Page 10 of Stat: Love In Scrubs
“Of course, I miss you, Bean. If I could play hooky and hang with you all day, I would do that every day to spend my time with you.”
Initially, I was heading to my parents’ place so I could return to work, but something told me my daughter needed this timewith me. Once I made it to the light that I would usually take to drop her off at my parents, I passed it and made my way back to my place so I could change. If we were both taking a break from our usual day, we needed to be dressed comfortably. More so me.
I was still in my scrubs, so I needed to get changed for the day I had planned.
“Daddy, we’re going home?” Esa asked from the backseat.
“For a minute, I need to change my clothes, then for the remainder of the day it’s going to be me and you.”
Esa did a little dance in her seat, and her smile got bigger. This was what I lived for, and I would do everything in my power to make sure she felt loved. It was the one thing I promised myself when her mother passed; I needed to choose her, even over my desire to be the chief of Obstetrics. She was my main concern.
Once we made it home, I got Esa comfortable, then jogged up the stairs to shower and change. My phone vibrated against the top of my dresser as I got dressed. I pulled my shirt over my head and rushed over to answer, noticing it was my mom calling.
“Hey, Ma.”
“Son. We just wanted to check on you since you were supposed to be here not too long ago. We wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
I placed the call on speaker, then walked over to the drawer to grab a new pair of socks.
“Sorry about that. I went up to grab Esa like I told y’all I would, and her little butt was just fine. Ms. Sinclair suggested that maybe we have some time with just us two,” I told her.
“I love to hear that. Next time, let your mother know when there’s a change in plans. I just knew something had gone wrong.”
I glanced back at the phone with a shake of my head, but I understood where she was coming from.
“I hear you. I’ll make sure I keep you updated, but I’m getting ready to head out. I’ll talk to you later. Enjoy your day, Mom.”
“You too, Son. Make sure you give my Esa a kiss for me.”
I smiled and let her know I would. I took another ten minutes to finish getting dressed, then made my way downstairs to the living room. Esa was on the couch watchingThe Proud Family. I leaned against the entryway wall with a smile as she giggled at something Oscar did to Suga mama. Her laugh was so infectious that I found myself chuckling along with her.
My laughter alerted her to my presence, causing her to slide from the couch with wide, expectant eyes. She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I followed suit, wrapping my free arm around her.
“You ready to have fun?” I asked.
She nodded erratically, her twists swung around her shoulder, and her barrettes clacked against one another.
“Alright then, Bean. Let’s head out.” I told her, ushering her toward the front door.
The drive to Legoland was eventful. We sang all of Esa’s favorite songs and talked about all the things she wanted to do when we got there. It had been a minute since I saw my daughter this excited, which wasn’t something I liked to admit.
It let me know that Ms. Sinclair might have been right about her missing me. It was a crazy thought since we lived in the same damn house, but this was the life I chose when I became a doctor. Veronica and I knew this was what we needed to be prepared for before we decided to try for Esa. We thought over every pro and every con when it came to bringing her into this world. The thing we never thought about was Veronica not being here.
I tried to rid myself of the thought. I didn’t want my feelings about Veronica’s death to ruin the time I spent with Esa.
“Are we there yet, daddy?” she called out from the backseat.
I peered up in the rearview mirror, spotting Esa leaning out the window with a big smile.
“Almost!” I told her.
She did a little shimmy in her seat, causing me to laugh. Another ten minutes went by before we pulled into the parking lot. I found a space in the packed parking lot, then we made our way to the ticket booth. I held Esa’s hand the entire way. If the way she skipped in here and the smile on her face was an indication that she was excited, I don’t know what was.
Once we had everything we needed, we made our way inside, and they had all kinds of things for kids to enjoy.
“Daddy! Today is the best day of my life,” she announced, then did a little spin.
I shook my head and laughed.
