Page 19 of Anatomy of a Meet Cute
Sam flinched. Diana Holbrook had spent the majority of her time propping up the family, packing and unpacking the house. She hadn’t even had a chance to have a career until after Sam’s dad retired and they settled in Ohio when Sam was in the seventh grade. Even then, her mom went back and got her teaching credential and became a high school biology teacher, helping pay the bills while Sam’s dad retooled his résumé. Then she continued to work, putting Sam and Isaiah through college. Her mother was difficult, but she wasn’t selfish.
“No, Mom. You really aren’t being selfish. I’m just so slammed.” Sam gritted her teeth over the sound of her mother’s resigned sigh.
“Forget I even said anything.” The enthusiasm had completely deflated from her mother’s tone.
Closing her eyes, Sam left her apple on the counter and dropped herself onto the couch. “Honestly, Mom, I can help. It’s no big deal. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure? Because I wouldn’t want you to feel put out.”
Too late for that.“I’ll make it work. I’m sure Isaiah has some pointers too.”
“Well, if you are sure ...”
“One hundred percent,” Sam said, sinking lower onto the couch. Sure, she’d fudged the decimal point on that number a bit. But really, 10 percent and 100 percent were notthatfar apart.
“Oh, Sammy. Thank you. This is going to be so much fun! I’ll send you what I am thinking, and we can go from there. Sound good?”
“Sure does.” She was lucky her mother didn’t pick up on anything other than a sentence that had her name in front of it, or Diana would have realized that she was as excited about this party as she was about eating the apple she had sliced up.
“All right, sweetheart. Well, I need to run, but take care of yourself.”
“Love you.”
“Bye!”
Her mother breezed off the phone just in time to miss Sam sighing like a duchess in a novel from the 1800s. So much for avoiding the guilt trip. If anything, her mother would ask her to buy a whole new wardrobe for it. Pushing herself off the couch, Sam shuffled back into the kitchen and yanked open a cupboard. Spotting Duke’s peanut butter, she felt her heart lift as she reached for the jar with only a little remorse and a silent promise to buy him some more Jif before he noticed it was gone. Sure, she was stuck with the adult equivalent of a lavender room, but at least she had something to make her apple worthwhile.
Chapter Six
Sam hesitated just down the hallway from Dr.Franklin’s office. It had taken him a few days to get back to her, which gave Sam plenty of time to think through what she was asking for. If Grant was right, then Dr.Franklin wasn’t likely to be over the moon about her idea, which was why she had come prepared with stats of every sort. It was harder to argue with numbers.
Giving herself a shake, she pushed her nerves aside, pulled her shoulders back, and strutted toward Dr.Franklin’s office. Stopping just outside the door, Sam saw Dr.Franklin staring at a computer, his glasses pushed way down his nose and his head tilted back as he scowled at whatever was on the screen. Taking a deep breath, Sam raised her hand and knocked on the doorframe, instantaneously pulling his laser focus away from the computer.
“Hi, Dr.Franklin. I’m Sam Holbrook; we were going to chat about birthing-and-parental programs at the hospital.”
“Oh yes. Hello, Dr.Holbrook, have a seat.” Dr.Franklin’s blue eyes sparkled as he pushed his chair away from his monitor and stood to beckon her in. Sam felt like she was being welcomed by a fit Santa Claus, minus the beard.
“Thank you.” Sam walked into the room, doing her best to maintain her confidence as she shook his hand. The office was the sort of place that wasn’t intentionally intimidating but ended up feeling thatway just the same. It was full of faux-cherrywood furniture, complete with the particleboard desk and half a dozen bookshelves lining the room. Dr.Franklin had only managed to fill half the shelves, but he had done it with a perfectly calculated balance of books, knickknacks, photos of kids, degrees, certifications, and finger paintings that made Sam wonder if his office moonlighted as a movie set.
“So what can I do for you?” Dr.Franklin asked, his voice gently easing her mind away from the sundry items on his shelves.
“I talked to Dr.Gao, and he mentioned that the hospital hasn’t developed a comprehensive birthing program. Did I understand him correctly?”
Dr.Franklin’s eyes flicked to the screen in front of him, then returned to Sam. “Yes, that is correct. It’s just not something our hospital has the resources for.” His tone sounded like he was mentally composing an email and was just waiting for Sam to leave so he could get started on it.
Not that it mattered. She was determined to see this through, no matter how intimidating his particleboard office was. “I’m curious—if I could identify a funding source for a program, would it be possible for us to start one?”
The shift in Dr.Franklin’s attention was palpable. Looking directly at her, he said, “What kind of program did you have in mind?”
“Well, I have been doing some research, and I think a partnership with local doulas would benefit us. According to theJournal of Perinatal Medicine, pre- and postpartum care is crucial to—”
Dr.Franklin’s burst of laughter sliced through her sentence, cutting off her prepared display of research. “I’m sorry. Doulas?”
“Yes. When you think about it, a well-trained doula has seen hundreds of pregnant people in all different settings. In fact, Medi-Cal is considering covering doula services for Californians with state insurance as we speak. SF Central could be on the cutting edge of understanding how doulas impact care in populations like ours.”
“That is some very hippie-dippie stuff there.” Sam watched as Dr.Franklin’s eyebrows crept up his forehead, his brow wrinkled as he concentrated on not laughing.
“I know it sounds that way. But I think you’ll find that the practice of being a doula is very different from the sort of 1960s ‘have a baby in the woods while praying to a tree’ that people imagine.” Dr.Franklin laughed at this, and Sam was relieved that he was finally laughing with her, as opposed to at her. She tried to keep her smile light as she doubled back to the topic at hand. “For many cultures, doulas have always been part of pregnancy. This is just incorporating historical and cultural practices into modern care. Over the centuries, doulas have provided the sort of pre- and postpregnancy care that helps fill the gap between patients and medical-care providers.”
