’ll call you,” she said one more time as she walked around to the driver’s side. As soon as she was buckled up, she glanced at Parker. “Breathe.”
Parker squeezed the handle above her head and ground her teeth. “Is it supposed to hurt this much?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is.” She glanced at the young woman next to her. “Have you called the dad?”
As tears rolled down her cheeks, Parker blew out a long breath and shook her head. “He left as soon as I told him. He doesn’t want anything to do with us.”
“What about your family? Your parents or…”
Parker shook her head again.
Jade grabbed her hand and used a soothing maternal tone as she said, “I’m here. We got this. Breathe through the pain, honey. Just breathe.”
“I’ll breathe,” Parker grunted, “but you gotta drive unless you want to deliver this baby.”
“I’m driving,” Jade said and put her car into gear.
After pulling up at the emergency room entrance ten minutes later, Jade ran to grab one of the wheelchairs parked inside the sliding doors. She helped Parker sit and rolled her inside to notify the receptionist that she was in labor.
“Wait,” Parker called when a nurse came around the desk to take her away. “You’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
The fear in her eyes broke Jade’s heart. She could easily see herself sitting there, terrified at the reality of becoming a mother at such a young age. However, Jade had been lucky enough to have not faced motherhood alone.
“I have to park the car,” Jade explained. “I’ll see you in Maternity.” Before Parker could protest, the nurse turned the wheelchair and pushed Parker down the hall. Jade trotted back to her car, pulled her phone from her pocket, and dialed Liam. As soon as he answered, she put him on speaker so she could park. “What’s the deal with Parker’s parents?”
“They don’t approve of her life choices.”
“Should we call them?” she asked.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
Jade’s heart dropped to her stomach. “She’s in labor. Wouldn’t they want to be here for the birth of their grandchild?”
“She’s not on solid ground with them,” Liam explained. “I don’t know all the details, but I know it’s a touchy subject. Don’t get involved with this, Jade. It’s not your fight.”
She scoffed. “I didn’t say I was going to get involved.”
“Good. Because I don’t think doing so would end well. Look, I promised I’d help her as much as I could while she adjusts. She’s going to have her hands full for the foreseeable future. We’re not going to make it worse by stirring the familial shit pot. Got it?”
“Got it.” Jade parked and turned off the ignition. “So she’s on her own?”
“She’s got a few friends who come around now and then, but she got in with the wrong guy and… Well, he did what bad guys do. This isn’t our problem. I’m here to help her, but I’m not getting involved unless she asks. Neither are you. How’s she doing?”
“Scared,” Jade said as she headed back to the hospital. “I told her I’d stay with her.”
“Thanks. I’m sure that will make today easier for her. But don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Jade scowled at his lecture. “Yeah, I got it, Liam. I said I got it.”
“Call me when she has that kiddo.”
“I will.” Jade walked back into the hospital and followed the signs for the maternity ward, texting Darby as she went. While Jade wouldn’t get involved with Parker’s family issues, she wasn’t going to ignore that this child—and for all intents and purposes, Parker still was a child—needed a support system.
Jade remembered all too well the struggles of being a new mom at such a young age. She had been seventeen when she’d had Xander. Even though her parents weren’t thrilled, they hadn’t shunned her. She’d also had Nick. They’d gotten married and faced the new struggles together.
He hadn’t abandoned her. At least not when it counted.
Parker didn’t have that, and Jade wasn’t about to let her go through this alone. As she walked into the maternity ward, she sent a final order to Darby to go all out on presents for Parker and the baby with a promise that Jade would pay her back.
Inside Parker’s room, Jade took the seat beside her. “I let Liam know you’re doing okay. He’s excited. I promised to call as soon as the baby’s born.”
Parker sniffled. “Will you stay with me?”
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thanks.”
Jade took Parker’s hand and did her best to distract her with questions about the baby. Did she know the baby’s gender? A little girl. Did she have a name picked out? Marie Louise, after her grandmother.
Jade asked anything she could think to talk about that didn’t involve family and the baby’s MIA father.
“What’s the deal with you guys?” Parker asked when there was a lull in the conversation.
“What do you mean?” Jade asked.
“Between you and Liam. Are you dating or what?”
Jade chuckled. “No. God no. I’m not even divorced yet.”
“So?” Parker asked.
Jade shook her head and said, “I don’t want to date anyone right now. I don’t even know who I am right now.”
“Liam’s not a bad guy,” Parker said. “I know he acts like a fool most of the time, but he’s not.”
“I know,” Jade said. “We talked about that. I get why he acts like he does, but that doesn’t mean I want to date him. Or anyone else.”
