by Sean Michael
Eric winced, chin ducking. “I’m sorry, Brock. You don’t understand.”
“No, I don’t. Maybe you should explain it to me.”
“Mother was unhappy about me adopting Josie, and I needed stability for her, so I named you as her guardian. I knew that, if something awful happened, you’d not let her starve. I just… I missed you. I told her stories about her guardian angel, her daddy Bee. I never thought you’d have to….” Eric sighed, pushed himself up. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take her home. As soon as I can, I’ll start making you payments for anything I owe you. I promise.”
“Shut up and lie back down before you hurt something.”
Mark came back in, a glass of juice in hand. “Man, you two move fast. I left you alone for five minutes.”
“He was just being stubborn.” Brock aimed a glare at Eric, helped him settle back into the bed.
“Patients often are.” Mark popped a straw into Eric’s mouth.
Brock sat back down on the chair and shook his head. He waited until Mark had checked Eric’s vitals and settled on a chair out of the way. “You should have told me, baby.”
“I didn’t think it would ever come up. I knew you didn’t want me, her, this whole family thing. I knew that.”
“I never once said I didn’t want you—you broke it off with me.”
“Just because I did it first, doesn’t mean that you weren’t thinking of it.”
“I knew you weren’t happy with our life anymore.” Eric had become more and more miserable.
“I wanted….” Eric sighed. “You deserve someone sophisticated and fine and fancy. I wanted a family.”
“I deserve someone I love, hmm? I don’t care about sophisticated and fancy.”
“I….” Eric sighed again, shaking hands rubbing his face. “God, I can’t… I can’t do this right now. I can’t think.”
“No, we don’t need to do this right now. I didn’t mean to jump into it with you right away.” Brock reached out and took Eric’s hand, squeezed it. “You and Josie will stay until you’re well, until the threat out there is contained.”
“We can’t take advantage of you.” Eric held on to his hand, though.
“Baby, you put me down as Josie’s guardian, and you called me when you needed a hundred thousand dollars. Of course you can stay.”
“I still love you. I always have.” Eric’s eyelids were drooping; he was starting to fade.
“Love you, too, baby.” He said the words softly, but he meant them.
He wasn’t sure where that was going to take them, but he meant them.
Chapter Five
THE NANNY left just after supper, which had been a disaster. Josie hadn’t wanted to eat at the table with her father over in the living room. It had dragged on and there’d been tears and Lacy had looked so grateful to be leaving.
Josie was currently curled up in bed with her father.
Brock looked at his watch. “It’s well past time for her bath, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.” Eric kissed her forehead. “Come on, Jo. Bathtub.”
“You come.”
“Not tonight, Jo. Let Bee do it.”
“No. Daddy come.”
“He can’t, Josie. Come on, let’s go. You can watch your cartoons with Daddy after.”
“No!” Josie’s scream pierced the air, and she started kicking, Eric’s eyes going wide with shock and pain.
“Josie!” Brock grabbed her and pulled her away. “Stop that!”
“Daddy!”
Eric groaned, arms wrapping around his middle. “Oh fuck.”
“Daddy!”
Brock took a few steps back, Josie surprisingly hard to hold on to as she wriggled and kicked. “Shit! Eric? Are you okay? Mark!”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”
Mark came hurtling out of the guest room. The man was twenty-four seven for the next few days. “You need help, Eric?”
“You’d better check his stitches.” Brock kept backing up, keeping Josie firmly in his arms. God. He knew she hadn’t meant it, but she could have done some real damage.
“Daddy! Daddy, please!” She was screaming, heartbroken, fighting him with all she was worth. “Daddy Bee—”
“Stop this, Josie! You have to have a bath and get your pajamas on.” God, he felt like such an asshole, but at this point Mark needed to check Eric out properly, and he didn’t think Josie should see that.
She sobbed, moving from fighting to clinging. “Want my daddy. Want my blankie.”
