Page 68 of Pieces into Place
Isla perked up, looking at Vera as she waited for her to continue. Nervously laughing, Vera covered her face with her hands.
“I asked Mel to be Blake’s nurse. I asked her to trade shifts or pick up shifts whenever Blake went into labor soshe could be there. Because I know we trust her more than any other doctor.”
“See, Iknewyou were nervous too,” Isla laughed, feeling relieved she wasn’t the only one overthinking everything. “What did Mel say?”
“You know Mel. We’re her family. She’ll always have our backs.”
“Mel’s the best.”
“I think Cameron would wholeheartedly agree.”
Both Melanie and Cameron had been part of their family for years. They were all best friends, and Isla was glad to know that Melanie would hopefully be Blake’s nurse. Because Vera was right. Isla did trust Melanie more than Avery.
Isla couldn’t explain it. She liked Avery. When she first met her a few years ago, Isla had seen a lot of Vera in the young doctor. Avery was full of determination and drive and had been a great fit for the practice. At least from Isla’s perspective and from what she’d heard from Vera and Melanie.
But Avery had never delivered a Mackenzie baby before. Or, well, a Holland baby. But either way, it would be the first time that Isla had to personally trust another doctor to take care of her babies as they had babies. And she had never been good at giving up control like that. However, if Vera could do it, Isla could do it.
Right?
She didn’t know, but Isla knew she had to try. For the sake of her sanity, at least.
“I know this is a stressful time for you. For all of us.” Vera put her arm around Isla’s shoulder as she pulled her into a side hug. “But sitting here constantly stressing about it isn’t going to help you either. Nor is it going to help Blake.”
“I know,” Isla sighed yet again. “You’re right.”
“Oh, I know I am,” Vera smirked, driving Isla wild. “Why don’t we go out for dinner tonight? You, me, and Evie. We haven’t done that in a while, and I think it would do us all some good.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Perfect. It’s a date. I’m going to change.”
Kissing Isla’s cheek, Vera headed back inside. Isla waited a beat before following her inside. They changed into slightly less casual attire before piling into the Jeep and heading for the Pizza Parlour. The restaurant held so many memories for Isla with Blake. It was one of the first places Blake ever went to eat with them. And it was the first time Isla really saw the chemistry between Blake and Alexis, even if both of them had been trying to fight it.
Just like Vera had said, the dinner had worked as a distraction for Isla. She loved getting to spend quality time with Vera and Everleigh as they ate and chatted about everything from school to work to how Everleigh wanted to repaint her room.
“We just repainted it a few years ago.”
“Yeah, but sage issoout and cerulean is in.” Everleigh rolled her eyes. “I think we could accomplish it in a weekend if we all set our minds to it.”
Isla nearly shot Diet Coke out of her nose as she laughed at how Everleigh soundedexactlylike Vera. Vera, however, seemed less amused as she rolled her eyes back at Everleigh.
“How about we table this untilafterBlake has her baby?”
Everleigh dramatically sighed. “Well, that shouldn’t be too much longer. I don’t know how she could get any bigger.”
“Everleigh Claire,” Vera scolded through a laugh, “we don’t talk like that about family.”
“Only non-family,” Everleigh and Isla said in unison as they both laughed, to the annoyance of Vera.
“You are useless,” her wife scolded as Isla high-fived Everleigh across the table.
Isla was beyond thankful for the distraction that dinner and time with two of her favorite people provided. By the time they arrived home hours later, Isla and Everleigh plopped down on the couch to play a video game together while Vera read a book on the recliner. It was a relaxing night, aside from the trash talking she and Everleigh had going on, until Willow alerted to a high blood sugar. It wasn’t a few seconds before all their phones went off at the same time. Pausing the game, Isla put a hand on Everleigh’s shoulder as Vera handed Everleigh her bag of testing supplies.
Although they had been dealing with Everleigh’s type 1 diabetes since she was six months old, Isla still hated that her child had to go through it. A part of her still blamed herself for it. After all, she’d been the one to carry Everleigh and birth her. She knew Vera felt the same way, blaming herself since they had used her egg. It didn’t matter that they both logically knew they weren’t to blame. They would both take it away from Everleigh in a heartbeat if they could.
“210,” Everleigh stated with little emotion. She lifted her hoodie, ripping off the device that had been on her lower abdomen. “I knew that site wasn’t going to work.”
“I’ll get the insulin.”
