Chapter 6

"Katie," I said, getting my assistant's attention. She was very focused on transcribing notes I'd dictated over the weekend. I tended to write up my own patient notes, but then I dictated the ones that we needed to share with other providers so she could update all the files at once.

She held up one finger then went back to typing at the speed of light. The woman was ridiculously fast. I used to think I had decent typing speed. Then I hired her and it seriously disabused me of the notion. I waited patiently until she hit enter with some finality.

Then she glanced up and took off her earbuds. "What's up, Doc?"

I didn't roll my eyes, but I did shake my head. She gave me the cheeky, unrepentant grin.

"Not a doctor," I reminded her.

"But you have a doctorate," she stated before leaning back in her chair. "While you're not an MD, you are a PhD and you help people. Therefore—Doc."

"I'm never winning this argument, am I?" Considering how many times we'd had it? I'd lost it a long time ago. Didn't mean I wouldn't keep fighting the good fight.

"Nope," she said with a sunny smile. "But you keep on trying, Doc."

"It's a good thing I like you, impertinence and all."

"Pfft," she scoffed. "You couldn't handle a kissass. You'd walk all over them in five minutes. I talked to Frankie, I know how to keep you in line."

That made me laugh. "Fair enough." I raised my hands. The fact Frankie and Katie got along so well was another reason I'd hired her. In her fifties, she sported blue hair, an attitude and had raised four kids—on her own. All of whom were now in college or had just graduated.

Honestly, she could pretty much say whatever she wanted. She kept the office running even when I had to go.

"So," she said. "What's up?" Then she flicked a glance to her calendar on the left. "Josh's birthday presents were ordered. As was Archie's, but there was a bit of a delay. It should still make it in time. I arranged for flowers at the next two stops for Frankie and I spoke to Ian this morning per your request since you had patients all day, and he said that they would be home for Halloween."

"That's what I thought." Frankie's message the night before had elements of sadness in it. She hadn't called. Instead, she texted. She only did that when she wanted to cover her distress. "Can we move?—"

"A few of your appointments around for Tuesday and Wednesday next week? Yes, we can. I already started the process. I had a light day for you on Wednesday already. I can also move Thursday around a bit. I spoke to Ms. H at the center, she can take over the group meetings all week, that way you can go see Frankie on the road."

Well, there was being on the ball and then there was a creepy level of competency. Not that I was complaining. "Right, anything else I need to know?"

Her grin was so amused. "Only that Jake sent over the updates for the latest costumes the kids want. Charlie had a pediatrician appointment today and Jake said he's doing great…" She checked her blotter. "The pediatrician does want to check his hearing again in six months. Said it might be nothing, but there was a blip."

"What kind of blip?" All my good humor fled. This was why I liked going to all of their appointments, but sometimes we just couldn't make it work.

"Hey, easy there, Pop. You're gonna find a lot of repetitive tests come up, it doesn't mean anything until it does. Don't overthink it or panic. Charlie's what? Eighteen months old? He was probably playing and didn't want to cooperate."

I blew out a breath. That sounded utterly reasonable. Totally. And at the same time…

"Breathe, Pop. Call Jake if you need to, but I bet he tells you the same thing."

I scrubbed a hand over my face. "Does it ever get easier?"

"Worrying about them?" She shook her head. "Nope. You just learn to manage your own expectations and fears. There's always something. But that's what love is…managing expectations and fears because you want the best for them."

"Maybe you should have gotten that doctorate," I teased, but at the same time… "Thanks, Katie."

"Anytime, Doc. Anytime. Now—you have thirty minutes before your next appointment. It's also the last appointment of the day. So why don't you get some coffee and some food. Call Jake and check on Charlie."

"I'll get right on that." At the door to my office, I paused and said, "Katie…"

"I'll take care of Friday too. I'd offer Monday, but you have those state assessments due and you wanted to go over them yourself before you made your recommendations."

"You know, I think I'll just let you run the office and the schedule from now on."

Her laughter followed me back to my office. I had to admit though, as assistants slash office managers went, she was the best. I would probably be lost without her.

The coffee I brewed helped perk me up as did the sandwich I ate. When I pulled out my phone, there was another update from Jake.

Jake: Pretty sure Charlie's pulling one over on the doc and so did the doc. He just didn't like the headphones. So don't freak out when Katie gives you the update.