“I know, honey. Come on. You love your bath, right? Bath, teeth, pajamas, and then you can cuddle with Daddy and your blankie.”
“Sleep with Daddy?”
“You have your own bed, honey.” He got her into the bathroom and closed the door so she wouldn’t run back out into the living room.
“Want Daddy….” She knuckled her eyes, looking so tired.
“Five minutes, honey. Okay?” He started the water, adding the hypoallergenic bubble bath the nanny’d bought.
“Bubbles….” She walked over, fascinated. “Daddy Bee…. Bubbles.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Bubbles.” He sat down on the toilet with a sigh. “Take off your clothes and you can play in the bubbles.”
“’Kay!” And just like that, the storm was over. Jesus. He was going to die before this was over.
He closed his eyes for a moment. The boardroom had nothing on taking care of a little girl.
Something warm and soft landed on his knee. “Daddy Bee?” He opened up to see a naked, tired, worried little girl staring at him. “You ’kay?”
Brock found a smile for her and nodded. “Yeah, honey. It’s just been a long day.”
She nodded like she understood. “I walked all the way to the park.”
“That’s a long way. Why don’t you get into the bath, honey?”
She went, splashing quietly, making some plastic doll drown.
“Don’t forget to wash yourself with the soap.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are we going to watch Daddy’s movie tonight?” he asked.
She looked up at him, grinning, and nodded. “For Daddy.”
“Yeah, he’ll like that.” Both of them would be asleep before the opening scene was finished.
He let her splash a little longer before a soft knock came on the bathroom door. He opened it and Mark was there, lips tight. “He’s settled. I gave him a shot for the pain, so he’s pretty dopey. You just holler if you need me.”
“Thanks. Is it okay if she sits next to him for her good-night movie?”
“If she’s still, yeah. He’s still really tender, and those little feet pack a punch.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry—I didn’t know she was going to do that. She’s been so good up till now.” Maybe she’d run out of good.
Mark grinned, the look sudden, surprising. “This has got to be hard, man. She was kidnapped, her dad shot, a new house, new routine. She’s just overwhelmed. I’m surprised she didn’t throw a fit earlier.”
Yeah, that made sense. He nodded. “We’ll call if we need you.”
“Okay, man. Night.” Mark gave him a sympathetic look and disappeared.
“Okay, honey. Tub time’s done.” He got the towel to wrap her in.
She was tired enough that she put the doll down and let him dry her off. “Watch ’toons with Daddy now?”
“Yeah. Get dressed and brush your teeth first.”
Now that they had a nanny, she’d laid out Josie’s things in the bathroom, so he didn’t have to go search out Pull-Ups or pajamas. Josie was dragging by the end, little feet sliding on the floor, thumb in her mouth. He was about to suggest she just go to bed, and then thought better of it. She was sleepy now and not freaking out.
“Daddy might be sleeping, so let’s be really quiet.”
She nodded, blanket held in one arm. When they got into the living room, Eric was smiling at her, awake, if groggy. “Better?”
“Yeah. I think w
e’re just all tired.” He knew he was. Thank God he was going to work tomorrow, leaving Eric and Josie to the nurse, the nanny, and the bodyguard.
“Yeah. I’ll have us out of your hair soon, Brock. I promise. Day after tomorrow at the latest.”
He started to laugh. “Day after tomorrow. Oh, that’s a good one.” There was no fucking way.
“I promise.” Eric winced as Josie settled. “Hey, Jo.”
“Daddy. ’Toons.”
Brock went over and put Mulan into the DVD player, then turned it on. “No. You can’t leave until they pick up that ass—person who took you-know-who. It’s not safe.” He wasn’t even going to touch the fact that there was no way Eric was going to be well enough to look after Josie all by himself. That wasn’t going to happen the day after tomorrow or the day after that or after that….
Eric gave him a soft, sad little smile, then settled Josie at his side. “Bet you’re looking forward to an uninterrupted night of sleep, huh?”
“I’m looking forward to you feeling better.”
