Maya~
As soon as we get back to Christian's place, he's hounding for answers. "What did she say? What did you talk about? Did it go well?"
"Are you going to breathe?" I ask, turning around to face him.
"When you tell me."
"She apologized about four times and it probably won't be the last. It's fine. It's worked out."
"That is not everything."
I back up so we're not so close. "She told me she was worried about you. That apparently you've brought home some real winners."
"We don't need to get into that."
I look at him, wanting to get into it. We sit on the couch. "Prior to you, I felt the pressure to be with someone. Not from my mom. I see the guys with their wives and kids and it's something I want. So I think I just was finding somebody, thinking it would work out, and then bring them home. Then once they found out about my salary and they see my house, they start to realize that they don't have to work."
"You know that's not going to happen with me, right?"
He nods, "What I'm about to tell you may or may not happen. It's still in the works and I'm not my holding breath."
"Okay."
"Me and the Brewers owner, Mark, have been talking about a possible extension that keeps me in Milwaukee for possibly the rest of my career. We're talking until 2029 and possibly receiving over 200 million dollars."
I keep my expressions limited. That's a fuck ton of money. I'd be lucky to even break three million dollars in earnings when adding my yearly salary for however many years I work. "I signed a seven-year contract when I was in Miami. It was worth about 50 million. When I got traded to Milwaukee, Miami was still paying because I was under contract even though I was playing for a different team. It's how that stuff works. I love Milwaukee. I love the fans. So we've talked about it for a while. I don't know if it will happen. It's a shot in the dark. Obviously, I'd love for it to happen because it means that I can stay in the city. Milwaukee has been so good to me. Better than I ever expected it to be."
"That's why she was so worried."
"Yes, but that doesn't excuse anything."
"It doesn't but I understand where she's coming from. She just wants to protect you."
"Maybe I don't want to be protected anymore."
"I don't think you have a choice. She's your mother. All moms want to do is protect their children."
He shrugs, "The money isn't going to change me."
"I would never expect it to."
"What do you think about it?"
"It's life-changing money, no doubt about it. But it's not mine. It's yours. You already know that I am financially stable. And in the future, if this does happen and we're still together, then that's another conversation for a later date."
He nods, "What else did she tell you?"
"That she had no right saying those things and that she feels awful about it. We cleared up some things about the pregnancy and I answered some of her questions that I don't think you could've answered."
"You didn't have to talk about that if you didn't want to."
"I'm finally in a place where I can talk openly about it without becoming upset. It wasn't anything huge."
"Do your parents know?"
I look away from him, "No."
"Why's that?"
I shrug, "I'd rather not feel their pity."
"You think they would pity you?"
"I think they'd make a big deal out of something that doesn't need to be a big deal. Not anymore at least."
"So we're all good? You and my mom?"
"With time, yes. It's not going to bounce back like we think it will."
He nods slowly, "Okay."
He pulls on my hand, wanting to bring me closer to him. I hold onto him. "I'm glad everything went okay."
I nod against him, "Me too."
"I don't think I could live with the fact that she didn't like you."
"Because what's not to like?" I joke.
"Exactly."
"I was kidding."
"I'm not."
He kisses my temple, "I love you."
I'm conflicted on whether or not I want to say it back. I do love him. But I think it's different when it's said versus when it's thought. I reciprocate his act of words with a tighter hug.
"How was LA?" Bridget asks as I tie the waistband of my pants.
"Good. It was good. Much warmer. His mom and I are on good terms."
"That's amazing. What changed?"
"He talked to her because he was upset about the things said. Then Alecia and I talked separately before I left. So we're good. I didn't feel the need to tell her about everything because it's my business."
"You shouldn't have to."
"I shouldn't. But it just wasn't my battle to win. I won the others."
"So now when does he come in?"
"The 22nd. We're heading up the 23rd."
"Staying at your parents?"
"Yeah. Probably on an air mattress."
"What's wrong with your bed?"
"Well, it won't fit both of us and I'm almost sure that my niece lives with my parents and they haven't told me yet. I'm sure they put her in my bed."
"Yeah, I'd stick to an air mattress too."
