Page 126 of For the Love of Art

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

“Anything else I should know?” I asked into my phone as I walked back and forth along the sterile hallway in Mount Sinai.

“The final cases of champagne arrived,” Dori said.

“Okay, good. I should be back tomorrow.” I wet my lips. “Is Nathan there?”

“He stopped in first thing this morning. I told him you weren’t coming in.”

I swallowed. I wanted to ask if he seemed sad or disappointed, but I didn’t want to explain everything to Dori. It was best if she didn’t know what happened between Nathan and me.

“Thank you,” I said. “Call if you need anything,”

I hung up my phone and pressed my back into the wall. I looked up at the stark white ceiling and wondered how I wound up at my ex-husband’s baby’s birth.

Marissa and I arrived at the hospital first. I figured she’d want me to leave, but she told me she was scared and asked me to stay. Don got caught up by an accident, so I coached Marissa through a good portion of her labor before Don burst through the door. I had planned to leave then, but Don said he was scared and asked if I could stay just a little longer. I was still here because I didn’t know the exact number of minutes for a little longer.

A door opened beside me, and I turned my head to see Don with a large grin.

“She’s here. She’s perfect. Healthy. So is her mom,” he announced proudly.

“She?”

Don nodded. “Eleanor Clarissa Watts. Seven pounds even.”

“Congratulations.”

We hugged, and maybe we held on for a second longer than we should’ve. It felt necessary, though. It might very well have been the last time I ever hugged Don.

“Look–” we said in unison, then chuckled.

“You first,” I gestured at Don.

He sighed. “You were right. I didn’t like seeing you with Nathan.”

I nodded. “I understand. I didn’t like seeing you with Marissa.”

Don wet his lips. “Well, in your defense, what I did was really shitty.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “but I also think our marriage was over long before the pregnancy. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to admit it.”

Don’s eyes were wet. “I forgot to love you through the hardship.”

“You have a chance to change that.” I looked at the door he came out of. “You have a chance to love Marissa and Eleanor through every hardship they ever face.”

Don nodded, a tear escaping his eye. I reached up and rubbed it away.

“I sent the papers to my lawyer.”

“I know.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up. “I got an email from my lawyer while I was stuck in traffic.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t sign them sooner.”

He shook his head. “I’m not. We never would’ve had this closure if you did.”

I nodded in agreement.