by Gina Wilkins
“I’m sure you’re pleased that she asked you to join us for trick-or-treating,” Mia said.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.”
“She seemed to really want you to accept. She’s reaching out to you, Connor.”
He was well aware that Alexis would prefer Mia to him if she had to make a choice, but he supposed Mia was right that this was a step forward. “I’ll do my best to make it. What time were you planning to start?”
“Around six, I guess. I was just going to take her to a few houses here in your neighborhood. Everyone around us seems to be in the Halloween spirit, judging from the house decorations I’ve seen. Afterward, I promised Alexis we’d have hot chocolate and popcorn and watch a Disney DVD.”
It sounded time-consuming, but also like a good chance to spend quality time with Alexis. And with Mia. He supposed he could always sacrifice a couple of his already-rare hours of sleep during the weekend to make up for it. “Okay. Just tell me I don’t have to dress up.”
She laughed. “You don’t have to dress up.”
“Good. There’s a big Halloween party that night for anyone in my class who wants to attend, but I wasn’t planning to go, anyway. Costumes and kegs are rarely a safe combination.”
She laughed again. “I attended my share of college Halloween parties. They can get pretty…interesting.”
“Yeah. Now that I’m a dad, I guess I’d better skip out on the ‘interesting’ this year.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she murmured. “Trick-or-treating with a ballerina fairy princess could be very interesting.”
He smiled wryly. “At least it will be different.”
“I’m ready for my story, Mia,” Alexis said from the doorway.
Mia moved toward her. “Tell your dad good night.”
Alexis crossed the room to offer Connor a hug and a cheek kiss. “Good night,” she said.
Tousling her soft hair, he said, “Good night, princess.”
She giggled, then turned to hurry toward her bedroom with Mia close behind.
Connor realized, somewhat to his surprise, that he was smiling when he went into the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee and settle in for a couple more hours of studying. As weary as he’d been when he’d dragged himself in, he seemed to have gotten a second wind. Might as well take advantage of it while he could.
The study group met at a coffee shop Friday afternoon, taking over a table in the back. With overpriced beverages and snacks arranged around them, they pored over the notes they’d taken through a series of six long, detailed lectures that day, trying to make sense of the overwhelming amount of new data they were expected to memorize and understand.
Connor glanced at Anne, who’d been quieter than usual that afternoon. She, too, was staring intently at her computer screen, her pretty oval face creased with a frown. “You okay, Anne?”
She looked up at him, her clear blue eyes clouded. “Oh. Sure. There’s just so much of it.”
“When’s the last time you had a good night’s sleep?”
She laughed wearily. “Probably about the same time as you. Sometime last August. Before we started medical school.”
“You can afford to relax a little, you know. You’re doing great.”
Her frown only intensified. “I don’t want to get behind. Once you get behind, it’s almost impossible to catch up.”
“Anyone want to move to my place for a while?” James asked, tossing his empty coffee container into a nearby trash receptacle. “We could order pizza or something.”
“Sounds good,” Ron agreed. “I really need some more help with these histology notes.”
“I’m in,” Haley said with a nod. “But let’s make time for the gross anatomy notes, too.”
“I need to go over all of it,” Anne murmured, still looking stressed.
James nodded. “Okay, then. How about you, Connor? You’re joining us, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, sure…oh, wait.” He looked down at his watch. “No, I can’t. I’ve got to get home.”
“Babysitting tonight?” Ron asked.
“Trick-or-treating. Alexis wants me to go with her.”
Haley smiled. “That’s sweet. It’ll be fun trick-or-treating with her for the first time.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Typically, Anne only looked more worried. “It must be so difficult for you trying to keep up with your studies and take care of your daughter.”
“There are other parents in our class,” he pointed out, trying not to let her angst rouse an answering panic in him. A few hours wouldn’t hurt, he reminded himself again. Half the rest of the class would be at the party tonight, drinking and carousing. They certainly wouldn’t be going over histology notes between beers. Maybe the study group would get a little ahead of him this evening, but he’d study on his own after Alexis was in bed. He’d catch up.
