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The front door opened and Maddie laughed. “Jesus, Cale get in here!”
I spun around and ran into the house. I pulled Maddie into my arms and gently brought her lips to mine. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Her breathing was rapid as her eyes searched mine. “For what?”
“For loving me.”
She smiled bigger and whispered back, “Always.”
MADDIE WAS HAVING another contraction when Jack finally pulled up to the ER. “I’m really going to have to thank James for calling the cops.” he said with a chuckle.
Maddie groaned. “I’m…going…to…kill…my…oh God!” Maddie took quick breaths as she worked her way through the contraction.
She let out a breath. “Father…I’m going to kill my father for this police escort.”
I jumped out of the truck and ran into the ER, slipping twice. Just as I was about to reach the door, I slipped again and fell. Two nurses came running out to help.
“Are you okay, sir?”
I pointed to the car as I kept doing that stupid breathing exercise from Lamaze class. “My wife. Contractions.”
I looked back and Jack was walking slowly with Maddie up to the doors. They all walked past me and sat Maddie in a wheel chair. I brushed off the snow as I followed them in, ignoring the incredible pain in my left leg.
“Cale! You’re limping. Did you hurt your leg again? Wait, stop!” Maddie attempted to get out of the wheel chair, but the nurse stopped her.
I caught up to Maddie and kissed her lips. “I’m okay, baby. I promise.” Tears filled her eyes and she nodded.
She grabbed my hand. “Cale, I’m so scared.”
“Don’t be scared, Maddie. I’m right here with you, baby. I won’t leave your side. I promise.”
We got Maddie checked in and they brought her up to her labor and delivery room. The room was decorated in neutral colors. The nurses all wore scrubs patterned with kid or baby themes. Some were in bright pink, some in baby blue. Maddie’s nurse was wearing some with rubber ducks on it. I laughed as the memory of cleaning Lily after the shit fiasco came back to me.
Maddie had decided to have a natural birth. I was pretty sure she was regretting her decision. Especially when she grabbed me by the T-shirt and pulled me down. “I can’t take the pain anymore. Do something. Cale do something!”
My eyes widened and I looked around. The nurse smiled and winked at me.
Maddie let me go and let out a moan. “Please can I have an epidural? Please.”
I turned to the nurse and gave her a look. She nodded and said, “Let me get your doctor in here, sweetheart, and we’ll see how far you’re dilated.”
I sat next to Maddie as her doctor examined her. He turned and said something to the nurse and she rushed out the door. Doctor Green walked to the side of Maddie’s bed. “Maddie,” he said, “you’ve been a trooper, but we can’t give you an epidural.”
Oh shit, I thought. This poor man is about to die at the hands of Maddie.
“What? Why not? Please, Dr. Green. Please.” Hearing Maddie beg nearly killed me.
Doctor Green took a deep breath. “Maddie, the baby is breach. You’re dilated too far for us to give you an epidural. We need to get in there and get the baby out. Her heart rate is starting to drop.”
My knees almost gave out. “What?” both Maddie and I said at the same time.
More nurses walked in as Dr. Green kept talking. “Cale, you can walk with us down to the OR, but you can’t come in.”
Maddie sobbed. “No. Cale has to be there. Someone has to be there for our baby.”
The nurse grabbed Maddie’s hand and said, “Maddison, I promise you, Cale will be the first person outside of the OR to see the baby. I promise you.”
They moved Maddie out of the room and I followed along with her. Everything was happening so quickly. She held my hand so tight that it felt like she was breaking my fingers, but I didn’t utter a word about it. I just kept telling her how much I loved her.
“Maddie, baby I love you so much,” I said. “I’m so proud of you. I’ll be right outside the doors. I swear.”
She looked at me as I wiped her tears away. “Please, Cale, please don’t leave. You promised me.”
My heart broke as I let my tears fall freely. “Never, Maddie. I’ll be right here.”
They pushed her through the doors and she held my hand as long as she could.
Dr. Green stopped and put his hand on my shoulder. “Everything will be fine, Cale. I promise. Maddison will be out for about forty minutes. As soon as possible, the nurse will come and get you.”
I nodded. “Take care of them, please. I can’t live without her.”
He nodded and smiled as he turned and walked through the doors. I raked my hands through my hair and walked over to the small waiting area. I sat down in the chair leaned back against the wall as I thought about the day Lily was born. Zoey had pretty much given up the fight. For months, I couldn’t get it out of my head—why Zoey did what she did. I’d finally asked Jack for the name of Zoey’s cousin, and I’d called and arranged lunch with her.
I closed my eyes and was brought back to the day I meet Zoey’s cousin, Lori.
I WALKED INTO the restaurant and looked around. A young girl with blonde hair stood and waved. I smiled and nodded as I made my way over to her. I reached out my hand.
“Hey, Cale,” she said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Likewise, Lori.” We both sat down and the waiter arrived almost immediately. “What can I get you to drink?”
I took a deep breath. “A root beer, please.”
He nodded his head and turned to leave.
I couldn’t help but notice how much Lori looked like Zoey. I told her so.
Her smile faded and she looked down and played with her fork that was sitting on the table. “Yeah, people used to tell us that all the time. Zoey liked to live a more…carefree life though.”
I nodded. “Lori, listen, I’m just going to cut to the chase. You knew Zoey better than anyone. Hell, I didn’t even know you existed until right before Zoey died. I can’t stop going over in my head why all this happened. Why would Zoey get pregnant knowing that it could possibly take her own life?”
Lori stopped spinning the fork and looked into my eyes. “I’ll never forget the first time Zoey talked about Maddie. It was as if she’d found a kindred spirit. Maddie was nice to Zoey, when others weren’t. Zoey was a bit of a…bitch.”
I let out huff and grabbed my root beer, taking a sip. I needed to remember this was still Zoey’s cousin.
She grinned weakly. “Zoey quickly became obsessed with Maddie.”
“What do you mean?”
Lori shrugged. “She basically wanted to be Maddie. She wanted her life, her looks, her personality. Her health.”
My heart dropped and now it was my turn to play with my fork.
“She told me how Maddie had mentioned this guy. She had talked about you, I guess, to her best friend and to Zoey once or twice. Zoey loved the idea that there was something that Maddie wanted so desperately. The day she met you in the coffee shop and heard your name, she figured it out. After you took her home and fuh…” Lori blushed and cleared her throat. “Um, after y’all had sex, she called me and was so excited that she could hardly talk. She kept saying that she’d found and taken what Maddie wanted. At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then it dawned on me.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “She lied about the pregnancy. Why?”
She slowly nodded. “She knew you didn’t have feelings for her. But she was obsessed with keeping you. She came up with this twisted idea and convinced herself that she was doing the right thing. All that fueled her at that point, Cale, was taking something that should have belonged to Maddie. She wanted to be Maddie, and she thought this was the way. She wasn’t thinking clearly. When she realized what she’d done, she talked about getting an abortion and telling you she’d lost the baby.”