"Too late," I murmured aloud. Still, he didn't know I freaked out.

Me: Anything else we need to worry about? Katie said it sounded like all was good.

Jake: Nope. Doctor said he's still in the 99th percentile and all that jazz. Just like Izzy and Josh. We make good babies.

I snorted, but he wasn't wrong.

Me: I'm gonna check with Arch, but I want to fly out and meet Frankie and Bubba for my birthday. Do you mind if I'm gone? Won't be more than three days.

Jake: Pretty sure Archie already got you a ticket, but go ahead and ask him.

I snorted.

Me: You guys saw it too?

Frankie loved to tour with Bubba. She loved performing with him and being out there. She hated being away from the kids. Away from us.

Jake: Yep. I think Archie caught it first, but then she started only texting. Classic unhappy Baby Girl. I'd spank her, but I know why she still tries to hide.

Yeah. So did I. She wanted us all to be happy and she would tie herself in knots to do it. Bubba would have shit-canned the tour in a heartbeat, but she never wanted him to give up those dreams. Neither did the rest of us.

Me: I'll message him. One more patient, then I'm wrapping up here and I'll head home.

Jake: See you then.

Done, I switched to my message thread with Archie but there was already a show of him typing. So I waited. Not even thirty seconds later a flight booking popped up on the screen along with the seat assignment. First class.

I shook my head.

Archie: Happy early birthday. Go make our wife feel better.

I grinned. Sometimes, the fact they could anticipate was such a pain in the ass. Other times?

It rocked.

Me: Challenge accepted.

Then my next patient was there and I had to put all of my own concerns away so I could talk to a teenager about the darkness of his life, along with what he could and couldn't handle.

I liked working with kids, even if it broke my heart as much as it repaired it.

The weekend passedby in a blur. Izzy had a playdate and she'd taken up dance. Jeremy normally handled the dance lessons, but Josh had asked to join a junior soccer league with some friends. Jake and Archie wanted to finish running some tests on their engine before I headed out of town, so I volunteered to take Izzy to her lessons and checked with the moms of her friends that they were okay with picking her up along with their daughter.

Once I had that squared away, Charlie and I headed to the Farmer's Market with the shopping list from Jeremy. I was the only one outside of Frankie he trusted with this list. My phone buzzed periodically with updates from Jeremy and photos from Josh's first soccer practice.

He would be sending them to the family group chat, so Frankie would get them too. That gave me a pause. She was going to be in tears. Right, we could fix some of this. It probably wouldn't be that bad. But she'd had some moments when she was pregnant with Charlie and on tour.

"What do you say we find Mama a present today, little dude?"

"Mama!" Charlie chanted from his carseat. "Want Mama."

"Me too," I said. "But Mama is working, so we gotta find her something."

"Stuff." He said it with such utter confidence, I had to grin.

"Stuff it is," I assured him.

"Want stuff."

"For Mama," I reminded him and he jutted out his lip.

"Me tew."

I chuckled. Charlie shot me a toothy grin. He'd been cutting them off and on, but those two in the front were on full display.

It was a chilly day, the leaves were turning and the breeze was definitely blowing them around. The pumpkins were also fat and gorgeous in one of the display stalls. It was a little early to be carving one, but we'd get one for the kids the following weekend. Then get Mama on video call while we carved if necessary.

I'd brought the stroller with me cause as much as Charlie liked to run around on his own, there were way too many people here and he'd be tired in no time.

"Okay, little dude, time to shop."

"Stuff!" Charlie announced and pointed at the stalls ahead.

"Yep, stuff it is."

It took us about two hours to get everything Jeremy asked for. Not that they didn't have it, but I also spent some time hunting for something special for Frankie. It was my birthday, I could get her a present if I wanted. What the birthday boy wants, he gets.

That rule had not changed in all the years we'd known each other. So, what I wanted was to give her something that would make her smile.

One of the things I loved about this particular market was the quality of the homemade goods. There were soaps here that Frankie loved. Candles. Bath bombs. Decorative pieces. But nothing that was just…

"Pop!" Charlie waved his arms, demanding my attention and I glanced down at him, then over to where he was pointing.

"Oh, look what you found," I murmured as I pushed us in that direction. I was pretty sure it was the wind chimes with all their crystals and metallic pieces that caught his attention.

