by Mallory Funk
We spent the lunch hour talking, and it wasn’t long before we were back at work. When we came back to our station, I looked over to see that we had a new doctor on shift with us.
He was tall and had wide shoulders. It looked like he spent time at the gym when he wasn’t working. He wasn’t crazy built, but you could tell that he did have some muscles under his clothes. He has dark hair that was cut short along the sides and a bit longer on the top. He smiles when he sees us walk up.
“Hey Krista, who’s the newbie following you?” he asks in a cheerful voice. Wow, did everyone have more energy than me? How could someone be so upbeat all the time? By looking at him, I could tell he was upbeat a lot. I don’t really understand how some people could be so happy without coffee, but that’s just me.
“Hey, Dr. Carrington. This is Olivia. It’s her first day,” she says with a small smile.
He stretches his hand out to shake mine, and it takes a second to register what he was doing before I shake it.
“Hi sorry, yes, that’s me, Olivia.” Wow, way to sound like a dork. Krista just told him my name.
He gave a light chuckle.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Elliot Carrington. Good to have another nurse around here,” he says before he glances down at the chart he is holding and takes off.
“Is he always so…” I didn’t know how to put it without sounding like I was insulting him. I didn’t want to come off as a bitch or anything.
Good thing, Krista laughed and when I looked at her, she seemed more amused then anything.
“Yeah, he’s always cheerful when he comes in. It’s rare when he’s talking to any of the nurses that he isn’t. He’s also a bit flirtatious so just a warning in case you get put off by that type of thing.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to flirtatious men. There were tons at my other work, but I never had time for dating. My son can be a handful at times,” I say as we sit down and get back to work, having small talk all throughout the day.
By the time my shift was over, it is seven in the evening and I am starving and tired. I really hope that my boy didn’t have a lot of energy tonight because I don’t remember the last time I had worked so hard. After lunch it got pretty steady and mentally exhausting. You’d think I had never worked before with how tired I am.
I was saying my goodbyes to Krista when I glanced over her shoulder and saw Dr. Carrington. He locked eyes with me and sent me a smile and a wink. I couldn’t help the blush that came over my face.
I don’t waste any time heading to my car and driving home to see Hale. Spending the last couple weeks with him has been amazing. I’m not afraid to say that I miss him and I hope he hasn’t given Aiden too hard of a time.
Aiden ‘Steal’
I spent a few hours at the shop finishing up a couple bikes while Ella was over at the clubhouse with Hale. Having Hale so close by was helpful.
Fuck, I had already grown attached to the kid. I couldn’t imagine what Olivia was going through working all day when I was only gone for a few hours and was already wondering if he was okay or what he was doing.
It was almost time for supper when I was finished. I walk over to the clubhouse so that I can get Hale. I decide that we should order the pizza and pick it up before we head home. I didn’t want to attempt to cook anything. I know absolutely nothing about cooking, so I hoped that Olivia wasn’t expecting a homecooked meal. On the days she works, she can expect me to buy something or pick something up for us, but never a homecooked meal. Trust me, her stomach will thank me for it.
When I get to the clubhouse, Hale is playing with D.J. and a couple of the other kids in the club. Ella has blocked off the main room so that they could play. One look and you could swear that we were running a daycare in here.
“How can you handle so many kids? I could barely handle Hale this morning, let alone twelve kids,” I ask, not bothering to hide the shock in my voice.
She gives me an easy laugh. “It seems that everyone had something to do, and I have a couple brothers here in case things got out of hand, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I love taking care of the kids in the club. It’s the least I can do since Damien doesn’t want me to work while I’m pregnant.”
“Well, I’m here to take one of them off your hands,” I tell her. I glance throughout the room and Hale was on the floor with D.J. showing him some toys. The sight of them together sends an ache through my chest. I think about never being able to see him that young because I didn’t know.
“Hale, buddy… Let’s go. We are going to pick up supper before your mom gets home,” I tell him. He lifts his head to the sound of his name, and the smile that breaks over his face when he sees that it’s me does something to me.
I’ve never had anyone so excited just to see me. It’s a good feeling and one I hope to keep having.
We decide to get two different kinds of pizza since Hale only likes pepperoni pizza and bread sticks. I place the order and we head over to pick it up. I make sure to order extra-large pizzas because if there’s one thing I know it’s that Hale has my appetite. I also need to make sure that there is enough for Olivia, and I don’t know what she likes or doesn’t like, so it’s better to be safe than sorry in case she only likes one topping like Hale.
When we get back to Olivia’s house, we waste no time digging into the food. I make sure to remind Hale that we need to save some for his mom and he gives me a ‘duh’ look like I was crazy for even thinking that we wouldn’t save anything for her. All I could do is shake my head at him.
After we eat, Hale decides that he wants to play for a bit. I let him play and keep the TV on in the background. I have to admit, I have spent a lot of time this past week watching and seeing how he interacts with people or how he plays, and sometimes it’s amazing to see how a kid’s imagination works.
He’s flying cars and bikes through the air. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I can’t help but be fascinated by him.
I hear a car pull up and I walk up to the window to see Olivia getting out of her vehicle. She looks exhausted but happy, so I’m guessing she had a good day at work.
