Page 73 of Forever Christmas
Chapter 27: Corabelle
I’m trying to get free of my IV so I can go down to the NICU myself.
“You just had a baby an hour ago,” Mom says as I struggle to get up and put on a clean gown to walk the halls.
“I’m fine, Mom,” I say. I want to see him. I won’t be stuck in my room again with another baby. Last time I missed everything.
I examine the IV still attached toa saline bag. They never took it out.
I’m about to take the pouch off the metal stand and carry it when pretty much the very last person I ever expected to see walks in the room.
“Corabelle!” June says, rushing forward. She’s holding a big blue bear and smashes it between us in a hug. “Where’s the baby? Where’s my nephew?”
I look over her shoulder at my mom. Why is Gavin’s sister here?
Sheglances guiltily at my dad.
“How did you get here?” I ask her.
“We drove all the way from New Mexico!” June says. “Dad was so grumpy!”
Uh-oh. “Your dad is here?” I ask.
“And Mom!” June says. “We couldn’t miss the baby being born!”
Oh God.
“Where are your parents?” I ask. Now I really have to get up. I lift my arm, pondering the tube. Maybe I can just rip it out.
“They went down to the nursery,”she says. “We’ve been in the waiting room just down the hall. I decided to come here.” She leans in. “It’s after visiting hours, so I had to be sneaky.”
I pick up the call button and press it. I need a nurse, right now.
My legs are less stable than I think they will be, though, and when they wobble, I have to sit back on the bed.
“I told you,” Mom says. “Gavin is going to have to navigate thison his own.”
“But it’s his dad,” I say.
“My dad does ruin everything,” June says.
“Did you tell them about the baby?” I ask Mom. “Gavin was going to let them know at Christmas.”
Mom’s eyes flicker over to Dad again. “We just didn’t think it was right, since the baby might be sick.”
I draw in a breath to really let her have it, but she holds up her hand. “I knew you might be upset, Corabelle,but Alaina never got over not getting to see Finn before he died. I couldn’t let that happen again. So I told them, right after we were up at Thanksgiving.”
“And again today,” I say.
“And again today,” she confirms.
The nurse comes in, the one from the first night with her perfect ponytail. Adrianna, I think. “Everything okay?” she asks. “I saw you had that baby!”
“I need this out,” I say,lifting my arm. “I urgently need to go to the NICU.”
“The doctor hasn’t given me the go-ahead to unhook it. You’re getting antibiotics in case an infection caused the early labor.”
“Then I’ll just have to pull it out myself.” I start ripping at the tape.
