San Diego - love comes in many forms by AJ Harmon

Author:AJ Harmon [Harmon, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC's Legacy, LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

12.

WILLIAM WAS WAITING TO be seated in the restaurant. He’d spent over an hour responding to emails and checking on patients’ test results through the hospital’s software portal and subsequently stood behind one other couple waiting to have breakfast.

He watched them…studied them. They looked tired, but under the circumstances it didn’t come as a surprise. The man held a car seat in his right hand and the baby it held was sound asleep and didn’t look more than a few days old. He inwardly smiled. No, they’re not getting much sleep.

William didn’t have children of his own, but he did have patients, lots and lots of patients, many of them mothers with young families. It was always tougher on him to treat mothers. Memories of his own mother often surfaced and when his patients brought their children with them to visits it regularly broke his heart, especially when he knew the prognosis was bleak.

The woman who stood before him now had a glow about her, her face radiating pure joy, even through the dark bags under her eyes. Her eyes sparkled, her lips curled into a seemingly permanent smile as she gazed at the sleeping baby safely belted into the carrier.

William allowed himself a tiny moment of wonder…what if? What if he’d married? What if he’d told Erica how he felt all those years ago? But there were too many ‘what ifs’ and he halted the train of thought before he got carried away. He wasn’t old, not by any standard. He could certainly have children if he wanted to. Did he want to? He’d never let himself ask the question. It had never been in the realm of possibility. Was it now? Of course it wasn’t!

The hostess sincerely apologized for the wait and offered to seat both the couple in front of him and him, so they all followed her down the two steps and into the elegantly furnished restaurant. She sat the couple with the baby first…at a table against a large wooden divider that held lush green plants. She took William just a couple of tables away and seated him at a table for two and left him with a menu. He didn’t look at it, however. His attention was still on the couple with the baby. The baby was moving. William could just see the corner of the blanket moving and the woman reached for it and within a few seconds was cradling the infant in her arms, rocking side to side. The man, William assumed it was her husband, watched her with eyes that were full of love and focus. As the baby quieted, the woman held it to her breast, close to her heart and sipped on the coffee that had just been poured. With the arrival of the waitress at his table, he left the young family to themselves and asked for a copy of the Wall Street Journal with his breakfast.

*****

“I’m gonna need lots of coffee,” Annie laughed as the waitress poured her cup.

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