Page 33 of Doctor Daddies

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” I assure him. “I—I was just wondering if you…” I trail off, trying to muster up the courage to ask.

Because it’s not a big deal, not by a long shot, for me to invite them all over. But all at once, I feel like a teenager calling up the guy she has a crush on to ask him to prom, and I stumble over my words as I try to find the right way to ask them all around.

“I was just wondering,” I force out, trying to stop myself from stumbling too obviously over everything I want to say. “If the three of you wanted to come to my place for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?” He sounds surprised.

Have I overstepped a line? I drum my fingers on the counter, trying to dismiss the rush of nervousness that wants to get the better of me.

“Yeah, the four of us and Lewis,” I reply. “To say thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the last month or so.”

“Millie, you don’t have to?—”

“No, but I want to,” I reply. “Please, give me an excuse to use this beautiful new kitchen. I feel like I’m just letting it go to waste, sitting around like that with nobody cooking in it…”

“I’ll ask the guys,” he promises me. “I’ll text you as soon as I have an answer, alright?”

“Thanks,” I reply, breathing a sigh of relief. And, with that, the call is over.

I busy myself washing up some dishes from last night, hoping that none of the guys read too much into this, me inviting all three of them over together.

Or, wait, maybe Idowant them to read into it. Maybe I want them to turn up here knowing exactly what I want, and give it to me exactly as I’ve been hoping for…

My phone buzzes after a few minutes, and I look down to see a message from Ross waiting for me:Sounds good. We’ll be there around seven.

I grin, biting my lip at the thought of having them all here. I’m going to have to start cooking some dinner, right? I’m not much of a chef, but I’m sure I can come up with something that will past muster.

And if not, maybe I can serve up a dessert that will make them forget what they came for in the first place.

16

JAMES

I switchthe bottle of nonalcoholic wine from hand to hand as Cole knocks on the door. I don’t know why, but I’m nervous.

Ross seems to notice, shooting me a look and cocking an eyebrow. “That better be alcohol-free,” he remarks, nodding to the bottle in my hand.

“Ross, I work in fertility,” I remind him. “I’m not going to give a pregnant woman alcohol. See?” I tap the label, which shows that it is zero alcohol, just as the door opens in front of us.

Millie is standing there, a smile on her face, looking slightly frazzled as she glances back toward the kitchen.

“There you are!” she exclaims. “Thank God. Ross, can I borrow you for a second, I just want you to have a look at this curry and see if you think it’s done. I don’t trust myself…”

“Sure thing,” Ross agrees, as I hand her the bottle of wine.

She glances down at it, a little surprised, but then she smiles when she sees the label.

“Oh, that’s so thoughtful, thank you,” she gushes, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “I have the dining room set up, if you want to head through I’ll get some glasses and we can open this…”

“Where’s Lewis?” Cole asks, glancing around.

Out of the three of us, I think he’s the one who has grown most attached to that little boy already, and I can’t say I blame him. He’s been living right upstairs, after all, and by the sounds of it, they’ve been spending a lot of time together. Millie has tapped Cole in to help out a couple of times when she’s been dealing with morning sickness, according to him, and he’s been around to help with Lewis’s morning routine.

He told me about it at the clinic later that same day, and I’d by lying if I said I didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy, knowing that he got to spend time with the kid who must belong to one of us.

“He’s in the dining room,” Millie calls from the kitchen. “He wanted to decorate it before you got here…”

I follow Cole through to the dining room, and there he is—Lewis.