“Sure,” she says, but it looks like she’s sucking on lemons. I can only hope she’ll develop a poker face. Lauren nods as Mia and Charlie come back from the guest bedroom. Lauren’s face relaxes, and she grins at our daughter. “Ready to come home, sweet pea?”
Charlie nods enthusiastically. “Can I finish watchingBraveat home?”
“I don’t see why not,” Lauren says. Charlie walks over and lifts her arms to me for a hug.
I pick her off the ground and into a bear hug, which she wiggles against. “Dad! I’m too old to be picked up!”
“You are never too old!” I argue, and she hugs me anyway, but she’s rolling her eyes.
She wiggles more, so I put her down. She smooths her clothes and hair like she’s the queen of England who’s just had to endure accolades from the minions. I am in so much trouble with this one. “See you Wednesday.”
“Frodo and dog park?” she asks, hope shining in her eyes.
“Okay. After dinner with my friend Sadie,” I say and wait for the disappointment. But I don’t get any. She hesitates a moment but then nods.
“She was really nice the other night,” Charlie remarks. “Does she like dogs?”
“I think she does. And horses.”
“She’s been on a horse? Cool!”
“Okay, let’s get going,” Lauren prods lightly, but her shoulders are tense.
I promise myself I will make sure she doesn’t feel it’s a competition.
I walk out with them and watch them get into the car and wave as they drive off. I’m feeling so much better now. I wasn’t sure how things would go down with Lauren. I honestly believe she knows the depths of the mistake she made with the idiot named after a leafy vegetable. I think we are back on track as co-parents.
The next morning I walk into the ER a few minutes before seven a.m. with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box in the other. Sadie is behind the desk but already has a sweater on over her scrubs and her purse on her shoulder, so I know she’s about to leave. Her face lights up at the sight of me. I will never get sick of that, and I swear I will find a way to make her look like that every day. Her gaze lands on the gifts I’m double-fisting. “Griffin Sullivan, what have you done?” She pauses. “Or more accurately, what have I done to deserve this?”
“You let me in. You gave me a new view of life. You looked out for my daughter,” I tell her and lean over the counter to kiss her cheek. “And you know, great sex.”
I whisper that last part so no one else hears, but it makes her grin grow devious again, which I fucking love. “But actually only one of these things is for you. The other gifts I have for you can’t be experienced in a crowded ER.”
The door to the back swings open, and Shelda walks through it. I hand Sadie the box in my left hand and turn to present Shelda with the bouquet in my right. She gapes and smiles. “For me?”
“For looking out for my daughter the other night,” I explain. “And for giving Sadie a way to do it too.”
“Oh, honey, if you don’t lock this man up and throw away the key, I will!” Shelda announces. She sniffs the bouquet. “Thank you. I do believe you’ve just bumped Idris Elba off the top of my backup husbands list.”
I laugh.
“That is serious business, Griffin, and an extreme honor,” Sadie tells me in mock seriousness.
Shelda sighs happily and then gets suddenly stern and points at Sadie. “Don’t mess this up.”
She skips out of the ER. Sadie comes around the desk, and as we walk out together she opens the box I handed her, stops dead, and bursts out laughing. “Unicorn cookies?”
“Of course.” I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “And they’re delicious. I had to try one, of course.”
“You’re hysterical.” She laughs and bites into one, eating the horn first. “Crap. They are delicious.”
“So…I know you’re exhausted, so I can just drive you right home,” I say as I unlock the SUV with the fob. “Or you can come back to my place and nap there. I promise I won’t bug you. You’ll have the whole boat to yourself. I’ll be at practice from ten until noon anyway.”
“Your place,” she says as she swallows down the rest of the cookie. “And I am totally going to sleep. Like the dead.”
I nod, but a part of me is really disappointed. I start to close her door after she gets in, but she grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me in for a kiss. Then she tells me, “Right after I suck your perfect dick and beg you to fuck me.”
“The last thing you need to do is beg, love.”
