Page 6 of Protecting Addison
“Whatever.”
It was such a teenage thing to say, Addison couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t forget to fill your water bottle before you leave. And drink as much as you can throughout the day.”
Ellory rolled her eyes once more and mumbled again, “Whatever, Mom.” Then she took her smoothie and banana, went to the table and sat next to Yana and Borysko, and immediately began talking to them about school.
Addison was grateful her daughter had taken so well to the children. She could’ve been resentful they were taking some of her mom’s time and attention away from her, but she wasn’t. She seemed happy they were there, and grateful for the distraction they gave her from the constant pain she was in most of the time. And while Addison had been afraid she’d hate having to share her room with a five-year-old, to her surprise, Ellory seemed to love having Yana around. She was a huge help with the kids, if nothing else by keeping them occupied. Artem and Borysko loved to talk with her, loved to practice their English, and Yana was content to play with her dolls with Ellory.
“You good?” Ricky asked, bringing Addison’s attention back to him.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Because you’re cooking for six now, running kids around everywhere, still working full time, and doing all the laundry, cleaning,anddealing with the state when they unexpectedly show up to check in on the kids.”
“I’m fine,” Addison told him honestly. “Why? Is there something I’m doing that I shouldn’t be, or not doing that I should be?”
“No!” Ricky said almost forcefully. “This…it’s just a lot. And I want to make sure you’re okay with it all. I don’t ever want you to feel as if I’m taking advantage of you or not doing my part. I want this to work, Addy. And it won’t if you don’t tell me when you’re unhappy.”
There. That. Only one of the reasons he was such a good man. And would make some woman an amazingrealhusband one day. “Honestly, I’m fine. You do a lot, Ricky. You do all the grocery shopping, you work full time too—in a much more stressful job than I have, I might add—and when you’re here, you do as much as possible to help out.”
“Well, if there’s anything else I can do, please let me know. I don’t ever want you to feel as if you’re the only parent.”
“I don’t.”
“Good. Now, I need to shower. I have it on good authority that I stink,” Ricky said with a small chuckle.
“It’s not that bad,” Addison blurted, then immediately blushed.
“Glad you think so,” he said. Then he shocked the crap out of her by leaning in and kissing her on the cheek once more.
She could smell the coffee on his breath before he turned and took his cup with him and walked out of the kitchen. He stopped by the table and touched each of the younger kids on the head, saying something in a low voice that Addison couldn’t hear. He squeezed Ellory’s shoulder before disappearing down the short hall toward their bedroom.
Once he was gone, the electricity in the air seemed to dissipate. It had always been like that when Ricky was around. He lit up whatever room they were in and made everything seem so…exciting. It should’ve been exhausting, but instead it was thrilling.
By the time Ricky returned, he was freshly showered and wearing his blue naval camo uniform. It was all Addison could do not to jump him right there and then. There was just something about his uniform that made him even more attractive than he was before…and that was saying something.
“Better?” he asked Ellory, holding his arms out, as if for her inspection.
To Addison’s amusement, Ellory walked up to him, leaned in, and sniffed. Then she pulled back and smiled. “Better,” she agreed.
Ricky laughed and pulled her against his chest for another long hug. Then he took hold of her shoulders and looked down at her with a serious look on his face. “You sure you’re okay to go to school today?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t hurt?” he asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Ellory said with a shrug.
Her response made Addison’s heart ache. There was nothing worse than knowing your child was in pain and not being able to do anything about it.
Ricky obviously felt the same way, because he frowned.
But Ellory being Ellory, she patted his chest and said, “But it’s not awful today. I’ll be all right.”
“You take your meds?” Ricky asked.
“Of course.”
The girl had a litany of medicines she took to try to keep her Crohn’s under control. Antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, an acid-reducer, and an immune system suppressant to reduce the swelling in her intestines. Addison hated that she was so young and taking so many medicines, but they really did seem to help. Besides, the next step was surgery, which wouldn’t cure her but might keep the worst symptoms at bay for a while. But the thought of anyone slicing into her baby was abhorrent.
