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Abel’s little cries make me feel something I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever felt before.
A deep sense of protectiveness for the child.
Not just Eden, but for the actual child.
How very strange it is to feel protective of a child.
My instincts tell me to hurt anyone that makes the child cry, even if it’s one of my brothers.
But Nathaniel is doing it to help him, so I bite the inner cheek of my mouth and wait.
Shining a light into Abel’s ears, mouth, and nose, Nathaniel works quickly, but gently explains to Eden what he’s doing. Calming her.
When he hands Abel a wooden tongue depressor, my soon-to-be son gurgles a happy sound.
And it’s musical, just like Eden’s voice.
“It’s a middle ear infection. Nothing to worry about, but I’d like to start him on antibiotics to clear it up,” Nathaniel says as he lifts Abel up and holds him out for Eden to take.
Eden frowns. “I’ll have to wait for my pharmacy to open. They’re the only ones around who will take our insurance.”
Nathaniel glances at me then tells her, “No, you misunderstand. I have enough in the car for Abel. Jude, if you’ll come with me, I need to speak with you.”
Eden shakes her head. “I can’t afford to buy any medicine without my insurance…”
Laughing, I say, “You’ll never need to worry about that again.”
With Nathaniel already moving towards the door, I have to catch up to him. Opening it quickly, we both step out of the house and walk to his SUV.
“She’s the one you told us not to worry about,” Nathaniel says.
There’s no accusation in his voice, just a simple statement.
“She is,” I confirm.
“Schedule them both for a health screen, especially Abel. From my quick check, everything seems good, but he has a tongue tie I’d like to take a closer look at.”
Nathaniel opens the back of his SUV up.
Inside the back of his SUV, where I normally stash all my weapons and gear, he has medicines, trauma bags, and surgical kits.
Shifting through a built-in shelf, he grabs a small medicine bottle, opens it, then grabs a water bottle. After adding water, he twists the lid back on the medicine bottle and starts to shake it up really hard. “The directions are on the side. Make sure to finish the treatment, even if he’s starting to feel better.”
“Understood,” I say and take the pink bottle.
“I saw the dropper on the counter.” He pulls out an identical dropper that’s in a sealed package. “Use this one only for the antibiotics and the other only for the pain medicine.”
Nodding my head, I accept the dropper.
“Simon called me.” Nathaniel closes the back of his SUV up. “He wants to know what’s going on.”
“How does he know anything’s going on?” I ask.
“Because he tracks our vehicles, Jude.” Nathaniel laughs. “Fucking nosey shit. I told him to call you in what should be about fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“So, you’re getting married too, I take it?” Nathaniel asks suddenly.
