by Rachel Burns
“I wasn’t in the room when the doctor checked her over, but I heard that your baby is a little stressed out. We’re going to get him out just to be on the safe side.”
“Better safe than sorry. I don’t want anything to happen to them,” Oliver agreed with her.
“Put this on and wash your hands exactly like I am.”
“Oliver was quick to copy her. Emily was waiting for him.”
They backed into the next room where Emily was being prepped for surgery. They were building up a tent so she couldn’t see her tummy.
“Oliver, I need you.” She reached for him.
“I’m here, baby. I’m sorry it took so long. I couldn’t find a parking spot.”
“Do you have one now?” she asked.
“Yes.” He grinned at her. She would worry about something like that. “I had to park very far away, but I made it here in time for the show.”
“We gave your wife a local anesthetic. She isn’t going to feel a thing,” the doctor told him. “How are you doing, Emily? Are you ready to have your baby? Is everything ready for him at home,” he asked cheerfully.
Oliver could see that he was giving his nurses looks. They were trying to hurry. Something was very wrong, or they wouldn’t be in here a month before the baby was due.
“Everything is ready,” Emily could hardly speak. She felt herself slipping away. She looked at Oliver. “Take care of the baby.”
Oliver felt her hand go limp in his. The machine that was showing her heartbeat flat lined.
“Get him out of here,” the doctor called out.
A nurse took hold of him and pushed him away. She turned back to the doctor to help.
Oliver was panting as he ran his hand through his hair, removing the hair net. He nodded at the doctor who had already turned away from him. Then he left the room.
Oliver felt the need to hit something or someone.
He should have been strict like the other daddies were. He shouldn’t have let her get pregnant.
This mistake was going to end her life.
Why hadn’t he said no?
He stomped around looking for a chair where he could sit and wait. His hands were shaking, and his heart was pounding. He ripped the light blue paper gown they made him wear so he could be with his wife off.
Why wasn’t there a place for him to sit?
There was no way he’d move away from the door where his Em was.
He looked up and down the quiet hall. He was alone.
Oliver pressed his lips together. He couldn’t stop the tears that were forming in his eyes. He sank to his knees. “God, please, don’t let her die. I’ll do anything you say; just let her live.”
He moved over to the wall and sat down on the floor outside of Emily’s door. His body was heavy, and he couldn’t hold his head up any longer. He rested his arms on his knees and hid his crying face between his arms as his body shook with pain.
Brian thought that he should go see Emily. It might be a false alarm, but Oliver was rushing her to the hospital. He decided to go over and see if he could help in any way. Oliver might need him to explain things.
A nurse told him that Emily was in surgery.
Brian got into scrubs and went to the operation room where Emily was. He found Oliver on the floor crying. “Oliver, what’s wrong?”
Oliver looked up and saw his friend, decked out in his doctor clothes with his hands up in the air like you saw on TV. He felt a spark of hope. Brian knew how much Emily meant to him. “You got to save her, Brian. Something went wrong; they kicked me out. Tell them how important she is. No one ever understands that, but she is. She really is.”
“I know that. I’ll go see what I can do.” Brian backed into the room to keep his hands clean. He looked around to see what was going on.
He identified himself after he saw that the worst was over. The baby was red and tiny. He’d softly cry out, making a squeaking noise now and then, protesting that he’d been separated from his mother. Brian could see now that he was going to be exactly like his father. Both would adore Em.
The doctor had performed a hysterectomy, ruining Emily’s chances of ever having another child. Oliver would be glad to hear that. This was the last time he’d have to go through this.
Emily’s heart was beating regularly, and she’d be sore as could be when she woke, but she’d live and be returned to her Oliver. There would be a happy ending to their story.
Brian felt an incredible pang of jealousy. He wished that his Amelia would be returned to him. They’d been so happy. “May I take the baby to see his father? He’s dying a thousand deaths outside. I’ll bring him right back.”
The nurse recognized him immediately. She laid the baby in his arms and smiled at him. “Tell his father that he tested out perfectly fine.”
“Thank you.” Brian wished he could hold his own child in his arms. He understood Emily perfectly. Life wasn’t complete without a child in it.
Was that why Amelia left? Had she figured out that he’d never be able to give her a child?
“Oliver, stand up. I want you to meet someone.”
Oliver was already getting to his feet. “How’s Em?”
“She’s going to be fine. They had to do a hysterectomy. This young man will be your only child.”
“Thank, God. I thought that I lost her.” Oliver felt a heavyweight being lifted from his shoulders.
“I know. I understand. Believe me; I do. Take your son and say hello to him. He looks like you.”
“You think so? I see so much of Emily in him. He’s a beautiful kid, don’t you think?” Oliver carefully took hold of his son and smiled at him. “You’ll never know how much your mother loves you. I still can’t believe what she went through to get you.” Oliver stared at his son. “She’s a very wise woman. You’ll love her too.”
Oliver looked up at Brian. “I have a son. Look what Emily did for me.”
