The Exception To The Rule

by Rinyu, Beth

  She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Kat, I’m trying to break a record—don’t you want to be the world’s oldest maid of honor?” She laughed and I smacked her lightly with the dish towel, laughing back.

  Matty walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. “Where are you going with that?” I asked.

  “Uncle James wanted it,” he said in his gruff little voice, as he ran off to the other room.

  “He’s such a good role model, and you wonder why I haven’t set the date yet,” Tricia said sarcastically as Claire and I laughed.

  Matty made his way back into the kitchen and looked up at me. “Mommy, can Gracie sleep over?” he asked batting his long eyelashes.

  Gracie was a Golden Retriever that Charles and Claire had adopted last year when Matty had become relentless about wanting a dog. I was adamant about not having pets, because I knew that I didn’t have the time that was required to take care of one. Charles and Claire, who were unable to see Matty heartbroken, went to the shelter and picked out Gracie. She was Matty’s dog but lived at their house. To my dismay, I was slowly getting joint custody of her as she was beginning to have more overnight visits than I cared for. I looked down at his adorable face, unable to say no to him.

  “Okay, since tomorrow is Sunday and today is your birthday,” I said, trying to let him know this wasn’t going to become a habit.

  “Yes,” he said triumphantly as he ran off to tell Charles and James the news.

  It was getting late and everyone had left. Matty was asleep on the couch with Gracie lying on his feet. I didn’t have the heart to shoo her off, they had both looked so adorable sleeping there together. I decided to fill out the barrage of school paperwork that had come in the mail weeks ago and I had been ignoring. I was having a hard time believing that in a week Matty would be in kindergarten. Once I got started I zipped through the forms. I felt a little sad not being able to put down any contact for the father’s info, making me realize that the day would come when Matty would want to know about his dad. I wasn’t prepared for that just yet and for now he was content that his dad was some great doctor who was traveling around the world saving people.

  I filled out so many papers that my hand was going numb. I was so happy to put my final signature on the last one. I looked at the clock realizing it was after eleven. Tomorrow was the last Sunday in August; the beach days were dwindling and I had planned to spend the entire day at the beach with Matty.

  I walked over to the couch and picked Matty up to take him into his bedroom. I hadn’t realized just how heavy he had gotten in the past few months. I tucked him in his bed as he mumbled something in his sleep and then kissed him goodnight. Gracie was right under foot, jumping up on his bed assuming the same position that she had on the couch. I turned on his night light, closing his door half shut behind me.

  I could tell that it was going to be a beautiful day as I awoke to the sun streaming in through the blinds on my window. As if that weren’t enough, I heard Matty in the kitchen clanging dishes. I hurried to get myself out of bed to see what mess awaited me. I had just sat up when he came walking in my room with Gracie right behind him. He had an oversized bowl of cereal that I would normally cook a side dish in. He slowly made his way to my bed, being careful not to spill any before placing it down on my nightstand. He was smiling as if he was so proud of himself.

  “Is this for me?” I asked in a tone that let him know I was equally proud of him being so thoughtful.

  He nodded, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

  “Wow, this looks delicious!” I said looking at the bowl of cereal. I looked back at him, standing alongside my bed. He looked so adorable in his Sponge Bob pajamas. I tapped my hand on the bed signaling for him to climb up. He effortlessly made his way up on the bed, crawling under the covers with me. I pulled him closer, squeezing him tightly, and kissed him on his strawberry-shampoo-scented head.

  “I love you,” I said, slapping another kiss on his head.

  “I love you more,” he said in a silly voice.

  “Nope, I love you more.” I tickled him as he began his deep belly laugh which I loved so much.

  I stopped tickling him, letting him get his breath. “Are you ready for the beach?” I asked.

  “Yup,” he said eagerly. He jumped out of bed as I followed him out of the room taking my monstroussized cereal bowl with me.

