Bottom lip stuck out in thought, Buddy paused then nodded. “Yes, I think I could use an extra pair of hands. Grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat from the kitchen if you need to, then I’ll meet you in the surgery in thirty minutes. I think you’ll find everything you need in there.”
“But…but…” Grace sputtered, her hand on Chuck’s arm, holding him back.
“Hey, this is what you’ve been wanting, isn’t it? I just need to eat a little breakfast, so I don’t get the shakes or pass out. Someone should be coming in to scrub you up a little, and then roll you down the hall to the operating room. By lunchtime, you’ll be able to see your toes again. Tonight you can sleep, and by summer, you’ll have your bikini-beautiful body back, your thin little cesarean scar invisible to onlookers.”
“And all these stretch marks?” she asked, frowning.
“Believe me, those are minimal,” Chuck said. “If they’re even visible at all in six months, they’ll just be little silver threads. Most women develop them at some time in their lives anyhow.”
“And many men,” Buddy added. “You probably just never looked. If they bother you, wear a one-piece suit. One last time, you do want to give up these babies up for adoption, correct? And you still don’t want to see them or know their gender?”
Grace nodded as the tears fell again. “Damn! How long until these pregnancy hormones get out of my system? I’ve cried more in the last month than I have in my whole life!”
“A month or two. Give it time. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, drink lots of water, exercise more than you thought possible, and you will have a speedy restoration to your pre-pregnancy body and attitude. Don’t skip any of those, though, or depression will try to steal your life. I have medications for that, but good body maintenance works best.” Buddy patted her on the shoulder. “Leave it to me and your friend. Chuck has your best interests at heart.”
Chuck flipped his wrist, checking his watch. “Gotta jet, Grace. I’ll be back in a flash. Don’t go anywhere without me.”
“Yeah, right, said the Galapagos tortoise to the Arizona jackrabbit. Have a good breakfast.”
Chapter 14
Road Trip
January 3, 1992
Armstrong Estate, Massachusetts
“I found him!” Silas shouted out as he walked through the front door, fist-pumping the air in victory.
“Him? You mean them?” Papa Doc asked. “Chuck and Grace?”
“Nope, him as in Dusty. Damn! I know if Grace knew I found her old beau, she’d come out of hiding. How many weeks until she’s due?”
“You know as well as I do that she’s still three weeks out,” Hal said.
“Yeah, well, she is having twins,” Papa Doc said, “so by my experience, she’s about a week out. Chuck won’t let those babies get too big. Two eight-pounders is more than enough for even a seasoned mother to carry and way too much for an eighteen-year-old heifer.”
“Do not refer to my daughter as a heifer,” Hal said, “but I agree. Can’t we just haunt all the hospitals in the area?”
“I’ve been doing that ever since they disappeared,” Silas said. “I’m expanding the area now, just in case they migrated north or south.”
“Who’d want to go north in the winter?” Hal asked. “No, wait. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes I don’t even know why we bother to look.”
“Because she’s our daughter and those are our grandchildren she’s carrying,” Papa Doc said. “And don’t even think about contesting Silas’s interest in her. Even if they aren’t Alex’s babies, I can’t help but think of them as my grandchildren, too.”
“Yeah, well, I’m more than happy to share the grandpa duties with all of you,” Hal said. “These babies may not have a grandma worth claiming, but they’ll make up for it with a bounty of grandpas.”
“So, tell us, Silas, where’s Dusty now, and where has he been hiding all these months?” Hal asked. “I never knew the kid beyond seeing him work with his father cutting grass or trimming hedges, but he seemed decent enough.”
“So, you knew he was your landscaper?” Silas asked.
Hal nodded. “Yeah, for the last few years or so.”
“Well, that would have been a good thing to know and might have made my search a lot easier. Or not. Anyhow, that’s what he’s doing now.”
“It’s winter! How in the heck is he a gardener now?” Hal asked.
