Page 63

Drew

Squintingmyeyesto dull the brightness gleaming through the windows, I try to move into a more comfortable position. Why is my pillow so hard? Why is my body so weak? And why is my bedroom so bloody bright?

Then I feel someone stirring beside me, and my eyes fly wide open. I’m in the living room, I must’ve fallen asleep watching Up. Looking around me, I see Penny is using my butt as a pillow, and Samantha is running around the living room, still covered in tiger stripes, and has a marker in hand. Oh boy.

She runs up to me giggling and says, “Mustache!”

I look back at her in confusion. The crick in my neck is making it impossible to think straight.

“Um, good morning …” Sophie's undeniable voice comes from above me.

Glancing up I see her lovely face and realize I’m laying on her lap. Okay, the crick in my neck was totally worth it to wake up to Sophie.

I use my arm to prop myself up into a seated position. “Good morning.” I rub the back of my neck. “Sorry for commandeering your lap.”

Her cheeks blush slightly, although it’s hard to tell since her skin is so pale from being sick yesterday. “That’s alright.” She rolls her lips to keep from laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

She smirks. “Well, I think Sam found Penny’s marker stash while we were asleep.”

Penny stirs next to me and sits up. She yawns and stretches her arms with her butt in the air like a cat. She smacks her lips a few times, then looks up at me.

“You look like a huge dork, Dad.”

Samantha runs back into the living room. “Mustache!” She exclaims before running away giggling again.

“She drew a mustache on me, didn’t she?” I ask and then glance from side to side to see both Penny and Sophie nodding and trying not to laugh.

“I think we’re going to have to confiscate every marker on the premises at this point,” Sophie says, then wrinkles her nose. Which is one of the many things she does that I find absolutely charming.

I stand up and extend my hand to help her up. She grasps it and I pull her to her feet.

“That’s probably a good plan.”

She smiles up at me, making me feel woozy. And not just because I’m dehydrated and my stomach is completely depleted. I hold her gaze, and the only thing stopping me from pulling her into me and kissing her is that my breath must smell atrocious. And our daughters are here. And I apparently have a fake mustache drawn on my face.

Sophie pats my arm, then glides past me. “I’m going to shower and give Sam a bath.”

“No!” Samantha whines. “I wike my stwipes.”

Sophie gives a heavy sigh before picking Samantha up and heading toward the basement steps. I watch her walk away, loving the sight of her in my house in pajamas and a messy bun. She looks back at me and smiles before going downstairs.

Penny comes to my side and takes my hand. “Daddy, you need to shower, too. You smell horrible.”

The next morning, I drop Penny off at school and cross my fingers she doesn’t pick up more sick germs anytime soon.

Pulling into the drop-off line, I spot Sophie greeting the children as they hop out of their vehicles and head to their classes. She’s wearing a black pencil skirt today with black pointed-toe flats and a silky white blouse tucked in. She looks scrumptious. If any of my teachers had looked like Sophie, I definitely would’ve enjoyed school more. Pulling down my sun vizor and opening the mirror, I make sure I look okay. My black scrubs are clean and pressed and my face is freshly shaven. No crumbs in sight. Whew.

When it’s our turn, I roll down my window. I have no doubt I’m grinning at her like an idiot, but I’m past the point of caring.

“Good morning, Ms. Miller. You look like you’re feeling 100 percent healthy now.”

“Good morning, Drew—er, Dr. Reed.” She smirks. “I am. So are you, and I can see you were able to remove your marker mustache.”

I shake my head with a laugh. “It took some scrubbing, but I got it off.”

She chuckles. “Good morning, Penny! Have a great day.”