Because she didn’t think you wanted her anymore.
My brain screams at me to not take this personally.She was doing what she needed to do and I can't judge her for it.I gave her more than enough reasons to walk away.
“Thank you,” she whispers through her tears.
“Hey, if I thought there was something to worry about, I’d tell you.”Scott squeezes her hand.“I promise I really think the baby will be fine.He or she is growing nicely and I don’t see anything that causes worry on my end, but I’d rather be cautious and check the baby out more often than normal, ok?I want you to call me about anything you have questions on.If you need to call me twenty times a day, I’ll happily answer all twenty times.I know this is your first pregnancy and you don’t know what to expect, but that’s what I'm here for.Actually…”
He trails off and grabs a sheet of paper from the chart.He rips off a strip and jots down a number.
“Derek’s going to be livid I ruined his chart.”He chuckles.“Here’s my cell phone number.That way you don’t need to deal with the office or after-hours staff.Just text me or call me with any issues or questions.I’m up all hours of the night with calls and work so you aren’t bothering me.Plus, I can answer texts a little faster between patients, but call if it’s an emergency.”
“Thank you.I’ll make sure she’s taking care of herself and the baby.”
I meet Winnie’s gaze when I mention the baby and she pinches her lips together as a fresh wave of tears comes.
“That would be great, Jamie.It was nice meeting you.You can contact me too.Otherwise, I’ll see you in two weeks.”
As soon as the door shuts behind him, I turn back to Winnie.She’s bracing for my anger, but she won't be getting any.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”I whisper, placing my hand gently on her stomach.
She barely has any sort of bump.Unless I was here and saw the baby on the ultrasound, I'm not sure I would’ve believed she was pregnant.
“I don’t know.I planned to.That was the gift we got the day of the accident… But then…”
“But then I screwed up everything.”I nod my head, squeezing my eyes shut.“Would you ever have told me?”
“Yes.I wanted to make sure there was still a baby to tell you about.What would be the point of telling you if I lost the baby?”
“Because then I could be there for you.I could’ve helped you through it.”
“I didn’t want you to feel that sort of pain when you didn’t already know about the pregnancy, especially if we were splitting up.”
“Winnie, when I found you sitting on my porch, were you planning on ending things?”
She blinks up at the sky, trying to get rid of her tears, but it isn't working.She’s too emotional right now, but all of this suddenly makes sense.The entire accident and altercation with Oliver Sinn would be even more difficult to deal with when she’s being flooded with pregnancy hormones.It’s bad enough to deal with even without the extra hormones.
“I didn’t know what to expect.I went to your house prepared to pack my things and walk away forever, but also hoping we could figure things out.”
“And what if we had broken up?Would you have told me about the baby?”
“Not right away, but I would’ve told you.I would’ve let you be a father to our baby.This little peanut couldn’t ask for a better daddy and I’d never keep you from him or her.”
I lean down and press my forehead to hers.I wrap my arms around her and squeeze my eyes shut.I can't believe how much Oliver Sinn almost took away from me.
“Thank you for being so amazing.For taking care of my little girl like she’s your own, even when you were hurt so bad.Thank you for protecting our little peanut and giving me the opportunity to be a daddy again.I love you, Win.”
“I love you too.”
When we get home, Winnie brings me the little gift bag I got from her destroyed SUV.She holds it out between us and I carefully take it.
“Open it.”She motions towards it.
I tug out a picture frame with spots for two images.One is an ultrasound and the other is an image of Tali.Across the top of the frame it says ‘We have the world’s best daddy!’engraved into the metal.
“You were going to tell me that night, weren’t you?”I whisper, letting my fingers trail over the image of our little baby.
“Yeah.I had been waiting for the frame to be engraved.I just had to pick it up before you got home.We were in the store for less than five minutes, Jamie.I really didn’t think it would be a big deal.”Her voice trails off and there’s so much remorse in her words.
