Right?
Chrissy made up Lucy’s room. I look around at my little girl’s stuff as I carry her teacher to her bed. Chuckling to myself, I pull back the dinosaur comforter and lay her down.
“Daniel, I have to pee,” she whispers with closed eyes.
Well, this will be interesting. “OK, sweetheart. Let me help you. The bathroom is just across the hall.”
Nicole opens her eyes enough to see where she’s going. I have my arm around her waist, and I can feel how hot she is.
“Are you OK if I give you some privacy? I’d like to go get you a cold drink.”
Nicole laughs. “Yes. I don’t think I’m quite ready for you to see me pee.”
“OK, but I’m going to leave the door open, so yell if you need me. I’ll be right back with some juice.”
“Thank you for taking care of me. I hope I’m not too much trouble.”
Walking over, I give her a kiss on her head. “I love your kind of trouble.”
Meeting her gaze, I leave her to do her business. I know that she doesn’t remember telling me that she loves me. Maybe she doesn’t actually love me and was just delirious with fever. It doesn’t matter though because I won’t mention it to her. If she does love me, then perhaps she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
Sitting in Daniel’s bathroom is surreal. He didn’t say that he loved me, but he said he loved my kind of trouble. I’ll take it.
There’s no possible way we could love each other so quickly. I mean, I knew Jay for eight months before I said the magic words. Look what happened.
Trying to get up from the toilet, I almost fall. I’m able to steady myself while holding on to the sink. Moving slowly, I make it back to Lucy’s bed without incident.
Just as I cover myself up, Daniel shows up with my juice. If he didn’t make my heart melt before, he sure does now.
“Sorry it took me so long. Lucy wanted some juice too once she saw me getting some for you.”
“She must be so confused as to what I’m doing here.”
As Daniel begins to tell me how he explained my being here, Lucy walks into the room.
“Daddy? I’m scratchy.”
Poor thing has chicken pox all over. I can’t believe that’s going to be me in a day or two. I can tell that she’s trying not to look at me in her bed but she can’t help it.
Daniel glances at his watch. “It’s time for more calamine lotion. Why don’t you go get back in my bed, and I’ll be in soon.”
Lucy is looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I know she’s curious, so I speak up.
“Lucy, let me see you.”
She looks at her father for permission. He gives her a nod, so she moves to the edge of the bed where I’m lying.
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry you’re scratchy.”
I’m not sure what happened, but Lucy bursts into tears. Looking at Daniel, I hope to get a sense of what I said to upset her.
Daniel sits down in the rocking chair and lifts Lucy onto his lap.
“Why are you crying, sweets? Does something hurt?”
I raise up on my elbow so I can see her better. Poor thing is sobbing.
“Lucy, calm down and tell me what’s wrong so I can try to fix it.”
“It’s just…” she begins with a quivering chin. “I got Miss Russell…I got Miss Russell sick. She hates me now.” Lucy looks over at me.
Daniel looks at me as well. With a little smile, he shakes his head behind Lucy.
She’s breaking my heart. Reaching out to her, I ask her to come sit on the bed with me.
Lucy looks a little scared, so I try to ease her mind. I have to lie a little to do it. She’s probably the one who got me sick, but there’s a slight chance it was someone else.
“Lucy, you probably weren’t the one who got me sick, but even if you are, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. Maybe if I had washed my hands better, I wouldn’t have gotten sick.”
Her little chest is still heaving, but the crying has stopped.
“Really?” she asks.
Daniel looks at me, acknowledging my effort.
Touching the tip of her nose, I try calm her a little more. “Really. In fact, I think I’m feeling a little better already.” At that, Daniel coughs. I guess it’s his way of calling me a liar.
“I want to thank you for letting me use your room tonight. I didn’t want to be sick all alone.”
Lucy crawls up on the bed with me. Daniel tries to intervene, as if he knew what was coming next. “I think we should have a slumber party,” she says with a face full of little red splotches.
