Devaney’s Doctor Daddy by Honey Meyer
Chapter Sixteen
It was Wednesday night, Chase and Logan were asleep and he’d gotten Devy tucked into bed. She’d said she didn’t need him to do it, but he could also see how pleased she was when he did. No brainer. He’d tuck her into bed for the rest of his life if he had his way.
Hopefully in the not so distant future, he’d be climbing in next to her. For now, he’d sleep on the couch when the boys were home. He could’ve gone back to his house but he’d rather be here. It wasn’t a bad example to set for Chase and Logan that when you cared for a person and they weren’t well, you showed up. He was sure they’d get that message from their mother, but it shouldn’t be a mom thing, or a woman thing. It should be a human thing.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to get her in to see the neurologist or the ob-gyn he’d called on—they were the best so of course they were busy and they’d been able to get Devy in for appointments next week. Still made him twitchy, the waiting. That was another shitty thing about medicine—all the waiting. Waiting for test results, waiting to see specialists, waiting to see if something would go away on its own or if it would need more treatment. He was a patient man but there were some times he hated the waiting as much as his patients did and this was one of those times. Waiting sucked when you wanted to take care of a person you loved.
He was about to settle in on the couch when his phone rang, which made him jump. It was set to silent except for a few particular numbers. Looking at the screen he was a little surprised but not shocked.
“Hey, man. Everything okay?”
Jethro huffed out a laugh. “Everything is fine if you don’t think it’s crazy we’re about to have four kids under two.”
And then he heard Sable in the background. “Everything is not fine, I’m in labor for fuck’s sake. You try evicting two watermelon-sized parasites from inside your body through your dick and then we’ll talk.”
He had to laugh.
“Sable gets a little mouthy when she’s in labor,” Jethro said, resigned amusement in his voice but also a note of pride.
“Can’t blame her. Other than the obvious, everything okay? It’s a little early, but that’s normal for twins.”
“Thirty-six weeks. She went thirty-seven with Yasmin and Calla but apparently these girls are more impatient than their big sisters.”
Eric smiled thinking about his friends’ growing family. He didn’t think anyone would’ve pegged Sable as the profoundly maternal type, but she loved those girls fiercely and though they were sure going to have their hands full with four, he didn’t doubt they’d be able to handle it. With some help, of course.
“Alright, I’ll be on my way in a few.”
He hung up with Jethro, tugged his clothes on and packed up his things. He and Ian would be at the house with Yasmin and Calla and the dogs until the morning, and then there would be some combination of the regular nanny, Ian, Hudson, Ryker, and Cosima looking after the dogs and girls while the second set of Del Bosque twins arrived.
Right before he left, he snuck into Devaney’s room to find her curled up around Spaghetti. She was still having some cramps but they were far better than right before her period had started. Lord that woman was tough. He hated to wake her, but he also wasn’t going to leave without telling her what was up.
He stroked some hair off her forehead and she stirred, eyes blinking open to look up at him.
“Hey, pretty baby. Just got a call from my friend Jethro, the one who owns the garden center? His wife’s in labor so I have to go play Uncle Eric for their twins until I go into the office in the morning, probably have to head there again after work. Not sure how long I’ll be there, since you know babies don’t follow a schedule.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry I have to go, but you call me if you need something, alright? I’ll have my hands full but I’m never too busy for you.”
A corner of her mouth tipped up as she scrubbed at her eyes with her fists. Such a sleepy little girl. “You’re a good friend, Daddy. A good man. I’ll be fine, I have Spaghetti.”
Sweet, sweet girl. And hearing her say he was a good man—he’d put that on his damn CV, get it printed on a coffee mug, hell, have it engraved on a bigass trophy, it felt that good.
* * *
Two days and the arrival of Hyacinth and Briar Del Bosque later, Eric took a breather between patients to give Devy a call.
“Hi, Eric.”
“Hi yourself. How’s my Devy baby doing today?”
“Mmm, pretty good.”
He would’ve liked more detail than that but he didn’t blame her for not wanting to go into it over the phone. It was easier to coax information out of her in person.
“How are you? How are the Del Bosques?”
“I’m good—I’m talking to you, aren’t I? And everyone at Casa Del Bosque is fine even if it’s like a baby circus up in there. Yasmin and Calla are good sleepers so I got a couple decent nights’ rest, and everyone else came home today—Jethro looked harried but Sable and the girls are doing well. Hyacinth and Briar, they’re about six pounds each and feisty like their mother.”
“Aw, they sound sweet. I miss that baby stage,” she sighed.
Did she mean that? And how much? He’d always wanted kids but Devaney already had Chase and Logan. She might miss the feeling of having an infant fall asleep on her chest or that sweet smell you could only find on the crown of a baby’s head, but that didn’t mean you wanted to go back to dirty diapers and middle of the night feedings. That was a lot to ask, but he couldn’t help the images of a pregnant Devy, a Devy holding their newborn, the five of them having a nice afternoon in the yard from flitting through his mind. Goddamn that was something he wanted.