“I’ll let you ask him. He’s clearing the drives as we speak. I told him to come up to the big house to get paid, that I had a bonus for him if his work was better than the last guy’s.”
“How much does he have left to plow? Do you think we should ask him to dinner? Does he know that Grace was staying here until last month? Oh, good grief! Does he even know she’s pregnant? Shoot! Speak up, Silas,” Papa Doc said. “Inquiring minds want to know!”
Hal and Silas burst out laughing at Doc’s blathering and frustration. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to set another plate out.”
“It’s a good thing we’re having chili and cornbread tonight. Plenty to share,” Doc said, grabbing another place setting. “So, are we telling him about the babies or just pretending Grace has been hanging out here for the heck of it?”
Suddenly, Papa Doc and everyone else was silent, totally at a loss for words or sassy remarks.
Ding! Dong!
“I’ll get it,” Silas said. “You two do the talking. I did my part in finding him.”
“I’m beginning to think he had the easy part,” Papa Doc whispered to Hal.
“I agree. Toss you for it – loser gets the dishes.” Hal flipped a coin. “Call it.”
“Heads.”
“Heads it is,” Hal said. “That means I lose and have to wash the dishes.”
“You mean, you win and get to wash the dishes,” Papa Doc groaned.
“Oh, Mr. Stillwater! Good evening,” Dusty said with genuine shock and enthusiasm, his hand reached out to shake his. “You’re the last person I expected to see.” Dusty suddenly blushed and became tongue-tied. “I…um…was wondering, how’s your daughter? I mean, I haven’t seen Grace in nearly eight months. Her mother said she was mad at me and never wanted to see or hear from me again…”
“She what?” Hal bellowed.
“I win twice,” Papa Doc whispered, then sat back and smiled, curious about how Hal was going to handle the explanation.
“Mrs. Stillwater was insistent that I keep away from Grace. I think she felt kind of bad about it. I mean, I think she knew how fond I was of Grace. She even gave me a ten-thousand-dollar check to use toward college so I could get a better education and maybe start a new life! For some reason, though, she thought I would do better if I moved to the west coast… Anyhow, I felt bad about taking her money, so I just held onto it. Plus, there was no way I was going to move so far away that I’d never see Grace when she was out and about. I mean, if I could just see her and talk to her now, I know I could make everything right.”
“So, what have you been doing?” Hal asked, stalling for time.
“Well, I really didn’t want to go to college, but I wasn’t going to take your wife’s money if I wouldn’t be using it for what she intended. So, I decided to use the check as collateral for a business loan. I bought a good used plow truck, a trailer, and some good second-hand mowers and gas-powered trimmers. I was right, too, about people willing to pay upfront for a contract to keep their driveways plowed in the winter and yards green and well-landscaped in the summer. I was able to pay back the loan in six months.”
Dusty reached into his hip pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Oh, here. Please give this to your wife, sir. I got it back from the bank when the loan was satisfied.”
Hal turned over the check, saw that it hadn’t been endorsed, then verified the routing number. He took a deep breath, then decided to keep the fact that Dusty might have been in trouble if he had tried to cash a check on an account that Victoria had no legal rights to. “I’m proud of you, son,” he sa
id. “That was very clever, starting your own business like that. Um, I haven’t seen Grace for quite a while. She took off on a… What would you call it, men? Maybe a journey of self-discovery?”
Silas and Papa Doc laughed nervously, glad that they didn’t have to explain anything. “Yes,” Silas said. “We haven’t had any contact with her in quite a while, either.”
“Well, I thank you for your business, Mr. Armstrong. I’ve heard good things about you. If you do hear from Grace, would you tell her I’d move heaven and earth just to talk to her for one minute.” He paused, reflecting on what he had just said. “I’m serious. If I could just talk to her for one single minute, I’d give her everything I own…”
“No need to fret about that,” Hal said, patting Dusty on the arm. “I tell you what, I’ll make sure that as soon as we see her, we’ll tell her she needs to talk to you. No ifs, ands, or ‘I’m mad at him still’s’ accepted.”
