BROCK PATTED himself on the back. He hired good fucking people.
Stephanie arranged to have his apartment childproofed and a nanny she trusted hired. She’d spoken to the hospital, knew what was needed for Eric to be able to stay with Brock after release. There would be a little bed for Josie.
Jack had come back with a huge sheaf of legal paperwork, a car seat, and a bag of little-girl clothes and toiletries, along with some puzzle books and a huge, soft robe for Eric. There were flowers and balloons coming from Eric’s coworkers, toys coming from everywhere (those he had rerouted to his place), and his PR manager, Norman Chestnut, was downstairs, dealing with the media angle and keeping his name, so far, out of it.
Brock spoke to the police and to Gordon’s people; there would be a twenty-four-hour guard on his door as well.
Everything sorted, he headed back into Eric’s room.
Eric was sound asleep, Josie clinging to him, sucking her thumb. He wasn’t about to wake them. He figured they’d stay right here until the hospital kicked him and Josie out. Stephanie or the lawyer had dealt with getting Josie checked out of the children’s hospital, so they were good to go on that front.
He turned to go; he should make some more calls, get a bit of work done while he could.
“Bee?” Josie’s voice sounded as he opened the door. “Hung’y. Bee.”
He stopped and went back to the bed. “Hey, Josie. If you’re ready to leave, I’ll take you home and we can get food on the way.” Little kids liked McDonald’s, right?
“’Kay. Daddy! Daddy, we go home!” She reached down to shake Eric, and Eric whimpered softly.
“Careful, honey. You need to be gentle with Daddy, okay?” He patted Eric’s cheek softly. “Come on, baby, wake up long enough to say goodbye to Josie.”
“Daddy. Daddy, we go home.”
Eric’s eyes fluttered open. “Home? Okay. Okay, Jo. Let’s go.”
Oh shit. “Daddy has to stay here, honey. The doctors want him to stay a few days.”
“No!” That was a stubborn little pout. “Daddy go home!”
“In a few days, honey. Eric, tell her.” He didn’t want a screaming match all the way home.
“Jo. Jo, you go with Bee, hmm? He’ll take you for food. It’ll be like a big-girl sleepover. You and Bee.”
She frowned. “Party?”
“Uh-huh. A party. Like in the Big Lizzie book. A nighttime sleepover.”
He raised his eyebrows. A party. He was having a big-girl party. Good lord.
“’Kay, Daddy. Bee!” She pushed up into his arms. “Party! With cakes!”
“I’ll pay you back, Brock. I swear.”
“One way or another you will.” Surprising himself, he leaned over and kissed Eric’s cheek.
Josie giggled, then leaned in and kissed Brock’s cheek. “My turn!”
Brock chuckled. “Okay. Give your daddy a kiss, too.”
Josie happily smacked her lips against Eric’s cheek. “Ni-night, Daddy. Goin’ party with Bee!”
“You have a good time, Jo.” Those bruised eyes smiled at him. “Night, Bee.”
He shook his head. “Night, Eric.”
He headed out with Josie in his arms. Less than twenty-four hours since Eric showed up in his lobby, and his life was upside down. Again.
Damn it.
THANKS TO Stephanie, Brock had his car to put the car seat in. Thanks to McDonald’s, there was a bag filling the Lexus with the smell of grease. He helped Josie out of the car and put her over one hip. He was getting good at this. Which was a little scary.
He handed the food bag to her and headed for the elevator.
“Home?” Josie cuddled in closer.
“Yeah. You and your daddy are going to be staying with me for a while, okay?”
“Party?”
“Um… sleepover party, right? I have a little bed for you.” He prayed Stephanie had managed to put everything together.
“Little bed?” She laughed, blinking at the elevator. “Push the button?”
“Yeah, here.” He leaned forward and pointed to the one with the PH on it.
The little finger pushed, Josie crowing as it lit up.
He chuckled. She was going to get a kick out of his panoramic, floor-to-ceiling windows.
Josie smiled at him, squealing as the elevator zoomed up. Right before he’d left, El had shown up at the hospital with a huge bag of clothes and toys and odds and ends, so between that and what Jack had brought, Josie had plenty of stuff. El had left with a threat to call the family lawyer, which hadn’t been pleasant. But now Josie was in a tiny pair of jeans and a T-shirt that said “My Daddy Loves Me.”