Brian saw the pride in Oliver’s eyes, and he was struck with so much jealousy. He didn’t begrudge Oliver his son, but he wanted what he had too: a wife who loved him with all of his heart and a child of their own to love and raise together.
“When do we get to see Em?” Oliver asked.
“In a couple of hours. She isn’t awake yet,” Brian answered.
Oliver stared at his son until a nurse came, telling him that she needed to wash him and get him dressed. She wanted him to spend some time in the incubator.
“I’m going with you. My wife would kill me if something happened to him.”
The nurse smiled at him kindly and took him along.
Oliver insisted that he be the one to diaper his son and dress him. He’d tell Em that he’d taken care of their baby, and she’d be so proud of him.
Chapter 24
“Sir, your wife is awake. She’s asking for you,” a nurse informed him.
Oliver nodded at the doctor and carefully stood up. “It’s time to pick out a name for you, little guy.”
Oliver followed the doctor into a dark room. “Emily, how are you?” She looked terrible, but still, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. How’s the baby? Is everything alright with him?”
“He’s getting impatient. He wants a name.”
“Really?”
“Sure. All the other children have names, so he wants one too.”
“Oliver, are you mad at me?” Emily asked, knowing that today had been very hard on him.
“No, baby. Why would you think that?” Oliver sat down on the chair beside her bed.
“I know you went through all of this to make me happy. Thank you for being there for me.” Emily smiled at him. She was still weak from her operation, but she needed her husband to know what he meant to her.
“Are you happy, Em?”
She gave him a guilty nod.
“Then I’m happy. I’m a guy. My brain is truly that simple. As long as the girl I love is happy, so am I.”
Emily smiled at him. “I’m so lucky you chose me.”
“I’m the lucky one, Em. It’s always been me. But enough about me; look at our son.” Oliver laid the baby in her arms.
“He’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” Emily took in everything about the child in her arms, his tiny fingers and precious squished nose and huge blue eyes. When he yawned, he made her heart melt. Her love for him was so complete, and she forgot everything that had happened before. It was nothing compared to the feeling of holding him in her arms.
“Is he really our baby?” she asked her husband, fearing that she was falling in love with a child who wasn’t hers while her dead baby was hidden away somewhere.
“Of course, he is. Why wouldn’t he be?” Oliver thought that was a very weird question.
“I thought maybe something happened to our baby … and you got a replacement.”
Oliver cracked a smile. His wife knew him so well. “I probably would have done that. But it wasn’t necessary. This is our baby. The one you carried inside of you. He looks like you. Brian said he looks like me too.” Oliver glided the back of his pointer finger along his son’s tender cheek. “This is my son.” Oliver looked into Emily’s eyes. “I have a son, Em. I’m a father. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I figured you’d like him once you met him.” She smiled at her husband.
Oliver had to smile. Em always knew best. “I’ve always loved him. I was worried about losing you, Em. Don’t ever put me through that again.”
“What about a daughter? It would be nice to have a daughter to work with me in the garden. We could try one more time,” she suggested.
They were having such a special moment. He didn’t want to ruin it by telling her that she couldn’t have any more children, but the doctor in Switzerland had been right.
He needed to change the topic. “Excuse me? What did you say?” Oliver moved his ear so it was over the baby. “Did you hear that, Em? He wants to work outside in the garden with you.”
“They both could.” Emily smiled, picturing it.
Oliver could see that there was no getting around it. He had to tell her. “Em, no. I’m sorry. I thought the doctor told you. You can’t have anymore children.”
Tears filled Emily’s eyes. “But we wanted a girl too.”
“No.” Oliver took a sharp tone. “We want to have a long life together. We tempted fate and won today, but we had to pay a price. To save your life, the doctor performed a hysterectomy. That means that you don’t have a womb anymore. The doctor in Switzerland told us this might happen. Remember?” His forehead wrinkled up as he explained the big words and terrible things that happened today.
Emily gave him a sad nod.
“You can’t have anymore children, but we can love the one we have right here in your arms, and we can thank God for him.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears. Oliver almost never scolded her. “Yes, Daddy. I do love him. Please, don’t think I don’t.”
“I know you do. That was never in doubt, baby. And you’ll love the little girl we adopt in a couple of years. I don’t want our son to be an only child. He shouldn’t be lonely.”
“He won’t be. He’ll be the heir that your family will accept and our daughter will be his little sister, and he’ll love her very much. Besides, we still have three fertilized eggs in Switzerland. I was thinking we’d give all three of them a chance at life. But first in a couple of years.”
Oliver nodded along with her. That had been bothering him. They were just as much their children as this baby was. “That’s right, Em. We’re going to be a very happy family. But we need to give our son a name.”
“I already did. His name is Robert.”
“Robert?” Oliver didn’t like that name. He thought it wasn’t cool.
“We’ll call him Robby when it’s just us.”
“That I like. Robby is a kid you can play baseball with. The other boys will like him.”
“And we’ll call him Robert by official things.”
