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“Kaylie? It’s just me,” he called while listening for signs of where in the house the girls might be.
“Mr. Anthony!” Cecelia came careening down the hallway toward him and all but leaped into his arms. He caught her, unable to fight the grin that stole over his face. No one brought out as much emotion in him as this little girl.
“Hey there, princessa.”
Lia was holding a stuffed animal, and she wore purple pants with a long-sleeve shirt that had some sort of sparkly design on it.
“I’m hungry, Mr. Anthony,” she stated.
Tank lowered her to the floor and grabbed her hand, looking down the hallway for any sign of Kaylie. “Well, let’s get you a snack then, okay? Where’s your mom?”
Lia shrugged. “She’s sleeping.”
Tank frowned. That was certainly unlike Kaylie. He grabbed some crackers and a cheese stick for Lia and set her at a barstool before following the sound of the television into the family room.
His heart caught at the sight of Kaylie curled up on his sofa. Crumpled tissues littered the floor around her, her nose a pitiful shade of red as she snored. Loudly. She moaned lightly, and he quickened his steps until he was standing at her side.
“Kaylie?” He leaned down, kneeling next to the couch.
She moaned again and shifted in her sleep. Fatigue was etched into her features, and a cough punctuated the otherwise still air. Her skin was flushed, and strings of hair clung to her forehead. Kaylie shivered slightly, and he pulled the blanket around her.
With a gentle touch, he placed a hand on her forehead, gauging the extent of her fever, and immediately winced at the heat radiating from her. The furrowed worry on his brow was replaced by determination as he considered the best way to care for her. She’d hate that she was in this vulnerable position. She would hate that she’d fallen asleep at his house and that Lia was basically unattended.
Grabbing his phone, Tank ordered some flu and cold medicine to be delivered. Then he flipped off the television and lowered the lights on his way out of the room. He might not be able to make Kaylie feel better, but he would take care of Lia.
Kaylie wouldn’t admit it–not that she could fight him with the fever roaring through her body–but she needed him right now. She’d view it as a sign of weakness to need someone, anyone. But Black Tower had taught him that it wasn’t weak to rely on people close to you. It required vulnerability to let people get close enough, and strength to admit when you couldn’t do it on your own.
Back in the kitchen with Lia, Tank figured he’d better fix the little girl something more substantial than crackers and cheese for dinner. He didn’t know how long Kaylie had been asleep, but it was definitely dinnertime now.
There were groceries on the counter, but no prepped meals in the fridge. Which meant Kaylie must have intended to cook but hadn’t gotten to it before her sickness became too much.
“Do you like peanut butter and jelly, Lia?”
Lia’s face lit up. “Yeah!”
“Sounds like a plan then.” He prepped the sandwiches, one for Lia and two for him, as she chattered in the background.
“This is Elphie, and he’s my best friend. Well, other than my mommy. I never go anywhere without him,” she said. “Mommy says that even if we have to leave again, I always get to take Elphie with me.”
Tank perked up at her statement. “That’s neat. Do you have to leave a lot?”
Lia shrugged. “Sometimes. Mommy says we always have to be ready, just in case.” The little girl met his eyes. Hers were wide and innocent. “My daddy is a bad man,” she whispered, then hid her face behind Elphie.
Tank had suspected as much, based on the timing of Kaylie’s escape from the Moreno family. But it was another thing to hear it confirmed by the four-year-old. She seemed so ashamed to admit it, which also broke his heart a little bit.
Tank put the sandwich in front of her on a paper towel and waited until Lia looked back up at him. “Want to know a secret, princess?” Lia nodded shyly. “So is my daddy,” he admitted.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”
“Yep,” he confirmed. “But who your daddy is doesn’t say anything about who you are, okay?”
She nodded. “Mommy says that God is a really good daddy.” She said it with a hint of a questioning tone, as though she wanted to know if Tank agreed.
Tank felt his throat tighten, and he nodded. “He is,” he confirmed. “He loves you very much, Lia.”
In a way that only kids could, she accepted his statement with a happy nod and focused on the sandwich in front of her.
The medicine arrived about twenty minutes later, and Tank cajoled a sleepy and confused Kaylie into drinking it, along with some water, before she fell back into an exhausted sleep. He took her temperature and shook his head at the 103 staring back at him. After a quick search on his phone, he decided that if it didn’t go down he’d take her to Urgent Care. She’d hate that, for sure. But if she needed more than some over-the-counter fever reducer, then he didn’t mind being the bad guy who made her get checked out.