Honestly, he figured he now had enough crap to clothe this child for ten thousand years or until she was about to enter high school, whichever came first.
The elevator stopped as they hit the penthouse floor, and he headed to the second door. “Do you know how to use a key?” He held it up.
She shook her head, very seriously. “Daddy says little girls never-never touch a keys.”
“Okay, honey, that’s a good thing.” He opened the door. “Welcome home, honey.”
He swung open the door, eyebrows going up. It looked like childproofing meant moving everything that had been at three feet or lower up and away.
She kicked to be let down, eyes huge. “Big.”
“Yeah. Have you seen the view from the big windows?”
There was a box spilling over with toys next to the couch and a rocking horse next to the big easy chair. It looked like it didn’t matter that he’d left the stuff from El in the trunk of his car. He assumed his den had been turned into Josie’s bedroom.
“Huh?” Her thumb popped into her mouth.
“There, see—you can see the whole city.” He put the McDonald’s bag on the glass-topped dining room table.
She looked out, slowly backing away from the window. “High.”
He chuckled. “Yes. But the windows are made of special glass that can’t be broken. Come sit and eat your supper and I’ll show you where you’re going to sleep.”
There was a tiny little plastic table and chair placed by the TV, a stack of Disney movies just waiting.
Bless Stephanie’s heart, she’d thought of everything. Or knew someone who had.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, pulling out one of the fancy chairs that went with the dining room table. He needed one of those booster things.
Which was when he noticed the red plastic thing in the corner. Stephanie really had thought of everything.
“Uh-huh. Want Daddy.”
“I know, honey, but he’s going to spend a day or three more in the hospital. We talked about this, remember?”
“Uh-huh.” Her bottom lip trembled. “Hug, Bee?”
“Sure, Josie.” He picked her back up and hugged her tight. “Now how about you eat your burger and fries, huh?”
“You eat, too?” She settled fairly easily, picking at a fry and slowly tearing the bun to pieces.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got a chicken burger or something here.”
He didn’t usually eat in places like McDonald’s, but it had been easier to just order something with her than to worry about trying to get food from two different places.
She had the little toy out of its package and was playing, jabbering away, toying with her food. Jesus, this was exhausting. The nanny was coming tomorrow and then he could… something. Get back to work, maybe. He’d had Stephanie cancel his vacation.
He ate about half his own burger and left the rest. “What time do you usually go to bed?” he asked, as she seemed to be done eating.
He got a curious little look. “After cartoons.”
“Oh, okay. I think there’s a bunch of cartoons over there by the television.”
“’Kay. Call Daddy now?”
“No, you already said good night to Daddy and he needs his sleep, honey.” He gathered up their junk and put the bag in the garbage. “Come on.” He held out his hand to her.
She reached for him, her little fingers wrapping around one of his.
He took her over to the little table. “So, what one is your favorite? You could show it to me.”
“Mermaid.” She looked, pushing the discs around, then picked up Mulan. “This one for Daddy.”
“Yeah? You don’t like it?”
“I….” She looked utterly confused. “Daddy like.”
He felt the same way. “Oh. Okay. Did you want to watch that one, then? Or the mermaid one?”
“Daddy one.” She started dancing a little. “Potty?”
“This way!” He hurried her to the bathroom, not wanting an accident on his carpet. He helped her unfasten her little jeans, then stepped out, listening to the tuneless singing.
God, how did Eric do this day after day? How had he done it all alone?
He leaned against the wall. The movie should be good. She’d sit quietly through that, right?
The toilet flushed, then he heard, “Bee! Bee! Wash hands!”
Brock shook himself and went in. “You need help with that, honey?”
She jumped up, hands waving. “Too tall!”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose it is.” He picked her up yet again and leaned her over the sink.
She looked at the faucets. “No hot.”
“Just cold.” He turned it on one-handed and pushed the soap dispenser closer to her.
She soaped up and started playing, splashing and making suds.
“You want to have a bath?” Eric had mentioned something about a bath yesterday—was it really only yesterday?
“Bath!” She clapped her hands, suds going everywhere.
