Mia was lying back on the couch, looking drowsy as she held her stomach.
“What happened?”I dropped my purse on the table and hurried over.
“She just started saying her tummy hurt.”
“Oh no.Honey, are you feeling sick?”I took Mia’s little hand in mine, looking for a reaction.Mia frowned, her lids heavy.
“We had a great day until just now,” Sara said softly, patting Mia’s knee.“We played with that dollhouse so much.She ate well for lunch.But then…”
I tutted, squeezing Mia’s hand.“It’s probably another virus.I swear she gets a new one every week from daycare.Let’s just hope this is a quick bug.”
I settled up with Sarah at the door before she went on her way.Before I made it back to Mia, she started groaning.
“Mommy, I no feel good.”She pushed to sitting, her face going pale.Her jaw started doing the trembling no parent wants to see.A moment later, she vomited onto the living room rug.
“Ohhhh, dear.”I snapped into Mama mode, all thoughts other than Mia evaporating.I helped her into the bathroom, then I worked on cleaning up the rug.While I was cleaning up, I heard her retch a second time.Cleaning up the first puke while overhearing the second puke in the bathroom nearly mademepuke, so I took a few deep breaths.And then I carried on.
I was guessing it was a stomach virus, hopefully the twenty-four-hour variety.But I couldn’t know for sure.And continued puking was highly likely.She had a fever now and wanted me to sit beside her bed.I got a cold compress ready and sat on the floor by her side.
“I want Naff,” she said in the most pitiful voice I’d ever heard.I just stroked her head, unsure what to say.
If I’d tried to keep Mia safe from letting a new man into our hearts, this was proof that I’d failed.She wantedhimwhile she was sick.Nash was honored when she’d chosen him for a post-nap hug, but this was god level right here.I checked my phone as I rubbed Mia’s back.It was almost two thirty.Nash had planned to pick me up at four.
I knew the truth in my bones, but I was hesitant to break the news.I couldn’t go to the event tonight with Mia like this.There was no way.I’d asked Zoey to come over and stay with Mia tonight, but I couldn’t ask her to do that when Mia was like this, and I couldn’t leave my baby when she was feeling so awful.
On the other hand, I knew how important tonight was for Nash.It was part of his strategy to get his Gideon Hotel permit back on track.Heneededto be there, and this was part of the job I signed up for.If you could even call it a job.
I kissed Mia’s head and excused myself from the bedroom, swiping through my phone to call him.
"Hey, beautiful.You getting ready?"His voice was deep and gritty, a reminder of our session last night.But I couldn’t think about that right now.
"I was.But I’m not now.I don’t think I can come tonight.Mia's sick.She spiked a fever and she’s throwing up.”I pressed a hand to my forehead, feeling all the stress and anxiety of the situation crashing over me.“I know how important tonight is for you—"
“Poor little dragon.You need to be Mia’s mama tonight.It's fine."
"It's not fine!This is the city commissioner!The permit!”All I could think about was how hard he’d been working on this.How important it was to him.“You need to be there, and you need me there, and I'm ruining everything—"
"You're not ruining anything.Mia's sick.That's more important.You don’t have to worry about this.I'll figure it out."
Tears pricked my eyes."I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize.Just take care of our girl.I'll check in later."
After we hung up, I felt pulled apart by the warring priorities.In being the best mom, I felt like the worst wife.Fake or not, I had obligations.But the truth was I couldn’t be anywhere but here with my baby.
I settled back in Mia’s bedroom on the floor by her bed, stroking her hair until she fell into a fitful sleep.Once I was sure she’d stay asleep, I set her up with an emergency puke pail in her room, and then went back to deep cleaning the rug.Within a half hour, there was a knock on my door.
I sat back on my heels, everything going electric inside my body.I so badly wanted it to be Nash.But what if it was Preston?
I crept to the door, peering through the peephole.
Nash.
Relief flooded my body.I pulled open the door, unable to fight a smile as I looked him up and down.Navy three-piece suit—Tom Ford, if I had to guess—with a crisp white shirt and silk tie in a slightly darker blue.He looked like he'd stepped off a magazine cover.
"What are you doing here?"
He held a bag from the pharmacy, a container of soup, and a stuffed animal.A green and purple dragon with sparkly wings.“Had to bring this over.”
