You're Special (Undiscovered Wattys 2014 Runner Up)

Chapter 1

"Mummy!" My baby boy Jamie whispered into my ears, pushing my shoulder, effectively removing all hopes of sleeping in.

I opened my eyes, and saw my four-year-old standing at the edge of my bed, one hand clutching his elephant soft toy and the other his stomach. He looked to be in pain.

I opened my arms and he snuggled into my chest. I checked the digital alarm clock on the bedside table. 6:35 a.m.

"What's wrong, baby?" Jamie was not an early riser. So for him to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, in pain, had to be serious.

"Tummy," he mumbled into my shoulder.

I pulled him into me with one hand, the other reaching out for my cell phone. I had our doctor on speed dial.

Dr. Michael Davies had been our family pediatrician for nearly 40 years. If there was any doctor I could call at this ungodly hour on a Sunday morning, it was him.

"You have reached Dr. Davies. I am currently out of town. My nephew Dr. Kingsley will be taking over all check ups. Please check with the receptionist at my chamber for an appointment."

Cutting the call, I sighed. I can't call the chamber till before 9.

I hugged Jamie, holding him to my chest, while I gently patted his back. He snuggled closer to my neck and made soft whimpering sounds.

"It's okay honey. We'll go to the doctor today." He didn't say anything. "Did you do the boom boom?" He shook his head. "Maybe that's why your tummy is hurting. Come, I'll make you some milk and then you go to the potty, okay?" 

He nodded and wrapped his hands around my neck. He did this whenever he wanted me to carry him. Holding onto him, I carefully got up from the bed and made my way down the stairs. I made him sit on the kitchen island, grabbed the milk from the fridge and started heating it. I poured it into his Angry Birds sipper and handed it to him. 

"Honey, do you mind if Mummy goes to the washroom for two minutes?" He shook his head, engrossed in his milk and elephant toy. "Sit here, don't fall down, okay?" 

With a kiss on his hair, I went to do my bussiness. I was completing college when I found out I was pregnant with Jamie. His father, two years my senior, had just enlisted in the Army. Our marraige was a quick ceremony in the chapel before he left for Afghanistan. He came back home in the third trimester of my pregnancy. He was there with us till two weeks after Jamie's birth, before duty took him away. That was the last time we ever saw him. They could not even recover his body.

Jamie was named after Major James Taylor. His father, my husband. As an Army Official's widow, I had no shortage of money. But I chose to earn myself. So here I was, 26 years old, living in New Jersey as a Kindergarten teacher. All the money James left went to Jamie's college fund. 

9:30 a.m. I was the first one to enter the pediatrician's chamber. Jamie sat in my lap, head buried in the crook of my neck. He had fallen asleep on the car ride here, and was now sucking on his thumb. He was still wearing his Angry Birds pjs - seriously, that kid was obsessed with Angry Birds. 

The receptionist's phone rang, and she ushered us into the examination room. I gently nudged Jamie awake. He decided to be stubborn and refused to open his eyes. 

I made him sit on the examination table, but he just leaned into me, his hands clenching my blouse tightly. "Come on honey. Wake up." I was still trying to get Jamie to leave my shirt when I heard the sound of the door opening and closing again. 

"Selene?" I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see a familiar pair of caramel eyes boring into mine. "Selene Taylor, It's been a long time."

"Aaron Kingsley," I whispered. Next thing I know, I was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. I hugged him back. I hadn't seen him since James' funeral. 

Aaron Kingsley, Dr. Davies' nephew, had been James' best friend in high school. We had practically grown up together. Pulling back, I gave him a once-over. Same mop of dark brown hair, those glinting caramel eyes, a six-pack visible even through the dress shirt. He looked so much like James, it was uncanny. 

"You haven't changed much, Aaron," I told him. He laughed. 

"Oh, but you have Selene. Motherhood has made you old. Is that a grey hair I see?" he said, pulling at my hair. I slapped his hand away and punched his arm playfully. We both laughed this time. I hugged him once again. 

"I missed you Aaron," I whispered into his neck. "Me too, Selene. Me too." He said into my hair. 

A small whimper brought us back to reality. Jamie had fallen asleep on the examination table still sucking his thumb. He was whimpering in his sleep because of the pain in his stomach. 

"So this is Jamie Taylor." Aaron commented, gently waking him up. And he did wake up. That little... 

"Hey bud! I'm Dr. Kingsley," he said to Jamie. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Tummy," Jamie mumbled, pointing at it. 

"He woke me up this morning with a stomach ache. I gave him milk, tried to get him to poop, but the pain didn't go." 

"What time did he wake you up?" he asked me, while pressing Jamie's stomach gently. 

"Around 6:30." He nodded. 

"I think its a stomache worm. I'll write down a medicine. Give him half a spoon of the syrup twice today on an empty stomache. He'll be fine by tomorrow." He said, getting up. 

There was a knock on the door and his receptionist entered the room. With her was a little girl, around three-years-old. She had the same hair, eyes, nose as Aaron. She held the lady's index finger with two of her fingers. With her hand, she kept making a fist and opening it again. She was looking somewhere to her right, but when her eyes landed on Aaron, she squeeled something that sounded like "Da-da" and ran to him. 

"I'm sorry Doctor," the receptionist said. "She was looking for you." 

"It's okay, Alicia." Aaron said, picking the baby up. The little girl was now clenching both her hands tight, holding onto Aaron's hair. "I've got her." 

Alicia the receptionist left, and Aaron turned to me. "Selene, meet my daughter, Zoe." 

"Hi Zoe!" I told her, using my baby voice. Zoe turned away from, her face buried into her father's hair. 

"Can I hold her?" I asked Aaron. I've always wanted a daughter. I love Jamie, but sometimes I wish for a baby girl whom I could dress up and play house with. 

Aaron looked hesitant. "It's okay," I told him. "She's so sweet and pretty. How come I never knew you had a daughter?" I've met his parents and the Davies many times over the last few years. Never once did any of them mention that Aaron was a father. 

"They are not exactly...happy about telling anyone about her," he said. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. He bit his lip before he spoke. "You see, one year ago, when Zoe was two, we found out she is autistic."

I kept my expression blank. "Aaron Kingsley, you and I have a lot of catching up to do."