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Chapter 11
Even though Blake hadn’t specialized in pediatrics, working in the ER gave him a lot of experience interacting with kids. Children and seniors were the two age groups he dealt with most often on a regular day, as they were the populations most vulnerable to injury and illness. Just a few days earlier he had diagnosed three ear infections—summer pool season was fast approaching—and a sprained ankle, all from kids under the age of ten.
Despite his years of experience and what he considered excellent bedside manner, Blake had been nervous as all hell when Tanith told him that for their date that night, he would be meeting her daughter Hayley and having dinner at their home. This was only a week after he and Tanith had bonded—repeatedly, in many different rooms and positions—at his place. Things were finally picking up steam, and he didn’t want to do anything to screw it up.
So, he had come bearing gifts: the latest comic book arc for a DC series, supposedly Hayley’s favorite, and vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing. As soon as he arrived, Blake’s inner bear had gone ballistic, desperate to be near the girl, knowing that was his cub, biological or not, and it took everything he had to hide it, especially when Hayley hugged him.
The gifts were well-received, and within minutes of arriving, Hayley was already giving him the grand tour of the house. They had made a pit-stop in the kitchen so she could show off all her artwork pinned to the fridge, and they were now seated on her bed so she could show off all her other comics. Tanith, meanwhile, hadn’t been able to get a word in edgewise, and leaned against her daughter’s doorway, arms crossed and smiling. Blake couldn’t help but notice Hayley had the larger room in the home; when and if he and Tanith moved in together, he would make sure he could provide something similar. After all, his inner bear wasn’t the only one who wanted them both close.
“Now, tell me,” Blake said, grinning at the raven-haired girl, “who do you prefer…Batman or Superman?”
Hayley considered his question for a moment, dramatically rubbing at her chin like she had a goatee to stroke, then shook her head. “Wonder Woman,” she told him, which made him laugh.
“Ah, yes, I was forgetting the best one of all.”
“And then I like Cat woman,” Hayley said, rearranging her comics to show off her prized picks. “Then Poison Ivy. Then Harley Quinn…”
“I sense a theme here,” Tanith interjected from the other side of the room, her smile widening when Blake glanced her way. She seemed pleased with the way things were going, and Blake wasn’t all that surprised to find Hayley so receptive to him. Her mother was such a warm, supportive person. It only made sense that her daughter would be welcoming of strangers too.
Whether that was a good thing or not, he couldn’t decide. With all the sketchy cougar activity happening around Angel Fire, the thought of Hayley opening the door for a man who smiled kindly and said he knew Tanith… Blake would have to ensure that never happened.
“So, are you staying for dinner?”
“I am,” Blake replied warmly.
“And a movie after?”
He looked back to Tanith, who gave a slight shake of her head. “Maybe. We’ll have to see—”
“Please?”
“Not on a school night, Hayley,” Tanith said, overriding the conversation with a firm yet kind sense of authority. “We’ll see if Blake wants to come back on the weekend.”
“But you said if I was feeling good, and I’m feeling good,” the girl protested, and Blake pretended to busy himself with her comics as she continued to argue with an ever-patient Tanith. While Hayley had been incredibly welcoming upon his arrival, Blake had instantly noticed she was ill. Sickle cell anemia, apparently. Tanith had only told him yesterday as they chatted on the phone during one of his breaks. If she hadn’t told him he would not have known what was wrong—nothing in her scent gave it away.
Maybe that was why his inner bear was so protective: he sensed his cub was hurting, whether she showed it in her big toothy grin or not, and wanted to protect her. Well, his inner black bear couldn’t do much to help Hayley’s sickness, but Blake knew how to handle it from a medical standpoint.
“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re feeling good today,” Blake offered when the brief argument ended, Hayley sticking out her lower lip in a pout. She shrugged, clearly not pleased that they couldn’t watch a movie later. He noted the paleness in her cheeks, despite her darker skin tone, and the bags under her eyes. Tanith hadn’t said whether this had been a good week or not, but he assumed it had been more of the same. “Did your mom tell you that I’m a doctor?”
“Not for me,” Hayley remarked without missing a beat. She then looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed curiously. “Right?”
“No, not for you,” he agreed. He hadn’t the specialized training to really be of much help for her, but at least he had the sensitivity and skill to be of use to Tanith if she needed him. “I work in the emergency room. I help people when they scrape their knees or hurt their heads.”
“And you’re a friend of my mommy’s?”
Blake nodded. “Yes.”
They had briefly discussed how best to characterize their relationship when they last spoke. Tanith wasn’t ready to tell Hayley she was in a romantic relationship, which was fine with Blake. Since they had mated, their connection felt firmer and more rooted than ever. If she wanted to ease her eight-year-old into her dating life, who was he to stop her? So, they agreed with friendship for now, and Blake had promised to keep his hands off Tanith while Hayley was around—a tall order, certainly. When they were together, all he wanted to do was touch her everywhere.
“Are you a really good friend of Mommy’s?” Hayley asked, pinning him with a look that told Blake she was grilling him. He returned it with a small smile.
“I’d like to think so,” he admitted, then twisted around and looked to Tanith. “What do we think, Mommy? Am I a good friend?”
“He’s a very good friend, sweetie,” she said, grinning at her daughter. “If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be allowed to meet you. Only my best of friends get to meet the most important person in my life.”
Blake swallowed his glee. Meanwhile, his inner bear was positively beside himself. He just wanted to wrap them both up in his big, hairy bear arms and collect food for them for the winter. Blake’s inner self had always been nurturing, but in the presence of his fated mate and her cub, the desire to nurture and protect was on overdrive.
“Well, just because you’re Mommy’s good friend doesn’t mean you can do anything.” Hayley started gathering her comics up, and Blake watched her with a furrowed brow. “My doctor says I need a marrow transplant, and it makes Mommy sad.” Behind him, he heard Tanith draw in a soft, perhaps surprised breath. “You might be her friend. You might give her love. But you can’t fix me.”
