Page 67 of Hiding Rose
She gasped, her hands on her face like the kid from Home Alone. “Did you say yes?” she exclaimed.
We all laughed, and I heard Kate’s voice in the chorus. She must have come in the room when I was focused on Hope. “I said yes.”
Hope squealed and jumped, falling to the ground when she landed, grasping her leg. “Ouch!” she cried, her little lips trembling.
Sawyer scooped her up and hugged her to his chest. “Darn bees, huh?”
She shook her head. “Dat felt like a chicken pecking me.”
Sawyer scrunched up his face. “A chicken pecking you? We had better take an airplane ride into the kitchen for an icepack then! Chickens don’t like the cold either. Ready for takeoff?” he asked in the voice of a pilot.
“Ready,” she squealed.
“Three, two, one,” he called and shot off through the room to the kitchen.
Kate rushed me and threw her arms around me. “I have to go help him, but I can’t believe you’re getting married!” she squealed.
Gideon put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “I’ll help Sawyer get her settled. You talk with Rosie.”
Gideon hugged me and patted my back. “I’m happy for you. Sawyer is one heck of a guy. He’s going to make a great daddy someday.”
I nodded and he jogged from the room, following the sounds of an airplane engine to Hope’s bedroom.
Kate herded me toward the couch, but it was slow going with only one crutch. I sat and laid the crutch down. “You knew, didn’t you?”
She put her hand to her chest, mouthing ‘me’. I shoved her playfully and she laughed into the silent room. “He told me he was thinking about it, but I didn’t know when, and I hadn’t seen the ring. He wanted my permission, which he didn’t need, but he got.”
“Which is what the whole second chance speech was about earlier today,” I finished and she smiled sheepishly.
“I didn’t know how much time I had before he would ask, so I figured I better not wait. Good thing, too,” she said, lifting my hand. She gasped when she saw the ring. “It’s a rose!”
“It’s totally a rose,” I said, my head nodding. “He said he found it in Honolulu last week and bought it when I went to the restroom. Who does that?” I asked, laughing at the thought.
“A man in love,” she answered, letting my hand fall. “I’m ecstatic and excited for you, Rosie. He’s a truly once in a lifetime kind of guy. You’ll always be the most important person to him.”
I hugged her tightly, rubbing her back. “I know you’re happy for me, but you’re doing a poor job of hiding your concern about Hope. I’m worried, too.”
She leaned back on the couch and rubbed her temple. “The doctors think she might have a large arteriovenous malformation under the port wine stain. While the birthmark is from a capillary malformation, an AVM is a much more dangerous situation. If she has one then she needs surgery to occlude it, but there are complications like crazy. I don’t know what to do.”
I rubbed her shoulder. “Have you seen a specialist?”
She shook her head. “We have an appointment this week at the children’s hospital. They plan to do more extensive imaging, which means they have to sedate her. I feel horrible for her.”
I hugged her to my side and rubbed her shoulder. “Because you know what it’s like to deal with all of those tests, which is why you’re such a good mommy to Hope. She adores you and if you explain to her how important it is to treat her leg now to stop the bees from stinging her, she’ll trust you.”
She sighed. “I know, which is my worry. If they can’t stop it or fix the problem she could suffer from the nerve issue and a deformed leg for the rest of her life.” She stared down at me and dropped her head into her hand. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. You’re worried about Hope, and trust me when I say I don’t want her to go through what I go through. I’m on board with how you feel about this. Don’t feel like you can’t talk to me because of my situation.”
She leaned into me and sighed. “The doctors said sometimes they grow out of it, but sometimes they don’t. Last week they started her on a low dose of the same nerve medication you’re on. So far, it’s not helping.”
“It will,” I promised. “It took about two weeks for me to notice a real difference. Give it a little bit more time and remember, you’re doing everything you can for her. She’s a lucky little girl to have you and Gideon for parents. You fell for her instantly because she was meant to be your little girl. Trust your instincts.”
“The problem is, my instincts say she’s growing and it’s stretching the port wine stain quickly rather than slowly, and causing the nerves to fire wrong,” she said.
“But?” I asked, motioning with my hands.
She shrugged. “But I have to have her checked out. It’s horrible to see your child in pain and not know why.”
