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“She’s good, so I’m sure she’ll run with it.” I’d spend a couple days a week having Ryan burp and fart all over me while someone else took over my groundbreaking research. But the name on the study didn’t matter compared to the study itself. It could help lots of people, and that was all that mattered.
“You sure you’re okay?” She looked up at me, watching my face, seeing something I tried to hide.
“It’s just ironic. You told me I’d have to cut something at some point when I had a family someday. At the time, I just didn’t think that would ever happen. But here I am. It’s just been a crazy year. A lot of changes in a short amount of time.”
“Yeah.”
“But I don’t mind making the sacrifice. You’re replaceable at work, but you aren’t replaceable at home.”
“That’s true for the most part. Doesn’t really apply to you, though. Because you aren’t replaceable at work either.”
She thought for a moment before speaking again. “Instead of having free days, could we have half days? When you’re in the office seeing patients? We can get all the supplies we need for Ryan and he can hang out there, and we can hire a nanny to take him out of the room when he’s crying, needs to be fed or changed…just an idea. Because when you brought him to work, people seemed to think that was cute. I think it made them feel more relaxed too, seeing this cute baby sitting across from them.”
“I guess we could do that. I can’t really bring Ryan to my research lab.”
“And while your research is important, it is something someone else can do. But seeing patients and operating, that’s all you. We originally set up your schedule that way because you were uncertain about getting your hands dirty…no pun intended, so maybe this is how you should be spending your time anyway.”
“Good point, baby.”
“We can make it work. People bring their dogs to the office. Why can’t we bring a baby?”
“Ooh, I should get a dog.”
“What?” she asked with a laugh. “You just got a son, and now you want another responsibility?”
“But that would be fun to have a dog at the office. He can sit on the couches in the lobby with patients, come into the room when I’m seeing them, just be an office assistant. You know, when people watch animal videos or spend time with their pets, their blood pressure actually goes down. Plus, Ryan should have a furry friend. It’ll teach him to respect animals, to be gentle, to have empathy.”
“And what about all the potty training stuff we have to do?”
I shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. We can get a trainer if we need to. We can find him at the shelter. Ryan will love it.”
Sicily was hesitant at first because she was the responsible one between us, but she wore down quickly. “I’ve always wanted a dog…”
“See? You’re a big softy too. Now I’ve got my woman, my baby, and my pooch. Perfect.”
Twenty-Seven
Sicily
We got back into our normal lives like he hadn’t left, like I hadn’t broken things off so the three of them could be a family.
Instead, the four of us would be.
The fourth was the dog we hadn’t picked up yet.
Kendra had been hired prematurely, but she was actually quite an asset. Having her at the front desk stopped the need for me to run back and forth, to finish up with the last patient and then run into the lobby to check in the next one. It was quite exhausting, especially in heels, so I was glad that was over.
Dex and I had lunch together in his office every day—and a quickie on the couch.
It really was the best job ever.
When Dex got his tests back after his blood draw, he knew he was cleared to see Ryan, and to say he was excited would be an understatement. He talked about Ryan all the time, asked me to put pictures up in his office, and we had the space redesigned so Ryan could have a play area and be able to play on the floor while Dex saw his patients.
It was a perfect balance because it allowed Dex to do this work but also spend time with his son. And Ryan spending his time in his father’s glory was probably intellectually stimulating for him, and he’d probably have memories from these office visits for the rest of his life.
We went to Catherine’s apartment on Sunday night to pick him up since we had him until Tuesday night, but I had a bit of dread in my heart. I wanted Catherine and me to get along, and after the way Dex screamed at her for what she said to me, I suspected we never would. I really didn’t want her to hate me, because that would make things complicated with Dex, but there was nothing I could do about it.
