Chapter Thirty
Duncan
The next morning, we both woke up early, which was perfect for me because I wanted to enjoy a little more time with Riley before we picked up Jeremy.
She was singing in the shower. I promised myself that I wouldn't distract her from it, but I lost my willpower only a few minutes later.
I couldn't resist knowing that she was naked under the spray of water.
Jumping out of bed, I headed into the bathroom and opened the door to the shower, stepping inside. She shrieked and then lost her balance. I grabbed her, putting both hands on her rib cage.
"Oh my God, you should announce yourself," she said.
"I did, but you were singing. Very loudly, I might add."
"Oops, I didn't realize."
"It's fine, babe. You were relaxed. But you sounded so irresistible that I couldn't stay in bed by myself any longer."
"Really? My high-pitched tune was irresistible? You're a bad liar."
"No, knowing that you were here naked was very irresistible to me. I thought you might need help washing your back."
"Or my boobs?" she asked as I started soaping up her breasts.
"Every part of you," I said, kissing the tip of her nose.
"All right, then. Allow me to return the favor so you don't feel like I'm using you or something."
I grinned, loving the feeling of her palms on my skin.
After we cleaned up, I intended for us to drink coffee before we left, but then I saw a message from Mom.
Mom: Jeremy woke up a bit poorly today. He's vomiting and having diarrhea. I think he's got a stomach bug.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Riley walked toward me, clutching her hand to her stomach.
"We have to cancel the camping trip."
"What's wrong?"
"Jeremy's not feeling well. Mom thinks he's got a stomach bug."
She frowned. "Oh no, poor thing."
"Come on, let's pick him up and see how the day goes," I suggested.
Riley nodded. "Sure."
I was supposed to pick up donuts for him, but I headed straight to Mom's. If he had a bug, the last thing he needed was donuts.
My mom opened the door, smiling when she saw us.
"Hi," Riley said. "Good to see you again."
"You too."
"How's the little guy feeling?" I asked.
"Not terribly bad, but I don't think he's in any shape for a camping trip. Not the best place to need the toilet."
"No," I agreed.
"He’ll try to convince you otherwise, of course."
Riley and I stepped inside. Jeremy was curled up on Mom's couch with his favorite toy in his arms and a pillow between his knees. He looked a bit pale. But I swear to God, the second he noticed Riley, his face completely lit up.
"Riley, how are you doing?” he asked. “I haven't seen you all week."
"I missed you," she said, sitting next to him and hugging him. Jeremy didn't even seem to care that I was here.
"The new nanny's not as nice as you are. No one is as nice as you are. I'm so happy we're going camping."
Riley looked up at me, and I nodded.
"Jeremy, your grandmother says you've been throwing up and going to the toilet a lot," I said.
"Yes, but I'm fine now." But then he turned pale again and said, "Oh no, I need to throw up again." He made a beeline to the toilet.
"I'll go after him," I told Mom and Riley.
Jeremy stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door. "Don't come after me. I'm a big boy."
"Right. I'm going to be out here in case you need me," I said.
He came out a few minutes later. He'd rinsed his face, but he was still pale.
I lowered myself so I was his height. "Buddy, why don't we have a cozy weekend in, okay? And we'll make plans for next week or another time."
He pouted. "No."
"It's going to be very uncomfortable if you're sick. You won't be able to eat any marshmallows."
I could see his resolve weaken. His shoulders slumped, and the corners of his mouth turned downward.
Riley joined us a moment later.
"Riley, help,” Jeremy begged. “Dad is trying to convince me not to go camping."
She sat down on the floor with her thighs to one side, cupping his cheek lightly with one palm. "Jeremy, you don't feel well."
"But I want to spend the weekend with you," he cried before hugging her.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
Now it all made sense. He'd insisted because he thought she was only staying with us if we were going on a camping trip.
I put a hand on his back, making eye contact with Riley. "Riley is spending the weekend with us no matter what. The three of us will stay home, and if you're feeling a bit better later on, we can even go down to the pool."
That was a good compromise. Even if he became sick again, there was a bathroom there.
"Really? Riley's staying with us? Can we do a TV marathon? We can watch all the Disney originals with Dad."
He looked at me with a huge grin. Riley could barely hide her laugh.
"A what?" I asked, because that sounded like hell.
"I've been showing Jeremy the classic Disney movies,” she explained. “So many kids these days don't know them anymore."
"They're awesome, Dad. You know them?"
Yes, they were old as fuck. Like me. Of course I knew them. But that didn't mean I wanted a marathon.