“I like it, Em. That’s a good name.” He warmed up to it already.
“Really?” Her eyes lighted up. “I already have a name for a girl too, Rebecca and Becky when it’s just us.”
“Slow down, Em. One day at a time.”
“I remember, Daddy.”
“Good girl. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Daddy. You’ll never know how much.”
“I think you showed me today.”
“That was nothing, Daddy. I love you much more than that.”
“I wish I could show you how much I love you, Em.”
“But Daddy, you already did. You picked me out.”
“And I’d do it again.”
The corners of Emily’s mouth lifted up. She was perfectly happy, with her son, her husband and with herself.
The End
Just Kidding
Emily wants a daughter, and what Emily wants, Emily gets.
Epilogue
Oliver was sitting on a blanket in the garden. He was leaning against his wife who was weeding a patch where she wanted to plant a rosebush.
While she weeded, he looped together a crown out of flowers to present her with. His feet were bare, and his soft cotton trousers were rolled up, because he’d been throwing rocks into the pond with Robert who was already four years old.
He was taking a walk with Nanny. They wanted to see if the egg plant Emily planted was ripe. If they found one, they’d bring it inside and give it to the cook. He’d make them something to eat out of it. Something healthy that hadn’t been genetically interfered with, something that Emily would approve of.
She was still on her health kick when it came to eating healthy foods. She felt growing their own was the only safe way to eat.
“Mr. Keaton, come quickly.” Their butler was standing on the steps of the terrace, calling out to him.
Oliver jumped to his feet and ran to him, knowing that his butler would never disturb their family time without a good cause.
“Sir, there was an accident at one of the mines in South Africa. The workers are all dead. Hundreds of them, sir.”
“Damn it. That mine had just been checked and declared state of the art.” Oliver couldn’t believe it.
“There was an earthquake, sir. The whole area has been hit.”
“Get the plane ready. We’re all going.” Oliver turned back to his wife. “Emily, get Robby. We have to be somewhere immediately.”
Emily rose to her feet and called for Robby.
“Mommy,” he came running when his mother called. He was a smaller version of his father, who loved his beautiful mommy more than anything. “Are you okay, Mommy.”
Emily swooped him into her arms. “I’m fine, baby, but we need to leave immediately. We have to go away with Daddy.”
“Are we taking the plane?”
“Yes, honey.”
Robby looked excited.
“We’re going because lots of people died. There’ll be funerals. This isn’t a happy flight.”
Robby frowned along with his mother.
The entire region was devastated. Oliver donated lots of money and time to rebuilt the city and the hospital. He could be seen in the city placing brick on top of brick, doing what he could to help.
Emily was at the hospital with Robby, helping wherever they could.
The people saw them as saviors with the power to erase the damage done by the earthquake.
“It looks like everything is back to order.” Emily thanked the doctors who came here from around the world to help out.
“Thank you, for making everything here possible Mrs. Keaton. Without the medicine you brought along, things would have looked different.”
“We were glad to help.” Emily’s eyes drifted to the little girl holding the doctor’s hand. “I hope you and your daughter have a safe trip home.”
“She isn’t my daughter. I’ll be taking her to an orphanage. She seems
to have latched onto me. Her father was a foreman. I tried to find her family, but apparently he grew up in an orphanage himself.”
“So did I. I lost my parents when I was only four.” Emily knelt down to the little girl. “How old are you?”
The little girl with curly strawberry blond hair lifted up three fingers.
“So your younger than I was. I have a son, Robby. He’s four. I’ve seen you two playing together.”
The little girl nodded at her. She liked Robby.
“What’s your name?” Emily asked her.
“I’m Francesca”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Francesca”
Emily stared at the pretty little girl with longing. She had no one, and Emily wanted to have a daughter. Robby wanted to have a brother or a sister.
“Would you like to come and live with me?” Emily asked her. “I’d love you forever. I promise I would.” Emily held her arms out wide, and Francesca rushed into them, longing to be held by someone who was saying that they wanted her.
“Mrs. Keaton, you’re a very kind-hearted woman, but you don’t have to do this.”
“My husband and I talked about this. It was always our plan to adopt a daughter. She needs me. My husband will say yes.”
“Mrs. Keaton, this impulsive act won’t be good for the child.”
“This isn’t impulsive. It’s common sense.” Emily stepped in front of the child, protecting her.
“Mrs. Keaton, we’ve all been affected by what’s happened here. The extreme emotions that we feel here, may turn into uncertainty later.”
“She has no one. I don’t have a daughter. We’re perfectly matched.”
Everyone knew that Emily was a kind-hearted woman, but that she wasn’t the brightest person in the world. She only had a high school education. It was luck that she’d managed to marry such a rich man. “Mrs. Keaton, I think we should talk to your husband.”
“You’re right.”
“Robby,” Emily called out, loudly.
The little boy came running to see what his mother wanted.
“We’re going to see Daddy, and this little girl is going with us because she doesn’t have a family anymore, so she’s going to live with us.”