“Of course there are.” Haley gave Anne a faintly chiding look. “You’re doing great, Connor. You’re balancing everything very well.”
“Thanks to Mia,” he admitted. “I couldn’t have done this without her.”
“You’re lucky to have her. Better not let her get away,” Ron advised with a grin.
Connor started to remind his friends that he and Mia weren’t a couple, but it just seemed like too much effort to repeat the usual explanations just then. He started to gather his things. “I’d better go. You guys have a good session tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon at the library.”
Mia made a deliberate effort to stay in the background that evening, letting Connor and Alexis interact as much as possible. She was glad Connor had made an effort to join them this evening. She’d worried that he’d be late, but he’d shown up a few minutes early, giving him time to freshen up and drink a cup of coffee while he had admired Alexis’s costume and sparkly makeup.
They’d taken pictures before heading out. Photos of Alexis alone, then posed with Connor and with Mia. Alexis had insisted on taking a picture of Connor and Mia together and they’d smiled obligingly through three attempts until she was satisfied with the image on the digital camera’s small screen.
If Connor was thinking about his studies, he was doing a good job of hiding it, she decided in approval. He seemed to be enjoying the outing on this clear, comfortably temperate autumn evening. Alexis skipped between them as they moved from house to house in the family-friendly, working-class neighborhood. Quite a few other families were out, costumed kids running and chattering, parents lagging behind but still on guard over their charges.
Most of the houses on the street had porch lights burning, a sign that trick-or-treaters were welcome. Alexis elicited quite a few indulgent smiles from the adults handing out candy at the doors. She really was adorable, Mia thought with a surge of pride that felt almost maternal. And so polite, always careful to say thank you for the treats she received.
Connor smiled at Mia over his daughter’s head, his eyes gleaming in the glow of the street lamps. She returned the smile, enjoying the intimacy of the moment. This, she thought, would be a special memory she would treasure in years to come. She hoped Connor and Alexis felt the same way.
Her bag was bulging with candy by the time Alexis walked away from the house Mia had declared to be the last. Mia smiled wryly at the sight of it, thinking she’d have to ration all that candy over a period of several weeks.
“I got lots of treats,” Alexis crowed, holding up her bag for them to admire. “You can both have some, if you want.”
“That’s very generous of you, princess,” Connor replied. “I happen to like any kind of candy, so if there’s anything in there you don’t like, you don’t have to worry about it going to waste.”
She laughed. “You can have the sour ones. They make my mouth pucker up.”
“I like sour candy. And I don’t mind a good mouth pucker every once in a while,” he joked, looking at Mia.
She felt her cheeks go hot as an unbidden image of Connor’s nice lips puckered for a kiss poppe
d into her mind. Hoping the darkness concealed her inconvenient blush, she looked around quickly to admire a little mermaid waddling past them in a long, sparkly dress with fins sewn to the hem.
Because she was looking away, she didn’t see Alexis trip over a raised section of the sidewalk. But she heard the jarring fall.
Her candy scattered around her, Alexis lay sprawled on the concrete, her glittering fairy wings knocked lopsided, her tiara half off her head. Too winded to cry for a moment, she simply lay there while Connor and Mia both gasped and reached down for her.
“Alexis! Sweetie, are you okay?” Mia asked urgently, kneeling beside her.
Connor was on his knees on the child’s other side. “Are you hurt? Can you say anything?”
Her breath returning in catches, Alexis whimpered. “I hurt my knees.”
A street lamp overhead let them see the extent of the damage when they helped her sit upright. Both legs of her sparkly tights were torn and her exposed knees were scraped and oozing blood. Neither looked badly hurt, Mia noted in relief, but it had to sting like crazy. “Let me see your hands.”
The child’s palms were also worse for the impact with the rough concrete. Mia winced. “Ow. I’m so sorry.”
