The next morning, Caden woke him up. He looked around, surprised to find himself there instead of the hospital or his own penthouse. The sunny townhouse filled with children’s drawings and more rain boots than two kids could possibly use—it felt like home just now. Caden shook his shoulder and he had to abandon those cozy thoughts.
“The number says seven.”
“What?”
“The clock number says seven. That’s when Mommy gets us on the bus.”
“What?”
“For school.”
“Oh, shit.” Harvey said, and Caden’s eyes got big, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I was just—asleep. Okay, look, you two get dressed, and I’ll drive you. Where’s your school?”
“I dunno.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re five. Okay, um, I guess I’ll call Maria.”
Maria promptly told him it was a teacher’s meeting day and there was no school that day. He nodded slowly, realizing simultaneously that he didn’t have to hurry up and get them to class, but also that, as a result, he had to entertain them till Maria got there. He went and splashed his face and started making breakfast. By making breakfast, he meant putting out bowls and spoons and finding the cereal.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked Caden as the child shoveled dry cereal in his mouth.
“She’s putting on Mom’s makeup,” he said.
“What?” Harvey was certain the girl wasn’t allowed to wear makeup and probably wasn’t supposed to screw around with her mom’s stuff. He groaned and bolted up to Bella’s master bathroom where Corinne had dozens of tubes and bottles strewn across the counter, some rolling across the floor.
Oh, boy. Not good.
She was standing on a vanity chair in her bunny nightgown, applying something red to her face while smiling at her reflection. She had made a mess. She had on enough different colors of eyeshadow all over her face to be an extra in a Broadway production of Cats. She was an absolute sneaky little disaster.
His first instinct was to whip out his phone and take a picture for Bella. Then he lifted Corinne down, lectured her on not getting into other people’s stuff, and made her pick everything up. Then he ruined two washcloths cleaning that stuff off her face. She sniffed and didn’t say much. She was probably missing her mom pretty badly, but he didn’t ask because he didn’t want her to start crying and miss breakfast. These kids needed to eat.
Once he had them fed and dressed, he let them turn on cartoons and he called the ICU. The nurse on duty said Bella had asked for her kids, and for him. He told her he’d be there as soon as possible and messaged Maria about it. When cartoons got boring and the kids started wrestling and telling on each other, he was happy to hear Maria’s key in the door. The kids ran to her and he kissed the twins and took off to the hospital. Maria was going to meet him there shortly thereafter. She wanted to give Harvey and Bella a little bit of time together alone before she showed up.
Chapter 18
He found Bella sitting up in bed, propped gingerly on pillows, the lights still dim. She smiled at him, and it nearly knocked him over.
“You scared me, honey,” he said gruffly.
“Oh, Harvey, I didn’t mean to.”
He cupped her face. “I didn’t know if you were going to make it. It was like my world crashed. I didn’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’m so glad to see you.”
“I love you,” he said with heartfelt sincerity.
“I love you too.”
He softly hugged her.
“Are the kids—”
“They’re fine. I had them last night and Maria has them now. She’s bringing them soon. Here, check this out. Caden came down to scare me to death about being late for school—there isn’t any school today, by the way—and this is what Corinne was up to.” Harvey held out his phone and she took it, her hand trembling. She looked at the screen, at the photo of their daughter in all her mischievous, sassy glory, perched on a velvet vanity chair with a face full of purloined makeup. Bella smiled. Then she grabbed the small pillow and pressed it to her side where she’d had surgery and gasped.
“I miss them so much.”
“Corinne knew I was her father. She said she overheard you and Maria talking about it, so I wasn’t going to lie. I told them the truth.”