by Sadie Grubor
His glared intensified.
"You need to stay out things that don't concern you." Grace shouted and I turned back to her.
"Well, if he won't say anything, I sure as hell won’t stand by and let you destroy that little girl!" I stepped up, face to face. "You’re a selfish bitch. You left her behind, didn't care enough to take care of your daughter and watch what an amazing little girl she grew to be."
She opened her mouth, fury in her eyes.
"Shut up! You've said enough." I growled and took another step forward. She backed.
The wrath boiling inside of me was a new feeling. My protective nature intensified to protect the little girl upstairs.
"You waltz back in here to play dress up and live the life, but you just leave that poor little girl in the background unless you need an ornament!"
I rubbed my hands over my face angrily before I continued. Another step toward Grace and she took another step back.
"You can leave anytime you want, but you will not touch her!"
"She’s my daught –"
"You may be her biological incubator, but you’re nowhere near worthy of calling yourself a mother, let alone her mother," I screeched.
"Agghhh!" I screamed, chest heaving, nostrils flared.
"Why is Victoria treated like an exotic plant around here? You show her when the appearance is necessary, you dress her up, and you push her away until she’s needed or has to be dealt with. It's ridiculous!"
My rage found Dr. Bishop again.
"Are you going to say anything, do anything?"
It was a new experience to see widened eyes and shock on his face, but when he didn't respond all I could do was sigh heavily and roll my eyes.
"Like I should really expect you to do anything where Victoria is concerned." Disgust dripped from my words.
I pushed by Grace harshly and headed up the stairs. Shortly after I climbed the stairs, Grace appeared at the top of the steps and looked at me. Standing in front of Victoria's door, I leaned against the doorway with my arms crossed.
"Keep walking." I growled.
She blinked at me and then narrowed her eyes, but she didn't say another word.
Entering Victoria's room I saw the look on her face and knew she’d heard the yelling. I grabbed her into my arms and held her. She didn't cry or say anything. I only hoped she didn’t hear the words spoken in the kitchen. Eventually we both fell asleep on her bed.
I woke up to a pitch black room. After tucking her in with her rag doll, I kissed her head and whispered an apology.
Pulling out my suitcases, I was pretty sure my outburst would also be my termination. Knowing there would be a knock coming on my door, I lay on the couch unable to sleep.
Not knowing when I’d finally drifted off to sleep, I was roused by a loud knock on my door. I sat up groggily and rubbing my eyes. The knocking came again. I sighed and gave a quick look at the clock on the opposite wall, four twenty-three in the morning. Well, I guess if I'm going to have to pack up and leave I might as well do it before Victoria wakes up.
Squaring my shoulders, I turned the knob and took a deep breath. In front of me stood the sight of a broken man, a sight I’d never imagined seeing – a disheveled Dr. Bishop. I furrowed my brow, swallowed hard, and licked my dry lips to speak.
"I apologize for my –" before I could finish the first sentence, his hand flew forward toward me. I flinched and closed my eyes tight. He grabbed the back of my head.
My eyes snapped open as he stumbled into my room and pulled my face to his. Swallowing hard he leaned down and pressed his forehead against mine. My hands reflexively shot out in front of me, but they now pressed against his chest, pushing him back.
"D...Dr. Bishop?" I whispered.
"Shhh," I could smell liquor on his breath.
"Dr. Bishop –" His lips crashed to mine forcefully and pushed us into the room.
I froze for a moment, until the slamming of my door snapped me out of it.
His mouth was pressed against mine. His other hand pressed against my lower back, pressing my body against his.
The feel of his body caused me to gasp. He took the opportunity to slip his whiskey flavored tongue into my mouth. My eyes widened, but at the same time my body screamed out in want. I shook it off and pulled my face away.
"Dr. Bishop, you shouldn’t –"
Without a word he pulled my mouth back to his, licking and sucking on my bottom lip. I struggled with the unwanted and inappropriate lust for this extremely attractive man. My struggle distracted me from our destination.
