The cordless rang from the wall, but she didn’t answer. The caller I.D. told her it was just Bernie. A text message would suffice for the night. She’d explain everything when she woke, hoping to wake up feeling better than she was at the moment.
Lex—I’m fine, just a little tired. I’ll call you in the morning. I’m probably just going to hang around the house tomorrow. Call me if you need anything.
Alexis placed her phone in the window, hit send, and waited, knowing Bernie would text right back.
Bernie—Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Call if you need me.
Alexis didn’t know what to do with herself, she didn’t want to sleep, didn’t want to watch TV, didn’t want to read, and she definitely did not want to feel hurt anymore. Once she remembered the pain pills from Dr. Brock, she decided to go that route. Maybe it would help with the numbing. Sleep it off—that sounded like the best plan. Things always looked better in the morning, wise words from her dad. She just hoped they held true.
The empty water bowl caught the corner of her eye just as she went to shut off the kitchen light. Her neck stretched when she saw the headlights and then his car.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she audibly said with a stomp of each foot, all the way to the living room door.
“Hush,” she yelled at Mr. Dog when he heard the commotion on the porch.
Alexis opened the door with a hateful jerk and tried to speak in syllables. “Un-fu-fu-be-lieve-able.” Her eyebrows moved to the center and she stared at Cory. What the hell?
“Doggie,” the little girl said, excited to see Mr. Dog. She squirmed and wiggled her little body, freeing herself from Cory’s arms, and went to Mr. Dog.
“Were you crying, Lex?” Cory questioned.
Alexis ignored the question. She wouldn’t have admitted that if her life depended on it. “What are you doing here?”
“This is why I had to get home. There are no other girls in my life, except her and you, I hope. You heard me on the phone with her babysitter. I was messing up her bingo night. Beth Regal, do you know her?” he asked.
Alexis nodded, unable to take her eyes off this adorable little girl. Cory had a kid. Holy shit. Cory had a kid.
“Cory, is this what you’ve been hiding from me?” she asked in deep thought, putting the pieces together. The strange look about the tiny milk carton, the questions about her wanting kids, the phone calls he couldn’t take around her, and all the times he had to be home by seven. It all added up now.
“Yes, Lex, it is.”
“You stupid ass,” she said with her hand cupped over her mouth, getting closer to his ear so the little girl couldn’t hear her.
“I’m sorry.”
“God, you’re such a fu—an ass. Why would you think you have to hide”—she paused and looked at the little girl again—“your daughter?”
Cory nodded.
“Why would you think you have to hide her from me? I don’t understand.”
“Because I’m a stupid ass. I tried to tell you, but you kept—”
“Oh no you don’t. You’re not pinning this on me. You should have told me.”
“You’re right, but you’ve mentioned more than once that you were not interested in having kids. I just didn’t want to scare you off before you got to know me.”
“Just because I said I didn’t want kids doesn’t mean that I couldn’t love yours. I can’t believe you right now. You’re letting the bugs in.” Alexis turned on her heels and walked away. She had to. She was ready to punch him right in the gut. Her balled fists reminded her of that fact.
“Alexis,” Cory softly spoke, closing the door.
Alexis held one hand up with a look for him to shut up. She just needed a moment.
“I’m sorry.”
Alexis ignored the apology and sat on the sofa. “Hello,” she said to the little girl still amazed by Mr. Dog. The little girl went to Cory and he sat beside Alexis. She crawled onto Cory’s lap and hid her face in his shirt.
“You’re not shy,” he said with his arm securely around her while pulling her hand from her face. “This is Alexis. Can you say Alexis?”
“Wexis,” she said with a bob of her head, smiling a big, beautiful smile. Alexis almost squealed when she saw the same little dimple as Cory. Holy shit! Cory had a kid!
“What’s your name?” Alexis asked.
“Riki,” she giggled.
Alexis looked at Cory with a puzzled look not sure if she understood.