“I appreciate it, sir. Oh, and here’s your invoice. I accept cash or check. I’m not set up for credit cards yet, but if you’d like to set up an account, I’ll take you at your word and can send you a monthly statement.”
“Yes, yes, Dusty,” Papa Doc said, sniffing back tears of hope that there was still someone honorable and special waiting for Grace, even if it wasn’t one of his ‘good’ sons. “If you’d consider me one of your regular customers, I’ll breathe easier every snowfall.”
“And summer? I still do groundskeeping. You can ask Mr. Stillwater here if he was happy with the work my father and I did.”
“Most definitely consider us a year-round client,” Papa Doc said.
Brrinng! Brrinng!
“Would you care to stay for some dinner?” Silas asked, picking up the conversation while Doc went into the kitchen to answer the phone. “Chili and cornbread. We’re just getting ready to eat.”
“I don’t want to intrude…” Dusty paused, then sniffed the comfort food. “It does smell great, though.”
“Just the right thing to warm your bones,” Hal said, grabbing the extra place setting and arranging it next to his.
“Normally I wouldn’t do this,” Dusty said, “but I’m done for the afternoon. Plus, I skipped lunch.”
“Coffee or hot cider?” Silas asked, holding up two carafes.
“Coffee, black, sounds good.”
Papa Doc burst through the kitchen doors, excitement radiating from him like electricity from a three-foot plasma ball. “Hey, everyone. I hate to crash my own party, but we’ll have to pack up this spread in to-go cups. We have to leave – like right now!”
“What?” Silas asked, setting down the coffee.
“We don’t have a four-wheel-drive vehicle that will fit four, do we?” Papa Doc asked.
“You’re talking crazy,” Hal said. “What’s going on?”
“That was Chuck. We have to go to New Hampshire and get Grace – and I mean right now!”
Dusty raised his hand like a first-grader eager to get his teacher’s attention. “I have a four-wheel-drive crewcab truck outside. I fueled up just before I got here. Let me go, too, and I’ll drive.”
The older men looked at each other, each one nodding to the other. “Grab the coffee and some granola bars and let’s go!” Hal announced. “My baby’s comin’ home.”
***
Delivery/Operating Room, New Hampshire
“How are you doing, Dad?” Buddy asked.
Chuck grinned under his surgical mask, then realized Buddy couldn’t see it. “Nervous as any other first-time father, I suppose. How’d she do?” he asked the anesthesiologist seated at Grace’s head.
“She was a little nervous, but they all are. I made an excuse for your absence. If she asks, tell her you got over your stomach cramps; that it wasn’t the flu.” The bald and rotund knock-out specialist laughed. “Actually, I told her you had a sudden attack of morning sickness but not to worry. You’d be over it in nine months or sooner.”
“How’d she take that?”
“Eh! Not too impressed, so I turned on the juice and let her sleep. She’s young. She’ll do fine.”
Scalpel held up, Buddy said, “Here we go,” then bent to his task.
Chuck had seen several cesarean section procedures, so knew what to expect. He was at the ready in case he was needed, but the surgical nurse was experienced and anticipated every clamp and suture Buddy needed. One, two, and the first babies were out, the two neo-natal nurses grasping their charges, then bringing them to the warming table to do their thing. Buddy maneuvered the afterbirth out of the way, then handed the last and smallest little girl to Chuck.
“She’s small but viable,” Buddy said.
Chuck glanced from his newborn to the doctor and saw an impossible-to-read expression in the Pakistani’s dark eyebrows. “Thank you,” he said sincerely, then took his daughter to the same neo-natal area, glad that he had taken time to make his phone call before the procedure.
Although the older nurse had given him a crash refresher course in post-delivery care of a preemie, his instincts took over as he did the quick assessments and ran through the procedures. Goosebumps rose at her squalls, verifying that her lungs were clear and working well. “Four pounds, eight ounces,” he announced, echoing the brevity of the other nurses’ announcements of five, six and five, eight. “In case anyone’s taking notes.”
