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“Wow. That’s a really beautiful story.”
“But then she died.”
Mae sits up in her chair. “Whoa! Okay, buzzkill.”
I shrug. “Well, she did!”
“I gathered that. But I was reminiscing on the sweet origin story of her and your dad’s relationship.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.” And she says it so sweetly, it makes me want to kiss her. Yeah, again. What doesn’t?
I don’t, of course. Instead, I lean further away from her scent, smile, and soft body.
“Okay, it’s your turn,” I say, trying to distract myself from my racing pulse and wandering thoughts.
“For what?” Mae asks, tilting her head, her short hair falling over her shoulder.
“Tell me about your parents.”
She finishes my water and sets the glass on the grass. “It isn’t nearly as grand as what you just told me.”
“I still want to hear it,” I say. I want to know her parent’s love story. I want to know everything about this woman sitting next to me.
“They were college sweethearts. Both got their bachelor’s degrees in biology and then went to medical school.”
“What areas did they focus on?”
“Obstetrics,” Mae says.
“Wow. So, your parents both delivered babies. I’ve always figured that must be one of the most stressful jobs,” I say. It was stressful for me, and I was just the dad, holding Anna’s hand as she and the doctors did all the hard work.
“For sure. It’s the one area of the hospital that can be the happiest and the absolutely most devastating simultaneously. I’ll never forget the look on my dad’s face when he came home after losing a baby.” Mae gets a far-off look on her face.
“We almost lost Dylan during the delivery,” I confess.
“Really? What happened?” She is immediately attentive and sits bolt upright.
“Shoulder dystocia.”
“Oh, yikes. That’s when the shoulders get stuck behind the mom’s pubic bone, right?” Mae asks.
“Exactly. His oxygen levels dropped really quickly. What should have been a relatively calm delivery room rapidly turned into chaos.” A shudder runs down my spine at the thought of it. It was the most frightening day of my life.
“I’ll bet,” Mae says softly, reaching out and wrapping a warm hand around my arm.
“They instructed her to get on all fours, and then the doctor had to scoop him out with her fingers.”
“Well, thank goodness she knew what she was doing.” Mae squeezes my arm, and my heart, which had been beating at lightning speed at the memory, begins to slow.
“Right? I can’t imagine life without that kid.”
“I can tell he adores you so much,” Mae says, and it’s the look in those hazel eyes, the softness of her hands, and the smell of the evening laced with her perfume that has me yearning for more.
Chapter ten
Mae – Honoring the Pig
