Page 10 of Spring UnVeiled
One woman’s screams echoed down the hall.When Evan lengthened his steps and started to push her along, Gen grabbed his bicep.“That’s not Kylie.”
The nurse shook her head.“That one’s been screaming since she got here and hasn’t even reached transition.She didn’t take any of the classes, and she’s refusing an epidural.”
“She’s going to regret that decision,” Gen said as a co-conspirator.
The nurse gave her a wry smile.“Not as much as we are.”
Evan looked down at her with huge eyes.She knew what he was thinking.They’d been connected in that way only a couple who’d been together for over a decade understood.
“Kylie took some of the classes.”She grimaced.“But not all of them.She was doing well with the breathing in the car on the way over here.Our little girl is pretty tough.She’ll do fine.”Gen gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
When they entered the room, Kylie was hooked up to several monitors, including one for the baby’s heartbeat.The rapid swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, and the changing digital count made Gen smile.
Lieutenant Sanders greeted them with one of her huge smiles.“Captain Hubbard, we’ve prepared a seat for you over there.Mom, if?—”
“Genevieve, or Gen, if you will please.”She didn’t want to be called Mom for the next several hours.She was proud to be Kylie’s mother, but first-name basis would be better since they might be there for hours.
“Genevieve, then, if you’ll stand up here facing your daughter so you can coach her through.”
Taking her place, she gingerly picked up Kylie’s hand.“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”She gave her a halfhearted smile.“Did you hear that lady screaming down the hall?”
“Everyone can hear her screaming,” said the woman who followed them into the room.“I’m Seaman Conley, the nursing assistant who will be helping you through the birth of…” She hesitated.“Do you know the sex of your child?”
“No.”Kylie said the word as though she didn’t care.
The seaman and the lieutenant exchanged a glance before the younger woman walked over and grabbed the chart.They conferred a few minutes before the lieutenant approached Kylie on the other side of the bed.
“According to your paperwork, you are considering giving up the baby for adoption.”It was a statement, not a question.
Evan stood.“You’re what?”At Evan’s raised voice, everyone in the room stopped.His gaze went to the nurse and corpsman.“Is it necessary for you to be in this room right now?”
“No, sir.”Lieutenant Sanders answered for both of them.“Her contractions are four minutes apart and she knows how to breathe through them.We’ll be down at the nurses’ station.”
As soon as the door closed, Kylie held her hand up.“Just because I didn’t tell you what I was thinking, and allow you to influence my decisions, doesn’t mean that I wasn’t making them.I am mature enough to understand that this baby needs a life and a good future so carrying it to term was never a question.”
Gen closed her eyes and thanked the Lord for helping Kylie make that decision.
“I’ve had nine months to think about this and I’ve decided that the best thing for this baby, and for me, is to give him, or her, up for adoption to parents who would love it and give this baby the life it deserves.”Kylie’s voice cracked with emotion.“This baby deserves two loving parents just like I had.”She held out her free hand to Evan.“Even though you weren’t together these last few years, I know that you both loved me and that you both wanted the best for me.You did the best that you could even though you were separated these last nine years.”
She swallowed hard before she continued.“You both did what you could to help me, but neither of you hovered.Mom, you taught me to face up to my responsibilities.And Dad, you taught me to do the right thing even though it may not be what my heart wants.You taught me to do what was necessary for the best outcome and the best future.”
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.“That’s why I decided that giving this baby up to a loving couple, hopefully, somebody who couldn’t have children together, was the best thing that I could do.It’s a hard thing, but it’s the right thing for my baby…and for me.”
Kylie squeezed both their hands.
“Don’t you think the father should have a say in this decision?”Evan asked gently.
“No.”The word was adamant and succinct.“When he broke up with me, he made it quite clear that he didn’t want anything else to do with me.”
When Evan blinked, Gen could see his body relax a fraction.No one else would have noticed it, but after years of being married, she knew and understood.He knew their daughter had not been raped.
Kylie held her father’s stare.“I didn’t find out I was pregnant until several months after we broke up.And before you ask, no, I didn’t tell him.As far as I’m concerned, this is my baby and I’ll do what I think is best for him or her.”
“I understand,” he said in that almost hypnotic voice.“As your father, as a man, would you please wait twenty-four hours after the baby is born before you make any final decisions?Your mother was extremely emotional while pregnant with you.”
When he gave her that private smile, filled with memories, Gen was embarrassed as she remembered the mood swings and how wonderful he’d been to her back then.She’d go from screaming in anger to ripping his clothes off ready for makeup sex in thirty seconds flat.She bawled her eyes out at puppy food commercials because she was pregnant, and they hadn’t been able to get a puppy.