“Me, too.” Eric reached out, touched his wrist. Without even thinking about it, he turned his hand and twisted their fingers together. Eric’s worried look eased, turned into a smile.
“So you like this one, huh?” Brock nodded toward the television.
“I do. Mulan looks like Jo.” Eric kissed Josie’s temple; the tiny thing was already sound asleep.
“Ah, yeah, I guess I can see that. Her favorite is the mermaid one.” He was pretty sure he knew the damn thing by heart and it had only been a couple of days.
Eric chuckled. “Yes. She asked me when her hair was going to be red.”
Brock chuckled. “I should put her in bed so you can both get some sleep.”
“You can just leave her here, Bee. She’ll be fine.”
“She’s not sleeping with you—she’ll kick your wounds in her sleep and you’ll bleed out in the middle of the night.” He slid his hand away from Eric’s and picked Josie up. “When I’ve got her tucked in, you can tell me all about El and your mom—I want more detail than ‘she didn’t approve of the adoption.’”
Eric winced but nodded, watching him as he carried Josie to her bedroom.
She didn’t even wake up when he put her down. Poor thing was utterly exhausted. He tucked her in and made sure she had her little bear, and then left, leaving the door open behind him as he headed back into the living room. Eric was sitting there, bare-chested, looking down at the masses of bandages and gauze.
“You were supposed to stay in the car.” Of course, if Eric had, Gordon might be dead. Josie, too.
“I had to help.” Those beautiful eyes met his. “Do you hate me now?”
“Why would I hate you?” He tugged a chair over to the bed so he could sit close.
“I’ve fucked up your life, man.”
“Maybe it needed some fucking up.” He couldn’t find it in himself to be pissed at Eric for anything that had happened in the last few days. “Besides, I get to be the big hero this way, right?”
“You always were. The Italian Stallion.” Eric smiled at him. “Has Jo been good for you?”
“Yeah, until tonight. It all came to a head, though, with you being home, I guess.”
“She’s overwhelmed. Has… has she talked about being taken?” He could hear the question underneath—did they touch her?
He shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve had Stephanie do some research. I can have the best child psychologist in the country here to see her if you want it.”
“I don’t know. I mean, it wasn’t long and the doctors said she was okay, huh? Just a couple of bruises from the fall?”
“It certainly hasn’t slowed her down, anyway. I’d like to bottle her energy—I could make a fortune.”
“You and me both. She’s always been like that, from the time she was tiny.”
“I don’t know how you’ve done it—supported the two of you and kept up with her all this time on your own.”
“It’s all I did. She’s worth it.” Eric sounded so sure.
“I can see that. She loves the hell out of you.”
“She does. I can’t tell you what it was like, bringing her home.”
“Try.” He could tell they were good memories and he figured it wouldn’t hurt Eric to focus on that kind of thing instead of what had happened.
“She was so little—you know I’d gone once and had to leave her, huh? The second trip, it was real. All the teachers and our friends met me at the airport with balloons and banners and Jo never even woke up.
“When I got her home and everyone left, I just stood there and stared at her.” Eric sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, the blond hairs back there beginning to curl. Eric needed a long, hot shower. The sponge baths weren’t really cutting it. “All I could think was that I had everything I wanted, and I missed you.”
“Ah, baby.” He reached out and put his hand on Eric’s thigh, squeezed, and then let it rest there.
“What can I say, Bee? You’re my one and only.”
“There was a time I’d have called you a fool for that.” Like, oh, four days ago.
“I’ve never claimed not to be a fool, Brock.” Eric shifted, leaning toward him.
“Shh, shh. Go easy.”
“I told her that you were her guardian angel.”
“I couldn’t figure out why she just grabbed hold of me right from the start, like she knew me.” But she had, and he loved it.
“I told her if something happened to me, her daddy Bee would come for her.”
Brock shook his head. “That was a hell of a risk, baby.” What if he’d said no?