  It was a perfect beach day—not one cloud in the sky, with a comfortable breeze coming from the ocean, and it was already packed. We had arrived a little bit later than I had wished. We had to drop Gracie off at Charles and Claire’s. Matty always made such a production whenever he had to leave her, acting like he would never see her again. I finally hurried him along, assuring him that Gracie wasn’t going anywhere.

  We spent the day looking for seashells and playing in the sand. I was so happy that Matty loved the beach as much as I did. This had become our Sunday tradition in the summer. We finally took a break placing both of our chairs by the water.

  “How many fish are in that ocean?” Matty asked as he stared out into the water.

  “Lots.” I smiled at his inquisitiveness.

  “When I get bigger I’m going to build a great big house for me and you right on the beach,” he said, squinting to keep the sun out of his eyes.

  “That would be wonderful.” My heart melted at how much I loved this sweet little boy.

  The position of the sun was beginning to change, as well as the tide. I knew that it was getting later. I pulled my cell phone from my purse to check the time and it was close to four. We were both hungry and I could tell the sun had worn Matty out. We packed up our belongings, as Matty, always trying to be the gentlemen, carried both chairs. I allowed him to carry them for a bit before taking them from him as I watched him struggle.

  We stopped off at what had been my dad’s favorite diner to grab dinner, both having burgers, with Matty eating more fries than anything. He said that he was full but immediately found room for his ice cream sundae that he ordered. He shared my same love of chocolate and sweets. I opted to skip desert knowing that he would never eat all of his and I would finish it.

  The waitress brought Matty his sundae. She was the same waitress who had been working here for years and had known my father very well. She had a soft spot in her heart for Matty, knowing that he was my dad’s grandson.

  “Oh my goodness Matty, are you going to be able to eat all of that?” she asked, placing his sundae in front of him. He nodded, grinning from ear to ear, flashing his dimple and batting his long dark eyelashes at her. “Well, he certainly is going to make the girls melt when he gets older,” she said, smiling back at him.

  I watched as he prepared to eat his ice cream removing the cherry right away, sticking his spoon past the whipped cream and going right for the hot fudge, getting more of it on his face than in his mouth. I shook my head at him and laughed, amazed at how something as simple as watching him eat ice cream gave me such great joy.

  We arrived home and I immediately got Matty’s bath ready. He liked to prove that he was a big kid by giving himself baths, which I always heavily supervised, usually going over him again with soap and a washcloth. But tonight, even though he protested, I was giving him one, wanting to wash his hair thoroughly since he had half the sand from the beach in it. I shampooed his hair twice, scrubbing until I couldn’t feel any more sand while he played with his action figures, making them swim about in the water. I interrupted him from his play, making him stand up so I could wash his body down thoroughly. As I washed his face he stuck out his tongue and I grabbed it with the washcloth, making him giggle.

  “Let me get that dirty old neck,” I said, getting every crack and crevice. As I moved the washcloth back and forth I felt a large lump on his left gland. I took the washcloth away to feel it with my fingers; he seemed unfazed as I touched it. I felt around the rest of his neck, not feeling anything else. I had an uneasy feeling as I moved my finger ove
r it once again. I quickly rinsed him off and wrapped him in a towel as he dried himself off. I powdered him down with baby powder and helped him get into his pajamas.

  He lay on my bed watching cartoons while I jumped into the shower. There was nothing quite as good as an “after a day at the beach” shower as you washed all the sand and salt away. I took my time letting the water absorb into my skin. I finally turned off the water before I went into a shower coma. I put on my pajamas and ran the blow dryer quickly through my hair, throwing it back in a loose ponytail. It had just occurred to me how tired I was as I walked down the hallway to my bedroom. I was happy to know that I didn’t have to be at work until later tomorrow so I didn’t have to wake to the sound of the dreaded alarm clock. I entered my room with Matty’s cartoons blasting on my TV while he was sound asleep in my bed. I changed the channel to something more to my liking and turned off the lights. I crawled under the covers, cuddling him as I listened to him breathe. I kissed him on the back of the head. This was what I existed for; what I wanted my whole life. To have someone whom I loved more than anything in this world and who loved me back unconditionally. My most important role in life was being Matty’s mom. I felt very blessed.

