Page 49 of Getting Down to Business

“Right.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Not my rules.”

“Mommy says you can’t afford it because you’re broke, Daddy.” She looked him up and down. “What is broke? Member when I broke my pinky?”

“I do, sweetie. It still makes me queasy.” Seeing his baby girl with her finger hanging in the wrong direction, and the big tears.

“Why don’t we get some cotton candy for the drive home?” he suggested. It worked on Lucy. Chanda, not so much. She was biting her lip ring and looking irritated. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” Chanda shook her head and squeezed his hand.

At Julie’s place, Doug took a deep breath before opening the door and carrying his sleeping daughter up to the house. Julie met him halfway glaring at Chanda.

“I told you I didn’t want Lucy exposed to trash.”

“Shh. She’s sleeping, and Chanda is not trash.”

“Do you think child services is going to see her as someone who should be around a child?”

“You’re not going to threaten me with this anymore. Chanda is in my life and she is great with Lucy. Lucy and I talked about tattoos and piercings, and I don’t expect to have any more trouble with that.”

“We’d better not.”

Doug turned away as Julie rushed into the house. He’d hoped their conversation was quiet and far enough away that Chanda hadn’t heard. It was obvious she had.

“Your ex is threatening to call child services because of me?”

“She felt threatened so she’s acting out. She’s not really going to call.” At least she hadn’t all the other times she manufactured reasons why he was unfit.

“Maybe I should stay away from Lucy.”

“What would that teach my daughter? I want her to be able to look inside someone and not make judgments. Your tattoos and piercings tell me you’re a hell of a lot tougher than I am. I nearly fainted in the ER from Lucy’s broken pinky.”

* * * *

“So I made us an appointment for Wednesday morning. Can you go in to work an hour late?” Gray announced while sitting in her new office on Monday. He liked their morning routine. Especially after their new nightly routine of sleeping together.

She was easy.

Not like that, but in the good way. In the way that made him happy to spend time with her.

They weren’t dating. They were…well, he didn’t know exactly, but it was great. Thus the reason he scheduled this appointment.

“What is this appointment for?” She scrunched up her nose.

“I don’t want to say.” He knew the seriousness of the issue would make her freak out for no reason. She didn’t do relationships.

“Right, because you know I’m so big on trust I would just go to some appointment without knowing what it was for.”

“Fine. Blood tests.” He crossed his arms, braced for her rebuttal.

“Is that code for something else less painful and more fun?” she asked, affixing a label on a folder.

“No. I get a screening every few months. You said you’ve never had one. It’s an unsafe world out there, Alyssa. You need to be checked.”

“I’ve never had sex with anyone without a condom. Not once. Ever.”