Diagnosis: Daddy (Doctors in Training 1)

“She said she just wanted to check on Alexis. To make sure she’s happy.”

“Oh.” Frowning slightly, Mia asked, “Didn’t she want to talk to her? There’s no reason Alexis couldn’t stay up a few extra minutes for that.”

“I offered. She didn’t want to. It was a very quick, to-the-point call. ‘How is she? Take care of her. Bye.’”

“Very strange.”

“Yeah.” Setting the phone aside, Connor stood to follow Mia to the laundry room. “You know what’s odd?”

Opening the washer, Mia stuffed in the clothes, adding a few others from the hamper. “What?”

“When I first saw Patricia’s name—well, I had sort of a moment of panic. As if she were coming to take Alexis back.”

Her face turned away from him, Mia spoke lightly as she added detergent to the washer. “She can’t do that, of course.”

“No. It was just a knee-jerk reaction.”

Closing the lid, she turned to him with a rueful expression. “I had the same one,” she confessed. “I thought maybe she’d changed her mind and wanted to come for Alexis. Silly, wasn’t it? For both of us.”

&n

bsp; “I guess.”

“Do you want some herbal tea? I was just going to make a cup for myself.”

“No—yeah, okay. Sounds good. Anything I can do to help?”

She was already filling the kettle. “No, thanks. There’s more of that cake in the fridge, if you want any.”

Shaking his head, he sat at the kitchen table to watch her. “I’m good.”

She busied herself taking out cups and tea canisters. A glossy cover on the table caught his eye and he picked up the booklet curiously. A muscle tightened in his jaw when he realized what he was holding.

“Grad school brochures,” he murmured.

She glanced over her shoulder. “Yes. I was just studying them today, making some notes about entry requirements. I’m not ready to apply yet, of course, but I thought I should start taking some steps in that direction.”

He set the brochure aside a bit too quickly. He had to admit the reminder that she was still making plans to leave, to take up her own life eventually, had shaken him. Stupid, he thought crankily. Why was he surprised? Apparently, Patricia’s call had rattled him more than he’d realized.

“You, uh, have a timetable in mind?” he asked, trying to speak casually.

Her own tone was equally offhanded. “I thought I’d start sending applications later this year. I could start classes next January, maybe, if they’d let me start midterm. If not, I’d wait until the following fall. That should give me plenty of time to put my finances and plans in order.”

Roughly a year and a half, tops. He’d be starting his third year of medical school. From all reports, it got a little easier after that. A matter of perspective, of course.

Alexis would be a third-grader. Eight years old. Even though it seemed a long way off, he knew the time would pass all too quickly.

Mia set his steaming cup in front of him and took a seat across the table. Echoing his own thoughts, she mused, “It seems like a long time, but it will probably go by before we realize it. Funny how fast a year slips past as we get a little older, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Funny.” He gripped his cup between his hands and gazed into it, having no desire yet to taste the tea. “You know, it occurs to me that we didn’t talk about this part much before you moved in.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at him. “What part?”

“The ending part. I mean, you moved in so quickly and then Alexis was here and we had to take care of a lot of details in a short time…” He shook his head. “We said all along that it would only be temporary, until we could make other arrangements, but I’m not sure we were prepared for the reality of it all. Of her. I didn’t realize how strongly Alexis would bond with you. She adores you, Mia.”

Mia took a careful sip of the tea, then set the cup on the table. Giving herself a moment, perhaps? “I adore her, too,” she said softly. “And, no, I wasn’t prepared for that. She was just a…a concept at the time. Not a real flesh-and-blood, utterly lovable child.”

She glanced briefly up at him. “You know I’d never do anything to hurt Alexis. I want to reassure her that, one way or another, I’ll always be a part of her life now. Like the aunt Patricia should be to her.”