Doctor, Mommy...Wife?

by Dianne Drake

  “He must be a good friend.”

  “Getting to be.” More than she’d ever anticipated.

  “Well, have a pleasant evening. And tell Charlie he looks good in a chocolate moustache.”

  Laughing, she caught the elevator and rode all the way up thinking of Simon for most of the ride. She was looking forward to fixing dinner for him tomorrow night, which made her wonder what these growing feelings for him were all about...

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “I WASN’T SURE what the proper etiquette was so I brought flowers.” Simon handed Del a spray of white and red carnations at the door before he entered her condo. “Hope nobody here’s allergic to them.” Truth was, they were a last-minute detail. He knew it was appropriate to bring a hostess gift like a bottle of wine, but she’d take months to drink the whole thing and it would turn to vinegar in the meantime, so flowers were second on his go-to list, not that he’d ever bought flowers for anyone before. But for Del, and all her feminine ways, they seemed appropriate.

  “They’re lovely,” she said, taking the flowers from him and stepping back to let him in. “You really didn’t have to, Simon, but I’m glad you did.”

  He wondered for a moment if the gesture was too romantic, as he clearly didn’t want to shoot that intention out there. Sure, Del was drop-dead gorgeous, and she was actually very nice when they were getting along. But now he worried if the flowers signaled something more than a thank-you for the dinner tonight. “Well, my mother taught me it was customary to take a hostess gift and...”

  “And you had a very conscientious mother.”

  “She insisted on all things done properly and I can almost hear her berating me for skipping a hostess gift.”

  “Well, flowers are perfect. They brighten up the place.” She dug out a vase from under the sink, filled it with water and put the flowers in it, then set the flowers on the kitchen table. “Sorry, but I don’t have a formal dining room here. When I bought the place I never anticipated having someone else living here with me, so I sort of low-balled my expectations of what I wanted in my living space. But I’m going to have to upgrade to something larger pretty soon to make room for the both of us, especially when Charlie gets a little older.”

  “I have too much space. Don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it but I’ve got enough space to host an army. Bought the condo back in the days when I’d anticipated having some visitation privileges with Amy. Unfortunately, that never happened. So I’ve thought about downsizing but what’s the point? I’m settled here and it’s as good a place to stay as any.”

  “Well, if you ever decide to sell, keep me in mind. I figure I’ve got about two more years here, if that long. Oh, and I want to stay in the neighborhood. I love the lakeshore.” She showed him to the kitchen table, where he took a seat and she poured him a glass of wine.

  “You bought that for me?”

  “It goes with dinner...lasagna and salad.”

  He smelled the delicious meal cooking. “How did you know Italian is my favorite?”

  “Because Italian’s everybody’s favorite, isn’t it?” she said, laughing as she pulled lasagna from the oven and popped in a loaf of garlic bread.

  “Did you ever think about moving away from here...from Chicago?” he asked as he poured a glass of wine about one-third full.

  “I had offers. Still get them because of my specialty. But I like it fine just where I am and don’t feel inclined to uproot myself and Charlie just to take another job. And you? Now that you’re back home, is it for good, or can other bright lights tempt you away?”

  “You know what they say about Chicago. Once you were born and raised there it will eventually call you back home. I’m home this time. Nowhere to go. And nothing else particularly interests me. Came back when Yvette moved Amy here and I don’t feel inclined to move away.”

  “We’re just a couple of old fuddy-duddies stuck in our ways, aren’t we?” she asked.

  If only she knew how stuck he was. Simon raised his glass and clinked it to hers. “Here’s to a couple of old fuddy-duddies.”

  “Fuddy-duddies,” she repeated, then laughed. “Although I wouldn’t say thirty-five is old.”

  “Your wisdom is, though.”

  “Why, Doctor, I think you just paid me a compliment whether or not you intended to.”

  Oh, he’d intended to. Del was wise beyond her years. And so settled into her life. He envied her that, in a way. Of course, there’d been a time when he’d thought he’d been settled into his own ways and look how that had turned out! Disastrous, pure and simple. That was his one and only mistake, though. Next time he’d know better.

  “I meant to,” he said. “You’ve accomplished so much in so few years, and now you’re a successful mom. That’s an amazing life no matter how you look at it, Del.”

  “Well, you’re not so shabby yourself. I read where you were the head of your clinic and you gave it all up to come back home and take a lesser position just so you could be back in Chicago.”

  “I’ll advance again. I’m not worried about that. And even if I don’t, I like where I am.”

  “Are you sure, Simon? It seems to me that you prefer bigger challenges than we can give you.”

  “I’ll admit I miss the challenge, but this is fine. It gets me exactly where I want to be.” Closer to Amy.

  “But you’re not committed to staying with us if something better comes along?”

  “We’ll talk about that if and when we need to. Until then, how about we eat? I’m starved for that lasagna.”

  Dinner turned out to be a pleasant affair, from the salad course right down to the tiramisu she’d fixed for dessert. They talked about their childhoods and compared neighborhoods and schools, discussed families and friends. Avoided work and life goals pretty much altogether. And before he knew it dinner was over and he was stuck in the odd place on whether to extend the evening by staying on a little longer or going right home. Charlie took care of that problem, though, as he awoke and started crying.