“Nope,” the younger nurse next to him said, then looked over to make sure Buddy was still concentrating on finishing up putting Grace back together. “This one’s totally off the radar. As far as anyone knows, she had twins.” She paused, waiting for Chuck to look at her. Seeing his eyes, she shoved her mask down with the back of her glove and mouthed, ‘We need to talk,’ then slipped the mask back in place. “Congratulations, Dad,” she said aloud. “She’s definitely a keeper.”
***
“How soon can Grace be moved to the post-care apartment?” Chuck asked Buddy as they cleaned up and changed out of their scrubs.
“Soon, very soon. I’ve found it’s better if they come out of anesthesia in a different environment. I make sure they’re comfortable. A nurse is with them when they wake up to take care of any complications and make sure they have food and aren’t alone. After that, it’s up to them when to leave. Most don’t stay around more than a day. As soon as they can walk, they’ve called a friend or family member, and then they’re back into their lives as if nothing happened.”
“Do they ever come back?” Chuck asked, concern furrowing his eyebrows. “I mean, do you ever deliver the same woman more than once?”
“No, but then I’ve only been doing this for a year. If you’re interested, I can set you up.” Buddy put his hand on Chuck’s. “I know it didn’t work out between the two of us on a personal level, but we could be business partners. You’re already a physician with a wonderful bedside manner. That’s so important, that the girls trust you. It’s so easy to find rich wannabe parents, willing to pay anything to have a healthy white child. There are plenty of babies coming from overseas, but they’re usually Asian. White parents want white babies; it’s as simple as that.”
Chuck swallowed back his disgust and faked a smile of interest. “I’ll have to get back to you on that. I need to make sure Grace gets back to her family. If you don’t mind, can I ask one of the nurses to keep an eye on my daughter for a minute while I check on her?”
“I don’t mind at all,” Buddy said, a sly smile arising. “There are two; take your pick.”
Chuck approached the nurse who had given him the non-verbal warning, certain that she would help him and be discreet. Plus, a little alone time would give her a chance to speak with him. “Hi, I guess you already know my name is Chuck. I was wondering,” he said, his eyes looking around the room to let her know he hadn’t forgotten their interaction, but he needed to wait a bit for that, “if you could watch my daughter while I check on Grace.”
He smiled as he said the words ‘my daughter.’ “I never thought I’d have a child. Do you know how w
onderful it is for a gay man to be able to say, ‘my daughter’?” he asked.
“Not the gay man part,” the nurse said, “but I know about having a daughter and how good that feels, even if she was only alive for a short while. Sorry, we haven’t been introduced. My name is Grace, too.”
“Grace Two? That makes it easy for me. Well, Grace Two, would you watch Rhianna for me?” nodding to the smallest of the babies, now topped with a white knit cap, swaddled in pale yellow flannel.
“Nice to officially meet you.” She reached out and shook his hand, pressing a small slip of paper in his at the same time, a slight frown of admonishment to be discreet marking her otherwise unreadable features. “I’m pretty sure I can look after two babies at the same time. Ellen has Baby One under control,” she said, canting her head toward the hefty, older nurse beside her.
“I’ll be back in a jiff, Grace Two,” he said with a wink.
“Sure ‘nuff,” she replied. Just read the note before you get back.
Chuck pushed through the doors, his smile of joy shining for the security cameras that he was sure were everywhere. He ducked into the bathroom and into the shower stall, verifying that there wasn’t a spot where a camera could be hidden. As an extra measure of privacy, he turned on the hot water, letting a cloud of steam form before he took out his note.
They’re taking her to 11348 Mountain View after you see her. Have her picked up ASAP. Babies are getting moved soon. Take yours and scram!
Chuck collapsed against the shower wall, then slumped onto the shower seat, still fully dressed. He looked at the note again, then stuffed it back in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and texted his father again, this time with the new address.
The Set Up (Triplets: Three Aren't One Book 1) Page 13