Read When Solomon Sings Online
Authors: Kendra Norman-Bellamy
When Solomon Sings (17 page)
SIXTEEN
Shaylynn thought she was dreaming when her cell phone stirred her at a godforsaken hour of the early morning. She pulled her covers tighter around her neck, and while her mind wrapped itself around reality, her eyes slowly opened and were greeted by total darkness. Shaylynn typically went to bed with her television on, but the automatic shut-off timer on it was set for 2:00
A.M.
, so even the light that the TV would have provided was nowhere to be found. Sitting up in the bed, she fumbled for the lamp. By the time she found the switch and turned on the light, her cell had gone silent. Shaylynn reached to retrieve it from the shelf over her headboard, but just as her hand could make contact, the telephone on her nightstand began ringing. This had to be something serious. She answered without bothering to look at the caller ID.
A.M.
, so even the light that the TV would have provided was nowhere to be found. Sitting up in the bed, she fumbled for the lamp. By the time she found the switch and turned on the light, her cell had gone silent. Shaylynn reached to retrieve it from the shelf over her headboard, but just as her hand could make contact, the telephone on her nightstand began ringing. This had to be something serious. She answered without bothering to look at the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Shay ... Sweetheart, I'm so sorry to wake you at this hour, butâ”
“Solomon?” Shaylynn looked at the illuminated numbers on her clock, and her mind immediately began imagining the worst. Had something happened to Deacon Burgess? Neil had been keeping her abreast of his steady decline. Or maybe it was Neil's mom. Ella was an aging woman with limited mobility, living in a home all by herself. That was a recipe for disaster. Any number of things could go wrong at a moment's notice. “Oh my God.” Shaylynn breathed hard into the phone. “What's wrong, Solomon? What's wrong?”
“Calm down, suga. Everything is okay.” He sounded like he was telling the truth, but maybe he was just trying to keep her from getting more upset.
“It's four-thirteen in the morning,” Shaylynn pointed out. “Everything can't be fine. Where are you?”
“I'm on my way to DeKalb Medical, becauseâ”
“Oh my God!” Shaylynn jumped out of her bed and began searching through her dresser drawers for the first halfway decent outfit that she could find and put on.
“Shay, Shay, please,” Neil said. “I need you to calm down, baby.”
All the heavy breathing was beginning to make Shaylynn lightheaded. She had always been a worrywart. That's what her grandmother used to call her. Life had handed her an abundance of reasons to be that way, so it didn't come without warrant. Shaylynn held on to the corner of her dresser and braced herself for whatever. “Tell me what's wrong. What's the matter? Why do you need hospital care?”
“I don't need hospital care. I'm telling you the truth, suga. Everything is fine. I'm on the way to the hospital to meet up with CJ. Theresa's in labor, that's all.”
Shaylynn eased into a seated position on the edge of her bed. “Labor? What? No. She can't be. The baby shower is Saturday. She's not due until February eighth. That's two weeks away.”
“Well,
I
know that, and
you
know that, but apparently the baby hadn't learned to read calendars yet.” Neil laughed, and the sound of it calmed Shaylynn. He wouldn't be laughing if both mother and baby weren't okay. She remained quiet while Neil gave her the rest of the report. “CJ said that Theresa woke up around two this morning, having contractions. When he took her to the hospital to get checked, they kept her once it was determined that she was in active labor. He says she wants to have a natural labor with no meds, but the pains are getting stronger, and they're coming more frequently now. CJ doesn't think she's going to be able to go all the way without getting something for the pain.”
I
know that, and
you
know that, but apparently the baby hadn't learned to read calendars yet.” Neil laughed, and the sound of it calmed Shaylynn. He wouldn't be laughing if both mother and baby weren't okay. She remained quiet while Neil gave her the rest of the report. “CJ said that Theresa woke up around two this morning, having contractions. When he took her to the hospital to get checked, they kept her once it was determined that she was in active labor. He says she wants to have a natural labor with no meds, but the pains are getting stronger, and they're coming more frequently now. CJ doesn't think she's going to be able to go all the way without getting something for the pain.”
As she listened to Neil, Shaylynn's mind traveled back to an early morning, eight years ago, when she was housed on the labor and delivery floor at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, with her doctor at the foot of the bed, telling her to push, and Alice Jessup standing on the side, holding her hand and telling her that everything was going to be okay. That moment to which Shaylynn had looked forward for so long had turned out to be the absolute worst experience of her life. The labor was extensive and hard, but none of that had anything to do with her misery. She would have welcomed a delivery that was twice as long and three times as painful if it had come with Emmett being by her side.
