by Fields, MJ
“Oh yeah?”
“She taked my favowite ceweal and twide to makes me eat oatmeal.”
“Oatmeal is my favorite.”
“And fwench toasts?”
Shit, I think. “That, too.”
“Calee Rose,” Doc says, and we both look at her. She’s exasperated.
Calee looks back at me. “What did yous do now, Tanna?”
When the room erupts in laughter, Calee’s eyes light up and she grins then slides down and runs toward Rosa, Lily, and Frankie.
“You okay?”
I push up off the wall and nod. “I’m good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She’s a kid.”
“That she is.”
“I remember the first time I saw her. Real quiet kid. You should be embracing her emergence from her shell.” I grab the crutches I had leaned against the wall and stand up.
“I would be if she wasn’t emerging from a sweet, little cuddle bug to a stinkbug.”
“I think she’s great.”
“Well, she thinks you are as well. Her new Barbie dolls that her grandparents bought her, not so much.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s time to eat,” Shadows announces. “Finally.”
“I’ll tell you another time. The men are getting hangry.” Then she looks down and winks. “Damn, he has nice legs.”
“You’re fucking killing me.”
She smiles. “I saved your life, remember?”
* * *
Calee sat on my lap as we ate, and I ignored the looks I was given by every single one of them. Irons and Shadows giving each other the “I told you so” look. Frankie and Mary smirking at Doc. Doc slowly savoring a glass of wine but looking like she’d give anything to be doing shots right about now and taking it out on a steak. I’ve never seen a woman eat steak like that before. Kind of hot, too. And William and Rosa watching Calee and I with acceptance and hope.
“Next time wes have a sleepova, can Lily Fiyafly stay, too?”
Shadows chokes on his drink.
“Mommy, fix hims!” Calee yells like she’s afraid he’s dying.
“Oh, honey, I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Laurie smiles, tight-lipped.
Suffice it to say, Calee owned dinner, s’mores on the back deck, and fell asleep on my lap, hugging my leg again as I sat in a chaise lounge.
“So, sleepovers?” Shadows sits in the Adirondack chair next to me.
“Doc and Calee stayed my first night home.”
“And the next and the next and—”
“It was one night.”
“So, when did you start fu—”
“Calee is right there,” Irons interrupts.
“Chill, she’s asleep,” Shadows defends as he takes another drink of his beer.
Irons sighs. “You never know when they wake.”
“Fine.” Shadows scowls at him then looks back at me. “How long have you been playing doctor?”
“Christ, man, do you ever give up?” Irons sighs.
“No, and that’s why you keep me around.” He laughs at his own joke. Typical. Normally endearing. Right now, annoying as fuck.
20
Three’s Company
Laurie
After Calee, or whoever is possessing my sweet little girl, crashed, Rosa and William took Lily for a walk on the beach. They are wonderful grandparents to both the girls. Meanwhile, Frankie, Mary, and I clean up the rest of the kitchen.
At the sink, I am rinsing the last cup as I watch the three men talk while Calee hugs Tanner’s leg.
“Are you spying?” Frankie startles me from behind.
“Look at her.”
“She’s beautiful, like her mother.” Mary nudges me with her shoulder.
“And father.” Frankie nudges me.
“The best of both.” I smile.
When Shadows laughs, we all lean in to get a better listen.
Bad idea.
I stand frozen, thinking about the distance we were supposed to keep that’s all shot to hell within this group now.
“So …” Frankie says slowly as I turn toward her. “Can I assume …?” She stops when Mary laughs.
“This is awkward,” I whisper as I continue rinsing a cup that is already rinsing.
“No, you and he make sense.” Frankie links her arm through mine. “What’s awkward is the way we’ve all secretly discussed you both behind your backs. And even more awkward now that I told you.”
“At first, I thought you disliked him. I mean, when he or Jeb come onto you, they’re as subtle as elephants in a kitchen, and then you realize it’s a middle-school version of flirting.”
“Or a caveman’s version.” Frankie laughs.
Mary sighs. “But it’s really plausible sexual tension.”
“Shall we go out and put an end to Titan’s misery?” Frankie asks. When I hesitate to answer, she quickly adds, “Or stay in here and see how it all plays out?”
I look at my watch. “Actually, I should get Calee home and in bed.”
As we near the door, I hear Tanner say, “Always good to get close to the person you know is going to lob off one of your limbs.”
Like an invisible forcefield has been thrown up in front of Frankie, Mary, and the exit, they stop.
I look back and smile. “Well, he’s not wrong.” And I keep walking.
When I open the door, the banter ends.
I don’t look at him. I simply address them all. “Thank you for dinner.” I bend down and scoop Calee up, silently praying she doesn’t wake and throw a mini-fit, making it harder for me to get out of here.
Jaxson stands. “Leaving so soon?”
“We have a lot to do tomorrow, so if I can keep her asleep until we get home—”
“You have the next two days off,” Tanner says. “What harm will come of staying a little longer?”
Calee’s sleepy little arms wrap around my neck, and I freeze, hoping she doesn’t fully wake until I get her in the car and she’s buckled in.