Alexis looked as though she was making an effort not to cry, although tears leaked pitifully from the corners of her eyes. “I dropped my candy.”
“It’s okay, princess, I’m getting it,” Connor assured her, scooping the treats back in the bag. “It’s all individually wrapped, so it will be okay. You didn’t lose more than a couple of pieces.”
Alexis reached out to Mia, burrowing into her arms. “It hurt,” she whispered.
“I know, sweetie. We’ll take you home and put some medicine on the scrapes so they won’t hurt so badly, okay? And then we’ll have hot chocolate and you can rest your knees while we watch your DVD.”
Nodding into Mia’s shoulder, Alexis drew a sobbing breath. “O-okay.”
“You’re being very brave. I’m sure I would be blubbering if I’d taken a fall like that.”
Sniffling again, Alexis murmured, “I’m not crying.”
“It’s okay to cry if you need to,” Mia reminded her.
“I don’t need to.”
“Can you walk or do you need me to carry you back to the house?” Connor asked, hovering close by as if he didn’t quite know what to do to help.
Alexis looked up at Mia. “Can you carry me?”
Mia could almost sense Connor’s instinctive withdrawal. She wanted to assure him that it wasn’t a rebuff, that he shouldn’t take the child’s words personally. That children naturally turned to their mother, or in this case, mother figure, when they were hurt—but this wasn’t the time. And she wasn’t sure he would believe her, anyway.
“It would be much easier for your daddy to carry you,” she said gently. “I’ll bring the candy and your wings, okay?”
Alexis nodded and drew somewhat reluctantly out of Mia’s arms. Mia helped her out of the strapped-on wings, then took the candy bag from Connor as he bent to gather Alexis into his arms. After only a moment, she relaxed against him, her head tucked beneath his chin.
As soon as they were inside, Mia left Connor to make hot chocolate and popcorn while she tended to Alexis’s scrapes and helped her into her pajamas. Although painful, the wounds weren’t really bad. A thin coat of ointment and a couple of adhesive bandages printed with cartoon characters were all the treatment they needed. Mia was glad she’d thought to assemble a first aid kit because she’d figured most children suffered cuts and bruises at some point.
Leaving Alexis settled on the couch in front of the television, Mia said she would go help Connor with their refreshments and would be right back. Alexis clung to her beloved stuffed cat and snuggled into the couch cushions, seeming to enjoy the attention she was getting now that the stinging from her scrapes had lessened.
Connor was just dropping marshmallows into three mugs of cocoa when she joined him in the kitchen. “How is she?”
“She’s fine. She’s on the couch watching the cartoon channel until we join her for the movie.”
Pulling out a bowl for the popcorn he’d popped in the microwave, he said, “Scared the crap out of me when she fell. I was afraid she’d broken something.”
“I know. I was looking away and I didn’t see her fall. But I heard her hit the sidewalk.”
“You know what my first thought was? That if she had broken anything, I didn’t know what I’d do for her. I’ve spent the past almost three months cramming my head with more information that I can possibly ever remember, and yet I wouldn’t have a clue what to do if someone actually gets hurt in front of me.”
Smiling, she rested a hand on his arm. “You’re only in your first semester of med school. You have to get a solid background before you actually start treating patients. Don’t start questioning yourself now, Connor. You’ll be a wonderful doctor.”
“Maybe,” he muttered. “Not so confident about this parenting thing, though. I’ve got to admit, Mia, half the time I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do with her. It seems to come so naturally to you, while I’m just floundering here.”
She shook her head, her fingers tightening on his arm. “You’re doing fine. Remember, I have a niece and a nephew that I’ve spent a lot of time with. And I’ve spent more time with Alexis than you have, by necessity. Going out with us tonight was a very positive step for you. I know you feel like you need to be studying, but Alexis needs to spend time with you, too, and you realized that. Considering you’ve only been at this for a couple of weeks, I think you’re a very good father.”
