Chapter 7
Jennie
I never thought I'd say this, but I couldn't get to work fast enough. The last couple months of wedding planning had been so hectic that the chaos of the hospital actually calmed me. Plus, I'd accepted a position in the Labor & Delivery unit, and this job definitely came with some perks. Something about holding a brand new, minutes-old baby as his tiny pink body squirmed in my arms, and watching him open his eyes for the first time ever, just made all the problems outside of those four walls seem trivial.
It'd been two weeks since I received the letter from my dad, and I still hadn't decided what to do with it. Every time I made up my mind, within a couple hours I would talk myself out of it. Lisa's words kept ringing in my ear. She was right—I didn't know my dad at all. But what if… what if this was my shot at having a real relationship with my dad?
"Different department but the same glazed over look on your face."
I knew that voice instantly, even before the wadded-up glove hit me in the side of the head. Turning to my right, Darla's smiling face greeted me.
"Hey! Long time, no see." I rushed over and threw my arms around her neck. "I've missed your face."
She hugged me back quickly. "All right, enough, enough. You know feelings make me ill."
Refusing to let go, I giggled against her. "Nope. Not done yet. Deal with it." I really did miss working with her every day, more than I'd realized until that moment. After another minute, I released her.
"Ugh." She huffed. "I thought I was gonna have to have you surgically removed." She ironed out her scrubs with her hands.
I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms. "How have you been? How are things downstairs?"
"They're okay." She rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag of chips off the counter.
"Those aren't mine."
"Like I give a shit." She growled, shoving a chip in her mouth.
A happy sigh left my mouth. "I really have missed you. And your attitude."
We'd only seen each other a handful of times since I moved upstairs. Between different floors and opposite schedules, we barely even bumped into each other anymore, except for the one time last month she hid behind my car in the parking garage. Just as I got to my car and opened the door, she jumped out and scared me so bad that I literally peed my pants.
"Seriously." She glared at me mid-chew with a pile of chips in her mouth. "Knock it off. What happened to you? You got engaged and now you're Suzy Sunshine?"
"Pretty much." I laughed. "You gonna come to my wedding?"
"Depends when it is. My social calendar's pretty full," she answered dryly.
"You're such a brat. We both know you wouldn't pass up the chance to see Viper in a tux."
"Please." She threw her head back and laughed. "His clothes just get in the way."
I looked at my watch. "Aren't you getting off late?"
"Yeah, we were swamped down there this morning, but it's calm now. Huge construction accident brought six guys in with minor to moderate injuries." The chip bag crinkled as she shoved her hand in again. "I was really hoping one of them had a leg injury so I could take their pants off, but no dice."
"How can you possibly be walking around horny when you're together with Viper, the walking hard-on?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about us being together?"
"Then what are you?"
A Cheshire grin slowly crept across her face as she rolled her top lip in between her teeth. "We are simply two grown, consenting individuals, who happen to enjoy each other's genitalia… and tongues."
"Uh… I think I came up here at the wrong time." Kai had rounded the corner, but stopped suddenly, throwing his hands up in front of him.
Darla and I looked at each other for a split second before bursting into laughter.
"You're fine. Come on over," I tried to say in between giggles as I sat down on my chair behind the nurse's station.
"What's up with you?" Darla asked Kai, turning on the charm. "Haven't seen you much lately,"
He ran his hands through his dark hair and let out a heavy sigh. "I know. I've been working so hard on trying to get this dependency program moving over in the East Building. I've been begging for sponsors, trying to secure funding. The hospital is behind it, but there's a lot of politics involved, so I'm trying to do as much as I can on my own. In between that I'm trying to see the girls as often as I can. Oh, and there's that working thing that actually pays my bills." He laughed. "I try to do that as much as I can too."
"I'm proud of you." I smiled. "Once you get this thing up and running, it's gonna be great."
"Thanks. It'll be small to start, but baby steps, right?" He tapped his hands nervously on the counter. "I actually wanted to talk to you about the girls, if you have a second?"
"Yep." I took a quick peek at the monitors. "I only have two mommies and they're both sleeping."
"Before you start," Darla jumped in before Kai could talk, "I'm gonna head out." She blew me a kiss. "We'll catch up soon."
I blew her a kiss back and swiveled my chair to face Kai head-on. "What's up?"
"Funny you should say that, actually. My sister is up, from Kentucky. She just had a baby a couple months ago."
"Awww. Tell her I said congrats."
"I will." He nodded, his eyes darting all over the place. "Anyway, her and her husband came up with the baby and they're going to be here this weekend. I was wondering if I could have the girls overnight?"
I was happy with the place Kai and I were in. Over the last year, he'd visited with the girls a couple dozen times, always at my house or he'd just take them out for the day. I hadn't been comfortable with him taking them to his apartment overnight, and up until this point, he'd let me drag it out, but I knew I couldn't dodge it forever.
Swallowing the selfish lump that had formed in my throat, I put on my most sincere fake smile and tried to sound as upbeat as possible. "Sure."
He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me. "Thanks for that."
"No problem."
"No, not for letting me have them. Thanks for trying to sound happy about it."