“Lucy, I think we need to let Miss Russell sleep tonight. Maybe if you are both feeling up to it tomorrow, you can watch a movie together.”
“Yes, that would be fun Lucy,” I say, hoping she goes for it.
“OK, Daddy, but can we watch the movie in your bed?”
Oh, god. I can’t.
Daniel and I lock eyes. I clear my throat while he tries to stifle a smirk.
“Lucy, Miss Russell probably would be more comfortable on the sofa. You can even get your sleeping bag out and show it to her. But right now you need to go back to bed.”
She definitely has that little girl pout down. Daniel stays strong and gives her the raised eyebrow. It’s a battle of wills at this point. I try to help out without overstepping my bounds.
“Lucy, you do know the quicker you go to sleep, the quicker we can watch that movie tomorrow.”
“OK, I’ll go to bed if I can pick the movie.”
Gosh, this kid drives a hard bargain.
“Deal,” I say as I stick out my hand so we can shake on it.
After giving Daniel a kiss goodnight, she heads back to his room. Lucky girl.
“Thanks for easing her mind,” Daniel says from the chair across the room.
I can barely keep my eyes open at this point, but I had to fight through it for Lucy.
“It breaks my heart that she could think I’d hate her for getting me sick,” I mutter as my eyes close. I feel the bed dip. Certain that Daniel has moved next to me, I allow myself to let go.
Both Nicole and Lucy slept the rest of the night. I, on the other hand, got no sleep. If it wasn’t Lucy punching and kicking me in her sleep, it was the thought of Nicole down the hall.
Gently moving Lucy’s arm and leg off me, I move down the hall to see if Nicole is up yet. Lucy’s bedroom door is open, and the bed is empty. She must be in the bathroom.
I notice the door is closed, so I step up closer to it. Suddenly, I can hear Nicole crying from behind the door. What the hell?
Bracing myself against the door frame, I can’t help but speak up. “Nicole, are you OK?”
She quiets her crying but doesn’t answer me.
“Nicole, please talk to me. Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Suddenly, the bathroom door flies open. I’m shocked by what I see, and it must show because Nicole starts sobbing.
“Look at me, Daniel,” she yells. “You can play connect the dots on my face.”
Nicole brushes past me before I can even say anything. She runs back into Lucy’s bedroom and slams the door.
“Daddy?” I hear from my bedroom.
Fuck.
“Yeah, baby girl, I’m in the hall.”
Lucy comes out of my room dragging her blanket and T-rex. “I heard yelling. Are you mad?”
Lowering myself to the floor, I pull Lucy into my arms. “Happy Thanksgiving, sweets,” I say as I give her a kiss. “No, I’m not mad. Why don’t you go get back in bed? I’ll go make breakfast and bring it to you.”
“Pancakes that look like a turkey?”
“Yes, Lucy. I’ll make turkey pancakes.”
She hugs me and trots back off to bed. Now I have to check on the other sick woman in my life.
I knock on the door and open it at the same time. Not wanting to give her the chance to tell me to leave her alone, I walk in and sit down on the bed.
Nicole has her
face buried in the pillow. Knowing I have to reassure her, I begin to rub her back.
“Daniel, I’m hideous. Just leave me alone in here until the chicken pox go away.”
I try to stifle my laugh, but I can’t. Nicole immediately whips her head around to me with a death glare.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” I say with a shrug.
“Ugh,” is all she can say as she reburies her face in her pillow.
Trying to take her mind off it, I play my trump card.
“Lucy is already up, looking for you. I’m going to make her pancakes in the shape of turkeys. Are you hungry?”
“You make pancakes that look like turkeys?” she asks with a muffled voice.
“Nicole, please take your face out of the pillow and let me look at you.”
She hesitates but then slowly lifts her head so I can see her.
“I can’t even scratch my face because I don’t want scars.”
Not saying anything, I go into the bathroom and grab the calamine lotion. When I walk back into Lucy’s room, I catch a glimpse of Nicole as she changes into a T-shirt and yoga pants. It stops me dead in my tracks because she’s not wearing a bra.
