Chapter Fifteen
“What are you three doing?” A smile stretched Ian’s lips as he took in the scene in Arabella’s room. She sat in her bed along with two of Esme and Brodie’s girls. He couldn’t remember their names, but he knew they were the two oldest. Though at four and three, still not very old. Each girl had a baby doll, and they were currently feeding them… naturally.
“We’re feeding our babies, Dr. Ian,” the oldest Hunte girl informed him.
Smothering a laugh, he nodded. “You must be doing a great job. They all look healthy and happy.”
“We have to burp them now,” Ara reminded her friends.
The little girls propped their babies against their shoulders. Ara and the older sister patted their babies lightly on the back. But the youngest girl slapped her poor little baby doll so hard, Ian feared it might not survive the feeding. Finally, Ara let out a loud, long “burp,” and all the little mothers went back to cuddling their babies.
He would miss this when he left. Already he knew leaving Cameron may prove impossible, but he hadn’t thought about the other parts of the island he’d leave behind. Somehow, Arabella had wormed her way right into his heart.
“Okay ladies.” He clapped his hands to get their attention. “I know a little girl who really wants to go home today. But first, I need to check her out and make sure she’s healed up.” Or at least on the way to being healed.
Arabella’s green eyes lit up. “Me? Is it me?” Abandoning her doll, she clasped her hands together in a sign of prayer and scooted closer to the end of the bed.
He bopped her on the nose. “It’s you, but I need to look at your stitches.”
“We’ll go see the baby and Mami.” The older girl hopped off the bed, then reached up to help her sister down.
Ian didn’t have much experience with kids, but he was pretty sure these three were extra special.
“I get to go home today?” Ara turned those eyes on him again. Now they were open wide, gazing up at him like he was a superhero.
“You do. Your mom and dad are all ready for you.”
The excitement on her face dimmed. “Who will stay with Uncle Brodie and Auntie Esme?”
“Dr. Wes and I will watch over them. I promise they’ll be safe.”
“So, you won’t be my doctor anymore?” Her lower lip trembled.
The slight movement made his heart ache. “No sprite, you’re all better now. You get to go home.”
“And then you’ll go home?”
Her wobbly voice broke his heart. Had Ara grown as fond of him as he had of her?
“Yeah, but maybe I can come back and visit.” Hopefully, Cameron would allow at least that much. Although they hadn’t finished their earlier conversation, he knew they weren’t over. Now, more than ever, he was convinced Cameron had never stopped loving him.
“You need to go home and see your little girl, don’t you? She’s probably sad when you leave to take care of everyone else.” The serious tone of the girl’s voice made him think she spoke from experience.
“I bet you’re a good daddy.” The little girl beamed her wide, dimpled smile at him.
One day, she’d break hearts just like her mama. Already, she was breaking his. “I . . . I don’t have any little girls.” Was that his voice sounding so clogged with emotion?
“Why not? Don’t you have a wife?”
If only life were that simple: graduate—check, get a job—check, wife, kid, happily ever after—check, check, check. He’d been so close though. For a moment, he’d almost had everything.
“No. I almost had both once, but not anymore.”
Ara squinted at him and cocked her head. “How did you almost have both?”
“There was a lady once who was going to be my wife and we were going to have a baby,” he informed her.
Ara’s eyes lit up. “Was she pretty?”
“Beautiful and smart, and funny, and so sweet.”
“Like Mama?”
“Almost.” He sat on the side of her bed, leaning closer as if to share a secret. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
Nodding eagerly, she waited for what he’d say.
“I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as your mama.”
Ara’s eyes got impossibly brighter as she beamed at him. “Me neither,” she whispered. “Everyone thinks Mama is pretty.”
He chuckled. “I bet they do.”
“Do you miss your almost-wife?”
Her words surprised him, but he didn’t have to ponder an answer. “Every day.”
Ara slipped her tiny hand into his. “Do you miss your almost-little girl too?”
Unable to speak, he nodded.
“What happened to her?”
He cleared his throat. How to explain this to a child? “When she was in my almost-wife’s tummy, she got hurt, and so she went to Heaven before she was ever born.”
“Did your almost-wife go with her?”
In some ways, yes. But that wasn’t what the little therapist meant. How did he explain that a part of her had died with their child?
