Another Man's Child
Until suddenly Sara’s little features scrunched up into the ugliest face Lisa had ever seen, and she let out a wail that reverberated throughout the entire nursery.
“Thank God.” The words were Marcus’s.
LISA DIDN’T WANT to leave the nursery. She was afraid to go home, to let the baby out of her sight, in case something went wrong. Marcus agreed without any argument and sat with her in the nursery viewing room once their allotted hour with Sara was through. He left just before noon to pick up some lunch.
They’d barely finished the hamburgers he’d brought back when Oliver walked in the door to the viewing room, an apprehensive look on his face. Beth was right behind him. Her eyes darted to Lisa and then away. She looked like she was going to cry.
“Hey, you two,” Lisa said, “don’t look so glum.”
Beth did start to cry then. “I’m so sorry, Lisa,” she said. “I had no idea you’d come by.”
Oliver coughed and looked down. Lisa looked at her husband. “You called them.”
Marcus grinned sheepishly. “I called your father. Beth was there.”
“So what was all that about waiting for them to come to us?” she asked, standing up.
“I was wrong. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you were right. I didn’t want them hiding from us, either. Besides, I knew you were missing them. That you wanted them beside you today.”
Oliver crossed to Lisa, brushing a strand of hair back from her face as he’d done when she was a child. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll always love your mother, you know.”
Lisa threw her arms around her father, proud to be loved by him. “I know, Dad. And don’t ever be sorry about being happy.”
He crushed her to him, and for the first time Lisa was at peace with her mother’s passing and her father’s moving on. He’d had too much anguish in his life.
And so had Beth. Lisa reached out and hugged her friend as soon as her father let her go. “I love you, Beth. Be happy,” she whispered for Beth’s ears alone.
“I’ve missed you, friend,” Beth whispered back.
“So when are you going to make an honest woman out of her, Dad?” Lisa asked, one arm still around Beth.
Oliver laughed, a hearty outburst that Lisa hadn’t heard in years. She’d missed it. “I guess we have nothing to wait for anymore, do we, Beth? So what do you say? Are you going to marry me?”
“You mean you haven’t asked her?” Lisa gasped:
“He was waiting to talk to you first,” Beth said, smiling up at her lover.
Lisa hadn’t expected such consideration, but she appreciated it. She wasn’t losing a father or memories of her mother. She was gaining a new closer relationship with her best friend. It still felt a bit odd. And it would definitely take some getting used to. But she was happy for her father and Beth.
And then she saw Marcus, standing away from the three of them, gazing through the window into the nursery with a frown on his face. Her gaze flew to Sara. The baby was sleeping peacefully, her heart monitor beeping reassuringly. But Marcus’s frown remained. Was he, in the face of the love she shared with her father, reminding himself that he’d never have a daughter with whom to share a similar love? His face froze when he caught Lisa looking at him, and she knew she was right.
BETH AND OLIVER stayed for more than an hour, holding hands while they watched Sara breathe. Lisa saw the love brimming in their eyes as they watched her daughter, and she knew that whether or not Sara grew up in
her father’s house, the child was going to be surrounded by a family who adored her.
Marcus was silent most of the afternoon, frowning more often than not, but when Lisa tried to talk to him after Oliver and Beth left to go inspect the new dialysis equipment Cartwright Enterprises had purchased for the hospital, his replies were nothing more than one or two syllables.
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” she finally said. They’d been sitting there for more than four hours.
“I’ll stay,” was all he said.
Lisa didn’t speak again until she heard a commotion in the hallway outside the nursery viewing room. They’d been lucky to have the room to themselves so far, though she knew that the room was rarely used except by the families of preemies. The full-term babies could be seen better from the viewing window around the corner out in the hall.
“So where’s this kid I been hearing about?”
Lisa turned her head, recognizing the sassy voice instantly. “Willie Adams. What’re you doing up here?” she scolded. She’d dismissed the boy from the hospital a month ago, but he was supposed to be down in physical therapy every afternoon for several hours.
“Look at you, Willie!” Marcus said, turning to watch as the boy walked slowly into the room. His left leg was still dragging a bit, but Lisa could see that his motor coordination had much improved, even from the previous week.