Chapter 9: SINGLE DAD

The days that followed their forceful separation were both utterly full and completely empty for Dmitri ... full of activity with a small baby but empty of life without Audrey"s love.
Being a dad is hard, but when you have to do it all by yourself, it becomes even harder for a man who has to step into the shoes of a mother as well as a father; especially when it comes to raising an infant daughter.
"Doctor Dmitri ! This is Bennett this side," the mature voice belonging to the hospital HR Head said on the other side of the phone.
Dmitri clutched the calling device between his cheek and his shoulder while he changed his princess" diaper.
"Hey hey", the baby giggled as if enjoying to trouble the single dad and getting all his attention while he was supposed to send the hospital all his credentials and documents.
"Hey Bennett ! I am sorry for the delay in sending the docs you asked. Just give me ten minutes and the required material will be sitting on your system," Dmitri hurriedly said and threw away the dirty wipe in the toilet bin like a basketball.
"No issue there," the jolly fellow on the other side chuckled. "We are already aware that we are getting one of the most respectable doctors out there. We are just honored that your kind self has agreed to travel to this side of the country. I just called to check in if you are 100% joining us. It is hard to believe that you agreed to work here," Bennett added.
"Well, honestly it is my privilege to be part of a hospital of such good repute," Dmitri replied courteously and albeit, in a relieved tone when he had successfully accomplished his mission- Clean Poopy Baby.
With his baby clean and powdered, and bundled like a small burrito in her blanket, atleast she was no longer a bio-hazard for now.
"Is there anything I can help you with as you relocate ?" Bennett asked when he heard Dmitri trying to hum something close to "Rock A By Baby" as he talked to him.
"Err, well, since you are offering .... " Dmitri hesitated.
"Rest assured, Doctor. I am," Bennett assured with a small chuckle.
"Well in that case, I want to request you for a favour. I am a single dad with an infant daughter and will be new to your city. So I need your help in finding me a kid-friendly accommodation and a good day care close to the hospital," Dmitri relayed, trying his best to stay composed so that his voice did not crack and he did not reveal how emotionally charged he had become.
He was going away from his dear Audrey !
Also, he could already anticipate a significant series of challenges ahead. Dmitri already felt overwhelmed at the pressure of feeling solely responsible for juggling personal and work-related responsibilities.
He was used to getting emergency calls at any hour of the day or night but with an infant around, he wanted to balance his unpredictable professional timings and personal life to the best of his abilities.
"In that case, don't worry, Doctor ! I will make all the adjustments for you with the help of Dr. Isabelle by tomorrow before your arrival," Bennett assured. Bennett could manage anyone and anything like a pro.
"Thank you for taking care of everything at such a small notice. I just want to warn you and hope you understand that being a single dad, I will often run into logistical challenges. I can"t be at two places at the same time and there is no one to fall back on for baby care," Dmitri replied, who was already stressed-out about being airborne with his infant daughter.
Presently, said daughter was laughing and rolling her eyes as she watched the fan above her.
As for Dmitri, he knew taking a baby on a plane was something that most parents approached with trepidation—with good reason of course.
Babies and air travel could both be unpredictable, and they didn't always mix well. And who knew it better about this ordeal than Dmitri who had covered that challenging milestone all by himself the very next day !
Dmitri surely had both his hands full and how he wished, he had two more.
* * * * *
"Welcome on board, Dr. Dmitri !" Bennett and Dr. Isabelle greeted him on his first day of joining the hospital with beaming smiles on their faces.
"Meet Dr. Isabelle, Dr Dmitri ! She is your colleague from your department and will be working with you most of the times to show you the ropes around here. She is a mother of two young kids so you can imagine that she is pretty well updated with all the kids' stuff usually. In fact, she helped me in house hunting and day care search for your baby the other," Bennett informed as he introduced Dr Isabelle.
Isabelle was a super smart, successful and well-respected doctor and looking at her one could only conclude that being cute as all hell wasn"t mutually exclusive.
She always made an effort to get to know her colleagues outside of work. She wasn"t afraid to make fun of herself—and yet, all at the same time, she took her job incredibly seriously. She never ever shied away from her theatrical and feminine sides. And everyone loved her for that.
"I'm grateful to you, Bennett and to you also, Dr. Isabelle, for all the help you have provided me to adjust here," Dmitri said with a smile after shifting to his new home in a new city with Melody.
"You're always welcome, Doctor," Isabelle replied with a wave of her hand. "I stay close by in your neighborhood with my photographer husband, Kenji and our two kids so if you ever need any help, just give a shout," she added frankly.
"Sure ! I'll need a lot of help and expert advice from you while bringing up my baby. I don"t know where does that tiny little being get so much energy from," Dmitri fondly said with a shake of his head.
However, he sadly remembered that his baby was just as bubbly as her beautiful mother. He had just escaped the threats from Audrey's parents but he couldn"t escape the loneliness he felt without her.
* * * * *
Dmitri spent his first few weeks in the new place navigating the professional world and learning about fatherhood.
But sometimes, how to make it through every day became a challenge and sometimes those challenges were unexpected that threw him into a lot of trying situations and unexpected problems, like the lack of changing-tables in the men"s bathrooms in malls, to say the least.
"How did you like it here ? Did you ever envision yourself living here, near the beach and leaving the mountains behind ?" Bennette asked a few weeks after Dmitri's relocation.
