Page 26 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

As we turned to head back to the office, she nudged me with her elbow. “So are you going to name the baby after me if it’s a girl?” She giggled, and I smiled and shook my head.

“Right now, I just need to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to have a baby. Once that sinks in all the way, you and I can talk about names, and a nursery, and a baby shower—you’re going to have to plan that, you know?” I smiled at her.

It wasn’t life-shattering, but it was definitely life-altering. For me and for Derek.

Now I just needed to work up the courage to tell him. And after the last few weeks of us not even getting along, I knew it would come as a complete shock to him. I just hoped he didn’t run away scared or angry with me because he thought I’d planned this. I didn’t think I could handle that at all.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

Derek

“Okay,Kelsey, we’re all done here.” I peeled off my gloves and tossed them in the trash, waiting for Kelsey to pull her shirt back over her distended stomach. At thirty-nine weeks, she was ready to pop and was measuring just about perfect. I assumed I’d get a call over the weekend that she was in labor and I’d have to meet her at the hospital.

“Thanks, Doc. You really think it will be this weekend?” She struggled to sit up, so I offered her a hand. She had two toddlers at home, ages one and three, so for her third baby to come so soon meant planning a sitter for the others. It was a concern she had brought up a number of times. That and her husband not being home from work in time.

“I really think so. When a low-pressure front comes in, it often triggers birth. Yes, I know that’s an old wives’ tale, but it’s true. So keep your hubby and your sitter on standby.” I winked at her as I helped her off the table. As far as I knew, she and I were the only ones in the office, so I walked her out. But as we exited the room, I saw a light on in Maggie’s office. Either she left it on, which wasn’t like her, or she was still working.

“Alright, well you be on standby too.” Kelsey smiled and thanked me as I opened the outer office door and let her out. I watched her leave and shut the door quietly. If Maggie was in her office, she’d have heard me send away the last patient.

I could play this two ways. Go to her office and let her know I was finished and wanted to leave. Or go to my office and hope she left before me. Things hadn’t been exactly pleasant between us the past few days after our disagreement. Like always, she came to work and did her job professionally with a smile on her face, but I could tell something was bothering her. She had started having lunch with Gypsy away from the hospital, avoiding me. It was my fault.

I knew I had started developing feelings for her, and I knew that deep down, she was feeling the same way. I just refused to live with the fact that our relationship inside this office would get messy because of emotions. Call it my foolish pride, but my job came first. I’d spent years building this practice, and I wouldn’t throw it away because of romantic involvement. And unfortunately, due to my own issues with Peter, I was in no state to try and balance more stress in the office. So I pushed her away. I knew that. If things were over between us, I at least wanted two things—closure and a peaceful office.

So I did what I thought was best. I headed straight for her office. The door was ajar, so I pushed it open. Maggie was seated behind her computer, typing away. Tears streamed down her face, and instantly, I was concerned. I hadn’t seen her cry since she was a child. She always had a smile on her face. My heart wrenched.

“Hey, are you okay? Is everything alright?” I advanced toward her desk, pulling a chair out and plopping down across from her without even being invited. She glanced at me and swiped at her face. Always the brave one, she kept her heart concealed. I wondered how many times she’d done that to me over the past few months—hidden behind a smile when she really had other things to say. Had I been oblivious or just ignorant?

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Maggie’s smile was fake, but her heart was genuine. Whatever she was shielding me from, I needed to understand what it was. I had been open with her about Peter, and she had helped me gain new understanding. Maybe I could do that for her if she would just talk to me.

“Maggie, you’re not okay. I can see that. Tell me what’s wrong.” I pressed her, and maybe I shouldn’t have. She shrugged and continued typing, her eyes scanning her computer screen as she ignored me. “Magnolia Brock, you listen to me. I don’t care if you don’t feel like talking. You need to tell me what’s going on.”

In my gut, I knew it had to do with me, but I wasn’t really prepared for what she said when she opened her mouth. “I’m finding a new job, Derek. I’m typing my resignation notice now.”

The news was a punch to the gut. I grabbed her laptop and turned it around to her strong protest. She was really typing a resignation notice in an email addressed to me and Barbra.

“What the heck? No, Mags. You’re not quitting.” I closed the computer and stood up, raking a hand through my hair. Maggie was a perfect fit in this practice. How the fuck had I let it get so far out of control that she wanted to leave us?

“You don’t get to decide what I do. And stop calling me Mags. I’m not your Mags.” She pulled her laptop back toward herself but didn’t open it. Staring obstinately at me, she blinked back further tears. I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Every single reason I had that damn policy was playing out in front of me, and I was the idiot who’d crossed the line.

“Maggie, you’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being ridiculous? Me?” She stood and picked up her computer, shoving it into her bag along with a few pens, a notebook, and her cell phone from off her desk. “Derek, I’ve done nothing but try to please you since the first minute I walked into this office. I work my ass off to get where I’m going, and I’m not about to let some man ruin my career by—”

“Whoa, whoa! Hold on.” I walked around the end of her desk and tried to calm her by placing my hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged out of my grasp, reaching for a scarf hanging from the coat tree. She collected a sweater, an empty coffee mug, and the scarf, shoving them all in her bag. It hit me what she was doing. She was packing her things up.

The reality dawned on me that she was serious about leaving. That resignation notice would have been sent to me just after she left for the night, and maybe I’d never see her again. She’d go home to be alone and sulk. Word would get back to Curt that she’d quit her job and moved on to somewhere else, and he’d put the pieces together. She was a fool if she thought I’d let her leave like that.

“Maggie, we need to talk about this.” I followed her around the room then out the door to the breakroom, where she grabbed a lunch pack from the fridge and a diet soda, unopened.

“What’s there to talk about, Derek? It’s just sex and friendship.”

The words slung at me in anger hurt. The very words I’d used to hurt her, though I hadn’t intended it to feel like this. I knew why she was so angry now. I’d never wanted her to feel this way.

“Magnolia, please. Listen to me.” I reached for her elbow, but she shied away, heading straight for the office door. She was out in the concourse before I could stop her, but I stayed fast on her heels, lowering my voice so the entire hospital didn’t have to hear our spat. “Maggie. Stop.”

She continued walking toward the exit, and because we were so close to the main entrance, I knew I had only seconds left before she walked out of here upset. Whether or not we fixed things right now, I couldn’t let her leave so angry. She shouldn’t be driving that way. So I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching, then nabbed her elbow and pulled her into a supply closet, locking the door behind us. She protested with a loud yelp of pain and a glare, but I stood between her and the door, arms crossed over my chest.

“You’re not leaving in this state.”

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