“It’s pronounced Ree-kee, but no one can say it, so we call her Riki, like the boy’s name Ricky, I’ll explain later.”
“How old are you, Riki?”
“Free.” She giggled again as she awkwardly held up three little fingers. Alexis couldn’t get over how adorable she was. She had dark straight hair, shiny black. Her skin tone had a darker tint than Cory’s. Her eyes were dark with long lashes, and Alexis could tell she had something besides Caucasian in her, Indian maybe. Her purple footed-pajamas brought out her dark eyes, and she was the cutest kid ever. Once Riki realized Alexis was cool, she slid off Cory’s lap and went back to Mr. Dog.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean for it to be this way. You have no idea how many times I tried to tell you.”
Alexis couldn’t help but smile at him. She patted his leg and stood. “I’m going to make a pot of coffee. It’s going to be a long night. You have some explaining to do.”
Cory pulled her back by her hand. “How do you feel, how’s the pain?”
“I’m fine, just a dull pain every now and then.”
Riki came to join her as she made the coffee. “What you do dat for?” she asked in the cutest little three-year-old voice ever.
“I am going to make some coffee. Do you want something to drink?”
“Milk,” she changed while trying to pull herself to the chair. Alexis pulled it out and helped her, thankful she’d just picked up another pint the day before. She didn’t really keep it around much. Coffee was the only thing she needed it for.
Cory walked out to the car for her bag and a sippy-cup. Riki was eating dry Froot Loops when he returned.
“Dat one gween,” Riki said assuredly, popping a red circle into her mouth.
“Cory, she is so darn cute. I could kill you right now. I can’t believe you thought you needed to hide her from me.”
“I was afraid of losing you. There’s something here, Lex…something between us that I’ve never felt before. I wanted to tell you. So many times, I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t want her.”
“You really don’t know me at all.”
“I’m sorry. I should have known you would be okay with her.”
Alexis found one of Paige’s old Disney movies for Riki. She had to laugh when she wanted the blanket on the floor. Mr. Dog wanted to watch The little Mermaid, too. Cory and Alexis sat on the couch and watched, too. Alexis felt like a load had been lifted, and she still couldn’t believe Cory hid her. What an ass. Her feet were pulled below her butt and her body molded comfortably into his. She fit into his arms like a glove, and she fell harder, but now it was way worse. This kid would be her undoing.
“Me be a mermaid in a water,” she said to no one in particular. Her little thumb pointed to her chest, but her eyes never left the television. One of Cory’s hands rested on the inside of Alexis’s bare leg and fingers from the other one brushed up and down her ribs.
“And she’s out,” Cory said, watching Riki’s head fall to the side.
“Do you want to sit on the porch?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
“I’m going to put her on the couch, that floor can’t be comfortable.”
“No you’re not. You’re not picking anything up. You’re supposed to be taking it easy, remember?”
“I’m fine. Whatever. I’ll get us coffee.”
Neither of them really drank the coffee. They shared one cup, covered with a blanket,
swaying lightly on the porch swing. His arm wrapped around her was warmth against the cool night breeze.
“Where is Mrs. Baker, Cory?” Alexis started.
“There is no Mrs. Baker. There never has been.”
“Go on,” she encouraged while her fingers laced with his, wanting the whole story. There had to be a mom. Cory sure as hell didn’t have her.
“Riki’s mother was an exchange student from Indonesia. She was doing her residency at Mercy Medical where I worked. We dated for about three months and she just up and transferred one day. I had no idea why she left or where she went. I was told by a couple co-workers that she was reassigned to Cleveland, Ohio.
“About six months later, I was doing rounds when I was paged to the maternity ward. I walked into her room, confused as hell. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. She started crying as soon as she saw me. She apologized for up and leaving like she did and explained why. She’d just given birth to Riki and she was sure she was my child. She told me she couldn’t keep her because of a prearranged marriage in Indonesia. She couldn’t let her family find out.