When I turn back around and glance at my son, my eyes widen. Fuck, I was so lost in watching him play that I didn’t realize the mess he had made.
There are toys everywhere and I have no time to clean it. I look around the room in panic when the front door opens. When Olivia steps into view and sees the room, her eyes land on me and I can see how much they widen at the mess. When we lock eyes with each other, I can’t help but send her an apologetic cringe.
“He just wouldn’t stop playing!” I yell and throw my hands up in the air in frustration.
When I look at her, she is looking at me with laughter in her eyes and she’s holding back a smile.
“Well, how dare he play. I mean, I thought you were just going to make him sit on the couch all day looking at his hands,” she says with a twitch in her lips.
“Well, I thought about it, but I knew that I would get bored of that really fast,” I say without thinking and then I narrow my eyes at her when I realize she’s making fun of me.
“Very fu-fudging funny,” I say with a mock glare.
“Well, I thought it was. So please tell me there’s food because I’m fudging starving!” she says as she throws her purse down on the couch and walks to the kitchen without another glance at the mess. What the hell? Is that normal? Shouldn’t she be yelling at me or throwing a fit that I let her home get so dirty?
I follow her into the kitchen and she already has half of a slice of pizza eaten. Her cheeks are so full that they look like a chipmunk’s. Wow, she wasted no time digging in.
I give her a chuckle. “Hungry?”
She swallows and lets out a low groan while she hops up onto the counter. “You have no idea. I’m starving. I feel like I could eat as much as you and Hale right now,” she says and starts eating like someone is going to take the food away from her. I’m sure that if I tried to grab the food
out of her hands she might just growl at me. There is no gracefulness; she is full-on stuffing her face full of food. I should not find that adorable, but for some reason I do.
I can’t help but chuckle at her and walk over to the fridge to grab her a pop. She nods her head gratefully and wastes no time opening it and taking a sip while she is still chewing. Holy shit, I have never seen a woman eat like that. Most of the time they are fucking shy as shit to eat in front of me, and pick at their food, but Olivia doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. I know it shouldn’t be a turn on but somehow it is.
I decide to leave the room and help Hale clean up the toys before I get an awkward hard on for the mother of my child eating. I don’t know how I would begin to explain that one, “don’t worry, baby. I’m only hard from watching you stuff your face full of pizza.” Yeah, I could see that one going over well.
By the time we are finished cleaning up the toys, Olivia is still in the kitchen and, when I walk in there, I can’t help that my eyes widen in disbelief because she has almost everything polished off and there had been quite a bit left. When I look at her, she gives me a sheepish grin and doesn’t look at all sorry for eating so much.
“That was amazing!” she says with a smile and pats her belly.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe you ate all of that,” I say before I can stop my mouth from talking.
She gives me a little frown. “Well, it was good, and I was starving. There is no way I can say no to pizza. It’s my number two weakness when it comes to food,” she says with a small shrug.
“It’s nothing bad, baby. I’m glad you’re not afraid to eat in front of me. I won’t have to worry about you trying to starve yourself,” I tell her with a shrug of my own.
“Well good. Because if you thought this was bad, you should have seen me when I was pregnant with Hale. WOW… I could have easily eaten double what you do,” she says with a laugh.
I can’t help but frown. “I wish I was able to see you pregnant with Hale. I’m sorry I never went back to that bar. Believe me, I thought about it during the years, but I never thought you would go back too. I watched Ella pregnant with Dame’s baby and I did think about how I was a lucky bastard because I didn’t have to wake up at three in the morning and deal with the pregnancy. I wasn’t in the face of all her hormones, but now that I know about you and Hale I can’t help but think of everything I missed and wish I could have experienced all of that with you.”
She looks at me with the softest expression I have ever seen on her face. She leans her body closer so that she can lightly pat me on the arm.
“I know that you would have liked to experience all of that. I can see it in your eyes when I say something, or Hale does something, and you’re wondering about his first steps and first words. We both didn’t think that Hale would be the outcome of that night or we would have exchanged information. We found each other now and all we can do is focus on that. I will gladly tell you anything you want to know and show you pictures or videos that I have taken of Hale growing up. I know that it’s not the same, but you didn’t choose to not to be there and that’s the difference in my eyes. Just focus on Hale growing up and his birthday coming up in the next few months. One day, you will get to experience pregnancy with the woman you love. I have no doubt that she will give you all the hormonal mess that you missed with me,” she says with a small smile.
I can’t help the thought that comes to my mind of hoping that one day I would get to see her pregnant with another one of my children and I can deal with her hormonal mess. I don’t say that because I don’t want to frighten her with how much I want her after only a week.
It should frighten me how much I want this, all of this, after only a week but it doesn’t. I’m wondering if Dame felt this way when he found out that Ella was carrying his child.
Chapter Six
Olivia
I spend the next few days in the same routine. I get up and head to work, and then when I get home Aiden has some sort of takeout waiting for me. After the first night, it seems like he made sure to order a lot so that there were leftovers. I haven’t been shy about how hungry I am after work. The lunch break seems so far away from when I’m done work and can eat again.