But that was a conversation for later. Right now he had more immediate concerns, like how he missed having Devy in his home, knowing how she was, and making sure she wasn’t running herself ragged.
“There’s a revolving door of well-wishers going to see the girls and I said I’d bring a meal by soon. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind an extra friendly face and pair of hands if you want to come.”
She made a noncommittal noise, and his brow furrowed. It was fine if she didn’t want to see some strangers’ babies, but he didn’t think that was it. And he really didn’t like her not being here so he could see her face, read her expression. Coax her into taking what she wanted, or hell, just letting her pluck it off the silver platter he was offering it to her on.
Be my princess, Devy—I’ll worship the ground you walk on and give you the world.
What came out of his mouth was, “I’d like you to call me to come get you once Carter’s picked up the boys.”
There was a sigh on the other end and his gut clenched. Was this when she was going to tell him thanks but no thanks, it’d been nice the past several days but she didn’t need him when she was feeling just fine?
“Eric, I can’t. I have so much to catch up on at home that I didn’t get to this week and now I have to look for a new job and—”
It sounded as though her voice caught in her throat and the squeeze in his abdomen moved from his stomach to his heart. She wasn’t going to tell him she wasn’t interested; she was overwhelmed. Well that he could help with.
He did have to catch himself from telling her she didn’t need to find a new job if she didn’t want to—he made plenty of money, had for years now, and she could come be his. He wanted her to be his.
Then she could take a break, unwind from all the stress that had been plaguing her since the divorce and recover from the emotional abuse Carter had been heaping on her for years. Plus, he lived in the boys’ school district so nothing would have to change. Except maybe some house renovations since there was plenty of space for the boys to each have their own room but he’d have to figure something else out for the inpatient room. Something clever too because he really didn’t want them asking too many questions. Eric wasn’t ashamed of the things he was into but it wasn’t appropriate for the kids to know about.
But he was getting ahead of himself, way too far ahead. For now, he needed to focus on getting her here this weekend.
“I hear you. But I’d still really like to spend time with you. How about this? I’ve got little patients on Saturday and Sunday so you’ll spend Friday night here, I’ll bring you back to your place before my first patient arrives Saturday morning and you can get some chores done. I’ll pick you up on my lunch break and you can do some job searching here while I see a couple patients in the afternoon and we’ll do the same thing Sunday. Sound good?”
He could picture her wrenching her mouth to the side as she thought, maybe gnawing on her bottom lip. Her overthinking brain was probably telling her this was too much too fast and she should refuse, maybe just agree to a date. An actual date, not playing doctor at his house. But the thing was, he didn’t want to date her. He’d take it if that was all Devy was ready to give right now but he was sold.
Much as his friends had been when they found their littles, he was certain. It felt different from the play partners he’d had, different from his “patients,” different from the women he’d dated. Devy was the one, he was sure. But if she needed some time to realize that too then he would give it to her. He wouldn’t blame her for being gun shy after Carter, that piece of shit.
He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he waited another beat for her response. Just say yes, Devy. Say yes to this weekend, say yes to forever.
“Isn’t that a lot of driving for you?”
Her shy question made his chest feel like it was full of sunshine and birds singing and all that good animated musical stuff. But he’d tamp down the thrill so she wouldn’t freak out over his eagerness.
“It’s not far and I don’t mind driving. Gives me a chance to spend some time in that sweet ride I’ve got in my garage. Not like I need it for my commute,” he teased and goddamn if there weren’t fucking woodland creatures skittering around when she laughed.
“I guess that’s true. But I don’t want you feeling like you’re playing chauffeur. And what if I need to pick up the boys unexpectedly or run an errand? I—”
“You’re thinking about this way too hard. If you want to drive yourself here because it will make you feel safer or less anxious then you absolutely should. I’ve got plenty of room in the driveway. But if you’re doing it for my convenience, don’t bother. I like taking care of you that way, and honestly, being in control of you.”
That was probably too much of the truth, especially if Carter had been controlling and overbearing. But she should know what she was getting into with him. He’d frame it more as being attentive, devoted, gallant even. But not everyone would feel that way.
More thinking. He hated all the people who had ever made Devy feel like she couldn’t accept something that was on offer because they’d resent her for it. What the hell?
“You’re sure it’s not too much trouble?”
“Not only is it no trouble, I’d be delighted. Get to spend more time with you, look after you—that’s my jam, Devy. Not to be confused with jam hands.”
She giggled again and it was too freaking cute. He wanted to make her laugh and smile all the time, his bright little buttercup. Except when he was making her blush and squirm and moan, of course.