Diagnosis: Daddy (Doctors in Training 1)

As for herself and Connor, well, she only hoped they would get back to that point soon. They’d been almost painfully polite with each other that morning, both trying to get past the near-quarrel the night before.

Leaving the kitchen spotless, she moved to the living room and paused for a moment in the doorway. Connor and Alexis stood side by side in the middle of the room, facing the television set with identical looks of intense concentration on their so-similar faces. Each held a white game controller, which they were waving around in amusing gestures. She glanced at the television screen where animated characters they’d customized to resemble themselves mimicked the moves of their human counterparts.

Alexis seemed to be having fun. She giggled at something that happened on the screen. Connor was smiling, but Mia saw him check his watch once. She knew he was thinking about the studying he should be doing. But he kept playing, being very patient with Alexis as she learned how to work the controller, encouraging her when she couldn’t get it right the first time and high-fiving her when she accomplished a goal.

If gaming was a way to draw them closer together, then Mia was all for it. At least for a little while. She and Connor had agreed earlier that Alexis should spend no more than an hour a day playing with the video game, and the same amount of time or less watching television. Mia planned to stock up on art and craft supplies, building sets and other interactive toys to fill the remainder of Alexis’s days.

They’d been playing for just over half an hour when Connor set his controller aside. “I think that’s long enough for the first session. You did very well, Alexis. You were especially good at bowling.”

“I like bowling. It was fun. Thank you.”

Daddy, Mia added silently. She still hadn’t heard Alexis call him that.

But Alexis had already turned toward her, smiling proudly upward. “Did you see me, Mia? I almost got a strike that last time.”

“I saw that. You did great.”

“Maybe you can play with me sometime? I bet you’d be good, too.”

“Maybe I will.”

Connor looked at his watch again, more openly this time. “I had a good time, but I really should be studying now. I’m going to head for the library if you two don’t need anything else right now.”

“We don’t need anything,” Mia assured him.

Alexis left the room, heading in the direction of the bathroom, and Mia took advantage of the moment to say, “She seemed to really enjoy playing the game with you.”

He nodded. “You were right that I need to try to make more time for her.”

She twisted her hands in front of her. “About last night, Connor…I’m sorry if I was cross with you when you got home. I know you’re doing the best you can.”

Moving a little closer to her, he shook his head. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. You only want what’s best for Alexis. I shouldn’t have been so defensive.”

“I want what’s best for both of you,” she assured him. “I know how difficult this week has been for you.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten through it if it hadn’t been for you.” He leaned down to brush his lips against her cheek, a friendly gesture he’d done too many times to count in the past.

So why did it feel different this time? Why was her skin suddenly tingling, her pulse leaping? And why was he lingering so close to her, his eyes darkening, his smile fading? Their gazes held for a long, breath-holding moment, and then Connor cleared his throat and took a quick step backward.

“I’ll see you later,” he said, his voice husky. “I’ll try not to be too late.”

“Stay as long as you need to. Alexis and I will be fine.”

He hesitated only a heartbeat longer before he left the room to collect his books and computer.

Mia pressed a hand to her cheek for a moment, then turned for her own room. She’d get her purse and take Alexis out for a supplies run, she decided. She needed to get out of the house for a while. Maybe she was just getting a touch of cabin fever.

Connor had just parked at the library and was reaching for his backpack when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen, saw his father’s number and flipped open the phone to answer it. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hey, son. Hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“No. I’m about to start studying, but I can spare a few minutes.”

“You ever do anything but study these days?”

“Not much.”

“Getting any sleep?”