  “Look, you take care of the baby and I’ll see myself out,” he said.

  “You don’t have to leave,” Del replied. “It’ll only take me half an hour or so to get him to go back to sleep.”

  “He’s the priority, Del, and I don’t want you rushing him through a routine he needs just because you feel guilty neglecting me. So, I’ll go, and see you at work tomorrow.”

  “I’ll bring leftovers for lunch,” she said.

  Was that an invitation to lunch? “Sounds good to me,” he said, not at all sure what her intention was. Maybe she’d just hand him a bowl of lasagna and go on her merry way, or there was the possibility they’d sit together and enjoy a leisurely lunch. Whatever the case, he wasn’t comfortable asking, so instead he walked over to Del, gave her a tender kiss on the cheek and thanked her for the evening. “It’s nice to get out for a change.”

  “You don’t date?” Del asked Simon as he headed toward the front door.

  “Nope. Too soon. The wound hasn’t healed enough and I’m generally not that trusting of relationships right now.” If ever again.

  “Too bad because I think you’d make a terrific date for someone. Maybe you’ll meet someone in the clinic or the hospital.”

  Except he wasn’t looking, as most of the women who fell into his age category had children and he wasn’t going to do that to himself again. He’d been hurt badly the first time and he wasn’t going to do that again. “Thanks again for the evening,” he said, then disappeared out the front door.

  * * *

  “He’s different, Charlie,” she said as she laid her baby back down in his crib. “He seems like he’d be a great candidate for someone to date, yet he won’t date. Maybe his divorce hit him harder than I assumed it did. But the thing is, I don’t think he’s even looking fo
r companionship. He seems happy being single.”

  Charlie looked up at her and giggled.

  “Well, I’m glad you think it’s funny. But mark my words, one of these days you’re going to be out there looking and it’s not going to be easy finding the right one. Just look at the mess your mommy made of her life for five years. That should teach you something.”

  Five years of bullying and verbal abuse and she hadn’t gotten out of it quickly enough. But she’d lived in the hope that Eric would change at some point, not that he ever had. It had forced her to change, though. Forced her out on her own into the world, where she’d had no choice but to make it all by herself. Surprisingly, she’d discovered she liked it that way. Liked everything about it including her notion to get inseminated and have a baby on her own, owing to her biological clock ticking and all that. Her doctor had told her time was running out for her. Her ovaries were beginning to fizzle out. No, she wasn’t too old to have a baby yet, and that was still a ways off, but she hadn’t wanted to put it off any longer since she really intended on having a brother or sister for Charlie somewhere down the road.

  So one year from her breakup date she’d embarked on a new adventure and she’d loved every minute of it from the pregnancy to the birth. Having Charlie was the single best thing she’d ever done and she didn’t regret even a moment of it.

  Charlie reached his hands up for her to hold him and, while she normally didn’t give in to his little stall tactics, tonight she wanted to feel him in her arms. “OK, so you win just this once but don’t think your mommy’s going to be a pushover all the time, because it’s not going to happen.” Although it was happening more and more now that she was working and leaving him behind. “He’s a nice man, though, Charlie. Just like yesterday when he covered so we could have time in the park together. I’ll admit that Simon and I got off on the wrong foot but that seems to be behind us now.”

  She hoped so, anyway. Because she really liked him and could even fancy herself dating him sometime. Not that she intended for that to happen. But it was caught up in her daydreams. So she pushed it aside and sang Charlie one of his favorite little songs. Down in the meadow by the itty, bitty pool...as she glanced at the bouquet of flowers and smiled. Honest to goodness, this was the first time anybody had ever given her flowers and it made her feel special.

  * * *

  “Room Three has an advanced case of bronchitis,” she said in greeting to Simon the next morning. “Room Two has a broken arm—just a greenstick fracture, I think. We’re waiting for X-rays. And Room One has a little girl who’s just started having periods and she has the cramps. So take your pick.”

  “Good morning to you,” he said, looking up on the sign-in board. There were six other cases signed in to various other doctors. “Looks like today’s going to be a busy one.”

  “It happens,” she said, giving him a big smile.

  “Then I’ll start with the bronchitis and work my way down. How’s that sound?”

  “I’ll take the cramps,” Del volunteered. “At age eleven I think she’ll be more at ease with a female doctor.”

  They parted ways and Simon went to have a look at his bronchitis patient, a little boy named Bart. He was eight. “How long have you been sick?” he asked Bart.

  “Three days,” his mother answered. “At first we thought it was a cold.”

  “Well, we’ll get that fixed right up for you. Give you some medicine and send you home to rest. And you’ll be up and around inside five or six days.”

  “Thank you,” his mother said. “I was so afraid it would be something worse.” She brushed a tear off her cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do if he got really sick.”

  “You’d bring him here and we fix him up.”

  “It not easy being a single mother...no one there to help me through it.”

