Page 27 of Daddy's Double Surprise

She reached for more tissues from the box on my nightstand and shoved them into my hand with a look of confusion. “What’s wrong, dear? Is it because of what Dad said?” She shook her head. “I heard…I’m not sure what to think. Dr. Price is well?—”

“Mom, please,” I whimpered. “Don’t lecture me. I’m really freaking out.”

Mom stopped and held my hand for a second. With my free hand I wiped my face again. “The heart wants what it wants, Sunny. I can’t tell you not to feel things. I just want to caution you that you’re grieving right now, and if you saw things more clearly maybe?—”

“Mom, my God,” I hissed. At least she wasn’t lecturing me. “I think I’m pregnant.” The truth blurted out sounded a lot harsher than the way I wanted it to come out, but it was alive now, swimming around this room and her brain.

“Oh dear,” she sighed. “Okay, well…” Mom nodded a few times and smiled politely, then looked into my eyes and said, “Sunny, life has a funny way of working things out, alright? So, let’s not get too worked up right away.”

The tears finally slowed enough for me to catch my breath and think about things. It felt so bittersweet thinking I may be bringing a life into this world on the heels of losing my bestfriend, like she was passing her soul to me for safekeeping. And sitting in this silence with my mother not criticizing me allowed me the space to process things.

“I’m a little scared.” Honestly, I was terrified. Carter made it clear he didn’t want kids. I was dumb to think he’d be happy about this at all. He would think I was a foolish immature woman, and he’d be furious. Not to mention his own fears—how could I do that to him? Trigger his PTSD from losing his child?

“Alright, well the first thing we do is get a test to clear the air. We can’t react until we have facts.” Mom nodded solemnly and stood up, letting my hand drop to my lap. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad, at least not right now. You’ll have to do it though, because he’s a smart man, Sunny.” She clicked her tongue at me. “I’m surprised he didn’t figure out you were seeing Dr. Price when we had that dinner and you rushed off all flustered.”

“You knew?” I asked, peering up at her.

“I suspected…” Mom winked and walked to the door. “I’ll be back. You just rest.”

I rolled back onto my side and curled up, pulling the comforter over my head. If Mom let it slip to Dad, for sure Dad would go right to Carter and tear his head off again. This whole thing was a huge mess at a very bad time. I couldn’t even take care of myself properly. How would I care for a baby? And what would Carter think anyway?

Mom said not to react without facts, but there was no way I was stopping this panic from consuming every ounce of energy I had left. I closed my eyes and prayed to whatever god was listening that he could make this all nothing but a bad dream I would wake up from. I couldn’t handle any more loss in my life right now. I wanted Carter by my side for a long time, not running away flaming mad.

18

CARTER

“It’s nothing but the flu, Mr. Heath, I assure you. You’re going to be absolutely fine. Just take the cough medicine and make sure you’re hydrating. If your heart rate goes up again, I suggest going to the hospital. Dehydration can be serious with this strain.” I smiled at the older man whose hands still shook even though I’d tried to reassure him. He came in with a racing heart thinking it was a heart attack, and it was nothing but a bit of dehydration. I gave him an IV for fluids and some prescriptions.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Price,” he said before another coughing fit. I helped him off the exam table, offered a tissue to cover his mouth, then ushered him out and promptly used hand sanitizer to clear my hands of the germs.

Sunny had been out for two days now, calling in sick before I arrived both days. Jackson took the calls and told me she was suffering from the flu, like half the people coming in. I wasn’t surprised. After the weekend and seeing how ill she was at my house, then getting the shocking news of Kira Baker’s cause of death, I figured she’d have a rough week. I just didn’t think she’d ignore my texts and calls the way she was, which told me she wasprobably sicker than either of us thought. I was surprised I had no symptoms.

Following Mr. Heath out, I let him into the reception area to pay his bill with our volunteer receptionist and walked on toward the break room. I needed five minutes to myself after seeing so many patients this morning. Jackson was in a room with another, and at least five more sat in the waiting area, which I noticed as Mr. Heath walked out. The day promised to be insane again. We could really use Sunny’s help, but if she was truly sick, she was in the right place at home.

I sat at the break table and dialed her number for the third time in two days, only to get her voicemail again. I was worried, but not just about whether she was feeling well. The news about Kira was shocking, and then I’d gone and dropped a bombshell in Rick’s lap. His outrage at my announcement shocked me. I knew he’d be perturbed, but I didn’t figure he’d have thrown me out of his house over it. We were adults; we should’ve been able to sit down and talk things out.

So, when a fourth call to Sunny’s phone went unanswered, I decided to do the next best thing. I dialed Rick’s number and waited as it rang through.

“Now’s not a good time, Price,” Rick said as a gruff answer. He hadn’t called me by my last name in years, which was a testament to how angry he was about this whole situation.

“Hello to you too, Rick. I’m calling to ask you a sincere question, and I hope you can at least give me a straight answer.” I was shocked he even answered at all. Perhaps our friendship wasn’t entirely dismantled by my profession of affection for his daughter.

Rick didn’t say anything. I heard a vacuum running in the background and assumed he was at home. He had to have been aware that Sunny wasn’t feeling well since she lived with him, but to what extent he’d give details was a mystery.

“Sunny hasn’t come to work since last week. I knew on Saturday morning she was feeling ill, and I was calling to check on her, as her boss.” I added that last part to remind him that I did have official reasons for calling to check, that not everything was about the relationship.

He grunted in a very unhappy sound, but said, “Soleil is sick. She’s been in bed for days now. Melanie is caring for her, and we don’t need your concern. I don’t know if she’s returning to work.” The last bit shocked me. After the intimate moment we shared in the bath Friday night, I figured she’d have felt differently about things. If this was Rick’s attempt at controlling her by not allowing her to return to work, I was going to be furious.

“Why do you have such a hard time understanding that we’re two consenting adults who actually care about one another? Rick, you’re a smart man. She’s grown up. You don’t have to protect her from me. You know me?—”

“Well, you don’t exactly have a child, now do you? So how would you know what a father might feel if his daughter dates a man twenty years older than her?”

His words were a slap to the face. Rage flushed my body making my cheeks burn. I bit my tongue and pulled the phone away from my ear, but I couldn’t respond. If I did, it wasn’t going to be pretty at all, so I hung up instead, choosing to take the high road.

Tears pricked my eyes. What I wouldn’t have done to have my little girl here, to fiercely protect her the way Rick was guarding Sunny’s heart and mind, thinking I was bad for her. The jab hit me right where it hurt; he had intended it to do that. I wondered how long it took him to think that up, but stewing on it was only going to make me go mad with frustration.

I rubbed my forehead and jerked my sleeves down into place, then dialed Sunny’s number again, only for it to go directly to voicemail again. This time, I left a message.

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