Drake
I'd speak with Kate and make sure she was fine with it, although I knew she'd encourage me. She often suggested I try to pull together another band like Mersey while we were in San Francisco. I'd been too busy with my shifts in the ER to do any serious planning for it, but maybe I would work on that once we returned from Manhattan. If I wasn’t going to be working in the ER, I'd have time on my hands. What better way to fill that time than to play music?
I heard snuffling on the baby monitor and checked my watch. She'd been asleep for about forty-five minutes. Usually, she went down for an hour or hour and a half, so I left her alone in case she was going to go back to sleep. While I waited, I surfed the news sites for the latest and was dismayed to see coverage of the suicide of Lisa's partner in crime. I tried to avoid anything to do with the trial and case, but it was making national news and so I faced an uphill battle. When Sophie continued to babble to herself in her crib, I decided to go and get her up.
When I went into her room, she was lying on her back, a stuffed toy in her hand, her pacifier between her teeth. She was making sounds around it and the image of her lying there with the Herb minion from her half-brother warmed my heart.
"Hey, baby," I said and went to her side. "Time to get up?"
She smiled and reached up when I came to the side of the crib. I picked her up and brought her over to the change table to check her diaper. It was wet so I put on a new one and changed her outfit. Then I carried her out to the living room, slipping her into her ExerSaucer so she could play with her toys while I got things ready for our trip to the beach.
When we got home from our trip down the beach to make and destroy sandcastles, Kate was already home and was sitting in front of the television, watching the news. She took Sophie from me and kissed her, then sat with her, watching the television intently.
On the screen was a reporter standing in front of the courthouse in Manhattan. Apparently, Lisa had been indicted on a charge of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree for encouraging Jones' suicide.
"She was indicted," Kate said, handing a toy to Sophie while I got myself a drink of water. "Apparently, there are letters between them that encouraged him to kill himself."
"She's evil," I said, shaking my head. "They need to put her away for a very long time. I bet she'll be hell in jail and will probably be one of those women who runs the place. Pure sociopath."
I stood beside the sofa and watched the news for a moment, amazed that she had gone from a successful surgical resident to being incarcerated and waiting trial for attempted murder, murder and now reckless endangerment.
I realized once again that Kate and Sophie were lucky to have escaped with their lives.
"Turn away," I said and sat on the sofa beside Kate, my hand on her shoulder. "I don’t want to waste a moment thinking about her. I want to spend my time with you and Sophie."
Kate tore her eyes away from the screen finally and turned to me after changing channels to one of the music stations.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice soft. "I can't stop thinking about her and what happened. I feel a bit obsessed about it. I'll try not to think about it too much."
"I understand," I said and slid down the arm of the sofa to sit beside Kate, pulling her into my arms and kissing her forehead. "It's morbid curiosity. Perfectly natural but not healthy. As your doctor, I'd advise a healthy dose of making love to your husband to distract yourself from the coverage."
She smiled up at me, her eyes narrowing. "That sounds like a very self-serving prescription, Dr. Morgan."
"It is. It's extremely self-serving. It's a prescription I plan on delivering once Sophie's asleep tonight."
Kate smiled up at me, the hungry expression in her eyes telling me everything I needed to know.
We had a dinner of grilled fish, salad and fresh baguette and spent an hour or so with Sophie, taking an evening walk along the beach while the sun set. When it was time for Sophie's bath, I took over, running the bath and getting everything ready. I loved bath time and if I could, I would always be the one who took over. Kate had been responsible when I had been working and so I wanted to give her a break. Besides, it was fun. Sophie loved her bath and it made me feel like a real father to be so involved in Sophie's day-to-day care.
I held her after she was dried off and in her jammies, giving her a bottle. Her eyes were heavy and when I saw that she was going to fall asleep, I carried her to her crib and put her to bed. Kate joined me and we stood beside the crib and watched her for a moment.
We left the room, turning off the hall light so that the back of the house was in darkness.
"We're lucky she's such an easy baby," Kate said, her voice soft. "I don't know if I would have survived if she'd had colic."
"We would have managed. It would have been a lot harder, but we would have found a way. I do admire parents who have colicky babies, though. Adjusting to parenthood is hard enough, let alone with a baby who can't settle and has digestive issues."
I took Kate's hand and led her not back to the living room, but to our bedroom and the master bath.
"And now, Mrs. Morgan, I gave you a prescription to divert your attention away from other matters. It involves pampering you, giving you a nice warm bubble bath and then a full body massage followed by multiple orgasms. I aim to deliver on my promise."
"You're the doctor," Kate said, her voice all throaty with desire.
"I am," I said and pushed her gently into the bathroom, intent on delivering my prescription exactly as described.
Chapter 17
KATE