Page 32 of Pieces into Place (Moonflower Cove Romance #16)

Isla

A n April shower was in full force as Isla sat on the front porch swing, watching the rain fall.

She had a blanket wrapped around her body along with the same sweatpants and sweatshirt she’d been in all day.

Although the weather had warmed up slightly, the temperature was still barely out of the forties.

If it was much colder, the steady rain could have easily turned into snow.

The dreary day had done little to help Isla’s worried mind.

She’d had Blake on her mind often recently, but it had been more so in the last few days.

Blake was thirty-eight weeks along now, which meant, in theory, the baby could be born at any time.

Isla knew that first-time moms could go past their due date, but the uncertainty of it all had Isla on edge.

In fact, she couldn’t remember being as nervous as she currently was about any of her pregnancies. Or even Vera’s.

There was just something in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t shake.

It didn’t matter that she had seen Blake earlier in the day and she had seemed perfectly fine.

Nor did it matter that Avery had told Blake only two days before that everything was looking great for her and the baby.

Still, Isla couldn’t shake the motherly instinct that something was going on with her baby girl .

Vera had told her she was being overprotective, but how could she not be? Blake was her baby girl, her firstborn. The one who made her a mom. Isla hoped and prayed that everything would go smoothly for Blake and the baby. And that her nerves would be calm enough by the birth.

Isla had been over the moon when Blake asked her and Vera to be in the delivery room.

She’d wanted to ask for so long but had respected any boundary Blake had about that.

Thankfully, Blake had made the decision on her own and Isla couldn’t be happier.

And even though she knew Vera might have a hard time not stepping into doctor mode, she was glad her wife was going to be in the room, too.

Now Isla just had to hold it together until then.

Taking the last sip of her Diet Coke, Isla set the can on the window frame as she put the swing into motion again.

She tucked her arms under the blanket, pulling it tighter around her shoulders as she tried to focus on calming her nerves.

The front door creeped open and, even with her eyes closed, Isla knew it was Vera.

Her wife had been periodically checking on her all day. Not that Isla expected anything less.

Vera knew her better than anyone. She’d been with Isla through her darkest nights and her brightest days.

She was always there to pick Isla up or to help carry the burdens when life got too hard.

They were each other’s rocks, and Isla had found herself leaning more into Vera the last few weeks than usual.

Isla needed that comforting reminder from her wife that things were going to be okay.

That the thoughts she was feeling were valid, but they didn’t need to consume her.

Opening her eyes, Isla took in the sight of Vera standing a few feet away.

She had her arms crossed loosely over her chest. Yoga pants and a Taylor Memorial Hospital long-sleeve tee had been her attire all day.

Her hair was messily pulled back into a ponytail, with more strands finding their way out of the hair tie than not .

“I don’t think you were this nervous before you had Evie.”

“She was my third. This is Blake’s first.”

Scooting over on the swing, Isla made room for Vera to sit. She put her head onto Vera’s shoulder as Vera put her hand on Isla’s knee. Gently setting the swing back into motion, Isla sighed.

“I just can’t shake it.”

“Feeling like something is wrong?”

“Yeah.”

“Honey,” Vera squeezed her knee, “Blake is fine. The baby is fine. We just saw her earlier and things are going well.”

“I know.”

“But?”

“But,” Isla sighed again, “I can’t shake my motherly intuition.”

“I’m not doubting you. I’ve seen that intuition be right way more than it’s been wrong.”

“I just wish you were her doctor.” Another sigh. “I know they’re different, but this has been so different than when Mason was pregnant. We knew everything . And you were her doctor, so, yes, I felt more at ease than I do with Avery being Blake’s doctor.”

“Avery is a great doctor.”

“Not as great as you.”

“Well, few are,” Vera chuckled. “But if it makes you feel any better, I did put in a favor that I’m mildly embarrassed to admit.”

“What did you do?”

Isla perked up, looking at Vera as she waited for her to continue. Nervously laughing, Vera covered her face with her hands.

“I asked Mel to be Blake’s nurse. I asked her to trade shifts or pick up shifts whenever Blake went into labor so she could be there. Because I know we trust her more than any other doctor.”

