21. Chapter Twenty
Mac stared at her, waiting for her to say something. There were so many things going wrong right now. How was she supposed to answer that? Give him the most pressing matter?
“Pinky,” Mac said. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
She smiled at him. “Nothing.”
“Janie.”
She sighed. “Okay. Eleanor might be getting sick, but nothing a nap won’t help with,” she said. That was if she could get Eleanor to go to sleep. She hadn’t had any luck yet. Well, besides that one time but she ruined it by trying to put her down.
It looked like she really wasn’t getting any work done today. Which was okay since she had already told her authors she wouldn’t be able to edit much. It just sucked because she was going to get a little further behind. Nothing a late night couldn’t fix.
“Let me take care of you two,” Mac said and then he lifted up the containers of food. “I brought food over but I can make soup if you two would rather have that.”
Mac tried to take a step in, but Janie held her hand up. He didn’t want to come in here.
“I don’t think that’s a wise idea,” Janie said. “She’s sick and I may end up getting it. You don’t want to get sick. Especially since we don’t know what it is.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care if I get sick or not. Let me take care of both of you.”
“I really don’t want you to get sick. We’re fine.”
Mac raised his eyebrow. “Let me help you. I have today off of work, so no one will need me,” he said. “I know you don’t like to let people help because you think you’re bothering them. But I want to help you. If I leave, I’m going to worry all day if you two are okay or need something. May even text you a lot to check in on you.”
Janie closed her eyes. She felt his warm hand cup her cheek.
“Let me take care of you two,” he gently said. “Take away your worries. Be your Daddy right now and help out with princess.”
It sounded so appealing right now. Her stomach grumbled and she felt her cheeks getting red. Janie opened her eyes and looked at where he was holding the containers with one hand.
“What did you bring?” she whispered.
Mac cracked a smile. “Chicken with some different spices on it and pasta. I have some plain chicken in case you didn’t want Ellie to have the spices I put on it.”
She sighed and nodded her head. Taking a step back, she opened the door more and Mac walked into the house. She closed the door behind him and Eleanor started to scream again. Janie bounced her, trying to get her to calm down.
“You’re okay,” she whispered. “Everything is going to be okay.”
“Have you eaten today?” Mac asked. “Do you need to work?”
Tears pricked in her eyes. She hadn’t had time to eat yet. Her stomach had been grumbling at her all morning but any time she walked away from Eleanor, she would cry.
“I haven’t yet. I don’t think I’m going to be able to work right now either,” Janie gave him a weak smile. “Eleanor doesn’t want to be put down and I’ve got to keep moving for her. I’ll just have to double tomorrow or triple the following day. I don’t even know if Eleanor will get better by tomorrow or in two days.”
She was starting to stress out about things. She always told her authors she wanted two weeks of extra time in case something came up. This was one of those times, but she didn’t like to use that time. She wanted to have their manuscript back on time like she said. None of them were mad at her and understood since they had children of their own, but it didn’t make Janie feel any better.
“Well, first things first. I’m going to dish these out and we’re all going to eat,” Mac said as he placed the food on the kitchen counter. He opened several cupboards until he found the plates. “Plain or spiced chicken for princess?”
“Plain.”
“Then I’m going to hold the princess while you go work for an hour. After that hour, you’re going to go take a nap. I’ll make chicken noodle soup while you’re working and we’ll have that for dinner.”
Janie shook her head. “She won’t want to go into your arms and I’m not taking a nap. I’m fine.”
Mac stopped putting food out on the plates and looked at her. “We’ll see about that. Kids love me and I know how to calm them down. You are taking a nap.”
“I am not!” Eleanor gripped her shirt and made a distressing noise. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re okay. Everything is okay.”
“You are and that’s the end of the discussion. You’ve got bags under your eyes and you need your sleep. I’ll look after Eleanor while you work and then take a nap.”
Janie glared at him as he passed her a plate full of food. It looked absolutely delicious and she couldn’t wait to eat it. Mac’s mac and cheese the night they went over to his house was absolutely amazing. She couldn’t wait to taste more of what he made.
“You don’t have to stay. I probably won’t work today,” Janie said. “I appreciate you bringing food, but that should be all.”
Mac shook his head and his lip twitched.
“Do you think this is funny?” Janie asked.
He shook his head again.
“Then why are you smiling?”
“I’m not smiling.”
“Bull.”
His eyebrow raised. “You’re trying to actively get rid of me like you always are. It ain’t going to work on me. I’m here to feed you, take care of both of you, and make chicken noodle soup for a snack and dinner. Need to make sure that both of you get fluids and food into your body.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“It’s okay to lean on people. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Let me step in for a couple of hours and help you out. Ease your worries so you can get things done and sleep a little. I bet little princess kept you up last night or did it start this morning?”
Janie sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. Eleanor was still in her arms, not going anywhere.
“She woke up a couple of times, but it wasn’t anything bad. I kept her in my bed after the second time. She’s been fussy and screaming all morning.” It was exhausting. This hadn’t happened in a while since Eleanor last had teethed, which had been a while. She didn’t want to go back to that time, but kids got sick and she was dealing with it.
“So, let me help you two,” Mac said. “I’ll watch over Ellie while you get an hour of work done and then you’re going to take a nap. Get some rest and not have to worry about anything for a little bit.”
