Cutting Cords by Mickie B. Ashling

Author:Mickie B. Ashling [Ashling, Mickie B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63477-560-1
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-05-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2

THE SOUND of silence was a welcome respite after the incessant ringing that started ten minutes ago. First it was Mom, telling me to get over to the hospital as soon as possible, followed shortly by Noriko, breathlessly calling in between contractions. “Please come, Cole. They want to operate.” I rubbed both hands over my face in frustration. What did these women think a sightless man was going to accomplish by showing up―moral support when I could barely keep it together?

Christmas carols were playing loudly somewhere in the building, a final hurrah to the holiday season on this last day of December. Most people were already anticipating the credit card bills that would begin falling through their mail slots like the confetti that was about to rain on Times Square. I picked up my flip phone and toyed with it, wondering if I should call Sloan again. I don’t know why he popped into my head. We’d been apart for nine months, and yet, my first reaction was to share the news. My hand drifted over to the other side of the bed, mindlessly seeking the man I’d discarded so carelessly. The empty space was a stark reminder that he was no longer in my life. I knew I deserved it, but that didn’t make it any less painful. Sloan had called me a two-faced lying motherfucker, and he was right. My arrogance and insensitivity had left no wiggle room and not a chance for forgiveness. How was I going to survive? Hours, days, and weeks of this overpowering ache had not faded with time. On the contrary, each day had brought fresh reminders of my loss.

Still, I wondered what today would have been like if I’d done the right thing and had included Sloan in all the decisions from the very beginning. He’d be thrilled that the boys were about to be born and a little freaked that we wouldn’t get there in time or know what to do once the nurses put them in our arms. Improbable scenarios played through my head, dreams that had died because I didn’t appreciate Sloan when I had him. My terrible choices had sheared off a piece of my heart, leaving me adrift from the only person in my life who had ever given me unconditional love and unfailing honesty.

After months of anticipation, the great event that had caused this irreparable rift was about to commence. I prayed that the timely arrival of my children would make every wrong decision right. Noriko was in premature labor at Mt. Sinai Hospital while Dad lay on his deathbed, somewhere in the same building. What irony. The man who’d orchestrated this entire chain of events wouldn’t be around long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Instead, I would be left to deal with it on my own. Already my life had begun a downward spiral, and although Mom and my sisters had run interference for me these last few months, I could no longer manage.

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