"Yeah."
"Why is she with your parents?"
"Because Ash works nights and her baby daddy is officially not in the picture."
"At least your baby daddy stuck around."
"Bridget, I love you but you make my head hurt."
"I'm not wrong."
"You're not but we're past this."
She laughs. "Speaking of 'I love you's' he said it."
"No way. Really?"
"Yep. At midnight on my birthday while we were eating cake."
"Did you say it back?"
"No. I didn't feel ready. I almost said it when we were at LAX but I wasn't fully ready then either."
"That's okay."
"I know that."
"But?" she asks.
"No buts. Just trying to figure it out."
"Maya!" Bridget yells through the hallway as I eat my lunch.
"What?" I ask, pushing my chair into the hallway to see her.
"You need to come now. It's bad. She never got moved."
I put my bowl on the counter and run with her. "What do you mean she wasn't moved? I put in the order."
"One of the janitors went in to clean the room and they were still in there. She's in labor now. Nobody came to get them."
"What do you mean nobody came to get them? I put in the order."
"They're still here."
She opens the door to an absolute mess of an exam room. What the fuck. The nurses are scrambling. My laboring patient is scared out of her mind. Her husband is furious.
"Why weren't we taken up to L&D?" he asks loudly, getting in my face.
Bridget steps between us, "I will ask you to leave if you keep yelling. Clearly, there was a miscommunication between our systems. Maya will deliver right now and we will go from there. But I need you to calm down."
He steps back. I put on gloves and a gown. I pull Olivia to the side, "I don't care who you get from L&D but get somebody. A nurse. An OB. I don't care. Get somebody please."
"To help?"
"No. Wait with them until I'm done in here."
She nods before leaving. I am so furious right now. This shouldn't have happened. Now my ER looks bad because we don't tend to patients. She was supposed to be moved hours ago and she wasn't supposed to be in my care anymore.
I walk into my room after using the spare bedroom's shower since mine has decided to not work. I turn the light on and drop my clothes at the sight of Christian. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here."
"It's the 22nd."
"No, it's not."
"It is."
I think about it for a little bit. I guess it is. I go over to hug him. "How'd you get here?"
"My brother got me from the airport."
"Your brother?"
"Collin had some interviews in Milwaukee. So he's been staying at my place for the past couple of days. What's wrong with your shower?"
"I don't know."
He kisses me, "What's wrong?"
He reads me so well. "Shitty day."
"Want to tell me about it?"
I smile, "Let me get dressed."
"Okay. Have you eaten?"
"No."
"I'll make you something."
"Thanks."
He kisses me again before getting off of my bed. I pull out some clothes to put on. I put the clothes on and dry out my hair. I hear my phone start ringing so I answer. It's Bridget. "Hey."
"Hi," she says sadly.
"What's wrong?"
She sighs, "I just got word that our mom from today is in the CCU."
"What?"
"Yeah, it's bad."
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure. From what Allie told me, she started to hemorrhage. I guess they got it under control. But now they think she developed an infection."
"From the ER or L&D?"
"It's hard to say."
I sigh, "Okay. Thanks for an update."
"Of course. Sydney texted me that the people on her case need to meet with her in the morning to go over everything and see where it went wrong."
"Okay."
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Well, Christian came in today and I completely forgot. So he's here now. I'm taking a half day tomorrow and we're leaving around 2."
"How long is he with you?"
"The new year."
"I'll leave you to it. Sorry for the bad news."
"Just the cherry on top for today."
I toss my phone on the bed and finish getting ready for bed. Christian comes back with a bowl of popcorn, "It's not necessarily dinner but it's something."
"It works."
"Who was that?"
"Bridget. Our patient got moved up to the CCU."
I leave my lamp on as he shuts my door and gets in bed with me. "What happened?"
"We had a first-time mom come in with her husband. She wasn't feeling great. So Bridget did a check-up while I talked to her husband. She was showing early signs of pre-eclampsia. So if that happens, we are directed to transfer them to labor and delivery."
"Wait, what's that?"