Parker shifted on the bed. “I just want you to know, he’s really nice. He cares about people in his own jacked-up way.”
Jade smiled, but her reassurances were lost when Parker hunched forward and started whimpering as another contraction hit her. Before too long, Jade was wiping sweat off Parker’s head and telling her to push. And several hours after that, Parker collapsed back on the bed as her newborn daughter let out a loud, shaky cry. Jade had never been present for any birth other than her children’s, and the sense of wonder that washed over her made her cry.
<
br /> “Oh my God, she’s perfect,” Jade whispered. Jade stroked Parker’s hair back and fought the urge to give her a big motherly kiss on the forehead. But she did lean down and hug her as much as she could. “Good job, Mommy.”
Parker looked up at Jade with a hurricane of emotions in her eyes. “What do I do now?”
Jade brushed her hair back and smiled. “Now you rest, honey. Because it’s going to be a while before you get a good night’s sleep again.”
“No, I mean… I don’t know what to do.”
The fear on Parker’s face nearly brought Jade to her knees. Once again, she understood all too well what the girl was feeling. Her life had changed in one heartbeat too. Her life had been upended in the blink of an eye too. And she’d been left feeling the exact same way. Brushing Parker’s dark hair from her face, Jade offered her a soft smile. “You don’t have to, sweetie. Nobody ever really does. You have a beautiful baby and friends who adore you. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to help. So is Liam. You’re going to be okay.”
“Here we go, Mom,” a nurse said as she brought over a bundle wrapped in a blanket.
Parker opened her arms, and Jade watched as all her worries melted away. The moment she held little Marie, Parker forgot all her troubles. As she should. Leaning close, Jade put her hand on the baby, and they both cooed at her and told her how perfect she was.
“This is what matters now,” Jade told Parker. “You take care of her and let us help take care of you, okay?”
“Okay,” Parker said with a thick voice as she hugged the baby closer. “I can do that.”
“All right, Grandma,” a nurse said, “we need to get Mom cleaned up.”
Several seconds passed before Jade realized the nurse was talking to her. “Oh, um…”
“Godmother,” Parker said. “Jade is my, um, godmother…ish.”
Jade laughed lightly as she recalled the role Darby had assigned her. If only she had a magic wand to help make her life and Parker’s better with a swish. If only.
Jade put her hand back to Parker’s head. “I’m going to go call Liam and let him know she’s here.”
As soon as she stepped outside the room, Jade sank into a chair and let the overwhelming emotions hit her. She barely knew Parker, but they were bonded forever now. Baby Marie had felt like family the moment Jade had seen her tiny body in the doctor’s hands.
If she’d had any doubt about restarting her life in Chammont Point, it was gone now. She wanted to be here. She needed to be here. Helping Parker find her footing as a mother wasn’t simply a task like so many things in Jade’s life had been. This suddenly felt like a mission.
This was her purpose now, whether she’d intended it to be or not. Being there to help Parker bring her daughter into the world made Jade realize that everyone’s lives were changing all the time. They were learning and growing all the time. Parker was going to have to learn to be a mother, and Jade was going to learn how to be…herself.
Jade’s mindset shifted, her outlook changed, and it made her consider just how lucky she actually was. Yes, the last year had kicked her in the shins over and over, but she was here. She was still standing, and even without the marriage she had counted on, she was finding a way to carry on.
As angry as she was, as much as she hated what he’d done, Nick hadn’t abandoned her. He hadn’t left her to fend for herself when she was a terrified seventeen-year-old girl staring down motherhood, and he hadn’t abandoned her when cancer was getting the best of her. He’d stood by her both times when he could have walked away.
She didn’t know that she’d ever forgive him for being an adulterous liar, but Taylor had been right when she’d said he deserved some credit for not leaving her to fight for her life on her own. If he had, she didn’t know who she would have leaned on. Her parents had barely kept themselves together when she was sick. Nick had been the strong one. He’d been the one who helped her fight the battles that had won the war.
She resented him and what he’d done. But she owed him.
Liam had told her she had to look at the hard times and thank them for the lessons she learned from them and the changes they’d brought to her life. He’d been right. Her cancer had made her take a long, hard look at herself. Nick’s decision to leave her made her make changes she needed to make. And like it or not, his decision to stand by her when she’d been sick was something she should be thankful for.
She wiped her cheeks, looked at her phone, and heaved a dramatic sigh before finding his name in her list of contacts. Part of her wanted to throw the phone before she made yet another mistake she’d regret, but the other part of her—the part that was determined to grow—insisted she reach out to him.
