Billionaire's Single Mom

After the door closed, I turned back and saw that Juniper was already trying to build things with her newly delivered LEGOs. Despite being awake, her eyes drooped, and her coordination and concentration didn’t seem the best, so I grabbed a few pieces and started putting them together to help her.

Juniper frowned as she dropped a few LEGOs. “It’s hard to see.”

“I’m sure it is. You’re very sick.”

“It’s hard to breathe sometimes.”

I nodded slowly, trying to keep the concern off my face. The last thing the sick little girl needed was to see scared adults. “You’re in the hospital, and all the doctors and nurses will get you fixed up. That’s their job after all.”

Juniper managed to smile and picked up some LEGOs.

“How about I help set a few of these up for you?” I said. “You’re the foreman, and I’m the worker.”

“What’s a foreman?”

“He’s like the boss of guys who build things.”

“I wanna be the foreman and the worker,” she said, a cute little pout on her face.

I chuckled. “I’ll just do a few then. Just to help you get started.”

Another minute or so passed as I continued putting together a few pieces in the pattern I saw her doing before, not quite sure what she wanted, but she didn’t correct me, so it must have been good enough. I didn’t play with LEGOs as a kid, but I was quickly seeing the appeal in terms of creativity.

“Why didn’t you bring the doggies?” Juniper suddenly said. Her voice was ragged, and she wheezed as she spoke. The sound broke my heart.

I looked into her eyes and shrugged. “I would have loved to do just that, Juniper, but they don’t allow dogs in the hospital except in special situations. It’s a rule.”

“It’s a stupid rule. And if you’re sick, isn’t it always a special situation?”

I grinned. “Well, not disagreeing with you, but I don’t make the rules here since I don’t own the hospital.”

“But I want to play with the doggies.” She coughed a few times.

I resisted a frown. Juniper needed to calm down, so she didn’t spend the next ten minutes hacking up her lungs. Scratching my chin, I thought over how to best handle the situation.

Normally, I might have tried to appeal a bit more to reason, even if she was a young child. But she wasn’t just a cranky young girl; she was a scared and sick little girl in the hospital. Sometimes you need to give people what they want. If not at that moment, then in the future.

That was another thing my life in business had taught me. If it could work for multimillionaire deals, I didn’t see why it couldn’t work on a five-year-old girl.

“How about a compromise?” I said. “Do you know what a compromise is, Juniper?”

She bobbed her head. “It’s where both people give something, so they can get something rather than nothing.”

The explanation brought a big grin to my face. “That’s right, Juniper. That’s exactly right. A lot of adults don’t even get that. You’re a very smart girl.”

She eyed me with suspicion. Not trusting flattery was another good sign of intelligence. Maybe she’d be working for me in my company in fifteen years.

“What’s the compromise?” she asked.

“When you get better, you can visit my house and play with Joe and Dean there.” I raised a finger. “But you have to make me a promise in return.”

Juniper furrowed her brow. “What?”

“That you’ll do your best to get better soon. It’s win-win. The sooner you get better, the sooner you get to play with the dogs.”

She nodded slowly. “I will.” She let out a long yawn. “I’m tired, and my head hurts. Is it okay if I go back to sleep?”