Cringing, I covered my face. "I'm sorry. Was I that obvious?"
"Kinda." He laughed. "But I get it. It's okay."
I dropped my hands into my lap and looked up at him, feeling horrible. "It's not you. I'm just not used to being away from them."
"I know. I understand. If you're not comfortable with it, Jennie, we can just skip it."
"No," I insisted. "You've been a constant part of their lives for almost a year. It's time. I need to get over my issues."
His face flushed as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
"Excuse me," a man's voice called out. "My wife just woke up and said the contractions are getting really bad. She wanted me to ask if you can check her?"
"Absolutely." I stood up and walked out from behind the desk area, whispering at Kai as I walked by. "We'll talk later, okay? But let's plan on that."
He nodded and thanked me again.
Fast forward to Friday night and I was a nervous wreck. I'd packed, unpacked, then repacked the girls' bags four times just to make sure they had everything.
"Jennie, they're only going for two nights," Lisa teased as she watched me rifle through the bags and pull everything out for the fifth time.
"I know, but I want them to be comfortable and have their stuffed animals and—"
"Babe. They're good." She walked over and took Ruby's pajamas out of my hand, gently tucking them back into her Princess Sofia duffel bag. "I know this is tough for you, but in the long run, as much as I hate to admit it, it's probably best for them," she said. I could see the tension in her jaw.
"Is this hard for you too?"
"Of course," she admitted. "Selfishly, I want them to love me more than Kai. I know he's their biological dad, but they're such an important part of me, it would sting like a motherfucker if they ever chose him over me."
I nodded and looked down at their duffel bags filled with four pairs of pajamas, stuffed animals, and toothbrushes.
"Kind of like it stung for Fred the other night," Lisa continued slowly.
My head snapped up as my eyes bore into her. "Huh?"
"I watched him when you went on and on about that letter from your dad. He didn't say a word, but I know it must have been hard for him to listen to you talk about wanting a relationship with your real dad."
"Oh, it's different with Fred and me." I waved her off, not wanting to think for a minute that I'd hurt Fred's feelings.
"Really? How so?"
"For starters, I was twelve when we bought this place, and secondly, he wasn't even with my mom until a couple years ago."
"Get real." She took Jane's stuffed bunny out of the bag and threw it at me. "They may not have told you they were together, but those two have been going at it for years behind your back. And regardless of when they started seeing each other, he didn't have to be making out with your mom at night to care about you."
"I guess." I shrugged.
A knock on the front door cut our conversation short. I took a deep breath and puffed my cheeks out as I exhaled. "It's go-time."
As we walked out of my room, the girls came flying out of theirs, racing each other to the front door.
"You got this, kid." She rubbed my shoulders, walking behind me.
"I'm opening the door!" Jane bounced up and down excitedly.
Ruby pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. "No, I wanna open it."
"I'm opening it."
I hushed both of them as I walked past, grabbing the knob and pulling it.
Kai's head snapped up quickly. "Hi," he greeted nervously.
"Hey."
I tried to sound peppy, but I knew I was failing miserably. I'd had the girls almost solely to myself for the better part of the last five years and I wasn't yet ready to share, but it had to be done. Like a Band-Aid, just rip it off.
Kai offered his hand to Lisa, who didn't hesitate in shaking it. While those two would never be best friends, they'd been able to come to an understanding of sorts. Kai didn't interfere or question Lisa's role in the girls' lives, and Lisa didn't try to stop Kai from starting a relationship with them. I felt so blessed that they were able to see past their pride and embrace what was best for Ruby and Jane.
"So, what's on the agenda this weekend?" Lisa stood with her legs apart more than usual and puffed her chest out. While she wanted what was best for her Twinkies, every once in a while she still had to let her alpha flag fly just a little bit.
"My sister is in town with her husband and new baby girl. I think we're gonna take the kids to the zoo and maybe let them swim at the hotel pool. Nothing too exciting."
Pool? Oh my God. I hadn't even entertained the thought of them swimming.
"Kai, they've taken lessons, but neither of them are great swimmers yet." My voice squeaked as I felt the panic rising in my chest. Lisa must have sensed it too and instinctively found my hand, squeezing it gently.
"You mentioned that before, so I went to the sports store and bought these really cool suits that have floaties built into the chest area and actually make it impossible for them to be submerged," he said proudly. "They can go down the slides and go under real quick, but they immediately pop right back up. They're pretty cool."
"Those do sound cool. We should get them for here too, Jennie." Lisa did her best to sound reassuring.
Oddly enough, I didn't need it. Just knowing that Kai had thought ahead and taken the time to run to the store and get the girls something that would both protect them and satisfy my crazy overprotectiveness, made me feel so much better. It also showed me just how much Kai had grown over the last year. In the beginning, it was rocky. He didn't know them and they didn't know him, but he did his best to try learn all he could about them and have fun every time he was over.
But now, this showed me he was thinking like a real dad. In that moment, I relaxed. Maybe my relaxation would last five minutes, maybe five days, but I knew Kai was capable of being a great father to them. With him and Lisa behind them, Ruby and Jane were gonna conquer the freaking world.