“She told me she wanted me to know so that I could make the choice of whether to keep her or put her up for adoption. At first, I told her no way. I was not raising a kid that I wasn’t even sure was mine. I told her to give her up. I tried to go back to work and forget about it, but I found myself gazing through the window on the fifth floor at a baby with no name. My baby.
“She was so tiny, Lex, and perfect, the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen in my life. I knew at that very moment that she wasn’t going anywhere but home with me.” Cory smiled and squeezed her hand a little, recalling his first meeting with his baby girl. “The next thing I know, a nurse comes out and asks me if I wanted to hold her. I knew holding that tiny, precious baby that she was mine and I had to take care of her somehow. I had the DNA test before I went back to talk to Rini, and because we had a lab right there in the hospital I kind of rushed the results a little. When I went into the room, children services were there and she was signing papers, getting ready to leave.
“The social worker tried to talk me out of it, and I knew everything she was telling me was right. I was barely out of med school and I had no idea what the hell to do with a baby. I was hardly able to care for myself. I also knew that I was on my own. There was no way my parents would understand. I knew I would be getting no help from them.”
Alexis took Cory’s hand, feeling a sense of pride she hadn’t had before. “And then what,” she asked with a sigh, wanting to hear all of it.
“Riki was a healthy baby and was ready to be released. I talked them into keeping her one more day so that I could figure things out. I called my mom and told her. She did exactly what I thought she would do. She freaked. We got into an argument and I ended up hanging up on her.
“I had no freaking clue how to care for her, I had nothing for her. I lived in an upscale condo on the tenth floor—a bachelor pad. I called Ellen, my nanny growing up, and she was my lifesaver. She went with me to buy everything that I needed to bring a baby home.” Cory chuckled and laughed again, tracing Alexis’s fingers with his. “It nearly wiped out my entire savings, babies are expensive!
“Ellen stayed with me and taught me everything I needed to know, or tried anyway. Trying to get a diaper on a tiny little butt with these hands, took a lot of practice. Ellen stayed with her while I went to the hospital every day, trying to get her into the daycare there. There was one opening and a long waiting list. I don’t know if it was pity or they just got tired of seeing me every day. She got in and I would go down and see her when I could. She would be there sometimes twelve to sixteen hours a day.”
“Why didn’t Ellen stay and be her nanny, too?” Alexis questioned.
“Unfortunately, my parents aren’t like yours. Ellen had just signed another five-year contract for them. They wouldn’t let her out of it.”
“You’re kidding.” That was hard for Alexis to grasp. She didn’t really understand that.
“Nope.”
“So how did you end up here?” Alexis decided to save the parents for another time.
Cory took a deep breath and Alexis felt his posture stiffen. “I was at work one day when I heard a code orange called over the intercom, a lockdown,” he added with a heavy heart, staring off in the distance as if he was seeing it happen all over again. “When I heard there was a father in the daycare with a gun wanting his child, I ran there as fast as I could. They wouldn’t let anyone through. We waited, not knowing what was going on for six hours. That was the longest six hours of my life,” he explained.
Alexis felt a chill run up her spine, and not from the cool air. “Was everyone okay?”
Cory shook his head. “The father shot his son in the head and then shot himself.”
“Oh my God, Cory. That’s horrible.”
“It was, and that was my last day at Mercy. I spent three weeks at home with her. I stared out the window at night trying to figure out what to do, knowing I had to get her out of Chicago. I didn’t want her raised that way. Things are just too fast-paced there. She was being raised by the hospital daycare and I wanted better for her. I wanted her to have a home and security.”
“So you have been doing this for three years, all by yourself?”
Cory nodded. “If it hadn’t been for Ellen, I don’t know if I would have made it that first year.”
“So why here?”
Cory shrugged with a sigh. “I just got online and started looking for small towns with family practices for sale. It was between this one and another one in Indiana. All I knew was I didn’t want to live there one more day. I didn’t want to subject my daughter to the environment that I had for the past three years. I wasn’t winning any father of the year awards, that’s for damn sure.”