My calves hit the couch just as my balance sent us crashing onto the cushions, Dr. Bishop on top of me. I gasped and turned my head to prevent his advantage, but instead he took advantage of my available skin, kissing down my neck.
Quick and heavy breaths fell from my mouth. Sensations soared. My body was committing mutiny and giving in. His hips pressed forward, the feel of his arousal threw me over the edge. The thud of the remote control falling off the couch pulled me from my lustful induced state. I unknotted my fingers from his hair.
"Stop…you have to stop."
He stopped his ministrations and lifted his head from the crook of my neck. His emerald eyes met mine. They seemed so dark and needy.
"I-I'm…I apologize." He slurred a whisper, but didn't move from on top of me.
I shifted underneath him and he groaned, but it was a sound of pleasure. Trying to slip out from under him, he locked me into place.
"Don't move." He whispered into the side of my head and nestled into my neck. "Please, don't move." The words were slurred and tired.
"Okay." I whispered. "Are you sure –?"
"I didn't…I never realized." I furrowed my brow in confusion, but I didn't have to ask for him to explain. "Until she told me she wasn't mine, I never realized."
I hesitantly brought one hand up and patted his arm, trying to soothe and be supportive. Though, I do have to say it isn't easy to do with a six foot, drunken man lying on half of your body.
"When she said it, it crushed me. I can't imagine her not being…mine." His voice was getting quieter and his head fell to my shoulder.
"She’s yours." I whispered back and rubbed his arm.
"Maybe." He mumbled against my neck.
The feel of his lips against my skin sent jolts fire to my core. I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning and found myself praying he would just fall asleep. Then I could get out of this position before he sobered up the next morning.
He was still and his breathing evened out. So, I removed my hand from his arm and attempted my escape. I jumped when his hand grabbed mine and wrapped it up around the back of his neck, his grip tightening around me.
Lying there waiting for him to fall asleep I tried to think of anything but the pulsating feeling at his touch, the way his breath felt against my neck, his hand on my waist, or how soft his hair had been to touch. It was obviously a difficult task to do, but eventually soft snores escaped his mouth. I squirmed to get away, but he relentlessly held me down. Even in sleep he wouldn't let go of me.
I sighed heavily and gave up the fight. Emotionally exhausted, I fell to sleep.
Chapter Ten
My body was wrapped in silk, fiery tingling silk. Excitement started to build in my stomach and slowly send jolts of wanting ache between my thighs. Shifting my body restlessly I tried to ease the need. Consciousness slowly made its way into my head and with it a flood of memories. My eyes snapped open and I gasped.
Dr. Bishop was still sleeping next to me on the couch, but my shifting around had stirred him. His hand lightly squeezed my hip. He moved and I could feel him against my calf. Well good morning to you too and as far as I could tell there was nothing little about his 'little guy' as Grace had called it.
I closed my eyes and gulped before I took a large slow breath and chanced a glance at him. His head was just above my right breast. Again, I made an attempt to get out from underneath him before he woke up, but he
gripped my hip firmer and nuzzled, yes nuzzled, into my chest. The fiery pulse I’d dreamt about turned into a blaze.
Once calmed, I made a second attempt. He nestled into my body, his hand slipping up my side against my bare skin. I bit back a moan and squirmed. After mentally slapping myself from the lustful haze, I grabbed his hand and pushed it away. I began nudging him to wake.
"Doctor Bishop," I nudged him. "Doctor Bishop, Victoria will be up soon. I need to get up."
All I got was a groan, his hand left my hip for his hair. I slipped off the couch and landed on the hard floor.
"Ow!" I growled and rubbed my butt, standing.
"M-Ms. Ashwood?" I froze and grimaced before turning around. Time to face the repercussions.
"Yes sir?" I squeaked.
