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“But you don’t have to win,” I say finally, my voice sounding more stable than I feel. “Not at the expense of your health, honey.”
“But I almost did.” Mimi adds and chips another block off my sanity. “I almost won.”
“That’s not the point,” I say trying to speak slowly and not yell. “The point is that you nevereverdo it again, okay?”
Mimi must have noted my mood because she just nods.
I move away from Maddox, walking to my daughter, holding her little cheeks in my hand. “Don’t hurt yourself trying to prove anything to anybody. I love you regardless, okay? If anything happened to you, honey, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”
“Okay.” Her dimple flashes as she gives me a little smile before her expression falls again. “But I’m going to be disqualified now, aren’t I?”
“Probably. But that doesn’t matter, okay? Nothing matters as long you’re healthy.”
She leans into my hand as I caress her cheek. The doctor clears his throat breaking the silence. “Um.. so anyway. I think she should be good to go home soon.”
“Alright,” I smile at the man. “Thanks, Dr…”
“Carter.” He gives me a quick grin back. “And you’re very welcome.”
“Oh, and about the bill…we have insurance but I’m not sure it’s going to cover this. Where do I go to settle it?”
The doctor opens his mouth and glances at Maddox who shakes his head subtly.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dr. Carter says and ducks out.
"You didn't let him answer my question." The leftover emotion means I'm more irritated than I would have been that his interruption causes me not to get the information I wanted.
"It wasn't necessary," he says.
"How would you know if it was or not—"
"Would you rather argue with me about this or check on your daughter?" He nudges his head toward Mimi who is now staring at him again.
“Mommy, your new friend is very bossy,” Mimi says in what she probably thinks is a conspiratorial whisper but fills the room.
Maddox smirks.
“You don’t say that about people you just met, Mimi.”
“But being bossy is not a bad thing, Mom.”
“And it’s true,” Maddox says, walking to her. “Which means, you are very astute."
“I am,” she says. “I’m a genius,” she says it matter-of-factly, but there’s a hint of pride in her voice when she adds, “Mommy says I’m the smartest girl that ever lived.”
“Does she?”
“Yes. It’s not true, but she says it because she’s proud of me.”
“I’m sure she is."
To be honest, I’m not sure what’s going on here but I feel like I'm witnessing a car crash.
It seemed inevitable that Mimi and Maddox met at a point. I thought that the two might run into each other eventually if I kept working for him and fake dating him. I’m prepared with all the explanations about Mimi’s origins. While I don’t want to lie to Maddox, I wasn’t about to tell him who her father was either. There was no resemblance between the two so I doubted he would figure it out on his own.
But, I didn’t think they would interact for this long either. Maddox doesn’t strike me as the type to like children or enjoy talking to them. But here he is, talking to my daughter easily, and the longer the interaction goes on, the more uncomfortable I become.
At the same time, it’s confusing because he’s here. And he’s being a lot more understanding about this than I expected.
