Knocked Up By The Doc Box Set (A Secret Baby Romance) Read online

  KNOCKED UP BY THE DOC

  By Claire Adams

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams

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  Chapter One

  Eric

  If you'd told me, back before I became a parent, that a 10-minute drive across town could be exhausting, I would have laughed. But with Emma screaming behind me, kicking the seat in front of her (fortunately, I'd been smart and hadn't sat her directly behind me), and otherwise pitching a fit, those 10 minutes felt like an eternity.

  “I don't want to go to daycare!” Emma shrieked. “I want to stay with Nana!”

  “I know, sweetie,” I said distractedly as I parked in front of the house. “But Nana isn't feeling well, remember? Anyway, I'm sure you're going to make so many friends at daycare. And maybe you'll get to draw a pretty picture for Daddy to hang in his office.”

  “No,” Emma snarled. “I hate you, Daddy! I'm not drawing pictures for you anymore.”

  I wanted to smile at the cute logic behind that, but it hurt to hear her say that, even though I knew she didn't mean it. Being a single parent was rough.

  I glanced at my watch and winced. As much as I wanted to sit in the car and talk her down from her sulk before bringing her inside, if I didn't hurry, I was going to be late getting to work. On a normal day, that wouldn't be the end of the world, but Mrs. Glover was going to visit her son in Tennessee for a couple of weeks, and we'd managed to squeeze in her appointment right before she needed to go to the airport. I knew the paranoid woman wouldn't leave the state without a checkup from her doctor first, and I didn't want to make her miss her flight.

  “Come on, pumpkin,” I said, unbuckling her seat belt and pulling her out of the car. Not the smartest move, I reflected, as all her limbs were still flailing. “Emma, don't make me tell Nana that you didn't behave yourself today,” I warned, not sure what else I could say. I didn't really want to threaten the girl; I knew that things had been difficult lately and that spending more time with her Nana was the one thing that Emma was really happy about. Now, to have to take that away from her as well, I felt horrible.

  It is for the best, I reminded myself. Anyway, I was sure that Emma would have fun if she would only give daycare a chance. The girl had always been good at making friends with anyone she was introduced to.

  “Nonononononono!” Emma wailed, her kicking increasing in intensity as I pulled her out of the car.

  I groaned and practically collapsed as one of her kicks landed, her shoe digging right into my nether regions. I swore colorfully and half-dropped the girl on the ground, where she promptly burst into tears. I felt bad, but I was busy trying to suck in air through my teeth and not vomit all over the sidewalk.

  A shadow fell over the two of us, and I looked up at the woman standing there, a grin on her face. I assumed she had seen exactly what had just happened, but she didn't rebuke Emma. Instead, she crouched down next to her, her voice sweet and soothing. “Hey, kiddo, bad morning?” she asked.

  Emma looked mistrustfully at her, but amazingly, her wailing lessened. Through my pain, I wondered who this mysterious dark-haired woman was. I had lived in Tamlin, Illinois for my whole life, but I didn't recognize her.

  “Do you like dolls?” the woman continued.

  Emma nodded slowly. “Uh huh,” she said, putting her fingers in her mouth.

  “Well, you know, I have a brand new dolly inside the daycare, and she needs a name. Would you like to come inside and meet her?”

  Emma's lower lip wobbled dangerously. “Don't wanna go to daycare,” she mumbled.

  “Oh honey, I know the first day can be scary, but I bet you're going to have tons of fun,” the woman continued, and I finally figured out who she must be: Olivia Sable, the new daycare operator.

  What a way for me to make a first impression, I thought, barely refraining from rolling my eyes.

  “How about this,” Olivia suggested to Emma. “If you come inside and meet the new doll, I'll get you a glass of apple juice also.”

  Emma's eyes lit up at that: apple juice was her favorite. I breathed out a sigh of relief and followed the two of them inside. I just hoped Emma would be on her best behavior for the rest of the day.

  Once Emma was settled inside with the doll and a sippy cup, I had the chance to properly introduce myself to Olivia. I held out my hand, holding her warm one for a brief moment in my grasp. “I'm Eric Jones.” I paused. “You're an absolute lifesaver, but if you don't mind me asking, how did you recognize us?”

  Olivia raised an eyebrow at me. “You pulled up in front of my house,” she pointed out. “Plus, you included a picture of Emma in your application for her. And if those things weren't enough, my mom, Jeannie Sable, gave me a description of you.”

  I grinned at her. “She did, did she? I hope it was a nice description.”

  From the way Olivia blushed, I had to wonder just what had been in that description. I tried not to laugh.

  “Thanks again for your business,” Olivia said, breezing past that. “It's been difficult getting started with the daycare here in such a small town. I only have one other kid to look after at the moment, an 8-year-old boy named Harlan, and he barely pulls his head away from video games when he gets here after school. I've been looking forward to having someone a little livelier.”

  I laughed. “You might regret that wish,” I admitted. “Emma's got enough energy for 10 kids her age, and all the mischief to go along with it! Jeannie recommended you, though, and I trust her. I'm sure you and Emma will get along.”

