Against the Odds

19

Ben sat at the kitchen table studying medicine. He wanted to be good and caught up to date. He was taking his MCATs in a month and he was nervous, to say the least. It had been years since he graduated college and learned everything. He was praying that he would score in the five hundreds.

"Hey, ladybug, what are you doing still up?" Ben asked, finding Mia standing in the doorway with a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

"I was waiting for Mom to get home," Mia replied, her voice filled with sadness.

Ben sighed, waving her over. He picked her up and she sat on his lap. "Sweetheart, Mom won't be home for probably another hour. It's late, and you need to go to bed so you're not tired in the morning."

Mia's eyes widened, "But Daddy, please! I want to wait for Mommy. I just want to tell her about my ballet solo."

"You got a solo, good job. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just--"

"You wanted to tell Mommy first?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Do you think Mom is coming to my recital on Saturday?"

"Did you ask her to?"

"She has the paper of all the dates."

"So I'm sure she will be there then."

Ben smiled, "How about this? We make ice cream sundaes while we wait."
"Really?" Mia's face lit up. "Ice cream sundaes?"

"Yep, just you and me." He nodded.

"Okay, Daddy! " She grinned.

Ben sat at the counter as they ate their ice cream. He listened to his daughter talk about a boy and he nearly choked. He had a sneaky suspicion that this was what his daughter wanted to talk to Miranda about also. Valentine's Day was tomorrow and someone named Tyler asked her to be his Valentine. Eventually, Mia fell asleep and he put her back in bed. He cleaned up their mess and went to bed himself.

The next morning, Ben rolled over and glanced toward Miranda's spot, finding the bed empty as usual. He got up, making his way downstairs for a cup of coffee. On the kitchen counter, there were two separate bags of Valentine's Day candy. Beside them, a list displayed the names of Mia's classmates and the kids in BJ's daycare, each name checked off. Smiling to himself, Ben noticed a small clear bag with a toy car and candy. He picked it up and read the tag, "Tyler, You're WHEELIE cool!"

Of course, his wife knew about him already and she didn't say anything. Probably figured he would blow it out of proportion, but he was her dad and it was his job to blow it out of proportion. She was only 7 years old.

Ben got everyone to their respective destinations before going to work himself. He had been disappointed that his wife didn't call or text him. He was glad that she got the kids' Valentine's Day gifts though. He noticed those on their nightstands when he went to wake them up this morning. He had a huge bouquet of red long-stem roses being delivered to her job. Ben knew she hated stuff like that because then people would be in her business, but he was a romantic at heart and couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Richard stood at the front desk, engaged in a heated discussion with Adele about getting off on time today and why he shouldn't have gone to work in the first place on their anniversary. He looked over as a delivery man was looking for Miranda.

"Those are for Dr. Bailey from Benjamin Warren, correct?" He asked the young guy.

"Yes, sir." The delivery man confirmed after a quick glance at his clipboard.

"I'm her boss; I'll take them to her," Richard asserted.

"Ok. Can you sign right here?"

Richard signed the delivery receipt, thanked the man, and ended the call with Adele.  He took the elevator up the OR floor and just as luck would have it he saw Miranda walking out of OR.