  Chapter 21

  As much as I tried, I was unable to sleep in. In fact I woke up earlier than usual. Matty was still fast asleep next to me, so I quietly got out of bed making sure that I didn’t disturb him. I used the time to relax with a cup of coffee and catch up on work emails that I had received over the weekend. I wrote down phone messages from people that I had to call back. I couldn’t believe how much my patient load had grown over the past year. We were now down to three doctors in our group. Two of the doctors had just retired a couple of months ago. We were eagerly trying to find suitable replacements. I loved my job and I didn’t mind taking on the extra patient load. The only negative was the time that it took away from Matty. The increase in patients meant I was spending a lot more time doing rounds in the hospital before and after hours. Even though I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day, it was a rewarding kind of exhaustion and I couldn’t imagine having any other career. But I also made sure that I had my priorities straight, making Matty my number one at all times. I hit send on my very last email that I had to respond to with a sense of relief. I closed my laptop and put the phone messages I had written down in my briefcase.

  It was almost seven and Matty was still asleep. Since his summer camp was over for the season he didn’t have to be up at his usual early time. I figured I would let him take advantage and sleep a little later. I was just pouring my second cup of coffee when he appeared in the kitchen rubbing his eyes still looking half asleep.

  “Good morning, sleepy head,” I said.

  He just waved as if he were too tired to speak. He walked over to the fridge to get some apple juice. I watched as he moved the kitchen chair over to the cabinets to stand on so he could reach the cups. I admired how he always wanted to do things on his own. I drew the line with his independence once he started trying to pour the juice into the cup. I got up quickly to help him. The last thing I felt like doing was cleaning up a sticky mess of apple juice first thing in the morning.

  He climbed up on the stool next to me, sitting at the breakfast bar.

  “What’s going on?” I smiled as I ran my fingers through his bed head.

  He shrugged. “Pop and me are going fishing today,” he said. His gruff little voice sounded a bit gruffer first thing in the morning.

  I had known that Charles had planned on taking him fishing today. What Matty didn’t know yet was that they were going out on his boat. Matty loved fishing from Charles’ boat. Charles would never tell him that they were taking the boat out until the last minute. He loved to surprise him and see the excitement on his face.

  “I think Uncle James is coming with us too,” he said happily.

  “Well, that sounds like fun; wish I didn’t have to work so I could go,” I said, making a sad face.

  Matty replied with a sad face too, he leaned in closer to me and rubbed his nose against mine and began to giggle.

  “Eww, apple juice breath,” I teased as he blew his breath in my face. He bellowed a deep belly laugh when I laid my head down on the counter pretending I had passed out from the smell. It was moments like these that I wanted to bottle up. I wished that he could stay this little forever, so sweet and innocent.

  I arrived at Charles and Claire’s to drop Matty off before I headed to work. Charles was getting the fishing poles together. Matty eagerly ran to help. Gracie, also outside, jumped on Matty, covering him in kisses. I went inside to quickly say hello to Claire. She was in the kitchen making sandwiches to take along, carefully cutting the crusts off Matty’s. Claire always went that extra step. I always made him eat around the crust, which he despised.

  “Are you going too?” I asked, seeing her dressed casually in her pedal pushers and sleeveless T-shirt.

  “No.” She shook her head as if I were crazy. As much as she tried not to, she always got seasick on the boat. “It’s a boy’s day out,” she said. I looked out the window and saw James, who had just arrived. I quickly gave her the itinerary of my work day so she could gauge what time I would be coming back to get Matty.

  “No problem; I’ll save you dinner so don’t eat,” she said.

  I walked outside to find James carrying Matty upside down and the two of them laughing hysterically. I gave Matty a kiss goodbye as James placed him back down on the ground.

  “We’re going on the boat,” he said excitedly.