  “If you don't mind me asking, why are you changing daycare providers?” Olivia asked. “Did Emma cause too much trouble before?” Immediately after asking the question, Olivia covered her mouth, looking embarrassed at having said that. “Sorry, I don't mean to imply that she's that much of a handful,” she said quickly. “I'm sure she isn't out of control; maybe just curious.”

  There was something about seeing her flustered like that which made me want to get her even more flustered. But I decided to go easy on her. “She's been staying with her Nana while I'm at work,” I told her. “My mother-in-law, Helen.” I glanced toward Olivia, but she was happily playing with the doll and not listening to us. “Helen's getting older, though, and I just don’t think it’s fair to put the task of watching Emma on her when she is starting to have trouble just getting around to take care of herself. I thought it might be best to take some of the stress off. And when your mother told me about your daycare, it just seemed like the perfect solution.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that, about Nana,” Olivia said sincerely. She glanced toward Emma as well. “Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea?”

  I grimaced. I'd really like to stay; there was something about her that interested me. But I knew I had to get going. “I have an appointment that I need to get to, actually,” I told Olivia. “I'll have to take a raincheck.”

  “Right, no problem,” Olivia said brusquely. “Well, I'll see you back here at 4 to pick up Emma. I have your cell number if there are any issues, not that I'm anticipating that there will
be.”

  “Good,” I said, wondering at her change in manner. Maybe the polite thing to do would have been to agree to the cup of coffee. It wouldn't take that long, and I didn't want to think that I had upset her.

  I didn't know why the thought of upsetting her bothered me so much, but I tried not to dwell on it.

  I glanced toward Emma, wondering if I should say goodbye to her, but she was just starting to seem happy again, her temper tantrum forgotten, and I didn't want to risk upsetting her again. I nodded a goodbye at Olivia and stepped back outside.

  I shook my head to clear it and walked back to my car. I needed to swing by the office before going to see Mrs. Glover, but I figured I should have plenty of time for that.

  Back at the office, I fingered through the stack of test results that had come in that morning. You'd think these things would be all electronic by now, but for some reason, the local lab insisted on having a guy deliver paper copies every morning. I supposed it made sense in case there was ever a power outage or anything like that, but it still seemed like just another backward thing in this small town.

  I found the results of Mrs. Glover's blood tests that she'd had done the previous week. I paused, noticing that they were beneath Jeannie Sable's test results. I had a quick minute to look at those, I decided. Mrs. Glover's results, as expected, had all come back perfectly normal, so our appointment that morning would be rather perfunctory.

  I sat down at my desk and scrolled through the documents, frowning deeper and deeper as I went. Although I'd had some idea of what I'd be looking at when the results came in, I had been hoping I was just being overly worried. But now, I was concerned to find that her cancer had progressed.

  I closed my eyes, pressing my fingertips against the lids for a moment. Jeannie hadn't lived in Tamlin for most of her life, but everyone knew her. It wasn't just that association that upset me, though, or thinking about how Olivia would take the news. Instead, every patient who came in here with cancer reminded me so much of Emily, my former wife.

  I swallowed hard. It had been nearly two years since Emily's death, but every time I thought about it, the pain was just the same: a dull ache in my chest that never really seemed to go away. I already knew exactly what we were going to see with Jeannie unless we acted quickly. I knew what that rapid decline in health looked like, that loss of appetite, the weakness, and the pain. If I had my way, I'd never see it again in anyone else.

  I smiled a little to myself. You've picked the wrong profession, if you don't want to see people suffering, I reminded myself sternly.

  I sighed and stood up, knowing that I needed to see Mrs. Glover. And knowing that if I showed up stern-faced and grim, she would only panic, suspecting that there was something I wasn't telling her so that she would still go on her vacation. Then, she'd spend the entire vacation worrying that this would be her last, and when she got back home, she'd order another hundred tests to ensure that there was nothing wrong with her.

  I had to put on a friendly smile, just for her. Fortunately, I had a lot of practice in smiling when I was upset.

  I'll visit Emily's grave soon, I promised myself as I walked out of my office, flicking off the lights as I went. Maybe next weekend, if the weather was nice, although now that we were getting into April, you never knew what the weather would be like from one hour to the next. But having that plan, no matter how tentative, soothed me, and by the time I reached Mrs. Glover's house, my smile was almost genuine again.

  I spared a thought for the daycare provider who had made me smile that morning. There was something I liked about her already. I knew Emma was in good hands.

  “And that is the biggest relief I could imagine,” I muttered as I parked my car in Mrs. Glover's driveway.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia

  By the end of the day, I was practically pulling my hair out in frustration. The more I got to know Emma, the more convinced I was that there was a sweet little girl in there somewhere. She had shown flashes of an artistic side after lunch. But today, her default setting seemed to be 'brat,' and it had been temper tantrum after temper tantrum, to the point where I'd had to endure a lecture on properly disciplining the kids when Harlan's mom showed up to get him.