“No. She moved on to a better life.” After all, if it weren’t better, she would’ve come back to him, right?
“Without you?”
“Yes ma’am. She has her own beautiful little girl now.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from Arabella’s face.
“I bet she misses her old life,” she told him wisely. “Mama does. Sometimes in the morning, I go into her room, and she’s awake, but her eyes are closed. When I ask her what she’s doing, she says she’s imagining her old life and what she’d be doing now.”
Ian’s breath caught in his lungs. When he’d first arrived on the island, he’d assumed Cameron had healed and moved on. But despite her brief relationship with Keso, and the life they’d created, she was as stuck in the past as him.
“I think she had an almost-husband,” the girl continued. “I heard her talking about him to Keke. Sometimes Keke gets upset because Mama still loves him.”
“I don’t think your mama would want you telling me that. You’re probably not supposed to listen in when she and your dad talk.”
Arabella shrugged, unconcerned with what she was supposed to do. “I wish Mama would have a baby in her tummy like your almost-wife.”
Him too. He’d like nothing more than to take Cameron and Arabella home with him and fill their apartment with babies. For the rest of their lives, they’d cram all the love and happiness they’d missed out on in the past into the years ahead of them. But Cam had made it clear she’d never go back. Her life was here now. With Ara.
“She’s a pretty great mom, isn’t she?”
Ara nodded. “The best. I bet you’d be a pretty great daddy too.”
Cameron had said the same thing when he’d told her how scared and worried he’d been about fatherhood. Somehow, coming from the mini philosopher, he almost believed it.
“So, is our little patient ready to go home?”
“Mommy,” Ara cried.
Cameron walked around and sat on the other side of her daughter’s bed. Ara launched herself at her mother, who pulled her in for a tight hug. Over the girl’s head, Cam’s gaze met his. Her eyes didn’t match the cheerful tone in her voice. Tears swam within, making them darker, sadder. Had she heard his conversation with Arabella? Was she upset about the things her daughter shared?
“Are you giving Dr. Ian a hard time?”
“No ma’am.” The girl pulled away from her mother, appalled she would even ask something so absurd. “Dr. Ian loves me. I’m his favorite patient.”
Cameron’s brow rose at this information. She looked at him with something akin to a smile. “He told you that, did he?”
“No,” the girl replied, “but I can tell.”
He couldn’t help the grin that split his face, or the way it grew when Cameron smiled in return. Rolling her eyes, she began raising her daughter’s gown so they could inspect the stitches along her side.
As he bent for a closer look, Ara asked, “Am I going to have a scar like Mommy?”
His gaze darted to Cameron as her daughter continued chatting. Cam’s jaw was clenched so tightly, he could see a muscle thumping. She averted her eyes, refusing to look at him.
“Maybe a small one. You shouldn’t have too much of one to worry about.”
The girl’s little face slumped. “I like Mommy’s scars. They’re pretty.”
He stared at Cameron. Her jaw trembled and her nostrils flared.
He’d seen the scars on her front the night before as she’d shown Esme where a doctor had cut her skin to deliver Arabella. He’d yet to see those on her back up close, but he’d felt the glossy edge of them the night before. Each scar reminded him of her strength. And her strength was beautiful. Tears burned in his eyes. “I’m sure they are. Everything about your mommy is beautiful. Especially her little girl.” He tapped her nose with his index finger, earning a giggle.
He sat back, motioning for Cameron to replace Ara’s gown. “Looks like you’re ready to go home,” he informed her.
Clapping, Ara leaned against her pillows. “Thank you, Dr. Ian.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for being such a great patient. Now go home and listen to your mom and dad.”
Before he could stand, she threw her little body against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her close, soaking up the comfort of her pure and innocent gesture. Now that she was well, he had one less reason to stay.
* * *
Cameron gave Arabella one last kiss on her forehead, then tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Through the window, she spotted Keso sitting in one of the porch chairs, staring out at the night.
Joining him on the porch, she leaned against the post. “You’re thinking pretty hard.”
“Am I?” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, and kneading the knuckles of one hand with the other.
Early in their relationship, she’d picked up on this habit. It usually meant he was worried and fighting with his decisions. Sighing, she pushed away from the post and went to sit on the wood porch at his feet. She looked up into his handsome face. “What is it?”