“How’s the pain, baby?”
“Not so bad,” Bond muttered. When I looked up at him, he nodded down at the fist full of t-shirt Nemi still had. “She accidentally got skin when she tightened her grip, and she hasn’t let go of it since.”
Wincing, I tapped her hand. “Let go of Bond, honey.”
“Sorry, Bond,” she said sweetly, patting the area once she’d let go of it. “I like your t-shirt.”
“You’re good, Nemi. I’ll bet your knees and ankles hurt more than that did.”
When she just shrugged, I asked, “Mommy’s got your medicines in her bag, so do you need any before we go?” Yeah, I was prepared for anything and everything. I had Benadryl and chewable acetaminophen with me everywhere I went, just in case.
“Please.”
Straightening up, I went to collect our stuff and explained where we were going to the others before jogging back inside. The sight that greeted me almost made my heart melt, but the parental concern and internal freak out currently going on inside of me ruined it. I’d save it for later once I knew Nemi was okay.
Holding an ice pack around her ankle, Bond was softly talking to my daughter, making her smile and shake her head at him and then making her giggle. If anyone didn’t find a baby or little kid’s giggle heartwarming and smile at it, they were insane. Hell, even I smiled, and I was anxious about her injury.
“I was just telling her there’s an online shop that sells those sticky elasticated bandage wraps online with her choice of Disney movie on them,” he explained as I got closer to them.
“Even if it’s a sprain, we can wrap a layer around it and then cut it off and reapply more each time she takes the bandage off. It’ll probably protect it and keep it cleaner for longer anyway.”
Who the hell was this man? They’d only met a few days ago, and he’d been visibly out of his comfort zone during it but had made an effort to overcome it. And today, it was like he’d known her forever. Granted, she’d basically claimed him after she’d hurt herself, but still. And he’d also asked me for permission for everything from holding her to sitting with her on his lap. How did he know how scary it was for a parent to entrust someone else with their kid, especially in this day and age?
The Klein family had a great reputation, but that didn’t always make them good people. But the extra care he’d taken to ensure I was good with everything, the way he’d looked after her, the patience, the additional research into the wrap for her ankle… If he turned out to not be what I thought he was—a good person—I’d never trust another human again.
“Guess what, Mommy?” Nemi said as she wiped her face on the handful of Bond’s t-shirt she still had. “Bond’s mommy’s from a place where there were real-life pirates a long time ago. It was in Jer-mayka, and an earthquake made half of it sink into the sea. I want to go.”
“It’s called Port Royal,” Bond explained. “That’s where the first Pirates Of The Caribbean movie’s set.”
I swear my daughter looked like she’d just won the lottery. Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she peppered him with questions.
“I’ve put some food in this for you all,” Linda told me, interrupting the moment as she handed me a container. “Miss Nemi’s is in the aluminum with the strawberries on it, and y’all’s is in the plain stuff, but I’ve written your name on yours. We made sure it’d be okay for you, so don’t panic.”
This was who the Townsend family was. I had IBS—irritable bowel syndrome—and had to be careful with what I ate so I didn’t suffer because of it. Low fat, often gluten-free, and plain as hell was my safety zone, and the fact they’d gone out of their way to cater for it meant a lot to me. I hadn’t even told them about it, knowing there’d be salad or something I could eat anyway, so they had to have asked around to make sure everyone would have something to eat.
That wasn’t to say that I had a bad case of IBS, more like moderate, but it was embarrassing if it struck when I was out in public, so I did my best to work around that possibility as much as I could.
“I appreciate that so much.” Taking it from her, I leaned in and gave Linda a hug. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us today and for inviting us. I’m so sorry we’re leaving early.”
Patting me on the back after squeezing me, she snorted. “Honey, practically every single meal or family occasion ends up with one of us going to the ER for something. We should probably pay rent there. Trust me when I say, you’ll likely have one of us keeping you company there if you’re still at the hospital later on.”