“The trick is to keep her sleeping until she’s in the car so when the sugar coma wears off, she and I will be the only witnesses to the madness and no one is the wiser.”
They all chuckle quietly.
“This way, we can continue the illusion of total adorability that you’ve all seen since you’ve met her.” I pause. “Excluding tonight.”
“She’s really come out of her shell,” Frankie whispers. “It’s adorable.”
“Most days, yes.” I wink as I turn to walk back into the house to get the hell out of here.
Frankie follows me. “Do you need any help?”
“No thank you. We’re good.”
As expected, she wakes up as I’m putting her in the car.
“Mommy, no.”
“We’ve got to get you home to take a bath, sweet pea. You’re a sticky mess.”
“I wanna see Tanna.”
“He’s resting, Calee.”
“He me boyfwend, Mommy!”
“You can’t have boyfriends until you’re thirty, Calee.” I reach over and grab the Ken doll, handing it to her. “For now, it’s make-believe.”
“No!” she screams and launches the doll out the open door.
I duck, avoiding getting clocked in the head.
“That is enough, Calee Rose. What has gotten into you?”
“The girl’s got good taste, a good arm, and apparently she’s using scissors that don’t just cut paper.”
“Tanna, help me.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” I sigh loudly. “That is enough!”
I turn and look at his shocked yet amused expression. Beyond him, I see Frankie, Jaxson, William, and Rosa all trying their best not to laugh.
“Lord, take me now,” I sigh out as I turn back and squat down to scold my daughter, but then I see Tanner sliding in beside her from the other side.
For a moment, I want to tell him how impressed I am with his speed on his artificial leg … until
I hear Calee.
“Pwease buckle me, Tanna, pweeease.”
“First, you need to say you’re sorry to your mom.”
“But she’s takin’ me away fwom you.”
He rubs his hand up and down his face as he tries not to laugh. “Doll face, there are rules and laws about boyfriends. You and I would break them both.”
“But I wove you!”
I have had just about enough. “Okay, Calee, this has gone too far.”
He holds up the doll with the amputated leg. “You think?”
“Listen, you smug bast—”
“Mommy, be nice to him. He woves me!” She turns and looks at him. “White?”
I can’t. I just can’t with all this.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and hear Rosa say, “Sometimes, it’s just best to walk away.”
I turn and look at her. “She acts a lot like her aunt.”
“Mom.” Frankie laughs.
Jaxson adds, “She’s not lying. You always had a flair for the dramatic.”
Rosa takes my hand and walks me away from the car.
I look back to see William leaning in, and I hear him laugh as he says, “She asked me to cut it off. How the hell can you say no to that face?”
My … not so little one says, “Ask me Mom. She says it awe da time.”
I feel my face burning as I stand between Rosa and the rest of them. “I don’t know what to say, except this isn’t normally how she acts.”
“It’s normal.” Rosa wraps her arm around me and gives me a squeeze.
“Normal?” I gasp.
“Wait until she’s a teenager,” Jaxson says, and I see Frankie elbow him. “She should know what she’s in for.”
Frankie smiles softly. “And we’ll all be here for you.”
“I appreciate it, but I plan to get a handle on it now.”
William laughs from behind me, and I look back at him then past him to my vehicle. When I turn back again, he shakes his head, “The least paternal of the crew, or so I thought, has got this under control.”
“Have you met Shadows?” Jaxon deadpans, and everyone laughs.
“Well, I’m not alone in thinking this, but I’ll be the first to say it; I’m glad the two of you have seemed to hit it off. Lawrence was a snooze.” Rosa laughs.
“My wife has been into the wine again.”
She smiles at him the way all wives should smile at their husbands. “Again?”
“It’s deserved, my dear.”
She winks at her husband.
I feel my phone vibrate and pull it out of my pocket.
Tanner: She’s agreed to apologize. Go home and bathe. I’ve agreed to have a sleepover.
Again, my face heats.
William continues, “How about you and I go share a glass on the deck and let these kids figure all this love stuff out the way we did—all on our own.”
“I thought we’d be staying at Laurie’s?”
“I think our granddaughter and Titan have come up with some sort of mutual agreement to end the argument.”
Backing out of the driveway and heading down the road, I look in the rearview mirror. Tanner is following us.
“Sowwy, Mommy.”
“Calee,” I sigh in frustration. “First, I love you—”
“So does Tanna, Mommy. But he can’t be me boyfwend ’cause he’s yous. You dinna tell me that.”
That’s because I didn’t know. Or maybe because I’m not, I think. And he loves her? What the hell?
“No matta. We’s best fwends, Tanna an me.”
I look in the rearview again to see she’s grinning from ear to ear.
“He’s also an adult, and you need to show him some respect. Throwing tantrums is—”
“Disinfectful.”
“Something like that,” I mumble under my breath.
21
Her Place
Titan
I was an hour and a half behind them; late due to a call I received from Johnny. Apparently, they were tired enough to have fallen asleep watching Looney Tunes on the couch.