"What, why, how did I..?" I watched last night’s memories give him a few bitch slaps. His eyes widened and he sat up quickly. He groaned and put his head in his hands, his feet found purchase on the floor. "Did I, did we –?"
"Nothing happened." I clarified quickly.
"Thank God," he groaned.
Now, I was glad that nothing happened between us, because that was just a little too cliché; however, 'Thank God'? Really? Would it be that bad to have something happen with me? I was just a tad bit insulted, but quickly pushed it aside.
"Exactly what I was thinking," I snapped in retaliation.
His shoulders stiffen.
"What happened?" His cool tone had returned.
I sighed. "You showed up drunk and passed out."
He looked up at me with confusion and a hint in his eye that he knew I wasn't telling him everything.
"Is that all?"
"Yep." Then I looked to the clock. "You should get out of here before Victoria wakes up and comes barging in." I walked over to the small refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. I held it out to him. "Here."
"Thank you." He said curtly, taking the bottle. He stood and followed me to the door. I opened the door. He walked out, pausing just outside of the door.
"Ms. Ashwood?" He didn't turn around.
"Yes sir?"
"I apologize for my behavior last night." He didn't give me a chance to say anything. He just walked away and disappeared down the hallway toward his room.
Closing the door, I slid down to the floor. Releasing a relieved breath, I wondered when the uncomfortable and weird moment where I would have to face Dr. Bishop would happen.
Instead of what I’d imagined, things returned to their pre-Grace state. Though, Dr. Bishop was receiving plenty of courier messages from the law office of Stryker and Tepues. I assumed it was in relation to Victoria, but only received confirmation when Dr. Bishop finally appeared one afternoon.
My IPod was blaring while I loaded the dryer. No one was supposed to be in the house, not even Mrs. Baker was here this afternoon. I was humming, singing low, and swaying to the song. I closed the clear round door of the dryer, picked up my empty hamper and spun around to take it back up to my room.
"Shit," I screamed and bounced back off of the dryer. The hamper dropped from my hands and tipped onto its side at my feet. My fingers clenched into my chest and I tried to catch my breath.
Dr. Bishop leaned down and picked up the hamper, setting it upright. His mouth was moving, but all I could hear was the start of the next song. Gripping the white wires leading to my ears, I tugged on them and his voice crashed into my ears.
A half grin spread across his lips when he realized why I hadn't heard him enter the laundry room.
"I didn't mean to frighten you." I almost made out a playful tone to his voice.
I nodded. "Did you need something?" I released my hand from my chest and picked the hamper up.
"Yes." His normal icy tone was back.
His eyes roamed my body. I moved the hamper to cover my barely there cotton shorts. Internally groaning, I hoped he didn’t get all Snow Miser about it.
"Victoria has an appointment with her doctor tomorrow afternoon. She’ll need to be arranged for an early dismissal."
I nodded and started to inch out of the room backwards.
"You’ll need to bring her to the hospital instead of his office."
I nodded again.
"The appointment is at one."
"Okay. I'll have her there."
He cleared his throat. "I will, uh, be at the hospital at that time."
"Oh, kay..." I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with that information.
"Please see that the nurse informs me of your…her arrival."
I nodded.
"They’ll be doing a mouth swab and taking blood." His brow furrowed.
I realized then, it was the paternity test. He cleared his throat again.
"Grace is supposed to arrive in the morning to provide her...samples for testing purposes, but I just wanted you to be aware of her possible presence." His tone was cold, as usual.
I couldn't help but do an internal imitation of Rocky Balboa jumping with his fists in the air at the top of the stone steps while the theme song played. Childish? Yes, but totally necessary. I fought not to let a threatening smile slip over my lips.
When I picked Victoria up the following afternoon she was really fidgety.
"Nervous?"
"Why do they have to give me a shot?" She whined and played with the hem of her plaid school issue uniform.
"It's not a shot, technically. There will be a needle, but they’ll be taking blood. Haven't you had that done before?" I glanced in the review mirror.