What I wanted was just on the other side of them. The lady working the booth was very helpful, especially when I explained what I wanted. She said she could have it ready in an hour.

So I took Charlie to find lunch and when we came back, it was ready to go. I also got him one of the wind chimes so we could hang it on the patio where Frankie liked to take her coffee when the weather was agreeable.

"For Mama," Charlie said. "And me."

I laughed. Yes, for Mama and him.

Josh and Jeremy were home by the time I got there, and Charlie was asleep. I let them unload the car while I put him down for a nap. Then Josh gave me a minute by minute breakdown of soccer and how fun it was and everything he learned.

Jeremy clarified the points he missed out on. Then I left Jeremy to wrangle dinner and keep an ear out for Charlie while Josh and I took Maxie and Murray for a walk. By the time Izzy was ready for pickup, Archie and Jake were back so Archie headed out to grab her.

I'd showed them what I got for Frankie and Jake had laughed at the narrow-eyed look Archie wore as he examined it. After he left, he clapped me on the shoulder. "You know, you just fired shots in a new competition."

I snorted. "If it means a competition for spoiling her, I don't mind that in the slightest. I just need her to feel better."

"Yeah, I get it."

Then Josh was back and Charlie was up and we decided to build a blanket fort. Once Izzy and Archie were home, we had dinner, then baths for all the kids, then time for a movie. Saturday nights we let them stay up late, cause most of the time it meant they slept in the next morning and that was nice.

Most of the time.

Tuesday morningI was at JFK early. I put my car in parking for the week and boarded my flight with just a carry-on. I didn't need much. They were in Seattle this week. In fact, based on their schedule, I was going to get in before them.

Bubba had given me the heads up on the hotel they were staying as well as the fact he'd booked a suite ahead of time. They traveled with the band. The tour bus was coming up from Northern California.

My flight landed close to ten local time. They weren't due in until one. Plenty of time to get there, check-in, and be waiting in the hotel suite. Bubba had approved the plan, and he was going to send Frankie up on her own while he took care of some things, then he'd join us later.

My birthday was technically the next day. But I liked early presents and my brother-husbands were the best.

Even with the flight arriving a few minutes late and taking forever to get to a gate, I was still at the hotel a good ninety minutes ahead of time. Once in the suite, I studied the layout and debated how I wanted to do this. It needed to be perfect.

One glance at my watch and I sent a message to the guys to let them know I was at the hotel. Then I sent a second one to Bubba to check on her. How was she feeling?

His response was swift. The fatigue was better, but she was definitely missing them. The original plan of two weeks on, one week off, hit a snag when they had to leave earlier then spend ten days in the recording studio, which turned into two weeks. That meant they were there for a couple of local events before they got on the road. It was going to be closer to four weeks gone before they got back.

Thus, my plan to surprise her and give myself a present at the same time.

No nausea still. Excellent…

I ordered up lunch, a few of her favorites, a few of mine. Plenty of water and it turned out the hotel offered an herbal iced tea. It was orange blossoms, but she might like that. Once the meal and the flowers I'd ordered ahead of time were delivered, I checked the time.

Fifteen minutes.

Bubba said they were in the city, just making their way through traffic.

I headed for the shower and washed up. I put on a pair of boxer shorts that Frankie had gotten me. They were Aladdin's lamp and featured the genie. It was a joke about blue balls that I appreciated.

That said, I liked to tease her that if she stroked the lamp, I would come out to play. Hopefully she enjoyed the symbolism. Bubba's message pinged my phone. She was in the elevator. I sent him a thanks, then put the phone in DND.

Picking out a particularly lovely rose, I found a nice seat that gave me a view of the door and meant I would definitely be the first thing she saw—I hoped. As soon as the locks tumbled, I tucked the rose between my teeth and waited.

"Ugh," she said as she shoved the door open with her hip and rolled her smaller bag inside. "Stupid thing." She didn't see me, in fact, she had her back to me as she shoved the suitcase over. When the door closed, she put her head down and my heart wrenched at the half-sob she released.

Yeah. No. "Hey…"

Her shriek would have done Fay Wray proud. She spun to stare at me. I soaked in everything about her. The tears in her eyes. The flushed cheeks. The strain around her mouth and the way her teeth sank into her lower lip.

"Coop?"

