Chapter 49
Sherry lay across the bed. She couldn’t find a comfortable position. She drew the pillow to her back for support and finally dozed off, taking a short nap. Dave was fast asleep. He had stayed up with her for a while earlier but finally fell asleep.
The coolness of the sheets startled Sherry into consciousness. She felt around her side of the bed, and it was wet.
“Dave, wake up,” she said, shaking him. She didn’t want to startle him, but he had to get up. “Dave, wake up.”
He rustled a bit and then said, “I’m awake. What do you need?”
“My water broke. We have to get to the hospital right away.” Sherry’s bag was packed and waiting near the staircase.
“Oh, I’m up,” Dave said, hopping from the bed. He wandered around aimlessly until she reminded him of what he had to do.
“I’m throwing on a pair of sweatpants. You’re getting dressed and grabbing the suitcase by the stairs,” she told him.
“It’s June, won’t sweatpants be hot?”
“Dave, it doesn’t matter what I wear. I’m taking the sweatpants off soon as we get to the hospital. We just have to get out of here.”
“Right,” he said, moving in the direction of his closet. Sherry was eager to get to the hospital and deliver a healthy baby. Memories of the death of her first one darted in and out of her mind. She was afraid of what could happen, but Sherry was going to think positively. Her baby was full term, which gave it four and a half months longer than the last baby had. By this hour tomorrow, she’d be a mother. She was overwhelmed by pain as the cramping sensation increased.
Dave rushed from the closet. “Are you ready to go?” “Almost. Let me grab my sweatpants, and then we can go have this baby—our baby,” she said with pride.
Madeline stood in the break room, repeatedly reading the announcement posted on the wall.
Dave and Sherry Mitchell announce the birth of their son, Joel. . . .
She glossed over the date, time, and weight to zoom in on the parents. Sherry had finally laid the golden egg. Madeline was relieved that the baby boy was healthy and alive. In truth, that was as far as her well wishes would go. To pretend to care beyond the basic level of common courtesy would be a farce. Since she didn’t play games, there would be no pretending.
Several employees walked in and tiptoed past her. Awkward moments were bound to occur for the next couple of months, as the staff figured out how to celebrate their boss’s new baby without teeing Madeline off. Perhaps she should put forth a statement to ease the tension among the workers. She considered the idea briefly and decided against it. The baby’s birth wasn’t her news to share or explain. She placed her hand on the announcement and lingered there until reality hit. Dave was officially the father of two sets of children and hadn’t done well with the first one.
Madeline meandered from the room, sensing stares. She bumped into Frank, who was coming around the corner with a cup of coffee.
“Oops,” she said, not sure if the run-in was her fault. She hadn’t been paying attention.
He flicked drops of coffee from his shirt. “I’m glad it wasn’t hot,” he said, chuckling.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it. I have an extra shirt in my office.”
“You keep extra clothes in your office?”
“Why not? You never know when somebody might plow into you in front of the break room.”
Madeline smirked, although she wasn’t in much of a jovial mood after reflecting on Dave’s oldest son being tossed away in order for his youngest son to have the spotlight. Well, Sherry had won that round. Madeline was sure there were going to be plenty more rounds when it came to the children.
“Can I help?” Madeline asked.
“No problem. I got it,” he said. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you about Andre. It’s been what, a couple of months since he went to the military school?” Frank said balancing the cup as coffee dripped down the side. He went into the break room. She did too.
“They call it a preparatory school.” Military sounded too harsh for her.
“Preparatory, military . . . What’s the difference?”
The difference was her ability to sleep without guilt. Believing he was in a casual college preparatory program versus being stuck in a rigid military camp was much easier. She remained silent.
“How’s he doing in the preparatory school?” Frank said, dumping his remaining coffee into the sink.
“Let’s grab a table in the corner.” Madeline didn’t want others in the company to hear about personal Mitchell business. She took a seat close to Frank and whispered, “Andre is adjusting, according to his counselor, but we haven’t spoken to him directly. He hasn’t taken our calls.” She wanted to crumble.
“He’ll come around. Give him time.”
“I hope so,” she said, sighing. Frank was more hopeful than she was. There were factors too huge to discount. “Andre was pretty upset when he left. The relationship between Dave and Andre was strained before the boy was shipped off. The two of them were reconnecting at the estate until Dave chose Sherry over him. At least that’s the way Andre sees it. He blames Sherry for getting him kicked out.”
“Not a good situation,” Frank said rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’m just afraid Dave will lose Andre forever if he doesn’t work hard at reaching him now, while Andre is young.”
“The reality is that the separation will either force your son to change his mind-set and get right, or it will provide a lot of time for his anger to stew and turn into a full pot of well-seasoned contempt.”
The words resonated with Madeline. “This is challenging.”
“I’m not going to lie. Dave has a jacked-up situation going on between his two families.”
“Tell me about it,” Madeline said. “Did you read the announcement about Dave’s new baby boy, named Joel?”
“I didn’t see the announcement, but Dave called me around six this morning to tell me the news.”
“I guess you would be on his list of people to call with his big news,” she said, masking her feelings about Dave having another child.
“Must be a short list,” Frank said. “I’m getting a fresh cup of coffee and heading to my office.”
Madeline walked out with him, intent on rushing to her office, bolting the door shut, and hibernating until the mystique of baby Joel passed. She hoped it would be soon.