“Shar’s in labour. We’re at the hospital. They have her in a room, I don’t know. She’s in a lot of pain, but they won’t let me go back?—”
“Which hospital?” I scrambled for my notepad. Maddie handed me the pen I knocked across the countertop.
Rob stuttered through the name, and I’d barely hung up when Maddie grabbed my arm. “C’mon. I’m driving.”
Chapter
Eleven
Soft beepsfrom the heart monitor blended with the buzz of the fluorescent lighting. The smell of antiseptic clung to everything, including our hands, since Maddie and I had to wash before taking up residence on the ugly beige couch across from Shar’s bed.
None of it mattered. Because Shar was cradling the most perfect human I’d ever seen against her chest, her hair plastered to her forehead in wet curls, cheeks flushed, eyes half-mooned with exhaustion and triumph. Shar was glowing. Not metaphorically, but literally. Sweat and joy and an otherworldly shimmer.
The baby stretched, tiny fingers unfurling and clenching. The three of us held our breath, enraptured.
Carter Robert Thompson. Born at 7:05 pm, nineteen inches long, and weighing seven pounds, eleven ounces. Those numbers meant nothing to me, but I had already memorized them.
“I can’t get over how small he is,” Maddie whispered, leaning close. We’d both had a chance to hold him after Shar lied to the nurse and told her we were her blood sisters to get us into theroom. She looked skeptical, but Maddie held her ground, daring her to make things awkward with a racial comment. Maddie told us after that she had an adoption sob story all lined up, just in case.
Rob’s voice filtered in from the nurse’s station right outside the door. “Yes, his name is Carter Robert. No, you’ll have to wait—yeah, wait til tomorrow . . . “
Shar sighed, beaming. “He hasn’t stopped since Carter arrived. I swear, he’s called every single person we’ve ever met.”
Carter stretched then, his face scrunching like he was in the middle of a bad dream. Maddie made a noise like a wounded goose, and Shar smoothed the little creases between his brows with her fingertip.
“Shar? Babe?” Rob stuck his head in. His eyes were bloodshot, his shirt inside out. “Your mom wants to know if three o’clock is okay tomorrow.
Shar grinned. “Yes.” As soon as Rob left, her smile slipped. “I feel so bad.”
“About what?” Maddie asked.
“He’s calling my entire family, and he has nobody.” Her eyes grew glassy. “Here we have this perfect miracle, and he can’t even share it with anyone.”
That sobered me. Rob lost his mom when he was young, and his dad was a deadbeat if I remembered correctly. “What about his siblings?”
Shar shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll try them. Maybe his sister. Their family just isn’t close.” She chewed on her lower lip, then lowered her eyes to Carter. “We’re going to change that. We’re going to have the closest, best family. Rob deserves that.”
“You’re going to have more kids?” I asked.
Shar’s face lit up. “Are you kidding? I’d do this again in a second.”
Maddie laughed out loud. “Are you remembering the last three hours? Rob said he’s never heard you scream like that.”
Shar scoffed. “I mean, a watermelon was coming out of my hoo-haw. Hell yes, I screamed.” She kissed the top of Carter’s head. “Totally worth it.”
My eyes misted up.
Shar lay back against the pillows, eyes fluttering between us and the baby like she couldn’t get enough of any of it. For a moment, the three of us just breathed, revelling in the soft hush around us.
It didn’t last nearly long enough.
“So are we going to talk about the picture?” Shar looked up with a glint in her eye.
Damn it. “You saw that?”
Maddie’s eyes widened. “I only saw it because Chase has a Herald subscription.”
“Well, so does our next-door neighbour, Mrs. Makar, and she’s also out of town. Rob went to bring her paper in so it wouldn’t get wet when the snow melted.”