"Can we do a marathon, please? Pretty please?"
His eyes were pleading. Riley had a sympathetic expression on her face, so what else could I say except, "Sure, let's go home and watch them."
By the time we got back to the condo, I figured they might have forgotten about their plan, but no such luck.
We all headed to the TV room. Riley darkened the blinds, and Jeremy got hold of the remote. Usually, we'd make popcorn when we watched anything in this room, but right now, I just wanted to keep him hydrated.
"All right, what should we start with? Cinderella ?" Riley suggested.
"No, let's start with Snow White ," Jeremy replied.
I’m in hell.
"All right, Snow White it is," Riley said with a huge smile. Jeremy had an almost identical one.
It made these two happy, so why not? So, for the rest of the day, we watched cartoons back-to-back.
When Jeremy fell asleep, I simply took him to his room, then came back for Riley.
She had also fallen asleep. I was the only one who saw the ending of The Lion King .
Spoiler alert: I'd actually forgotten most of it, and it wasn’t too bad.
Riley didn't even move as I scooped her up and brought her to bed.
The next day, we started all over again.
Jeremy wasn't feeling much better. He could keep water down, but food was trickier.
He'd managed to have toast for breakfast, but I'd felt too optimistic at lunch and gave him some of that turkey chili I'd made yesterday.
That did not go well. Needless to say, he only had water and more toast for the rest of the day.
As the afternoon went by, we went through yet another Disney marathon.
At five o’clock, Riley's phone beeped, but she silenced it. I looked at her over Jeremy's head, which was in her lap.
"What was that?" I asked.
"The reminder that I was supposed to go to that event at work."
"Oh yeah, sorry. I totally forgot," I said. "I'll call you an Uber.”
She shook her head. "I'm not going."
I frowned and paused the movie. Jeremy was sleeping, and I gestured with my head for her to step out of the room.
After we tiptoed out, I closed the door and asked, "What do you mean, you’re not going?"
"Jeremy's sick. I don't want to leave him."
As much as I fucking loved every word coming out of her mouth, this wasn't right.
"Riley, I'm here with him. There's nothing you can do."
"But he likes having me here."
We both did. I'd been so wrapped up in having these past few hours that I didn't even remember that she had plans this evening. It wasn't just Jeremy who needed her. I needed her, too, but still.
"Listen, we talked about this. It's a great opportunity. I wouldn't want for you to miss your first social get-together."
She waved her hand. "I'm sure there will be more."
"Riley."
She bit her lip.
"I mean it. Go."
"But if he wakes up and he doesn't see me, he might get upset."
"We could wake him up now and explain."
She shook her head. "No way. He seems exhausted."
I stepped closer, kissing her forehead and then one corner of her mouth. "I'll talk to him when he wakes up. If you want, I’ll call you and put you on the phone so you explain."
She looked up at me. "Okay, that’s a good compromise. But honestly, I would prefer not to go."
"Riley, you can't miss work every time he gets sick. Trust me, if I know anything from the past few years, it’s that kids get sick a lot. You actually caught him on a good streak these past few months. But there will be times when you’ll be at a client's or whatever and he’ll be unwell."
She looked stricken. "Right, okay. But I really hoped to spend as much time with him as possible, especially since I’m visiting Mom next weekend.”
“There will be plenty of weekends. I've got this covered," I promised. "You go and focus on your event. Do you still have enough time to go home and change?"
"Yeah, there's plenty of time. I put the reminder two hours before I needed to go. I figured we might need it in case we totally lost track of time on the camping trip.”
She was hesitating, but I nodded encouragingly. This event was important. I wanted her to focus on it.
“Okay, then. I'm going to go."
"Before you go…" I pulled her against me, sealing my mouth over hers.
I didn't get many chances to kiss her even though we'd been together for the past forty-eight hours.
And even though I'd enjoyed this closeness and our time as a family, I wanted her desperately.
The more I held Riley, the more I needed her.
I kissed her until she groaned, then took a step back.
"Why did you stop?" she asked.
"Because you've got to go. I don't want to keep you any longer."
"You can always make me late with sexy distractions."
I growled. "No. Go now, before I change my mind and don’t let you out that door."
She winked at me, putting her shoes, then taking her bag from the entrance, putting it over her shoulder. "I won't come back here after the event, though," she said.
That felt like a punch to the gut. These two days had felt like we were a family. I didn't like this. Something needed to change.
I nodded. "Sure. I'll call you when Jeremy wakes up.”