"It's a pregnancy complication that can be deadly to mom and baby. So she had no choice. She was going to deliver today either in L&D or in my ER. So I put in an order for her to be transferred. I checked on them once more, thinking they were going to get moved soon but they weren't. I'm at lunch and Bridget is running for me, yelling that they never got moved. So they were sitting in my ER for three hours with no care because I thought they had been moved."
"And that makes it look like it's on you."
"Yeah. So I delivered that baby and that was fine. She was fine. I had some very strong words with some nurses and OBs in L&D. So now there's a small feud going on. And now she's in the CCU with some type of infection. Now we get to talk with Sydney about it tomorrow morning and I am just ecstatic."
"Do you think it's your fault?"
"No. I don't. I did what I needed to do to get her moved to L&D but it was never completed. And when I left, she and her baby were healthy. I'm still pissed at the entire situation. Something super simple could've been avoided but I guess not."
"Was that your entire day?"
"Yes. After I got done, I sat in my car for 15 minutes and cried about it."
"I thought you had therapy tonight?"
"I didn't go."
"Think you should've?"
"I should've. I know that. But I had no want to actually go so I didn't."
Lucky him. We finish the bowl of popcorn. He takes it into the kitchen before getting ready for bed as I scroll through my phone. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
"I'm only working a half day. So I'll get done by 11. I need to stop at the grocery store after work to pick up some things. My mom wants me to make some desserts. Then I plan to shower quickly and we can leave by 2 at the latest."
"I can go for you."
"Would you?"
"Yeah. Give me a list."
"Okay."
"Can I give you part of your gift now?"
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"Sure."
He leaves my room. I sip on my water as he comes back with a bag. "Okay, so I got everybody one?"
"Everybody?"
"Your family."
"What?"
"Nope. Don't do that. You're going to let me."
"I- Okay."
He takes out a jersey. "Are those the new ones?"
"Yeah."
I got on my knees to move closer to him as he stood at the end of my bed. "These look amazing."
He tosses me the cream jersey, pulling out the other three options. "No."
"Yes, you're taking them."
He tosses them on the bed for me to look at. "And then I got everybody a cream-colored jersey with no name on the back."
"They'll love them."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
I hold up my four new jerseys one by one to examine each one. "Which one is your favorite?"
"Something about the navy I really like. The pinstripes are a classic though."
"I don't think I can choose. They all look so good."
I toss my jerseys on the chair in my room. "Thank you."
"I needed to get you ready for the season."
"A season that's four months away."
"Exactly. And these will all fit your family?"
I go through each one, "Yeah."
"Would you mind wrapping these?"
"Yeah, I'll do it."
"Thank you."
He gets back in bed, "What's the sleeping arrangement looking like?"
"We're either taking the floor or the air mattress. I'm not sure if they have one. My bed is too small for the both of us and I'm 85% sure Ella is sleeping there. We can take over the basement."
"What do you mean she's sleeping there?"
"They haven't told me yet but I have a feeling that she is living with my parents because my sister works nights."
"And her dad?"
"No longer in the picture. She took him to court to get court-mandated child support because he wasn't paying or if he was, it wasn't the amount agreed on or it was late."
"Okay then."
"Yeah, you ready for this? Because I'm not."
He laughs, "It'll be fine."
He doesn't understand what he's getting himself into. "You know I was thoroughly surprised that there was no snow on the ground."
I laugh, "It doesn't snow like it used to."
"No more white Christmas'?"
"Not anymore. We used to open presents in the morning then we'd be outside for the rest of the day until dinner started."
"That actually sounds very peaceful."
"It was."
We settle into bed. "I'm really happy you're here."
He kisses me, "Me too."
"So who's all there?" he asks.
"Us, my parents, Ash and Ella, and Brandon are all staying in the house. My dad's parents will come over for Christmas dinner. We always go to Christmas Eve service with them but you don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I'm going."
"Then we come back to the house and watch Elf and The Polar Express and if none of us have fallen asleep by then, we watch The Grinch."
"What a lineup."
"Right?"
"I'm excited."
"Me too. They're going to love you."
"I already know that. You worry for no reason."
"I think there's always a reason."