“Okay. Okay.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Not too hot, right?” He started hunting for the plug—he’d never had a bath once in all the time he’d lived here, only showers.
“Not too hot. Not too cold. Juuuust right!” Josie’s clothes started flying off.
“Like Goldilocks and the three bears, right?” He kept looking, and finally found the plug in the cupboard under the sink.
“Locks and bears. They eat o-meal.”
“That’s right, oatmeal. And they’ve got chairs and beds that don’t fit, too, right?”
He got the tub filling, making sure it wasn’t too hot. He didn’t have bubble bath of any kind, but he put the soap dispenser from the sink on the edge of the tub; Josie seemed to be able to make bubbles out of it without any problem.
He plopped Josie in the tub and she started splashing and laughing, playing happily. While she was otherwise occupied, he headed out—she needed pajamas, which he hoped Stephanie had put in the room with her bed.
The den had been transformed into a little girl’s room—with a small pink bed and dresser, a toy box, and a wee kitchen. Stephanie deserved a raise.
He found pajamas in the second dresser drawer and he tugged them out, grabbed the hair brush that was on top of the dresser, and headed back to the bathroom where he could hear very enthusiastic splashing happening.
Josie was laughing happily, lying on her belly and kicking her legs. “Bee! I swim!”
“I can see that. Look, I brought you pajamas.” They were pink with a unicorn on the front and little rainbows all over them.
“Ooooh…. Pretty. Horsie!”
“Yeah. Nice and pink, just for you.”
He had no idea how long a bath was supposed to last, but she seemed pretty happy to be in the water. “Did you wash yourself?”
He couldn’t wait for a shower and change of clothes himself. He’d get his chance once she was asleep.
“I swimmed.” She looked inordinately pleased.
“Yes, I saw. That was very good. Do you ever go swimming at the pool?” Could kids as little as Josie even swim for real?
“Only with Daddy. Daddy says only with him. Only only ever.”
“He’s a smart guy, your daddy.”
Josie nodded happily. “Out!”
“Okay.” He grabbed a towel and held it open for her.
She pushed into his arms, dripping wet and wriggling. He got her dry, and then dried his own neck and shoulders. Then he handed her the pajamas.
She stared at him. “Pull-Ups?”
“Yeah, you pull up the pajama bottoms. Do you need help with that?”
“Nighttime panties first.” She looked utterly confused.
“Nighttime panties. Okay. If we go into your bedroom, do you think you might be able to find them?” Because he didn’t have a fucking clue what nighttime panties were.
She nodded and he led her to the little room. She padded across, bare naked, bounced on the bed, and searched through the toy box.
“You’re looking for nighttime panties,” he reminded her.
“Oh!” She looked around, then headed for the bag that Jack had brought. In there were these… diaper-type things that looked like Depends.
“Nighttime panties,” she pronounced.
“Okay, cool.” He shook his head. There was so much stuff involved in dealing with a little girl. Things he’d never even dreamed of, let alone thought about.
She got dressed, then grabbed a little blanket from her bag. “Blankie and cartoons?”
“Okay, honey, that sounds good.”
He led her back into the living room and put Mulan into the DVD player.
She stood watching him, waiting. When he sat down, she crawled up into his lap and cuddled in. “My Bee.”
He blinked and patted her back automatically. “Okay, watch your cartoon, honey.”
“Daddy’s cartoon.”
“Right. Watch Daddy’s cartoon.” And go to sleep. Please.
She patted his arm and popped her thumb in her mouth. The movie hadn’t played five minutes before her eyelids were drooping.
Thank goodness.
She was cute and sweet and so much work.
There was no way at all Eric was going to be able to cope on his own. Hell, Brock couldn’t believe he’d done it so far, healthy or not. It was a good thing he was loaded and could afford the help Eric was going to need for as long as it was needed.
He nudged his shoulder a little to see if Josie was asleep. When she didn’t respond, he shifted her and stood, carrying her to the den—her bedroom. He put her in the tiny little bed, covered her up. She whimpered softly but settled as he patted her back.
Once he was out of her room, the door closed partway, he leaned against the wall and groaned. God, he was utterly exhausted. He slowly slid down the wall, his head resting back against it.
“You better be a fast healer, Eric.”