Doc looks beautiful in the little matching pink pajamas with puppies wearing crowns on their heads. Calee is wearing the same ones. Laurie’s still damp hair is tied in a knot on the top of her head, and her face is free of makeup.
She looks beautiful, not sexy. I always wondered what the difference was. Tonight, the answer came to me four times. The first at Irons’ place when she said something ridiculous about my legs. I’d heard more times than I care to count how good I was in bed, how “hot” I was, or how big my dick was, all with appreciation and sincerity, but none felt so wholesome or real as when she made that comment. The second was when she picked Calee up off my lap, or rather, off my leg, and gracefully exited a conversation that could have easily been misconstrued and one where most women would have lost their shit after hearing. The third was when she looked like she was about to lose her shit as Calee was losing hers. She didn’t pretend to have it all together; she was one hundred percent her. The fourth is, right now, in her own home, caring for her child, knowing I’m coming over and not wearing some sexy little number, or made up, portraying something different than her reality.
Beauty unquestionably comes from a deeper place than sex appeal. Beauty is honesty, class, unguardedness, and heart.
I watch her long black lashes begin to flutter against her sun-kissed skin before they open, revealing the only set of eyes I ever truly want to seek out mine.
Words that are not typically mine fall off my lips. “You’re beautiful, Doc.”
She looks confused as she slides her arm out from under Calee and gently lays her on the couch. She rubs her eyes then holds up her wrist and looks at her watch.
“I’m late.”
She stands up. “Excuse me for a moment.”
I watch as she walks through the living room then hisses, “Shit,” as she hops up and down, holding her foot as she looks at the ground. Then she bends down and grabs a small piece of plastic, a toy, and turns around. “This is why we throw out the little pieces. Barbie shoes are worse than Legos.” With that, she turns around and walks quickly into the kitchen.
I stand up and use one crutch to follow her. When I walk in, I see her slide through a door at the opposite side of the room and shut it behind her.
I grab my pill bottle out of my pocket, set it on the tan granite countertop, and make my way to the sink where I rinse out a glass from the dish strainer beside it then fill it with cold water.
When I hear a door open, I look behind me then carefully turn toward her. “Is she upset with me?”
She shakes her head. “She was exhausted and fell right asleep watching TV.”
“Looney Tunes.” I carefully make my way to the counter, glass in hand. “I think we should push some pirate programs.”
“Pirates? We?”
“Pirates say, Arrrgh. That rabbit is probably the reason she has an issue with her Rs. And yes, we.”
She looks confused, and then she yawns.
I reach for the bottle, but she grabs it first, opening it and dumping one of my pain pills into the palm of her hand as she asks, “Arrrgh, you in pain?”
I nod and chuckle. “A little.”
“You look exhausted.” She hands me the pill.
“So do you.” I toss the pill into my mouth and wash it down then set the glass on the counter. “I’ll take the recliner and—”
“Oh no, Calee wanted you to sleep in the master bedroom. She left you a special pillow and a blanket for your new leg.”
I close my eyes and bite back a laugh while shaking my head.
“She has a vivid imagination and—”
“A heart like her mom,” I finish.
Her cheeks pinken, but she doesn’t look away. She looks me right in the eyes and smiles. “What do you know about her mom’s heart?”
“Aside from the fact I want to own part of it?”
She purses her lips, but then they turn up, making
her attempt to hide her smile a failed mission.
“Nothing to say?”
She shrugs. “You sure you’re not just saying that to keep the doctor who—”
I laugh out loud. “Not ten minutes ago, I was watching you sleep, thinking of all the things that made you not only sexy, but beautiful, and now I have to get rid of the one about you being smart enough not to misconstrue a bullshit conversation and graceful enough not to engage.”
“Oh, you think that’s what I was going to say? You think that made me want to run and hide from a bunch of oversexed pilot banter? You’re wrong, Lieutenant.”
I walk toward her and she steps back.
“Totally wrong.”
“I suppose it’s all right to be a little bit insecure when a relationship has had as rocky a start as ours.”
She stops moving away and puts her hands on her hips. “Insecure, my ass.”
“Actually, it’s kind of cute.” I grab the back of her neck and begin to pull her in for a kiss, but she pulls back. “I still think you’re beautiful, Doc, even though—”
“You said lob.” She scowls. “I don’t lob.”
I grip her tighter and kiss her gently for the first time. When I pull back, her eyes remain closed and a slight smile forms on her lips. “Show me that bedroom, Doc.”
“Yes, sir.”
When she turns, I grip her hip from behind and look back at my crutch, deciding to leave it as I place my other hand on her hip.
She looks back at me.
“Just go easy, Doc.”
“Of course.”
The room is big and scantily furnished; the walls bare and white. The curtains are a light tan that matches the carpeted floors. Compared to the parts of the home I have seen so far, it’s plain, except for the large, wooden, four-poster bed on the far wall and the two-matching chest of drawers on the opposite one.
“Is this your room?” I ask, squeezing her hips as we near the bed.
“It is. Why?”
“I just didn’t expect it to be so … bare.”
“William and Rosa use it. I sleep upstairs across the hall from Calee for when she has a—”