Clearing my throat, I catch her attention. She notices the lotion in my hand and reaches over to take it from me, but I shake my head.
“I’m going to put this on you, Nicole. I’ve had plenty of practice with Lucy.” I raise my chin, indicating she needs to take off her shirt.
“No way. You are not going to see my body this way. It’s bad enough you can see my face.”
At this point, I can see her trying to use the material of her shirt to scratch her back. This is ridiculous.
“I have seen you without your shirt, ya know.”
“Daniel, that was different. I wasn’t covered in chicken pox.”
Laying the bottle of lotion on the bed, I move toward her. She takes a step back, but she doesn’t have anywhere to go.
I reach over to touch her face, but she grabs my hand. Oh, hell no. “You know I still owe you the rest of your spanking,” I say with a raised eyebrow.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she says with a defiant voice.
“No, I won’t. At least not while you are covered in chicken pox. But you will let me apply this lotion at least to your back.”
She must realize that she can’t do it because she sits down on the bed and lifts the back of her shirt.
Jesus. She is freaking covered, but I lie to her. “That doesn’t look so bad.”
“Daniel Cooper, you are a terrible liar. I already looked in the bathroom mirror. Thank you for helping me with this, but if you utter one more word about it, I’m leaving.”
I laugh. “Fair enough, sweetheart.” I try to dab the lotion as lightly as I can. Lucy told me if I do it too hard, it makes it itch more.
Nicole moans, “God, that feels so good.”
Her moan isn’t meant to be sexy, but my dick stirs anyway. Keep it in check, Cooper.
Shifting in place, I hurry through the process of applying the calamine lotion. Even with Nicole covered in chicken pox, she is incredibly sexy to me.
“Daniel, what are you doing? You keep applying the lotion in the same spot.”
“Sorry, I, uh, got lost in thought, I guess.”
I pull the back of her shirt down gently so it doesn’t scratch or stick to the lotion.
“I’m gonna go wash up and then start on those pancakes. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few?”
“Sure, I think I’m going to take some ibuprofen. My fever is gone, but I don’t want it to come back.” She smiles, and it’s nice to see.
“I’ll let you get ready, then.”
My kitchen is pretty small, but it works for me. Lucy is already sitting at the table, drinking her juice. “Feeling better today?” I ask as I start to cook the pancakes.
“Yes and no, Daddy,” my chicken pox covered girl says.
Feeling her forehead, she doesn’t have a fever.
“I’m just scratchy.”
“I know, sweetheart. After breakfast, you can take that oatmeal bath, and that’ll make you feel better.”
Lucy scrunches up her nose. “I don’t like oatmeal. I like pancakes.”
This earns a laugh from me. “Well, you can’t take a bath in pancake batter. How would we eat them?”
Now she laughs. “I guess we’ll save the pancake batter for pancakes.” She pumps her arm in the air.
“Well, someone seems to be feeling better,” Nicole says as she sits down at the table.
Once Lucy gets a good look at her, she gasps.
I immediately worry that Nicole is going to run from the room crying, but she doesn’t.
“What?” Nicole shrugs at Lucy. “You and I are twins.”
Lucy stares at Nicole for a few seconds, then shrugs one shoulder back at her.
Nicole smirks at me. Shaking my head, I finish to plate the pancakes.
“These look great, Daniel.”
Lucy nods in agreement. “My daddy makes the best turkey pancakes.”
Nicole nudges Lucy’s elbow. “Happy Thanksgiving, Lucy.”
Suddenly, Lucy turns shy. She can’t quite look at Nicole. “Happy Thanksgiving, Miss Russell.”
Breakfast with Daniel and Lucy was great. Lucy did question why I was there. I guess Daniel explained it well enough to her. Friends helping friends when they are sick.
After breakfast, Lucy took a bath to ease her itching. Daniel and I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and surprisingly, it wore me out.