He covered her hand with his, drawing a somewhat unsteady breath. “Thanks. It still terrifies me when I stop to think about it too much.”
“So don’t think about it so much,” she advised him lightly. “Just do what comes naturally.”
“That sounds dangerous,” he murmured.
Suddenly aware of how close they stood, how near his mouth was to hers, how intense his eyes had become as they gazed into hers, she swallowed. “I meant with Alexis.”
“I know,” he said, but he didn’t move away.
She moistened her lips. “Um—Connor?”
“I hope you know how much I appreciate everything you do for Alexis. And for me,” he said, his fingers moving almost caressingly on hers. “I don’t blame her at all for being so partial to you. She’s crazy about you. And I—”
She held her breath.
The sound of the doorbell from the other room broke the spell between them. She started, pulling back from him with a confused mixture of relief and frustration. “That will be trick-or-treaters,” she said, her voice sounding odd to her own ears. “I’ll go take care of them while you carry this stuff into the other room.”
He nodded and turned to get a tray. Her heart still beating too rapidly, Mia hurried to answer the door.
Chapter Seven
As November crept along toward Thanksgiving, the Hayes/Doyle household settled into a comfortable routine. It was a busy time for Mia at school, with tests and programs and preparation for national testing. She brought work home with her nearly every night, settling onto the couch or at the kitchen table with her paperwork while Alexis entertained herself nearby. Once or twice a week she had plans outside the house for the evening, and Connor studied at home to watch Alexis. He’d been scrupulous about punctuality since the first time he’d run late, so she had no complaints about that.
Alexis was still clearly partial to Mia, but she seemed to be less reserved around Connor as the time passed. She still had nightmares occasionally. She still refused to talk about them, and only Mia could comfort her afterward, but they weren’t coming as often. Still attributing them to the upheaval in the child’s life, Mia hoped they’d be gone completely by Christmastime.
Alexis told them over dinner one evening that her best friend, McKenzie, was taking dance classes, making it clear that she would love to take lessons as we
ll. After she was in bed, Mia and Connor discussed it and decided to enroll her in dance classes. Mia offered to help pay for them, but Connor’s pride kicked in. He informed her in a somewhat prickly tone that he could pay for his daughter’s dance lessons. She hadn’t intended to insult him, but she didn’t argue, wisely deciding to let it go. He would never know if she purchased a few dance supplies for Alexis now and then, she decided privately.
So on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, she picked up Alexis from school and drove her straight to dance classes. Mia waited in the “mom’s lounge” with a book or some paperwork during the forty-minute lessons. She was getting to know the others who usually waited there during the lessons—several mothers of various ages, a couple of grandmothers, two nannies and a single dad. Even though she didn’t belong to any of those groups exactly, she was accepted among them easily enough.
“I wish you would tell me your secret for teaching Alexis such perfect manners,” one of the mothers said after the third week of lessons. “She is such a well-behaved little girl.”
“I can’t take credit for that,” Mia admitted, looking up from her book with a smile. “I’ve only been responsible for her for a couple of months. Before that, she was raised by her grandmother.”
“Well, someone certainly trained her right,” one of the grandmothers said. “As much as I love my Kimberly, she can really be a trial sometimes. Got a smart mouth on her. I keep telling my daughter that she’d better put a stop to it soon, before Kimberly turns into a wild teenager, but my daughter thinks it’s cute now. She’ll regret that soon enough,” she predicted darkly.
Connie Porterfield, McKenzie’s bubbly, red-haired mother, leaned closer to Mia. “I’m so glad Alexis and McKenzie have become such good friends. McKenzie has never been very difficult, but Alexis is still a good influence on her.”
“McKenzie has been a good friend to Alexis. She certainly made her feel welcome at her new school, from the very first day.”
“McKenzie’s birthday is next weekend and she’s begging to have a couple of her friends for a sleepover. I worry that they’re a little young. Do you think Alexis would be interested in spending the night at our house?”