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IVY DIDN’T WANT HER to leave, but Phoebe was good at getting children to trust her. Her sister always had been. When Phoebe and Joel finally had children of their own, Perci’s nieces or nephews would be extremely lucky. Just like Perci and her own siblings had been. Phoebe was very much like Perci’s mother had been.
Still, leaving Ivy when she’d been crying like that had been harder than Perci would have ever expected. She’d felt like she’d abandoned the little girl.
Which was ridiculous.
Phoebe was probably going to be better at dealing with Ivy than Perci ever would be.
Her immediate supervisor was waiting when she walked in. “There you are. Heard you had some serious excitement a few days ago. How’s little Ivy doing?”
Perci smiled, but knew it wasn’t a good one. Visions of Ivy crying for her the entire day kept running through Perci’s head. “She’s doing ok. She had a tough time when I left her with my sister, but...I can’t take any more time off right now. Not if I want my brothers to be able to eat.”
Tiff patted her on the shoulder. “I know. It gets easier with time. Leaving your little ones behind. Every working mother goes through it.”
“But I’m not her mother. I’m just...babysitting her for now.”
“That’s what you say now. How’s Dr. Nate doing with her? I can’t say I ever thought he’d be the one to take a child home like this. But then again, maybe I do. There’s a goodness in that man.”
“Hmmm. I suppose.” What was she supposed to say to that? Everyone in the hospital knew how she and Nate felt about each other. But how she felt about that man had changed drastically over the past two days. Seeing him with Ivy, as gentle as he’d been...and the way he’d looked at her when Perci would least expect it...
“Where is he?”
Tiff grinned. “In his office. His mother is here. Giving him fits again. Apparently she wants to start working here again. In our department.”
Perci hid a wince. Rhea had been there yesterday afternoon when Perci had woken from her nap. “I see.”
“You’re working the ER today. We had to do some switching around. Jackie’s kids both have the flu. And T.J.’s car wouldn’t start. Supposedly.”
“Gotcha.” Routine would help. Get her right back to where she was supposed to be. No more playing house with Ivy and Nate Masterson.
At least for a little while.
Perci closed her eyes when Tiff stepped away, and pulled in a deep breath. She resisted the urge to text Phoebe again to check on Ivy.
It would be best just to get everything back to normal again.
Somehow. As soon as this was finished with Ivy, she had her own family to take care of. Responsibilities that would not wait forever.
Her dad needed her to do just that. The boys needed her to do just that, too. She couldn’t...be distracted by Nate Masterson and Ivy forever.
She just couldn’t.