Page 90 of The Golden Hour

Dr. Adonis closes the door and immediately goes to wash his hands while Honey holds Daisy, her wide brown eyes taking in the room as he does. “Oh, it’s so adorable.”

“Thank you,” Dr. Adonis smiles. “We found this artist in New Jersey to paint it. His wife and I met at a convention in the city when I first moved here.”

Mason’s eyes squint when he sees a signature in the corner from the artist. Theodore Ambrose.

Mason grunts in acknowledgement, because words are failing him and he worries that if he opens his mouth, he’ll snarl something insane like “don’t call my wife Honey, asshole!” even though that’s her name.

As he places the carseat and diaper bag down in the corner, he rubs at his eyes. The lack of sleep must be getting to him. He’s not used to being sleep-deprived with his work, but, as he’s learned, there is a clear difference between work tired and newborn parent tired. The latter is worse, but he’s just glad that Honey looks more well-rested than he does, some of the color coming back to her face that she lost in the hospital, her smile coming easier, her eyes bright and sparkling.

If draining his energy meant sustaining hers, then he would gladly be reduced to a husk.

The noise makes Dr. Adonis turn toward Mason.

“Sorry, it’s nice to meet you, as well,” he smiles at Mason. “Honey said you were a doctor, as well.”

“Dr. Mason Carpenter,” he nods. “Emergency Medicine.”

What used to fill him with such pride now only fills him with shame.

Dr. Adonis hisses sympathetically.

“Oof,” he chuckles. “Completely bombed my rotation my second year. Glad I found pediatrics after.”

Mason nods. “It’s difficult.”

“My Chief in my intern year told me it’s all difficult,” Dr. Adonis says as he steps over to the computer, typing away to pull up Daisy’s chart. “He said just choose the difficulty you can deal with every day. This is mine.”

Mason’s mouth goes dry at that and he feels Honey’s eyes on him. Choose the difficulty you can deal with every day, because this job should fulfill him, but it’s not about getting some selfish rush out of it.

His face burns.

“Pediatrics was my second choice,” Mason admits.

“It takes a special kind of person to work in this specialty,” Dr. Adonis says, walking carefully over to the exam bed and gesturing for Honey to come over. “But it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Honey presses a kiss to Daisy’s head and it makes the blonde doctor smile.

“And this must be little Daisy,” Dr. Adonis says, crouching down to see Daisy in Honey’s arms, looking at him with wide eyes. “Hi, sweetheart. I’ve heard you made quite an entrance.”

His daughter’s little mouth curves into a tiny grin, and he knows it’s just a reflex or it's gas, but goddamnit, it scalds Mason that she smiles so easily at this stranger.

He asks permission to take Daisy from Honey’s arms, not making his wife feel ridiculous for her reluctance to hand over Daisy, and thanking her sincerely when Daisy is in his arms.

He steps up behind Honey, just a supportive presence at her back as they both watch the doctor run all of the tests on Daisy with an ease that makes him jealous for a whole new reason. He can’t help but be a little in awe of Dr. Adonis.

“She’s very attached to you,” Dr. Adonis says when he’s done, placing Daisy back in Honey’s arms.

“She’s a mama’s girl,” Mason murmurs, smiling down at the two of them. Honey glances at him briefly, and he feels like he could lift a building when he sees a small smile on her lips at his words.

“You’re doing such a beautiful job with her, Honey,” Dr. Adonis says, smiling softly at his wife and daughter. “How are you feeling?”

Honey looks surprised at those words. “Oh, I’m doing alright. I’ve been feeling tired, but I think that’s normal.”

“Very normal,” he assures her. “I’m not your OB, but I always like to check with my mothers. Do you have any concerns?”

“I don’t think so,” Honey says. “Honestly, with how dramatic her birth was, I’m kind of happy everything else is going easy. Though that kind of makes me scared that the other shoe is going to drop.”

“Newborns are a relatively easy phase. Even with preemies like this little sweetheart,” Dr. Adonis smiles at Daisy again. “They essentially need three things—milk, diaper change, or cuddles. I always tell mothers—process of elimination.”