“CJ sounded like he was on the verge of a meltdown when I spoke with him earlier.” Neil laughed again, snapping Shaylynn from her travel back in time. “I know there's not a whole lot I can do, but I figured being there might help a little bit.”
Aside from Ella, Theresa was the closest female connection Shaylynn had. She wished she could put on some clothes and be at the hospital for some kind of moral support too, but she couldn't. “If it weren't so late, and if Chase weren't asleep, I'd come and join you,” she told Neil.
“I was just about to ask if you want me to swing by and get you. I'm not that far away. I can turn around and pick you guys up. Chase can continue his sleep in the hospital's waiting room.”
Shaylynn was surprised by Neil's suggestion. It was impossible. “Chase has school tomorrow ... well, in just a few hours, actually. He can't lie around at a hospital all night and be properly prepared for school.”
“Missing one day won't hurt him. It's Friday, and KBA has a standard policy not to assign homework on a Friday. He wouldn't miss anything major.”
Shaylynn had never kept Chase out of school for any reason other than illness. “Thanks, but I don't think I want to do that.” She wiped crust from her eyes. “What about you? Are you missing work tomorrow?”
“I will if I have to, but I don't think it'll come to that. I might run a little late, but Theresa has already been in labor for a couple of hours. I have a change of clothes here in my truck. If necessary, I'll get dressed at the hospital and head straight to work. I'm thinking that she will have given birth in plenty of time for me to be punctual.”
Shaylynn shook her head. He was talking just like a man who'd had no children. She was in labor for nine hours with Chase, and without Emmett there with her, it felt more like nineteen. She had done it without meds, and although there was some pain, it was no match for the anguish of burying her husband just a few weeks earlier. Losing Emmett must have served as some strange sort of epidural. Shaylynn was still hurting so much from his death that giving birth paled in comparison. Putting away a 180-pound man was a lot more excruciating than pushing out an eight-pound boy.
Admittedly, nine hours was a long time to deal with the multiple physical traumas of childbirth, but by far, it was no record-setting feat. Shaylynn knew women who had attested to suffering through twenty hours or more before all was said and done. Theresa could fall anywhere in between, but Shaylynn didn't want to dash Neil's hopes, so she didn't tell him that. Instead, she said, “I'm sorry I'm gonna miss all the excitement, but will you at least keep me updated?”
“Of course,” Neil replied. “And maybe we can talk more about the new baby over dinner tonight?”
Shaylynn grinned at the way he had posed his invitation. “I'd like that.”
“Good. When I call you with an update on Theresa, we can set up a time and place.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Okay. Go ahead and try to get some more sleep before you have to get up to take Chase to school. I won't call and disturb you between now and then unless I have a birth announcement to make. I'll talk to you later.”
“Okay.”
“I love you,” he concluded.
“I love you too.” Shaylynn couldn't stop smiling. She hung up the phone, turned out the light, and nestled back into her comfortable space, but slumber escaped her. Going right to sleep after talking to Neil was next to impossible. There was just something about his voice that awakened her in more ways than one. If he didn't soon ask for her hand in marriage, she was going to get down on one knee and ask for his. Shaylynn giggled as she mulled over her own random thought. Wouldn't that be a proposal to remember? Well, unless he rejected it; then it would be a proposal to forget.
Shaylynn turned from her side to her back and stared up at nothing. It was too dark to see the ceiling, but she knew it was there. Neil had changed her over the last year, and all the changes had been for the better. She still loved Emmett; no doubt about it. There was absolutely nothing anyone could say or do to change that. But even though Shaylynn's love for her former husband remained as steady and sturdy as ever, her thoughts weren't consumed with him like they used to be before Neil came into her life.
When she thought about Emmett now, it was mostly when she was out of Neil's presence. Whenever Neil was physically around and looked at her with those captivating brown eyes of his, Shaylynn could barely think of anything else. Sometimes she felt guilty about that. She'd vowed to never forget Emmett, and because of that she sometimes brought up his name just to keep herself reminded. Even with Neil there, she didn't want her memories of Emmett to fade, not even whenever ...
if
ever ... she and Neil got married.
if
ever ... she and Neil got married.
