Page 89 of A Novel Summer
“Oh, my God!” they said in unison. Shelby grabbed her phone and read the text aloud:“Our twins are here! 5 lbs, 17. Mom is doing great.”
Shelby looked at Hunter, and they burst into tears.
Hunter peered at the babies through the glass window of the NICU. Madeline and Mathew MacDougal were in clear little bins. They looked fragile and the room was filled with whirring machines and apparatuses. But the twins were healthy.
Beside her, Doug stood with his eyes locked on his brand-new son and daughter.
“They’re just beautiful,” Shelby said.
Doug nodded. “I feel torn every second because I don’t want to leave them, but I also want to be with Colleen.”
Hunter understood how he felt, but she was impatient to see Mama. “I’ll go see Colleen now. Don’t rush, Doug. We’ll let you know if she needs anything.”
Shelby held up her index finger to signal she’d join her in one minute.
Hunter set off down the hall nervously. She felt the weight of the moment. Colleen was no longer just her friend. She wasn’t just Doug’s girlfriend. She was someone’smother. Two people’s mother!
Colleen sat propped up on pillows in bed, hooked up to an IV. She was surrounded by bunches of helium balloons with colorful ribbons hanging nearly to the floor. Hunter bent over to give her a hug, but Colleen stopped her.
“I’m a little sore,” Colleen said.
“Oh! Of course. Sorry,” Hunter said, taking a step back.
She looked exhausted, her hair lank, the back of her hand bruised from the IV. But Colleen’s eyes were lit from within, and she was all smiles.
“Did you see them?” Colleen asked.
“I did. They’re incredible,” Hunter said, thinking of their little sparrow legs with a smile.
“You know, all summer I was so upset. Things were out of my control, and I was so certain that I knew how they weresupposedto be. I was too much in my head instead of in my heart, you know? And it was all such a waste of time because now I can’t imagine my life without them.”
Hunter had a strange feeling in her chest. A tightness. She knew, as soon as she heard the words, that she was making the same mistake.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, leaning over to kiss Colleen on the cheek.
She slipped out of the room, following the narrow vestibule that led to a vending machine and a bench. She bought a pack of peanut M&Ms, sat down, and pulled out her phone. She tapped a message to Ezra.
I’m taking the job at Paragon. And u said to let u know if I changed my mind about relationships. I changed my mind.
Shelby followed Pam and Annie down the hall to Colleen’s room. Just outside the door, Pam turned to her and said, “Remind me to talk to you about one thing before you leave. Don’t forget.”
“Okay,” Shelby said, eager to see Colleen.
She sat propped up in bed, and Shelby leaned over the metal railing, and bent down to kiss the top of her head. She couldn’t believe she was a mother.
“Did you see them?” Colleen said, smiling with tired eyes.
Shelby nodded. “I did. They’re beautiful.”
“I can’t wait to hold them,” Colleen said.
“Oh, you’ll have plenty of that,” Annie said, pouring Colleen a fresh cup of water. “In a few months, you’ll be begging other people to take them off your hands.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said.
Shelby’s phone vibrated in her bag. She peeked at the screen to read a text from Justin:The vote is YES for Land’s End.
Shelby looked up. Pam was adjusting Collen’s hospital gown.