“See, I knew you were nervous too,” Isla laughed, feeling relieved she wasn’t the only one overthinking everything. “What did Mel say?”

“You know Mel. We’re her family. She’ll always have our backs.”

“Mel’s the best.”

“I think Cameron would wholeheartedly agree.”

Both Melanie and Cameron had been part of their family for years. They were all best friends, and Isla was glad to know that Melanie would hopefully be Blake’s nurse. Because Vera was right. Isla did trust Melanie more than Avery.

Isla couldn’t explain it. She liked Avery. When she first met her a few years ago, Isla had seen a lot of Vera in the young doctor. Avery was full of determination and drive and had been a great fit for the practice. At least from Isla’s perspective and from what she’d heard from Vera and Melanie.

But Avery had never delivered a Mackenzie baby before.

Or, well, a Holland baby. But either way, it would be the first time that Isla had to personally trust another doctor to take care of her babies as they had babies.

And she had never been good at giving up control like that.

However, if Vera could do it, Isla could do it.

Right?

She didn’t know, but Isla knew she had to try. For the sake of her sanity, at least.

“I know this is a stressful time for you. For all of us.” Vera put her arm around Isla’s shoulder as she pulled her into a side hug. “But sitting here constantly stressing about it isn’t going to help you either. Nor is it going to help Blake.”

“I know,” Isla sighed yet again. “You’re right. ”

“Oh, I know I am,” Vera smirked, driving Isla wild. “Why don’t we go out for dinner tonight? You, me, and Evie. We haven’t done that in a while, and I think it would do us all some good.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Perfect. It’s a date. I’m going to change.”

Kissing Isla’s cheek, Vera headed back inside.

Isla waited a beat before following her inside.

They changed into slightly less casual attire before piling into the Jeep and heading for the Pizza Parlour.

The restaurant held so many memories for Isla with Blake.

It was one of the first places Blake ever went to eat with them.

And it was the first time Isla really saw the chemistry between Blake and Alexis, even if both of them had been trying to fight it.

Just like Vera had said, the dinner had worked as a distraction for Isla. She loved getting to spend quality time with Vera and Everleigh as they ate and chatted about everything from school to work to how Everleigh wanted to repaint her room.

“We just repainted it a few years ago.”

“Yeah, but sage is so out and cerulean is in.” Everleigh rolled her eyes. “I think we could accomplish it in a weekend if we all set our minds to it.”

Isla nearly shot Diet Coke out of her nose as she laughed at how Everleigh sounded exactly like Vera. Vera, however, seemed less amused as she rolled her eyes back at Everleigh.

“How about we table this until after Blake has her baby?”

Everleigh dramatically sighed. “Well, that shouldn’t be too much longer. I don’t know how she could get any bigger.”

“Everleigh Claire,” Vera scolded through a laugh, “we don’t talk like that about family.”

“Only non-family,” Everleigh and Isla said in unison as they both laughed, to the annoyance of Vera .

“You are useless,” her wife scolded as Isla high-fived Everleigh across the table.

Isla was beyond thankful for the distraction that dinner and time with two of her favorite people provided.

By the time they arrived home hours later, Isla and Everleigh plopped down on the couch to play a video game together while Vera read a book on the recliner.

It was a relaxing night, aside from the trash talking she and Everleigh had going on, until Willow alerted to a high blood sugar.

It wasn’t a few seconds before all their phones went off at the same time.

Pausing the game, Isla put a hand on Everleigh’s shoulder as Vera handed Everleigh her bag of testing supplies.

Although they had been dealing with Everleigh’s type 1 diabetes since she was six months old, Isla still hated that her child had to go through it.

A part of her still blamed herself for it.

After all, she’d been the one to carry Everleigh and birth her.

She knew Vera felt the same way, blaming herself since they had used her egg.

It didn’t matter that they both logically knew they weren’t to blame.

They would both take it away from Everleigh in a heartbeat if they could.

“210,” Everleigh stated with little emotion. She lifted her hoodie, ripping off the device that had been on her lower abdomen. “I knew that site wasn’t going to work.”

“I’ll get the insulin.”