CHAPTER 3 — The Father Who Shouldn’t Be Here
CHAPTER 3 — The Father Who Shouldn’t Be Here
Hours blurred together.
Time stopped meaning anything except pain and breath and fragments of voices.
“Push, Chloe—when I tell you.”
“Baby’s heart rate is stable.”
“Almost there.”
Ethan’s voice cut through the chaos more than anyone else’s.
Not as my ex-husband.
As my doctor.
But the difference between those two roles was collapsing by the second.
At one point, during a brief break between contractions, I opened my eyes and found him still watching me.
Not the monitors.
Not the charts.
Me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“I am here because you’re my patient.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Don’t lie to me in a delivery room.”
That hit him.
Something flickered in his eyes—guilt, maybe regret.
Before he could answer, another nurse rushed in.
“Doctor Chen—we have an issue.”
Ethan immediately turned.
“What kind of issue?”
She lowered her voice.
“The baby is showing signs of distress.”
My world tilted.
“No,” I whispered. “No, no—”
Ethan was already moving.
“Change position. Get oxygen. Increase monitoring. Now.”
The room erupted again.
Machines beeped faster.
Someone adjusted my IV.
Hands pressed my shoulders.
But all I could see was Ethan’s face.
Focused.
Controlled.
And terrified.
Not of losing a case.
But of losing something personal.
“Chloe,” he said firmly, leaning close. “You need to push when I say. Can you do that?”
I nodded weakly.
Another contraction hit.
This time, I pushed with everything I had.
Pain tore through me like fire through paper.
“Again,” he said.
I screamed and pushed again.
The world narrowed to white light and pressure and soundless panic.
Then—
A cry.
Small.
Sharp.
Alive.
The room broke open with noise—relief, movement, emotion.
“It’s a boy!” Linda announced.
My body collapsed back into the bed.
Tears came without permission.
But Ethan didn’t move toward the baby immediately.
He stayed beside me.
Watching my face.
Like he was afraid I would disappear.
“You did it,” he said quietly.
I turned my head.
“So did you, Doctor.”
A pause.
Then, softer:
“Chloe… I need to tell you something about that file.”
My stomach tightened again.
Not from labor.
From fear.
“What now?”
He hesitated.
Then finally—
“That ‘risk condition’… it doesn’t just affect childbirth.”
My breath caught.
“It can be inherited.”
Silence.
Then I whispered the only question that mattered.
“Are you saying my baby—”
Ethan shook his head quickly.
“No. I’m saying… we need genetic confirmation.”
May you like
But I saw it in his face before he finished speaking.
This wasn’t just about me anymore.