It did sound nice to have help. She didn’t really want to work and leave Eleanor all alone with him, but an hour was doable. The nap part, she wasn’t going to agree with that. No matter how much he pushed her to take one.
“You can help, but I’m not taking a nap. Maybe I’ll trade it for working another hour.”
Mac shook his head. “That’s not how it works. I’m giving you an hour to work while I watch over Ellie and after that hour, you’re going to take that nap. Non-negotiable.”
She glared at him and stuck her tongue out. Janie didn’t want to take a nap. She didn’t need to. There was no point in taking one when she could work.
Sure, she was exhausted and hadn’t been sleeping well for a while. But that still didn’t mean she needed to take a nap. Just meant she needed to go to bed earlier than she wanted to.
“Eat,” Mac said. “You need to have food in your body. I’ll also be giving you water while you work. I want the whole bottle gone by the time the hour is up.”
Her face screwed up in disgust. She didn’t want to drink water.
“Soda,” she said.
“Nope,” Mac shook his head. “You said so yourself. You may be getting sick as well and you need water in your system. Not caffeine. Understand?”
She held Eleanor and stuffed her mouth with a piece of chicken. He couldn’t make her drink that water.
“And if I don’t?” she asked.
“You’ll get your bottom spanked,” he replied.
Her bottom clenched on the seat. She opened her mouth, ready to tell him he couldn’t do that.
“We’ve already established that I can and I will. You need to drink water so you stay healthy. If you don’t, you’ll get dehydrated and sick or worse.”
She rolled her eyes and looked down at Eleanor.
“That’s one,” Mac said.
Her head snapped up. “One what?”
“You rolled your eyes at me. Unacceptable. Do it again and it’ll go to two.”
She closed her eyes and tried so hard not to roll her eyes again. She had no doubt he would punish her for rolling her eyes.
“Lines is what you’ll be getting,” Daddy said.
Her whole body froze. Shit. She had just called him Daddy in her head. He wasn’t her Daddy. It was just Mac and that was all it could be.
“What were you just thinking?” Mac asked. “Your body has gone all stiff and your face has lost some color.”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.” Janie looked down at Eleanor in her arms. “Do you want some chicken?”
Eleanor rubbed her face into Janie’s chest and whined.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Janie sighed. Eleanor needed to eat something. Maybe she could get some warm milk into her system. That was better than nothing. Janie looked up at Mac. “Could you warm up some milk for her?”
“Sure,” he replied. “I’ll put it in a sippy cup for her and I can feed it to her if you want. You’re almost done with your food and you can go work for the hour if you want.”
Janie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s going to go in your arms.”
“We’ll see. Princess likes me.”
That was true. Both of them seemed to really like him. Which was only going to make things worse when he left. It was going to break both of their hearts.
Janie finished up her food and relaxed into the chair. Eleanor had her eyes closed as her head laid on her chest, but she knew Eleanor wasn’t asleep. She kept whining and nuzzling her head into her chest.
“I’ll take Eleanor and you can go work for an hour. After, I’ll come up and get you so you can take your nap,” Mac said as he rounded the corner. “While you’re taking your nap, I’ll make chicken noodle soup for all of us to eat.”
Janie chuckled. “Good luck. I won’t be taking a nap after I work for the hour. I think I should just be able to work for two hours instead.”
“Not going to happen. You already know that so don’t try and figure out how to change it. I’m not changing it. You’ll see once you get done with the hour of work that you’re ready for a nap,” Mac said as he placed the sippy cup on the kitchen counter. “In all honesty, I shouldn’t even allow you to work for an hour. You should just go straight to a nap, but I’m being generous. Hour of work and then you take a nap.”
She sighed and nodded her head. Maybe she could go down for a ‘nap’ but actually go back to work. She could work on her phone, but it was a little harder and would take longer.
“Princess Ellie,” Mac gently said. “Do you want some warm milk?”
Eleanor moved her head and looked at Mac. “Macie,” she softly said.
Mac opened his hands and picked her up. Eleanor immediately snuggled into his chest and Janie’s eyes went wide. How was that even possible? Mac carefully repositioned Eleanor in his arms and gave her the sippy cup that she glady started to drink.
“What?” Janie whispered in shock.
Mac looked up and gave her a small smile. “My sister has kids and I take care of them sometimes. As I said before, I know kids and they like me. My sweet princess likes me.”
Part of her was hurt that Eleanor was calming down in Mac’s arms. He wasn’t her dad. She was her mother and she wasn’t calming down with her. Was she a bad mother? Had she done something wrong?
“Don’t feel bad that she was calming down with me. You can think about a lot of what ifs and I don’t want you to,” Mac said as he cupped her face with his free hand. “You’re an amazing mom who takes care of Eleanor and loves her with her whole heart. I don’t want you to think of anything else.”
She nodded her head and looked away. He could read her like an open book and it made her feel vulnerable.
“Go get your hour of work started. I’ll come up when it’s done so you can take a nap,” Mac said.
Janie was hesitant. She knew he said he had a sister with kids, but what if he didn’t know something and it went all wrong?
“I’ll take good care of princess here. If I don’t know something or am unsure, I’ll come and ask you. Don’t you worry.”
She nodded her head, got up from her heat, kissed Eleanor’s forehead, and walked towards her office. It was a turn on to see him taking care of her like that. Was she going to be able to get any work done while he was holding Eleanor?