“You’re not winning any with me, either. We could have been doing things together all along, you big dumb idiot.” Cory snickered and squeezed her to him. “I’m glad you picked this one.”
“Me too. I’m going to go use your bush,” he said out of the blue, standing. Alexis snickered that time. Cory walked around the corner and relieved himself, leaving Alexis with her spinning thoughts and emotions. This would take a day or two to comprehend. Cory had a kid. No matter how many times she said it, she still couldn’t believe it.
Cory leaned against the banister when he returned. Still in his white shirt and dress slacks, he looked devilishly handsome. Alexis held his gaze, feeling things she wasn’t sure how to handle just yet.
“I’m sorry I made you cry, Lex,” he said with a serious, apologetic look.
Alexis stood and went to him. He embraced her, holding her close, and kissed the top of her head. His hand moved up the back of her shirt and the heat from his hands felt welcoming on her bare skin. Alexis responded by raising her lips to his. Lost in an emotional kiss, Alexis, too, let her hands wander up his shirt to the most amazing body she’d ever touched. She couldn’t explain the emotions running through her because she didn’t understand them. This was so far out of her realm, but for the first time in a long time, she felt okay with it. Alexis took another plunge, letting her guard down even more when Cory’s lips moved down her throat to her collarbone. Her body pressed against the hardening in his slacks and her hands landed on his belt buckle.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Cory protested. He took her hands away from him, holding them out to her sides.
“Really?” she questioned in the sexiest tone she could muster while her hips pressed into his erection.
“Yes, really!” he demanded. A firm hold on her arms spun her away from him. He held her back to his body, but that did little to tame her. If anything, it made it worse. Now her ass pressed against the hardness in his pants.
“You sure?” she taunted.
“Yes! Five hours ago you were in so much pain you couldn’t stand up. You should have known that there was no way I was going to touch you tonight.”
“I’m fine.”
“I’m not touching you.”
Alexis sighed and moved to his side. “Will you spend the night?”
“I was planning on it before we left the hospital, I just didn’t know what I was going to do with Riki.”
“Is her name from her mother?”
“Yes, it’s a family name. Her grandmother's name. Rini wanted her to have it.” Cory shrugged. “It sounded like a good idea at the time.”
“I love her name. It fits her. It’s late, you should sleep. You have to get up in the morning.” Alexis moved back in front of him and dropped her head to his chest.
“I can’t sleep in the same bed with you,” he assured her with a kiss to her head.
She shrugged her shoulders and looked up at him. “It’s your loss, Doc.”
“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”
Alexis blushed, thankful for the darkness. Nope, no one has ever told her that. “I told you, there hasn’t been anyone for a very long time.”
“Tell me about it,” Cory coaxed with his hands holding her face, looking deep into her eyes.
“Another time. It’s late, let’s go to bed,” she decided instead. She wasn’t going there. Not tonight. “Come on, Mr. Dog.”
Alexis watched Cory unzip the little pink backpack trimmed in purple with the name Riki stitched in hot pink. He pulled out a Pull-Up and removed the blanket from the little girl. Snuggled on her belly with her arms and hands tucked beneath her tiny body, she slept. Cory rolled her over and checked her pajama bottoms for an accident. He was good, damn good. He had her changed from the little panties plastered in Elmo’s to the Pull-Up in no time, all without waking her.
Alexis got the lights and Cory followed her up the stairs. She turned down the covers in the room next to hers and Cory laid her down. Riki rolled to her belly and resumed her favorite sleepy position, arms under her torso. He kissed her on the head, covered her up, and Alexis fell in love. Swoon. What man was sexier than a hot doctor in love with his little girl?
“You need to take the pain pill before you go to bed,” Cory ordered. He took her hand and led her to the door for one more goodnight kiss.