"I'm pretty sure the answer would have been no, if you would have asked me a couple of months back," Dmitri replied. "That being said, I love walking on the sands of the beach time and again whenever I can," he shrugged. "Overall, I am frankly enjoying the slower pace of life and the beauty of the monumental structures here," he added, who hardly got much leisure time for sightseeing and tried to devote all his free time with Melody.
Dmitri was usually preoccupied by the multiple course of feedings every night, unexpected 3:00 a.m. diaper changes, and bouts of fussiness in the wee hours and on top of it, in a new city with a new job, that had driven new Dad Dmitri nuts.
"I can understand your concerns. Raising children isn't easy, even for the most seasoned parents. And being a single father to an infant daughter .... " Bennett shook his head. " .... it can be particularly daunting where your own aspirations go for a toss," he added.
"But if you have got food on the table, a roof over your head, clothes on your back — I think you're really doing great. As for the aspirations and desires, there is no end to it," Dmitri replied as he had met all challenges head on as time elapsed.
"True, true," Bennett agreed. "I pe- .... "
"Well hello there, Dmitri ! How are you doing, Bennett ? Mind taking a coffee break ?" Isabelle asked after attending to the patients in the OPD.
"Sure, let's go ! It was quite hectic in the OPD today. I really need a coffee to charge up for the meeting lined up with the medical representatives in a couple of hours," Dmitri said after looking at his watch and they walked through the corridors for the cafeteria.
"Yes, I remember. Let us make it quick then. I need to take some print outs too," Isabelle replied.
They quickly made a beeline for the cafeteria counter and purchased their coffees before nestling them at a corner table.
"So what was the point of the serious discussion which was going on when I came to your cabin ?" Isabelle asked as she had overheard some words on single parenting.
"Nothing much," Bennett brushed off but when Isabelle raised a brow which said "Bull", Dmitri replied.
"We were discussing about the various challenges in single parenting," he answered.
"Oh, I know all too well that while raising a child in a two-parent household, it is not a cake walk but quite tough and raising a child solo is a whole different ball game," Isabelle said with a shudder but her eyes held admiration for her colleague.
"And on top of it, single parents get a bad rep. There is a cultural bias against single parents; an assumption that these households are less than, incomplete, and children suffer as a consequence, which is so far from the truth," Bennett scoffed.
"Quite right, Bennett !" Isabelle nodded and added with her enriched deep experiences of life and profession she was into.
"I know so many people who were raised by single parents or are orphans but are doing so good for themselves and for society in general. According to me, everything boils down to individuality as no stereotypes are justified ever," Bennett reinforced.
While they chatted away, Dmitri couldn"t help but feel lucky to be blessed with such friends and colleagues as Bennett and Isabelle, who left no chance to encourage and support him.
That is when he noticed what was written on the board of the cafeteria over the coffee machine and couldn"t help but feel that it was the sign of the universe.
"Your truest friends are the people who don't walk out the door when life gets tough. They actually pour some coffee and pull up a chair."
" .... even as both working parents, we miss our kids' first steps, their first words, and the funny faces they make when they try new food," Isabelle recalled, solacing Dmitri to never take a guilt trip for his single parenting skills.
"And this, of course, doesn't make our household incomplete. We have to run our family," Bennett supplied. "Although why don"t kids understand their nap isn't for them, but for us ?" he joked after catching Dmitri trying to suppress a yawn.
"Nowadays, seeing Melody's erratic sleeping schedule, sometimes, I really doubt myself if I'm doing my best to keep her comfortable," Dmitri tiredly said and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Dmitri, sleepless nights are a rite of passage for most new parents. Getting your baby to sleep through the night isn't a measure of your parenting skills," Isabelle replied that wagered no room for argument.
"90% of parenting is just thinking about when you can lie down again," Bennett sighed.
"Exhaustion is my middle name as I'm exhausted 24/7 since between putting in the hours at work and coming home and putting in another four to five hours, I am beat all of the time," Dmitri tried to stifle another yawn but failed to do so this time.
"Oh tell me about it," Isabelle groaned. "I've slogged through this sleep desert of the first few months of parenthood not once but twice. Only silver lining was that I had Kenji, my I do, with me to navigate through that difficult time," she added. "I don"t know how you manage to do all this by yourself but I know you are doing a darn good job ! Life just changes after having a baby. In medical college, I was the queen of the overflowing laundry basket. I had a messy room and gorged on pizza or hot pockets every night. I played too many video games and stayed up too late. I also had a penchant for coasting through responsibility," Isabelle reminisced her carefree college days.
"And now ?" Dmitri grinned.
"And now I am a mom, with a working hubby and just too, sorry two noisy kids. I had to clean up my act pretty quickly and act like a responsible adult," Isabelle replied, making the other two men laugh.
"Good for you. Change is the only constant in the life of parents," Bennett winked.
"Sometimes, I do wonder if evolution really works. How come moms only have two hands ?" Isabelle jokingly said while Bennett grinned behind his coffee cup.
Dmitri glanced at his watch and was startled at how quickly time went by when sitting with friends.
"Alright guys. Let us wind up and get going. There is a difficult and long surgery scheduled for noon today," Dmitri reminded as they all left the cafeteria for their respective work.
* * * * *