Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Grizz
Dr. Langston is too young to be a doctor.
I’m not sure what he’s doing here, because I was told we were seeing the town doctor, which is Dr. Dalton.
He’s been the doctor in this town since I was a boy.
I trust him, just like all the other guys do, because he’s been doing this shit for years.
This guy looks like a fucking toddler in a white coat.
“Where is Dr. Dalton?” I ask as he does something on his laptop.
“He’s off today.”
“I was told we would see Dr. Dalton.”
“I’m sure it’s fine, Grizz,” Anastacia says.
“This guy doesn’t even look old enough to be in college,” I say under my breath.
“I’m thirty-one,” he says simply as he turns to us. “Also, Dr. Dalton is my uncle, and he wouldn’t have hired me here if he didn’t trust me.”
“That don’t mean shit,” I say. “You’re just a baby. What kind of cases have you seen? You don’t have experience.”
“Okay,” he says calmly. “I understand your worry. This is your child, and you want someone you trust to look after them.” Neither one of us corrects him over saying it’s my child.
“But I can assure you, I have plenty of training. More training than Dr. Dalton, even if he has experience on me. Besides, pediatrics is my specialty, whereas Dr. Dalton is just a family doctor.”
“What the fuck is the difference?”
He gets up from his rolling chair, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck.
“It means, my training has been focused on pediatrics specifically, while he has general knowledge on all ages.” He crouches down in front of Anastacia, who is holding Dorothea and sitting in the chair beside the patient table. “May I listen?”
Anastacia unbuttons a few buttons on Dorothea’s onesie, allowing him to listen to her lungs and heart. He feels around a few places while asking questions.
How is she eating? How often? For how long? Is she peeing and pooping okay? Crying? Sleeping?
He asks so many questions it makes my head spin, but he’s thorough, so I’ll give him that.
“I was told you didn’t have an exact weight on her after she was born, so because of that, I’d like to see you again in three days, just for a weight check.
It’s normal for babies to lose a little after birth, but since we don’t know what that was, I want to monitor it more closely for a week or two. ”
“Thank you,” Anastacia says as she fixes Dorothea’s clothing.
“I have these for you,” he says, picking up a folder that he brought in with him but left on the counter by his laptop. He hands it to me. “Birth certificate, and other documents you may need for her. They’ve all been taken care of, and we have made copies already for her chart.”
“These are legit?” I ask, holding onto the folder that he doesn’t let go of.
“They certainly are.” He gives me a smug smile.
I want to punch him.
“Thank you again,” Anastacia says so damn nicely.
He finally lets go of the folder and turns his attention to her.
“Denise at the front will make your next appointment. It was lovely meeting you. Congratulations on being parents. I’ll see you in a few days.”
He leaves the room, and Anastacia gives me a look like she thinks I’m being silly as she takes the folder, glances through it, and shoves it into the diaper bag.
“What? I don’t trust the guy.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“He looks a few days older than Dorothea.”
She laughs loudly, and it makes me smile.
“You’re being ridiculous because you’re being overprotective, and I think it’s sweet,” she says, puckering her lips for a kiss. So I lean down and kiss her.
“Does it bother you that he thinks I’m her dad?”
She frowns. “Why would that bother me?”
“Because I’m not.”
Her hand goes to my chest. “She’d be lucky if you were.”
“I… are you okay with that?” I pick up the carrier and the diaper bag.
“Well, considering your name is on the birth certificate, I guess I should be.” Then she walks out.
“It what?” I hiss as I hurry after her. “Are you serious?”
She huffs a laugh. “It wasn’t my doing. If it’s a problem, talk to your guys.”
She seems humored by this whole thing, while I’m freaking out.
Though, I couldn’t tell you why. This only makes things easier for us.
It’s just so official. I’m freaking out that she’s going to freak out, but she’s perfectly fine. So what the fuck is my problem?
“It’s not a problem,” I say, then ask, “Is it a problem for you?”
She sighs, turning to me. We stop in the middle of the bright hall. Clouds and cute animals are painted on the walls. Each door is a different color that goes with the color of the room inside. You can really tell this is the pediatrics side of this office.
“I know this is strange, what we have and what we’ve been doing. It’s not traditional, and it feels like it should be weird, but Grizz, it’s not. I love what we have. The life and family we’re building. It all just feels right.”
“Yeah, it does,” I agree.
“I’m happy with how things are and where they’re going. I don’t want anything to change. Do you?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then stop worrying about it.”
I feel the frown on my face. “How don’t you worry about anything?”
With a sigh, her hand comes up to my forearm, squeezing gently.
“What’s the point? If bad things happen, they’ll happen and I’ll deal with it. If I worry all the time, I won’t have any room for happiness, and I really, really want to be happy.”
I want that too. Not just for me, but for her and Dorothea.
Sometimes I want to tell her how fucked up my life was before I met her, but I don’t want to dump all that shit on her, especially because my need to get drunk and lose myself in sex is nothing compared to what she went through.
In the grand scheme of things, none of that shit matters either.
Because she’s right. Why worry about what happened and what could happen when I’m happy now?
Nothing matters but today and the future we’re going to build—the good future.
But I am still going to hold all those Iron pricks responsible for what they did to my angel. And the first one I’m going after is Gunner, because there’s no way in fuck, he’s coming for my little girl. Ever.