  “I can imagine how hard that is.” Simon gave Bart a shot and a prescription and sent them on their way. Thinking about Amy in the intermittent seconds.

  “Cute kid,” Del said in passing.

  “Mom’s single. Having a rough time of it. No support.” He sighed. “I told her I knew how hard that could be.”

  “You’ve got great empathy, Simon. Being a single mom without having support’s got to be the hardest thing in the world. I’m lucky I’ve got all kinds of support.”

  “I learned to be empathetic and not to judge after I became a pediatrician.”

  “It’s good that you care so deeply. I mean, word eventually got around when I was pregnant and I lived some pretty rocky months where I heard things like, ‘She’s a doctor, she should have known better.’ And, ‘She’s a doctor, how could she be a good example to our older patients?’

  “It hurt, Simon, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. But it was my choice not to tell anybody the circumstances at the time because that would have only brought on more speculation and rumors. So I gritted my teeth and worked through it.”

  He admired her for her convictions and knew she was right. But he still thought of Amy and Yvette and wondered what kind of support Amy got from her mother.

  He’d always been the better parent to that child, and it hurt him thinking what situation Amy might be living in now. But there was nothing he could do about it, just as there was nothing he could do to convince Yvette to allow him to have more time with Amy.

  Yvette certainly wasn’t abusive, more like negligent, but she’d be the type who put off an illness for too long, or sign away permission to a virtual stranger. She certainly wouldn’t have been worried the way Del would be, or Bart’s mother. Maybe those thoughts were where all his angst was coming from. Then to look at Del and see what kind of a super mother she was...that just made him angrier thinking how Amy deserved something like that.

  “You’re one in a million, Del,” he said. “A lady with strong convictions who puts up with the ridicule simply to get what she wants. I admire that in you.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Anyway, I’m going to run over to the hospital to check on some patients. Got a couple I’m worried about.” And getting his mind back on work would take it off Yvette.

  “That’s nice of you, Simon. I like it when a doctor goes above and beyond the call of duty.”

  * * *

  The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. He was certainly unique to their staff in the way he cared. And she didn’t even mind that gruffness in him. Most of it was justified considering the situation with his stepdaughter.

  She wondered how long someone with his talent would stay around, though. Amy might move somewhere else. Or he’d have other offers. Offers better than any they could do for him. In fact, she could see him in charge of a hospital pediatrics department, he was so authoritative. That was what worried her. She liked having him here, liked his skill, and as far as she was concerned he was on the open market for something better. Well, it was one of those bridges she’d have to cross when she got to it, she supposed.

  “Well, all my patients are doing fine,” Simon said, strolling down the hall. “And everyone is happy. So what’s next on the board?”

  “Twins. Both with runny noses and fevers. Aged two. And a mother who definitely frets to the point of obsession.”

  “Good,” he said, grabbing the chart off the stack, then heading down to Exam Five, where he found two-year-old twins, both with simple colds, and a mother who was worried to death. With all the worrying he’d been doing over Amy lately, it was nice seeing a good mother. It restored his faith in humanity.

  * * *

  “The lasagna is in the fridge with your name on it. Eat as much as you’d like. In the meantime I’m going to run next door and see Charlie. He’s expecting me.”

  Admittedly, Simon was a little disappointed, but not surprised that she preferred to spend her lunch hour with her son. In f
act, he would have been surprised if she hadn’t. “Have a nice lunch hour,” he said.

  “Any time I’m with Charlie is nice,” she replied as she trotted toward the front door of the clinic. Unfortunately, one of her patients walked in at the same time she was leaving and she had no recourse but to see the child. So she had the girl checked in and spent the next thirty minutes with her, only to send her over to the hospital for an appendectomy. By then it was too late to go see her son but Simon was on his way over there to check on a couple of patients so she stepped into the men’s locker room to ask him to check on Charlie for her.

  “Simon,” she called out to him, admiring the lines of his body in the transparent curtain.

  “Care to join me?” he teased.

  She liked the contours of his lean body. And yes, even doctors could admire. Which she did. Immensely.

  “Since I didn’t go over there at lunch and he’ll be going down for his afternoon nap any time, I was wondering if you might check in on Charlie for a minute to make sure he’s OK.”

  “Sure,” he called, then stepped out of the shower with nothing but a towel wrapped around him. “Now, you can either stay and watch me dress, which I wouldn’t mind because I’m not really shy, or you can leave. Your choice.” He grinned. “Want to think about it for a couple minutes? I’ll be glad to wait.” He adjusted his towel a little tighter around his mid-section so it wouldn’t accidentally fall.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, then backed out the door, leaving him laughing as she exited.

  “I am a doctor,” she said, as he left the locker room a few minutes later all scrubbed and fresh and ready to go. “It’s not like I haven’t seen a naked man before.”

  “But you haven’t seen this naked man, not that he cares. But people might talk, especially if someone walked in on us while I was still naked,” Simon said, coming up behind her.

  Del blushed. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “I was,” he said, grinning. “And it’s been a while since I caused a lady to blush the way you are right now.”