“I would do it again if you needed it.” He leaned down and kissed her. It was the first time he had kissed her since early December, except during delivery, and she tasted the same as he remembered. This was what he had missed the last month. Her. Vowing he would never let her go, he kissed her again.
CHAPTER20
It was just before7:00 p.m. when Amanda made it back to her room after seeing her son. She had actually touched her son. She was exhausted, but since she had been exhausted for so long, she wouldn’t let it overtake her. With Hue’s help, she climbed back into bed. After the covers had been adjusted, she leaned back in the bed and sighed, already missing her son after five minutes away from him.
“Tired?” Hue sat down on the edge of the bed. He was still in the no longer crisp white dress shirt and gray slacks he had worn to the baptism. The tie had vanished long ago, though she was sure he had it on during the delivery.
“Yes. I was up early and had major surgery in the middle of it. I could use a nap.” He looked tired too.
“I think you have to call your parents first,” Hue pushed her. Now she wished she had just told her parents when she realized she was pregnant. Or after Zia was born. Or when her mom called her fat. Or any other day since she had realized she was going to have a baby. This was going to be hard.
“Are you going to call your mom?” she asked him. At this point, she had no idea where their relationship was. She didn’t want to push him in case it scared him off.
“Tomorrow,” he said, putting their future back in her hands.
As of now, her future was down the hall, attached to monitors to make sure he was doing everything he was supposed to. When she had finally been able to see him, she had been able to relax a little. Looking over his chart, she knew he was doing better than she had been thinking as she lay in bed recovering. Better than she had ever imagined. But then again, she hadn’t imagined he would take one breath, much less an unaided one.
Touching him had been what she had been waiting a lifetime for. To touch her child. Tomorrow, she would get to hold him. Tomorrow, he would be stronger. Tomorrow, he would find out if he had a dad.
She knew she could raise him and could be happy do so alone. But her heart wanted Hue to be there with her.
When she thought about the future, Hue was there.
“What are you doing tonight?” she asked him.
“I don’t know. David said I could stay with them, but I don’t know them.” Every hour or so, David had been back to see them and the baby.
“You’ll like them. Mira is great. She’s a doctor here as well, but in the ICU. They are a great couple. I delivered their baby,” she told him with a smile. It was a few years before, but it was still fresh in her mind.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to deliver babies?” he asked in confusion.
She chuckled. “David was so busy proposing to remember she was in labor. She said yes, but after the baby was out.”
“I don’t see him losing track of what is happening around him,” Hue said of the man he barely knew. What little he had seen, it seemed the man was always in control.
“Only when Mira is around.” The couple weren’t only coworkers but good friends. Over the last year, she had let that relationship slip. She hated that she had let that happen. But for months, every trip she made to town had been to see Paul, and David and Mira didn’t like Paul or what she and Paul were doing.
“I think I’m going to run home and come back tonight. Maybe get a hotel room. But I do need some stuff. Do you need anything?”
“Yes, a ton of stuff.” She laughed. She had nothing with her, and they had cut off all her clothes. She had nothing but her phone right now.
After making a list, he headed out to get them stuff. He would see her when he got back, but he wasn’t waking her if she was sleeping. By the time he walked out the door, she had insisted he stay with David and Mira, and after a text, it was set up. Then he was gone, and she was alone.
She had four hours to make some hard phone calls. It sounded like long enough, but it didn’t leave a lot of room for procrastinating. Which was probably for the best since procrastination had gotten her here in the first place.
Picking up her phone, she rang the first number on her list. Mia.
With the phone to her ear, she heard ringing, and she almost hung up when Mia finally picked up. “Mandy, where are you? You’re not at your apartment. I have been trying to call, and you don’t answer.”
“Mia, I can’t tell you yet.” She hadn’t looked at her missed calls or texts before she called. Maybe she should have. She was sure more than Mia was upset with her after leaving the baptism early.
“Mandy, really. I’m not taking that for an answer. I am calling your mom.” Mia pulled out the big guns: telling her parents.
“Please don’t, Mia. I said it wrong. I need you to get the book club on a conference call in half an hour. Then I will tell you everything—themeverything.” She begged her cousin.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Mia hesitated as she said it.
“Thank you. I’m calling my mom now. So, you can stop holding that over my head.” She hung up on Mia, knowing she was already working on getting the group together on short notice.