“Mrs. Shaylynn Ford-Taylor.” She said it aloud and sat up in the bed to get a clearer sense of how it sounded. It was okay, but mixing the two men's last names just didn't seem like the right thing to do. “Mrs. Shaylynn McKinley-Taylor.” That wouldn't work either. Emmett and Neil deserved their own space. That was why meshing Ford and Taylor together didn't seem to give either one of them proper justice. But Johnny McKinley ... well, no part of his name deserved to follow Shaylynn's first or precede Neil's last. One of the earliest perks of marrying Emmett was the ability to finally rid herself of the last name she'd carried for nineteen years. It was about the only thing in life that her father had ever given her, and even that was worthless. It would make no sense for her to go back and pick it up again just for the sake of having a hyphenated last name. “Mrs. Shaylynn Brooke Taylor.” There was a time when Shaylynn was ashamed of the middle name that her grandmother had chosen. Not that she didn't like Brooke. She did, but children at her ghetto elementary school used to laugh at it, labeling it as a “white girl's name,” and the heartless teasing managed to strip Shaylynn of what little self-confidence she still had at that age. Now that she'd grown beyond fretting over what people thought of her, maybe she'd pick it back up.
“Shaylynn Brooke Taylor.” As the name rolled off her tongue, Shaylynn lay back down, satisfied with her choice and hopeful that one day soon she'd have the chance to use it. She was almost sure that Neil wanted to make her his wife, but the more time that passed without him making
the
, doubt was beginning to creep in.
the
, doubt was beginning to creep in.
Comfortably under her covers once again, Shaylynn picked up the remote control from her nightstand. Old habits die hard. If there was any hope that she'd get back to sleep before having to get up for good and get her day started, she'd need the help of her television. But as it turned out, Shaylynn must have been sleepier than she realized. One of her favorite romantic dramas,
P.S. I Love You
, starring Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler, had barely gotten past its opening credits before Shaylynn was back in an unconscious state. Her eyes didn't open again until her alarm clock reminded her that she had a son who needed to get prepared for a day of learning.
P.S. I Love You
, starring Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler, had barely gotten past its opening credits before Shaylynn was back in an unconscious state. Her eyes didn't open again until her alarm clock reminded her that she had a son who needed to get prepared for a day of learning.
Getting Chase off to school was never a chore. During the week, he was in bed by nine, which gave him about ten hours to get all the sleep he needed. Kingdom Builders' strict uniform policy simplified the decision-making process of what he would wear each day, and with the school being less than six miles from her home, Shaylynn didn't have to be overly concerned with the woes of Atlanta's morning rush-hour traffic. On average, driving from their home to his school each day took fifteen minutes max. Today, it only took ten.
“Well, kind sir, we have arrived at your destination.” Shaylynn teased Chase with her chauffeur voice when she brought the car to a stop in front of the main entrance doors. When her son first began attending Kingdom Builders as a six-year-old, Shaylynn would park in the visitor's parking lot and walk him all the way to his classroom, holding his hand the entire time. She missed those days. Chase didn't want her to walk him inside now that he was eight. For Shaylynn, her little boy was growing up too fast. “Have a good day,” she told him. “I'll be by to pick you up at the regular time.” She cringed to think that the day might soon come when he would be asking to ride the bus, and she wouldn't even have this experience to hold on to.
“Thanks.” Chase smiled over at her as he grabbed his backpack and opened his door. “See you later.”
“Okay. I love you.” At least he hadn't asked her to stop saying that every time she dropped him off. And even if he did, she wouldn't.
“I love you too, Mama.”
Shaylynn watched him until he was inside the building, and then she began driving away. Neil hadn't called her since the wee hours of the morning, so it was safe to assume that Theresa still hadn't delivered. Shaylynn had designs that she needed to be working on today, but if she didn't make time now to go and check on her friend, she was sure that work would bog her down so much that breaking away later would be out of the question. Plus, she wanted to see Neil.
The drive to DeKalb Medical took nearly an hour. Had Shaylynn not been competing with the traffic that was synonymous with Atlanta's morning commute, and had she not stopped by Chick-fil-A for two breakfast chicken biscuits and tea, she could have made it in half the time. Before getting out of the car, she checked her reflection in her rearview mirror. When she initially left home, her only intent was to take Chase to school; therefore, Shaylynn hadn't bothered to put on any makeup. Today was a day to be especially grateful for virtually flawless skin. She fluffed out her braids, and then used her fingers as a wide-tooth comb to tame them to her satisfaction. Thankfully, she had her coat; otherwise, the black short-sleeved T-shirt that she paired with her blue jeans would have left her unarmed against the cold temperatures.
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