  “I know.” I smiled at his happiness.

  I gave him a huge hug and kiss telling him to be careful and to make sure that he listened to Charles and James. He assured me that he would as he ran off, anxious to leave.

  I headed off to work to start my day, returning all my calls on the way there. I looked at my schedule when I arrived and it was packed solid. My first two patients were already in the rooms waiting for me.

  The one good thing about being crazed all day is that time goes by superfast. Before I knew it I had just finished with my last patient. I just had to run to the hospital and check on some patients and I would be done for the day. I was starving, and not having time to eat all day was tempting me to just hit a fast food drive-thru. I persevered through the hunger remembering that Claire had said she was saving me dinner.

  I arrived at the hospital and took the elevator to the fifth floor. “Hi Dr. V,” one of the nurses greeted me as soon as I got off.

  “Hello,” I replied.

  I always managed to have a good rapport with the nursing staff. I knew that many doctors didn’t. Many of them looked down on the nurses and that always made me angry. I knew how hard they worked. They always made sure to tell me how much they appreciated my laid back attitude.

  I went in to see my first patient, a sixteen-year-old girl who was being hospitalized and observed after a week-long fever that wouldn’t go away. It turned out to be a result of a tick bite.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked as I walked in her room.

  “Okay,” she said, trying to smile.

  I looked at her chart and was happy to see that she had been responding well to the medication.

  “Well, you will be happy to know I’m lifting your liquid diet,” I said.

  She was able to smile a little bit more after hearing that.

  “Is anything bothering you?” I asked.

  “No, I’m okay,” she said shyly.

  “Well, if you keep responding the way you are to the meds you should be out of here in a few days,” I said. “Just in time for the first day of school,” I added as she had expressed her concern about that previously.

  “Awesome,” she said with a full-face grin.

  I smiled back. This young girl reminded me so much of myself at that age. So shy and overly concerned about things that most kids her age wouldn’t care about.

  Her mother came in just as I finished updating her chart. I brought he
r up to date on her daughter. I saw the worry wash right off of her face. I loved being able to tell parents good news. It was the times that I had to deliver the bad news that I dreaded most. Since I had Matty it had become even harder, knowing the strong love that a parent has for a child. I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if something were to happen to him.

  I was on my way to see my next patient when I ran into Dr. Fowler, one of the pediatric oncologists to whom I would refer my patients. I decided to pick his brain about the lump that I had discovered on Matty’s neck.

  “Dr. Fowler,” I said, getting his attention.

  “Dr. Vallia, how are you?”

  “I’m well, thank you. Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure.” He put his clipboard down on the table.

  I explained the lump that I had found on Matty’s neck, describing the size, feel, and movement of it. He asked if Matty had been sick lately. He had been congested all summer long, running fevers on and off. I just chalked that up as one of those summer viruses that always took forever to go away.

  “Well to put your mind at ease, call my office in the morning, make an appointment, and I’ll take a look at it,” he said compassionately. “I’ll let my staff know that you will be calling and try and get him in tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully. I knew that it was probably nothing but I felt much better having him look at it to confirm it.

  My day was officially over. I was happy to finally be heading up the stairs of Charles and Claire’s picture-perfect front porch. As soon as I opened that front door I was happy with my choice of skipping the drive-thru. The smell of Claire’s pot roast permeated the air. I peeked into the living room where Matty was passed out on the couch. Charles and James were watching the baseball game and looked like they weren’t far behind him.

  “Rough day fishing?” I asked. They both looked at me as if neither one had the energy to even answer.

  I hurriedly made my way into the kitchen, to the pot roast, roasted potatoes, and sautéed green beans. Claire had it wrapped so tightly in foil that it didn’t even need to be heated up. She sat down at the table with me while I ate, telling me about her spa day. It had been a birthday present from Matty and me that she had finally gotten around to doing. The rest of the conversation was all about Matty. Claire could talk for twenty-four hours straight about him if you let her.