Read Online Dr. Dad by Judith Arnold - Free Book Online Page A

troubled him about his daughter. “I haven’t got a wife to help her through this,” he said, trying not to sound bitter about that miserable fact. He didn’t want sympathy; he was just stating the truth.
    â€œI know, Toby.” Allison gave his arm a gentle pat.
    â€œMaybe that makes it harder for you. It’s possible she’d be behaving just as badly with a mother as she is with you, but if you had a wife for moral support, it would help.”
    â€œWell.” He shrugged and forced a smile. “I guess I’ll have to do without moral support, then. Unless you’ve got some to spare,” he added hopefully.
    She smiled. “As a matter of fact, I might. Why don’t you try the Daddy School?”
    â€œThe what?”
    â€œThe Daddy School. It’s a program my friend Molly Saunders-Russo and I started two years ago. We give classes on parenting designed just for fathers. I work with expectant fathers and fathers of newborns. Molly offers classes to fathers of older kids. You’d probably find it useful.”
    He probably would. It certainly couldn’t hurt. “When do these classes meet?” he asked, acknowledging that taking them could hurt his already overburdened schedule.
    â€œI think Molly has a couple of evening sessions for fathers of older children. I’m not sure when she holds them, but I can give you her number and you can call her yourself.” Allison gestured for him to follow her to the nurses’ station in the neonatal department. Once there, she grabbed a notepad with a pharmaceutical company’s logo printed on it and jotted down her friend’s name, along with a phone number. “This is the number of the preschool she operates, so don’t panic when you call and hear lots of screaming toddlers in the background. It’s really a top-notch preschool. Molly knows her stuff.”
    â€œAbout preschoolers,” he said dubiously.
    â€œAnd older children, too.”
    â€œDoes she have any kids of her own?” he asked, still skeptical. Who could possibly understand what he was going through, other than someone who’d gone through the same thing?
    â€œA three-and-a-half-year-old stepson and a baby on the way,” Allison said with a smile. “I know—you think that means she’s no expert. But I’ll tell you, herstepson was quite a handful when he came into her life. His parents were divorced and he had some serious issues to work through. He was smack in the middle of the Terrible Twos, which is the same thing as adolescence except that the kid is shorter. Molly fell in love with Michael before she even fell in love with his father. She knows how to handle the tough cases. Trust me—you’re in good hands with her. And really, what have you got to lose?”
    Nothing, he thought. His daughter was already half lost to him. He was clinging hard to the other half, but he felt her slipping like sand through his fingers.
    He’d already lost his wife. He couldn’t bear to lose his daughter, too.
    â€œI’ll call this friend of yours,” he said, taking the slip of paper and tucking it into his shirt pocket. “Thanks.”
    Allison scrutinized him for a moment, then impulsively reached out and hugged him. “You know, when I meet women about to give birth, they’re usually frightened. They think their baby is going to come out wrong, or labor is going to hurt too much, or they’re not going to be able to deliver for some reason. And I tell them, many, many millions of women have gone through this before they did, and it almost always turned out all right. Now I’m telling you the same thing, Toby. Millions of parents have gone through what you’re going through, and most of the time it’s turned out all right. Especially when the parent loves his child as much as you love yours.”
    In spite of himself, he smiled. “When did you become a