"Hey, Beautiful," I said as I stood up, rose in hand. "I hope you don't mind the surprise, but the girl I fell in love with when I was five, always told me what the birthday boy wants?—"

She didn't even let me finish, half-flying across the room and I braced to catch her. Lifting her up, I hugged her tight and I didn't even mind when she burst into tears. Wild swings of emotion were normal during pregnancy. At least during hers.

It was as much hormonal as it was stress right now and I picked her up, cradling her to me before sitting back down. With her in my lap, I stroked her hair as she got it all out. This was why I'd come, as much to celebrate my birthday with her as it was to take care of her.

Bubba hadn't rejected the idea at all. In fact, he'd been all in. That told me he was very aware of the issue and wanted the backup. Or maybe, it was just what Frankie knew. She always came first with us.

Always had.

Always would.

It took her a while, but she finally slowed the crying and little hiccups replaced the sobs. When she lifted her head to look at me. The red-rimmed green eyes were my absolute destruction.

"I've missed you," she confessed.

"I know, your aim never has been the best…" The dry comment did what very little else would right now.

It made her laugh.

And got me smacked across the shoulder.

I couldn't love her more if I tried.

"I can't believe you just said that…"

"Yes you can. I've said much worse." I gave her a dry look. "You remember when you tried to learn basketball?"

She sniffled. "Mean."

"Maybe, but you're the one who missed me. So I came close enough that you couldn't."

All at once her expression softened into one of those all encompassing smiles that shone out of her. "Tomorrow is your birthday."

"Oh, well, look at that. I'm here for you to spoil."

She stroked my cheek with her hand then let out the longest sigh. "I know you have work and there's so much going on. You probably shouldn't have taken the time, but I don't care—I'm greedy and I am so glad you're here."

"That's my girl," I said, tracing the rose against her face and she blinked. She stared at the rose, then down at me. Since my dick had no objections to her ass on us, we were definitely hard as a rock just for her. I didn't doubt she was aware of it as she flexed her butt cheeks against my lap.

"You're almost naked…"

"Almost," I said. "But I wore your favorite boxers. If the birthday boy gets what the birthday boy wants…"

"What does the birthday boy want?"

"To make you smile."

She grinned. "Mission accomplished."

"I guess I can go then…"

That got me another smack. "Don't you dare."

"Never." Not when I was exactly where I wanted to be.

"The kids?"

"Archie and Jake are working from home this week so I can come out to join you and everyone is looked after. Don't worry, Mama. Your babies are doing fine."

"Even Charlie?"

"Even Charlie. Yes, he misses you. He loves the video calls and he wants you there, but he's doing okay. A little separation is good for both of you."

Her nose wrinkled. "Are you handling me?"

"Yes," I said. "You're going to let me. You've been really unhappy. Bubba is worried. I'm worried. The guys are worried. So, since we promised to love, care, and keep you for all of our lives, I'm here to love and care and keep you."

Tears pooled in her eyes again. "I really hate this part of pregnancy."

"No you don't," I said, cupping her cheek and swiping away a tear when it leaked out. "You really don't."

"How do you know?" There was a challenge.

"Because that huge heart of yours has always felt things this deeply. Pregnancy just means you can't hide it. You don't mind it so much when we're all there…"

"But I miss you so much when we're not."

"I know. But you're having fun, right? You and Bubba are performing? He's looking after you? At least two orgasms to start the day and more to finish?"

The blush that turned her red was an absolute delight.

"Oh, so more. Well, tell me what I'm working with—the going number at home was three."

She bit her lip, then held up her right hand.

"Five?"

Then two more fingers on her left.

Ass. Talk about setting the bar high. "Lucky seven." I nodded slowly. "A day, right?"

She was almost shy. "I think the libido demands hit earlier than normal."

"Ha," I said with a grin. "It's my lucky day then. How many have you already had today, Beautiful?"

Suddenly she pouted. "None. We had to be on the bus early and he let me sleep in."

I could have kissed Bubba myself. "Well, good thing for you, I'm here."

"Coop?"

"I love you."

I grinned. "Love me enough to let me take care of you?"

She wrapped her arms around my neck. "I love you enough to do whatever you want."

Well, that was a heady offer. "Let's start with food, and getting you out of these clothes. How does that sound?"

"Like if the birthday boy wants it…"

I grinned.