I haven’t given much thought to eating in front of Aiden. Either he was disgusted by me or not. I wasn’t going to hide that I liked to eat. He didn’t seem to care; he seemed more amused than anything else.
I love working, don’t get me wrong, but I miss the time I had with my son. I know that Aiden and his family are taking care of him, and my son has been happier than I have ever seen him, but I still miss having all that extra time with him.
I’m currently at work on my lunch break, and my gaze flicks to the door when Dr. Carrington walks in. He goes straight to the cafeteria line to gets his food before his eyes roam around the room. When he sees me sitting by myself and raises his eye brows in question, I nod my head so that he knows it’s okay for him to sit with me.
I honestly don’t know what to think of him because sometimes I will find him staring at me, and when I catch him he looks at me and he will either smirk or wink, not at all apologetic for being caught checking me out. Then sometimes it’s like he’s trying to figure me out, but I have no idea why. I haven’t gotten uncomfortable yet, but that could be because he never said anything crude or sleazy. He was always polite and kind. I don’t think that I have ever heard him say anything bad about any of the other staff while I knew some that liked to gossip.
“Hey Olivia, how’s your shift going today?” he asks as he takes a seat.
“Oh, it’s fine. Long, but I’m getting used to working these long hours,” I tell him while taking a bite of my sandwich.
“That’s great. Yeah, the long days will get to you, but if you like working here then it’s easier to come to work,” he tells me honestly.
We end up spending our lunch talking, and I find that he’s easy to talk to and not at all flirtatious. I know that I’m not with Aiden, but it’s not fair to lead on anyone if Aiden is all I can think about. I wouldn’t feel right if I had him occupying my mind while trying to date someone else.
When I get back to work, I smile to myself thinking that I may have made another friend here. Since I had three shifts with Krista, I knew that we were going to be friends. I had already made arrangements to hang out with her tomorrow when we both had the day off.
She wanted to meet Hale, since he is all I can usually talk about, and have a bottle of wine at my place. I didn’t want to go out on one of my first days off as I didn’t want to be away from Hale, and she had nodded her head in understanding. We planned for her to come over for dinner and drinks. As much as I love the takeout that Aiden buys every night, I will be looking forward to a home cooked meal, even if I am the one cooking it.
It was a few hours before I was finally done work. As usual, I was starving and wondering what Aiden had ordered tonight. My mouth was already watering thinking of just eating something besides a sandwich and salad. I never wanted to eat anything too heavy while I was working because I usually found myself sluggish afterwards.
When I walk into my house, I find my son screaming his head off while lying on his stomach and banging his hands on the floor and kicking. When I look at his face, it is red with anger and not sadness, so I know right away that it is a temper tantrum and he isn’t hurt.
Then I look up at Aiden and I have to hold back my laughter. The look on his face was honestly a “picture perfect” moment and I would have pulled out my phone to take one, but I think that would have made him mad.
He has a look of frustration on his face mixed with pure horror. I have no idea what went on, but I can tell that Hale has never misbehaved in front of his dad by the look on both of their faces.
“What’s going on here?” I say with the most serious face I can manage, but honestly, it’s funny when it’s not you. The fact that Hale has someone he will break down with is amusing to me because no one ever believes me
when I say that this kid can be very dramatic.
“Oh thank god!” Aiden says and rushes to me squeezing me into a hug that has me gasping for breath.
“Can’t breathe,” I manage to wheeze out, and Aiden instantly loosens his hold and pushes me further into the living room.
“Well what’s going on here?” I ask again. Hale stops screaming at the sound of my voice. He quickly stands and runs to me hugging me very much the same way that Aiden did.
“Don’t try and get your way with your mom!” Aiden hisses down to Hale and looks at me to agree with him.
“I would really like to know why both of my men are so relieved to see me,” I say without thinking, but I couldn’t take the works back if I wanted to. The way Aiden’s eyes heat at the mention of me calling him mine makes him get a possessive look in his eyes.
I clear my throat to break the trance we both seem to be in and send him a questioning look.
“Oh well, Hale here decided he doesn’t need a bath and, since he was supposed to be in bed an hour ago, I have been trying that long to just get him to bed. Not to mention, he took three hours to clean up his toys this afternoon, so he missed his play date with D.J.” Aiden says, and I look down at Hale in disappointment.
“Is that true, baby?” I ask in my stern motherly voice.
He ducks his head so that he doesn’t have to look me in the eyes and nods into my hip.
I kneel so that I am at his eye level. “You know that you have to listen to your dad. He has as much say in telling you what to do as I do. There’s no reason for you to act that way with him all day. Are all your toys clean now?” I ask looking him in the eyes, and he shakes his head.
“Go finish cleaning up those toys and then you are having a bath and heading to bed. No treats for you tomorrow, and I want you to apologize to your father, you understand?” I say and he doesn’t look away the entire time. We have had our fair share or disagreements and I already know that he understands me.
“Okay mama,” he says quietly and looks at Aiden who kneels down to his eye level too. “I’m sorry, daddy. I will try and be better tomorrow. Please don’t leave me,” he says softly with a small tremble in his lip.