“Was it? You’ve never let me down. Never.”
“I guess I haven’t.” He’d sure come running this time, hadn’t he? How many years had it been since they’d last seen each other, and all it took was one look from Eric and there he was, riding to the rescue. He wasn’t willing to dwell on it right now. “So what’s really going on with El and your mom?”
“El’s just El, you know? But Mom… she hated that I adopted. Hates that Jo’s Chinese. Hates that I’m queer and raising a little girl.” There were a lot of hates in a few little sentences.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” Eric didn’t deserve that. Neither did Josie. She was a sweet little girl. “That’s not how she was acting at the hospital. Or maybe it was less that Josie was her granddaughter and more that I was the one taking guardianship.”
“She’s sued me for custody twice, accused me of being unfit.” The words were bald, flat.
“What the fuck?” Oh, now he was pissed off he hadn’t blasted the shit out of the woman when he’d seen her at the hospital, trying to get him to give her Josie. “We’re calling Devon in the morning. Someone in his firm will be used to dealing with cases like this. We’ll put them on retainer.”
“See? You’re her hero.” Eric was fading, blinking at him slowly, the smile warm.
He grunted at that. He wasn’t really a hero; he just didn’t like people messing with what was his.
Or.
Wait.
What?
Eric kept holding his hand, Eric’s skin so pale against his olive tan, even as the heavy eyelids dropped closed.
Brock closed his eyes and decided he was just tired. Certainly too tired to think about the implications of being anyone’s hero.
He put his head back on the chair and gave in to that tiredness.
“DADDY!” The panicked scream woke him up from a sound sleep, his heart crawling up into his throat. “Daddy!”
Eric was already moving down the hall, hunched over, knees buckling. “Jo.”
“Fuck.” He lurched up. “Stay there,” he growled at Eric before calling for Mark. “Eric needs you, man.”
Then he headed to Josie’s bedroom.
She was stumbling around, sobbing, and as soon as she saw him, Josie barreled toward him. “Daddy Bee! Daddy Bee!”
He grabbed her and lifted her up into his arms. “It’s ok
ay, Josie. I have you. I have you.” He looked around to see what had scared her, but everything looked normal.
“Daddy Bee. Monsters. Monsters under the bed!”
Eric’s face appeared at the door, white as milk. “She okay?”
Stubborn fool. “She is—you aren’t. Where’s Mark? He was supposed to help you get back into bed. And there are no monsters, honey, I swear. I don’t allow those here.”
“I’m right here. He wouldn’t come.” Mark looked annoyed with his patient. It was either that or severe constipation.
“I’m fine. Jo?”
Josie’s fingers framed his face. “Daddy Bee. No monsters?” Those pretty, dark eyes stared at him like he was the answer to all her worries. That trust was amazing.
“No monsters, Josie. I promise.”
“No monsters.” She gave a hiccupping sob, then cuddled into his arms, going heavy.
Brock sighed and then shot Eric a look. “You. Let Mark help you back to bed and, so help me, you stay there.”
“I—”
“Eric, man. Come on. Let’s hit the head while you’re up, huh?” Mark got Eric moving again.
Brock shook his head; he didn’t even know what time it was and he was all fuzzy-headed. He took Josie back to her bed.
She wouldn’t let go, arms tight. “Stay?”
What the hell—it would be easier than trying to get her to go down on her own, and he was tired enough that he didn’t really care where he slept. “Okay.” He climbed onto the bed and mentally revised that—it was tiny.
She giggled. “Go Daddy Bee’s bed. Josie has a baby bed.”
“Oh. Yeah, that would work better, wouldn’t it?” Man, how come the three-year-old had that figured out and he didn’t?
“Uh-huh. Me and Daddy and Daddy Bee in a big bed.”
“Daddy has to sleep in the hospital bed, honey.” Better to nip that one in the bud.
“Why?”
“Because he’s got some hurts that need to heal and the hospital bed lets him sit up or lie down. It’s easier.”