Chapter 28 — What If Cahal Gets Sick?

Brooke:

I sit in my hospital bed, tapping my pencil on my sketch pad impatiently. "When did you say their flight lands?" I ask Landon for what is probably the eighth time.

"Wheels touch down at 9:45 a.m.," he answers without looking up from his book. It has been six days since my surgery, and Sonia is flying in with Cahal. Landon has gotten the cottage all ready with a crib and any other items he thinks we will need for our extended stay.

Landon has been so kind and patient with me the whole time. He's been asking me what I need and making sure I eat and take my medication. He's only allowed medical staff that he has approved of to touch me. I glance at the clock. 11:30. It is a two-hour drive from the airport, so they should be arriving soon. I tap my pencil some more.

"Has he grown?" I blurt out.

"Some." Again, Landon does not look up. The baby is about three weeks old now.

"Did he go to his two-week appointment? It's very important he goes to his appointments," I say. Landon closes his book and sits forward in his chair.

"Brooke, I promise you our son has been getting the best care. He went to his appointment; I took him myself. He has gained 12oz since birth, and he's a marathon sleeper, only pausing to take short breaks to eat and poop."

I give a chagrined smile and feel my cheeks tinge pink. I give a small nod, and Landon leans back into his chair. He picks his book back up.

"It's genetic," I whisper.

Silence.

After what feels like forever but can only have been a few heartbeats, I feel the bed dip at my side. Landon gently tips my head up to meet his eyes. "I know. I know you're scared, but it's a recessive trait and can only be passed to the child if they get a copy of the gene from both parents, and if by some bizarre chance he gets it... We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

I squint at him. "How do you know that?" He gives me a confused look.

"What?"

"About it being recessive and the copy of the gene from both parents?" Landon smirks at me.

"I read," he says, then lifts the book that has held his attention for the last two hours. I read the title, and tears spring to my eyes. "WILSON'S DISEASE FOR THE PATIENT AND FAMILY" by George J. Brewer.

"Impressed?" he asks as his thumb brushes away a tear. I nod, trying to hold back my tears. "Brooke—"

"Knock, knock." Sonia's voice fills the doorway. She holds up Cahal's baby carrier, and I get to see his sweet face scrunched up in sleep. Landon moves off the bed. He turns and greets Sonia.

"Hey, thanks for bringing him and helping watch him." He takes the carrier from her and places it on the bed in front of me.

Sonia takes residence in Landon's chair while Landon starts unbuckling Cahal.

"Of course. It was an absolute pleasure," Sonia replies. Cahal starts squirming around and squawking in anger at being woken up.

"Sorry, little man, but there's a beautiful lady who's been impatiently waiting to see you. And if I teach you nothing else, I'll teach you never to make a beautiful lady wait," he tells Cahal. I scoff.

"I've not been impatient...well...not horribly impatient." Landon just grins and shakes his head as he places my handsome son in my arms.

He puts his hand on my arm to help ease his weight.

"You got him?" he asks. Since the surgery, I have been incredibly weak, barely strong enough to feed myself.

"Yeah," I say, not taking my eyes off my son's perfect face. Cahal squirms for a minute before tucking his face against my chest and falling back to sleep.

Landon:

Brooke grins down at our son, her eyes light with joy. "What a sleepy boy you are," she coos to him before kissing his head. My heart squeezes at the sight of them. When Brooke left, she thought she would never see him again. My throat suddenly feels like I swallowed six gallons of sand. What ifs flash through my mind: What if I had not found her? What if I was too late?

The thought of our son being cheated out of a mother...out of Brooke's love... I cannot process it. I turn away from the scene before me, giving Brooke her moment to hold her son, knowing that she will be in his life for years to come. Sonia gently touches my arm as if sensing the emotional turmoil bubbling inside me. I turn to see her empathetic eyes.

"Jared's downstairs in the food court," she says, giving me an excuse to leave and collect myself. I nod my thanks to her and give Brooke and Cahal both a kiss on the forehead before heading out. I take the stairs down instead of the elevator to give myself a little more time. I spot Jared standing in line at a coffee cart. Crossing over to him, I decide that a strong cup of black coffee is just what I need.

"Hey man, how's Brooke?" Jared asks as I approach him.

"She's perfect now that she's holding her son. Thanks for helping get her here." Jared nods.

"It was nothing. Just a two-hour drive with my...ex...which ended up being two-and-a-half hours because your son can't stand sitting in a soiled diaper," Jared says, using air quotes when he says ‘ex’.

"Yeah, what's the deal there?"

Before he can answer, it is his turn to order. We both order tall black coffees then head to a table by the windows. "Sonia?" I prompt Jared when we have sat down. Jared glares at me. "Come on, man. I could use the distraction," I say.

Jared lets out a long sigh and scrubs a hand over his jaw. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. We had a thing, and it just kind of fizzled out." A laugh stumbles out of me.

"Fizzled out. Sonia glares at you every time you are in her vicinity. That doesn't sound like something that ended amicably." I raise my eyebrow pointedly.

"We wanted different things," he says.

"Like?" I question.

"She wants something...serious." He says the last word with disgust.

"And that's a bad thing because...?" Jared looks around the room, squirming at the question. I stay silent, waiting him out.

"When you got married to Brooke, you hated it. Resented it. Excuse me if I decide not to take a chapter out of that book."

I scoff. "That is a totally different situation. We were strangers forced together. Now... Now I cannot imagine my life without her. Hell, I can imagine it because I had to face what it would be like without her for the last two weeks. And I don't ever want to do that again." Jared nods.

"Yeah, but what happens when Brooke finds out why you married her?"

I glare at him. "She does know. Her father blackmailed me into signing a contract that required a marriage between the two of us."

"That's kind of vague, Landon. Why don't you tell her what you were blackmailed with?" he taunts.

"Why do I have to? It's in the past."

"You think it will never come up in the future? That she will not ever ask for curiosity's sake? No, you are just scared to tell her. You're scared she will leave you after she knows. The truth is that love is a lie, and you are just living in some made-up fantasy so that you can have this perfect life. Go to work and come home to your little wife and two kids. One day, that bubble you're living in is going to burst, and you'll see that just because you ignore something doesn't mean it goes away."

Jared stands up towards the end of his little speech and storms off. I feel like I should be angry at him, but I am only left with a gnawing sense of guilt. He is right; it is not something I can just ignore and hope it never comes up somewhere down the line, nor is it right of me to keep it from her. I love Brooke, and if I respect her at all, I should tell her.

I will have to wait until her health is a little better. I promise myself I will tell her in a few weeks. I dispose of our cups and head back up to my wife. She and Sonia should have had plenty of time to catch up, and I feel like I have as big a handle on my emotions as I am going to get. I take the stairs like a coward, giving myself a little more time to force down my guilt.