He huffed. ‘I’m more concerned about you and Jamie. Mitch is a big boy. He can look after himself.’
‘Who’s been suggesting I can’t?’ Mitch snapped from behind them.
‘Mitch, no one, not even me, was suggesting you can’t,’ Max snapped in an identical tone to his twin’s.
Mitch studied his brother. ‘Okay.’
‘I dropped by to see how Jamie was holding up,’ Max explained. ‘I always feel frustrated waiting for an organ for my patients, but this time it’s far worse.’
Mitch nodded. ‘Sure is.’
‘Mummy.’ Right on cue.
‘Hey, Jamie, love.’ She wrapped his hot little body in her arms and stroked his back.
‘Mitch?’ Jamie squawked. ‘There are two Mitches.’
‘No, love. One’s Mitch.’ One day you’ll call him Daddy. ‘And the other’s Max. You met him the other day.’ One day you’ll call him Uncle Max.
‘No, I didn’t.’
Okay, not going there. Too complicated. ‘Want a juice? Or some water?’
‘No.’ Jamie yawned and snuggled in against her, his big, bewildered eyes peering out at the two men standing together at the end of his bed. Side by side.
‘Thought I might find you here.’ Carl strolled into the room, dressed comfortably in jeans and an open-necked shirt. ‘Didn’t expect to see both the Maitland doctors in the same room together.’
Mitch spun round. ‘Carl. I’ve said no. You are not coming near Jamie or Jodi. Not now, not ever. Which bit of that don’t you get?’
Carl held up a hand. ‘Take it easy. I’m not here to badger you or Jodi. I wanted to see how the wee lad was getting on. Nothing more than taking an interest in your child.’
Max turned slowly and eyed the newcomer up and down appraisingly. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met.’
The man thrust his hand out. ‘Carl Webster, TV Aotearoa. I’m filming a documentary in this hospital’s emergency department.’
Jodi wrapped her arms tighter around Jamie. ‘Are you still hoping I’ll agree to you filming my son?’ Her voice was rising. Frantically swallowing, she tried to lower the pitch of her voice. ‘The answer is no. Absolutely not. Get it? I know I thought it could be good for the donor service but I just can’t have anyone coming near Jamie with a camera. Not so you can give your viewers some excitement while they eat their dinner and argue over whose turn it is to clear the table.’
Mitch came to her, laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘Jodi, he won’t. Trust me.’
Carl stepped up to the bed. ‘Jodi, I apologise for giving you the wrong idea. I genuinely wanted to see how Jamie was. I’ve overheard conflicting snippets of talk from the staff. I feel for you all. There is no ulterior motive in my visit.’
He had guts. She’d give him that. ‘I see.’
Max looked at Jodi, something like sympathy in his eyes. He smiled kindly then read the charts at the end of Jamie’s bed. ‘He’s holding his own. I’ll drop in again later.’ With that he strolled out of the room, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. But he had been concerned about Jamie. About Mitch, even.
‘I’ll be getting back to my crew.’ Carl turned to follow Max then turned back. ‘But if there is anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’d really like to help if I can.’
Jodi stared after him, even when he had turned the corner and disappeared from sight. ‘I think he meant it.’
‘I guess we’ll never know. I’m not asking him for anything.’ Mitch sat on the edge of the bed. ‘How’d you like to go home for the night, Jamie?’
‘Ah, excuse me?’ Jodi glared at Mitch.
‘Wouldn’t you like to spend a night in a bed, not sprawled out beside Jamie?’ When her eyes widened he smiled. ‘On your own, getting some much-needed sleep.’
‘Oh.’ Disappointment flared. It hadn’t taken long to get used to having sex again. But Mitch was right. She did need sleep—very badly.
He was still smiling. ‘What about a quiet night without nurses shining torches as they check on Jamie? Not to mention a meal that hasn’t been reheated in the microwave?’
‘Low blows, Dr Maitland.’ She weighed up the pros and cons. It wasn’t as though Jamie wouldn’t have medical care on hand. ‘I guess Jamie’s well enough for an overnight stay away from here.’
‘We’ve got Lucas’s approval.’
‘Stop looking so smug.’ Her sprits were suddenly lifting.
‘Can I take Bingo home?’ Jamie asked.
‘Where you go, Bingo goes, sport.’
If only everything could be sorted out as easily.
*
Mitch put the last pot away and hung the tea towel on the oven door handle. Leaning back against the bench, he folded his arms across his chest and breathed deeply. ‘Jodi, how would you feel about us telling Jamie who I really am?’
Her head snapped up so fast it must’ve hurt. The gaze that met his was filled with surprise. Then she studied him as though she was looking at every single cell of his body.
He waited for all the questions about his intentions. He was ready for her, knowing deep within he’d never back off from being a father to Jamie. Now Jamie was in his life there’d be no letting go, no changing his mind. There were a lot of things to decide still, like Sydney and whether Jodi moved over there with him, but he’d make it all work. He had to.
Jodi smiled. ‘I’d like that. He should know.’
‘Truly? Just like that?’
‘I can see you mean it, that you didn’t just decide this between washing the dishes and putting them away in the cupboards. You really care about Jamie, love him, and that’s all that matters.’
The tension gripping him eased off. His mouth spread into a smile.
Warmth sneaked through him.
‘Let’s tell him now before I put him to bed.’ She pushed up from the table.
Mitch looked through to the lounge where the TV was tuned to a cartoon programme. Jamie lay curled up on the couch, his blankie in his fist, thick pyjamas keeping him snug. Bingo was perched on the arm of the couch. Mitch could feel his heart swelling with love for the little man who carried his genes. Reaching for Jodi’s hand, he walked through to his son.
But Jodi took over before he could utter a word. ‘Jamie, sweetheart, we’ve got something to tell you, something good.’
‘Not now, Mummy. I’m watching the dogs chasing the rabbits.’ Jamie’s gaze didn’t waver from the screen as he pointed. ‘See?’
‘I see,’ his mother answered, without looking around. ‘Jamie—’
Mitch shook his head at her. ‘It’s okay. Only a few minutes till the end,’ he said. ‘It’s kind of funny, really. When I finally want to tell Jamie I’m his dad he makes me wait for the cartoons to finish.’
He sat down on the other end of the couch, stretching his legs half across the room. He watched the enjoyment flitting across his boy’s face and the resulting giggles making his cheeks screw up. Saw the gap where Jamie had lost a tooth this week. Noted the dark too-long hair so like his own. The tiny scar on his chin where Jodi said he’d once banged into the corner of a table. The little-boy things that made Jamie who he was.
Sitting beside him on the arm of the couch, Jodi swung her legs and played the piano on her thighs with her fingers.
Suddenly Mitch’s stomach squeezed. Was this the right time to be telling him? Why not wait until after the surgery? But almost immediately the panic abated and he relaxed again. He wanted this.
The credits began to roll on the screen. ‘Finished, Mummy. Can I have a drink?’
Jodi leapt off the couch and went to kneel beside Jamie.
‘In a minute. Do you know what a daddy is?’
Jamie nodded. ‘He’s a man-mummy.’
Mitch felt his mouth drop open. I’m a man-mummy? Couldn’t have put it better myself. And he grinned.