Since we were supposed to all go to Mac and Emily’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, Daniel tried to figure out what to do. Chrissy offered to come over and cook, but Daniel declined. Maybe he didn’t want her day ruined too.
“Will you be OK here with Lucy while I run to the store?”
“Yes, but please don’t go out of your way for dinner. I’m not sure how hungry I’ll be.”
“It’s Thanksgiving, Nicole. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. It may not be a traditional dinner, but I’ll come up with something.”
He had a look of determination on his face. Serena was a damn idiot to give him up. Her loss is my gain, I guess. Well, not quite yet anyway. Is it May yet?
While Daniel is gone, Lucy and I discuss which movie we are going to watch. She is pretty excited for the holidays, so she picks out a Christmas movie.
Helping to get Lucy situated with her sleeping bag, I’m struck by just how much I care about her and Daniel. Could I really be falling in love with both of them?
Fuck. I need a reality check, and now.
“Lucy, are you OK for a minute while I call my sister and wish her a Happy Thanksgiving?”
“Sure. It’s time for my favorite animal show anyway,” she says as she snuggles into her sleeping bag.
Needing a little privacy, I make the call in Lucy’s room, which is right off the living room. I want to be close in case she needs me.
My sister is having dinner at my parents' house. Alex and I have a somewhat strained relationship with them. Don’t get me wrong, we love them, and they love us, but let’s just say, she and I didn’t turn out to be the perfect sons they wanted. I mean I have three brothers who are all in the military and when last two kids came out as girls, disappointment.
Daniel should be back soon, so I quickly dial my sister. She doesn’t answer, so I’m left to call my parents' landline. Yes, they still have one.
No one knows that I’m sick, and I’m going to keep it that way. For one thing, my sister will be on the next plane down here. She’s always been a little overprotective of me since my diagnosis.
My mom picks up on the third ring.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Mom.”
“Oh, Happy Thanksgiving, Nic.”
“What’s going on at the house? Is Alex there yet?”
“Yes. She’s helping me with the pie right now. Your dad is already napping on the couch, and he hasn’t even eaten yet.”
Picturing my
dad, I chuckle to myself. He’s gearing up for all of the football today, I’m sure.
“What are you doing today, sweetheart?”
Trying not to scratch the shit out of my chicken pox. “Just going to enjoy the day with some friends.” It isn’t exactly a lie, right?
“Can I talk to Alex for a minute, Mom? I want to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Sure, honey. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
I can hear my sister asking me to hang on because she has to wash her hands.
“Hey sis, Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Alex. Um, can you go out of earshot of Mom and Dad?”
“Sure, hang on.”
I can hear her going up the wooden steps to the second floor. They creak, so unfortunately for Alex, she always got caught sneaking in late.
“OK, Nicole. I’m in my old room. What’s up?”
Blowing out a breath, I begin to tell her about my little problem.
“So I was supposed to go to Mac and Emily’s for dinner today, but poor Lucy got sick. I decided to stay with her and Daniel for dinner.” OK, so I’m lying by omission, but I’m not hurting anyone.
“OK, so that sounds nice, except for the sick kid part.”
“Well, it is. Maybe it’s too nice. Daniel and I made an agreement not to be anything more than friends until after Lucy moves on to first grade.”
“Are you telling me that you don’t trust yourself to hold out? Because I’ve got to tell you, I think you are crazy.”
“No, I mean yes. I trust myself, and Daniel too. It’s just that, I don’t know. I guess even if I’m not sleeping with him, I’m falling in love with him and his daughter.”
“Wow, well, that’s a tough one.” She laughs. “You know I’m not the best one to give you relationship advice, but I think you should be honest with him. Let him know how you are feeling. I mean, do you think he feels the same way?”
“Honestly? I have no idea, Alex. We are just supposed to be friends. How can I tell him that I’m falling in love with him?”
Waiting for Alex to answer, I hear the back door to the kitchen open.
“Shit, he’s back from the store. I have to go. Love you.” I hang up before she can even reply.
Enlightened Hearts: Mastered Hearts Series Book Two Page 12