The Doctor's Fake Nanny(31)

"What are you doing?"



"Just packing up a few of my things. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just wanted to get some stuff and then I'll be gone."



"No, please don't."



I held my breath and turned to face him. I didn't want to let myself get  my hopes up only to have my heart broken. He couldn't be saying what it  sounded like he was saying. It didn't seem possible.



"Don't?"



"No, don't. Here's the thing, Kayla. I wish you had told me sooner. Of  course I do. But you know what? Shit happens. People mess up. I messed  up, too, and we're both going to do it again. That happens when you're  with someone. But I don't want to let you go. I love you. I love you  more than I love myself. I just don't want you to hate me."



"What? Me? How could I hate you?"



"Because," he said with another tear moving down into his stubble, "I  was the one who was supposed to keep your sister alive. I hated the  person who killed my brother. It almost killed me to get over hating  that guy. I just can't stand the idea of you feeling that way about me."



"I don't think that's going to happen," I said with a shy smile.



"How do you know?"



"Because, David, I love you too damned much."



Then he kissed me, that kiss I had been so afraid of losing forever, and  I realized that things were finally good. Our secrets came out and we  survived. It didn't seem like a fairytale anymore. It seemed much, much  better.





Epilogue




"Come on, sweet girl. You know this word. Just sound it out."



Sophie furrowed her little brow into the perfect picture of  concentration. The last year had been amazing for her. She was the  perfect example to me of how a person with something like ADHD could  learn just as well as anyone else, so long as she was given the right  strategies. It was like any other job. She just needed the right tools  in her tool belt.                       
       
           



       



"Cat! Is it cat, Mamma? Did I say it?"



"Yes, sweetie, you did. You are getting so good at this! Pretty soon  you're going to be teaching other people how to read. What do you say to  that?"



"I say yes! I'm gonna teach, just like my mamma!"



"You would be an amazing teacher. You would be an amazing anything."



She grinned and climbed up into my lap, careful not to kick my belly.  She was young, but she knew to watch for that. She pressed her hot  little face against mine, giving me the eskimo kisses that she had been  over the moon about lately, and as I breathed in the sweet lavender  scent of her hair I felt my eyes well up with tears of appreciation.  Even though all of the trouble between us had been a year ago, I still  had moments of overwhelming gratitude for the second chance I had been  given.



It was more like a second life, really. When David and I made the choice  to forgive each other we made the decision to really give us a shot.  Every day we made the decision to stay together again, and each time we  did that, things got even stronger between us. It wasn't long after that  that Sophie took it upon herself to start calling me mamma. That was  what led to my next crazy decision.



I became one of those people I had always secretly pitied and ridiculed.  I got married to a man I had only known for a small blip of time. It  was crazy, but it was right, right like nothing had ever been before. I  got everything I wanted all at one time. Most people don't get that  lucky in a whole lifetime.



"Here's my best two girls! What've you two been up to? Nothing tricky, I hope."



"I'm reading, Daddy. I'm going to teach all the people."



"I bet you are, Sophie. And what about your mamma? How come she's crying?"



"Ugh," I said with a sheepish little laugh, "hormones. I'm like a bipolar person these days, I swear."



He got right down on the floor next to me, slinging one arm around my  shoulders and placing his other hand protectively over my belly. I  buried my face in his neck, breathing in deeply the scent of sweet cedar  that I practically lived for.



"Are you okay, though? Did something spark this whole thing?"



"No, not really. It's super sappy, but I was just thinking about how lucky I am. How happy."



"Oh god, Kayla. Me, too. Crazy happy. You better believe it."



"Good. You better be! I don't want anything to change. Besides the baby, that is."



"Well that's too bad, because something is going to."



"Uh oh," I said, trying to keep the alarm out of my voice, "what's that?"



"Mom is retiring. She's stepping down as the head of cardiology. Guess who the board is replacing her with?"



"You?!"



He nodded, a huge grin spreading across his face, and I squealed with  excitement. Not only was this a massive honor, but now he wouldn't have  to work with his mother anymore, which was probably better for everyone.  She had started to thaw out a miniscule amount at a time, but there was  still a long way to go before the tension was gone. Or at least mostly  gone.



"Oh, David, can you imagine what Dr. Johnson would do if he were still here? Do you think he'll find out?"



"With as nosy as that man is? I would bet a lot of money that he'll know by the end of the week."



He laughed and kissed me, long and soft just the way I liked it. Dr.  Johnson had turned into a kind of a joke between the two of us. He was  awful, had done awful things to both of us when you really thought about  it, but in the end it had backfired. He was long gone, David and I were  together, and now David would get the position Dr. Johnson had done  this whole thing for. It was almost like the script of a movie, it was  so good.



"Oh! I have some news for you, too."

He looked at me with a sly smile, lifting one eyebrow like a cartoon character.

"Is it about the baby?"

"It might be," I said, trying to play coy but pretty much failing.

"And?"

"It's a boy. And if it's okay with you, I'd like to name him Mikey."

The End





Thank you for reading!

AND IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR ONE MORE...

Turn the page to read: "Escort by Mistake" By Tiana Cole





Escort by Mistake





Chapter One




It was one of those rainy New York nights when Cassidy Johnson wished  she was home and tucked warmly in her bed. Instead she was behind the  counter of a local coffee shop, Ron's Good Beans Café, which was  normally empty after 6 p.m., except that the torrential downpour sent  pedestrians scrambling inside its warm interiors to avoid getting  drenched in the rain.                       
       
           



       

Cassidy glanced surreptitiously at the wall clock. 7:45 p.m. She had  exactly thirty minutes to catch the 8:15 bus back to Queens. The next  one would be forty-five minutes later, and she hated the thought of  standing on the curb waiting. Rainy New York nights are havens to a bevy  of thieves and other dubious characters, and lately the area around the  cafe had seen a spate of muggings.

"Thank God," she sighed inwardly as the last group of customers started  to collect their umbrellas and headed towards the exit. Cassidy made a  beeline for the glass door, flipping the "closed" sign as she did.

She tugged at the hair band that held her hair back and let the dark  brown spiral tresses fall naturally to her shoulders. All she needed was  to grab her notebook, stuff it in her purse, and she would be on her  way to the bus stop.

She pulled a plastic garbage bag from behind the counter and started  collecting used paper coffee cups still scattered around the tables and  the countertop when the familiar chime of the bell by the door jingled.

"I'm sorry we're closed … " Cassidy announced brusquely without bothering  to look at the new arrival and wishing she had locked the door.

"I know …  the sign says so …  but I was hoping you would let me have a cup.  It's really chilly out there," a warm male voice replied.

Cassidy turned around, her body language announcing her irritation. She  had been on her feet for twelve hours, and right now all she wanted was a  hot bath and her familiar, cozy flannel pajamas.

"Look, mister … " But the words stuck to her throat.

Standing by the threshold, uncertain about his welcome, was the most  striking man she had ever seen. The disheveled hair hung damp just below  the ears. The luminous grey-green eyes that seemed to plead, were  framed by a chiseled face that was made more arresting by a cleft chin.  He was wearing a white v-necked shirt under a leather jacket, a pair of  faded designer jeans over sneakers, and was noticeably sockless.