She wasn’t about to call him, but she did type out a message and reread it three times.
I don’t know how to forgive you, but I understand. Thank you for not leaving me alone to fight my cancer.
Swallowing hard, she hit Send.
“Jade?” Liam asked, sounding fearful.
She looked up. “I was about to call you.”
He squatted next to her and searched her eyes. For the first time, she didn’t see him as some broken thing trying to avoid his problems by playing mind games. She saw the sincerity, the fear, and the sadness in his light eyes. She saw a man who had lost everything and was still struggling to begin again.
“What’s wrong?” he pressed on a whisper, as if he didn’t want to know.
She shook her head and wiped her cheeks. “Nothing. Everything went fine. She’s perfect. She’s beautiful.”
He stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. “I saw you crying, and I thought… Never mind what I thought.”
Her phone dinged, letting her know she had a new message, and she glanced at it long enough to read: You’re welcome. Her tears welled up again. “Sorry,” Jade said, drying her cheeks again, “it was very emotional.”
“Apparently.” He snagged a few tissues from the box sitting on the table beside the chairs and handed them to Jade.
She looked down the hallway when a flash of metallic caught her eye. Darby rushed toward them, wearing the most outlandish pink and blue 1950s house dress and stilettos. Her hands were overflowing with balloons, flowers, and stuffed animals. Behind her, Taylor was taking long strides to keep up as she carried a cake in her hands.
“We’re here,” Darby announced, as if anyone could miss them. “Are we too late? Did we miss it?”
“Miss the baby?” Jade asked.
“Whatever happens when babies come out of…” She winced. “You know.”
Jade laughed as she wiped her nose. “She had the baby. A little girl named Marie.”
The door to Parker’s room opened and a nurse came out, pushing the baby in a wheeled carriage. When she noticed all eyes on her, she smiled. “She just needs a checkup. I’ll bring her right back.”
“Can we go back in?” Jade asked.
“Yes, just be mindful that Parker needs her rest.”
That was all the nurse had to say for the group to pile into the room. Jade watched, gauging Parker’s response. She was feeling incredibly protective, and if she saw the slightest hint of unease, she’d usher everyone right back out.
However, Parker smiled brightly, and Jade was glad she’d told Darby to go all out.
“Nice work,” Liam said as Darby handed Parker a teddy bear.
“I’m going to be here,” Jade said. “To help take care of her.”
He nodded. “Good. I think she’ll need all the help she can get.”
“I…um…I texted Nick.”
Liam’s face sagged.
“To thank him for standing by me when he could have left. Someone told me I should find things to be thankful for.”
Liam’s smile returned. “That’s the first step to letting go.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“How do you feel?”
She drew a breath as she analyzed herself. “Better. I feel better.”
/> “Good. Come on. Let’s celebrate with some cake. Don’t say it,” he warned when she opened her mouth. “You can have one bite, Jade.”
“Okay. One bite.”
Fifteen
After a quick visit to Parker and the baby, Jade pulled into the lot outside the park where Liam had planned a spelunking trip for her, Darby, and Taylor. She was so excited she could barely contain herself. She’d been wanting to do this for so long, and here they were, about to explore the deepest, darkest caves Liam could find.
They gathered around the back of the car. Jade dug into the trunk and handed out the supplies she’d packed for them.
“What’s this for?” Darby asked, holding up a head lamp.
“So you can see,” Taylor explained, flipping on the light.
Darby’s eyes did that blank stare thing before blinking. “Wait. It’s going to be dark?”
“We’re going into a cave,” Liam informed her.
Again, she blinked and tilted her head. “I thought we were spelunking.”
“Yes,” Jade said, and then she chuckled. “Wait. Do you know what spelunking is?”
Darby looked from Jade to Taylor to Liam. “Um…”
“It’s cave exploring,” Liam explained.
Darby furrowed her brow and gawked at him. “In the dark?”
“How much sunlight do you think there is in caves?” Taylor asked.
Darby scrunched up her face. “I don’t know. I don’t hang out in caves.”
“Well, there’s not much,” Taylor said. “Once we get away from the entrance, it’s going to be dark.”
“How dark?” Darby asked as she widened her eyes.
Liam placed the lamp on his head. “Dark. You’ll need that to see.”
Putting her hands up, Darby cringed. “Wait. Are there going to be bears?”
“Maybe,” Taylor said as a grin tugged at her lips.
“No.” Jade gave Taylor a silent warning with her mom stare. “I mean, we’re not going that far into the caves, but you should have a light. Come on, Darby. We’ve been talking about this for weeks.”
She pouted. “I thought we were talking about something else.”