"I don't remember having it done. I only remember the shots." She shuddered. I bit my lip so I didn't giggle.
"It will be fine. I'll stay with you the whole time and since you’re out early we’ll do something fun afterwards."
Through my peripheral vision I saw her head snap up from her lap.
"What?"
"Hmmm...It's a surprise." I grinned and made the turn onto the road leading us to the hospital parking lot.
"Come on!" She crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to be mad.
"We're here!" I shouted and pulled into the first available parking spot.
The weather had been warming with spring, but the rain was even more frequent than normal. I parked and climbed out of the car. Victoria hopped out of passenger side of the car and shut her door. As her hand wrapped into mine I hit the lock button on the key remote. With two beeps and the sound of locking doors we headed toward the automatic doors of the hospital.
A large plump woman behind the clear glass window greeted us.
"Victoria Bishop," I motioned to her, "She has an appointment with –"
She stood quickly.
"Ah, yes, Dr. Bishop's daughter." She leaned over her desk to get a look at her.
"Um, yes," I was getting annoyed, "She has an appointment."
"Of course, take the elevator to the fourth floor and follow the blue line to the lab." She smiled and sat back down.
We started to walk and then remembered my other instructions.
"Oh, excuse me," I leaned toward the glass.
She looked up.
"Dr. Bishop wanted to be informed when Victoria arrived. Can you let him know?"
She nodded.
"I'll page him right now." She smiled and picked up the desk phone.
"Thanks," I headed to the elevators.
Following the blue line to the lab we were greeted by another nurse at a desk; however, she’d been given the heads up that Victoria was on her way. Her smile was so big it was almost scary.
"Miss Bishop." She smiled down to her. "We've been expecting you." Victoria buried more into my side. The nurse looked up from Victoria to me. "You are?"
"Um...the nanny." I half smiled. She looked at me appraisingly and then picked up her clip board. I rolled my eyes and took the clip board.
"That's not necessary." I turned to the sound of Dr. Bishop's voice.
"Doctor?" The nurse questioned.
"I filled everything out prior to her
arrival. It's in her chart," he growled, "If you’d bothered to look." He mumbled, but you could still hear him.
"This way." He motioned for Victoria to follow and started toward a set of double doors.
Victoria looked up at me.
"You'll be there right?"
I gripped her hand tighter.
"I said I would."
"Nanny swear?" She giggled.
I smiled down to her.
"Of course." We started toward the doors where Dr. Bishop was waiting. He pushed the doors open.
They swabbed her mouth and placed it into a plastic bag. Then they rolled up her sleeve.
Once the needle was out she gripped my hand tighter and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
"It will be over soon." I whispered into her ear. "And remember what I said after we leave?"
"My surprise?" She opened her eyes to look directly into mine. Her body relaxed.
"Yep."
"All finished." A nurse was applying a Band-Aid to her arm.
Victoria's head snapped over to look.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
I smiled. Then my eyes shifted. Dr. Bishop was watching me closely. I stood up straight to help Victoria down from the table and tension filled my body. The intensity of his eyes was not easily shrugged off.
"We can go now?" Victoria was almost bouncing.
I held my hand out for her to take again. She quickly grabbed it and we started to leave.
"It will take about three days for the blood work and about a week for the swab test to be returned." I overheard.
"Huh...oh, yes, of course." Dr. Bishop sounded caught off guard.
"So, can I get a hint about where we are going?" Victoria stopped my eavesdropping.
"Hmmm..." I tapped my chin.
"Please, please, please....." She begged.
"Okay, okay. What would you say to triple scoop ice cream sundaes?"
She stopped in her tracks. I stopped and looked down at her. Her eyes were wide and the smile that spread over her face was priceless.
"Three scoops? Like one, two, three," she counted them out on her fingers, "scoops?"
I nodded and laughed.
"Yes," She yelled.
"Victoria, keep your voice down. There are patients." We both jerked around. Dr. Bishop walked toward us.