  She, of course, had to walk in right when Emma started throwing crayons around the room and stomping her little feet. The thing was, I knew that I was in charge when it came to the daycare, and I knew that I could discipline them just like their parents would. But nothing I did seemed to have any effect on Emma; she just kept wailing all day.

  It was impressive. I was pretty sure I would have lost my voice by now.

  It had all started with the doll, which still didn't have a name. Of course, she no longer had an arm, either, so there were bigger problems for her. Not two minutes after Eric had walked out the door, Emma had gone wild, slamming the doll into the furniture with all her might.

  By now, I was regretting wishing for a more energetic child in the daycare. I was exhausted after spending the whole day running after the little devil, and I was counting the minutes until Dr. Jones came to pick her up.

  That's not the only reason you're excited to see him, my subconscious reminded me. I blushed a little, just thinking about him. Mom had mentioned he was handsome, but I hadn't expected to agree with her. And once I'd seen exactly how handsome he was, I'd expected him to have an ego like no other. But instead, he was surprisingly charming. I could tell he loved Emma, just in the short interaction I'd seen between the two of them. Despite the fact that she'd kicked him in the nether regions.

  I grinned a little, remembering that. I'd expected the doctor to get angry with her. I'd expected him to scold her, maybe threaten her with a later punishment. But instead, he'd acted as though it was his fault for getting in her way.

  Of course, maybe that hesitance, the fact that he didn't want to scold her when she was obviously out of line, was exactly the reason she had been such a menace all day. Mom had also mentioned that the girl's mother had died, and although I knew that things couldn't have been easy for little Miss Emma, letting her get away with murder wouldn't do anyone any good.

  I put those thoughts out of my head as Dr. Jones finally arrived. He was frowning, and I wondered whether I'd had it all wrong about his relationship with Emma. Maybe he just hadn't wanted to scold her this morning because he didn't think it would make a good first impression, but now that he was taking her home, it was time to lecture her.

  But when he spoke, I realized his frown was caused by something entirely different.

  “Good afternoon, Olivia,” the man said.

  Emma ran over to him and flung herself at his leg, clinging tightly. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” she cried.

  A small smile cracked the stern expression on the doctor's face. “Hey, Emma,” he said, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her nose. “I want to talk to Miss Olivia for a minute. Why don't you help put away all your toys? Remember, Nana has a surprise for you when you get home, but only if you've been a good girl today.”

  Emma nodded solemnly and ran off to start putting things away. I breathed out a noisy sigh of relief.

  Dr. Jones winced. “Don't tell me: she was horrible all day, wasn't she?”

  “She was fine,” I lied, shaking my head. I cracked a smile. “Like you said, Dr. Jones, it's my fault for wishing for a kid with a little more energy.”

  The man frowned. “Please, call me Eric,” he said. “I'm off the clock.” Then, his look darkened again. “Or at least, I'm almost off the clock. Listen, your mother's test results came in this morning. I've set up an appointment with her tomorrow evening, but I was hoping that you could come along as well. I'd like to talk to both of you about the results.”

  I felt my heart sink. I had moved to Tamlin to be closer to Mom because I knew that things had to be worse than she had let on, but to have that suspicion confirmed by Dr. Jones—Eric—was hard, especially after such a long day. I nodded my head, though, trying not to let my fear
show. I knew that Mom had cancer, but she kept insisting that she'd get over it in no time. Now, I had to wonder.

  “Tomorrow evening should be fine,” I said, my voice sounding faint even to my own ears. “For me, anyway, but I assume you already spoke to Mom about it. Should we meet you at your office?” I glanced toward Emma, suddenly reminded of her presence by the sound of blocks crashing into a plastic bucket.

  “Nana can watch Emma for an hour or so,” Eric said, answering my unspoken question. “Jeannie, your mom, invited me over for dinner. She said to be at her house at 7, if that works for you.”

  “Seven is fine,” I said, nodding stupidly.

  “Don't worry,” Eric said gently. “Your mother is a very strong woman, and we've caught the cancer early enough that her chances of pulling through are still high.”

  I shook my head. “Her chances of pulling through,” I echoed bitterly. “That doesn't sound good at all.”

  Something flickered across the doctor's face, but it was gone before I could identify it. “We'll talk more about it tomorrow evening,” he promised. “For now, I should take Emma off your hands and let you get some rest.”

  “I'll see you tomorrow,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. I wasn't sure why I did it, why I craved that contact with him, and his answering surprise made me blush. But his hand was warm against mine, and even that brief moment of human contact settled something inside of me. I managed a shaky smile.

  “See you in the morning,” Eric confirmed. Then, he turned and called to Emma, who bounded back over to him and led the way out to their car, chattering noisily about all the fun she'd had that day and proudly showing him the scribbled drawing that she'd done that afternoon.

  I shook my head, already thinking up ways to keep the girl entertained the following day. Slowly, I started to pick up the things that Emma had missed.