Resisting The Single Dad: Resisting the Single Dad / Reunited by Their Secret Son. Scarlet Wilson

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СКАЧАТЬ other and staying out of each other’s way. It was almost like some carefully choreographed dance—but, then, she hadn’t danced since she’d been a teenager and she’d no intention of starting again now.

      She lifted Rory up onto her bed. ‘Why don’t you sit here for a minute while I go downstairs and get you some milk?’

      ‘Okay,’ he said, as he sat on her bed and looked around the room. She almost laughed out loud. Somewhere inside this four-year-old was a little old man waiting to get out. She could see him eyeing the clothes she’d thrown across a chair and her two pairs of shoes lying in one corner of the room.

      Thankfully they had plenty of cold milk in the fridge downstairs so she poured some into a mug and carried it back up with her.

      She walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed up alongside him, handing him the mug and praying he wouldn’t spill it.

      ‘I like your pyjamas,’ he said as he took a sip of milk.

      Her light jersey nightwear was bright pink and covered in tiny teddies. ‘Thanks very much. I like yours too. Are they space rockets?’

      He nodded. ‘And planets. I was going to be an astronaut. But Dad says I might not be able to do that. So I’m going to be the scientist that presses the buttons and sends the shuttle into space.’

      Her skin prickled. He was just a little guy but his vocabulary was so good. And his comprehension. But just because he sounded older than he was, it made her a little wary.

      ‘You know, I think they get thousands of people who apply for every job as an astronaut. It’s tough.’

      He shrugged. ‘I don’t care. I’d get through.’

      He said it with the confidence that only a child could have. She liked that. She wished she still had that herself. The fearlessness. The expectations.

      Nowadays, if you could bottle and sell something like that you would be a millionaire.

      She lay back on the bed and looked out at the dark night sky. She hadn’t remembered to close the curtains yet. She pointed up at the stars. ‘Don’t you think it might be a bit lonely up there?’

      Her heart was giving a few little flutters in her chest. Not because anything was wrong but because somewhere along the line she figured that Gene must have had that general conversation with his little boy about doing certain things and getting certain jobs.

      Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was a tricky disease. The advice frequently said that children and adolescents with HCM should refrain from competitive high-activity sports to prevent the risk of sudden death.

      Anyone with the HCM genes would never get on the space programme. Never be a deep-sea diver. Never be able to do certain other jobs. But did Gene really need to tell his kid that now?

      She turned to face Rory as he took another sip of milk. ‘But I wouldn’t be lonely up there.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘Because my mom’s up there.’

      Her breath caught somewhere in the back of her throat. From the mouth of babes. She opened her mouth to speak but he kept talking, ‘And I would take my girlfriend with me too. She’s new. I met her today.’

      Cordelia’s brain was still dealing with the first statement. But she couldn’t help but smile at the second. ‘You have a girlfriend already? Who is she?’

      He looked at Cordelia in surprise. ‘I always have a girlfriend. Her name is Jana.’

      Cordelia knew a lot of kids in the nursery and she frantically tried to remember which one was Jana.

      ‘Blonde hair? Curls?’

      Rory gave her a wide smile. ‘That’s her.’

      ‘You’ve only been at nursery for a week and you’ve got a girlfriend already?’

      He wrinkled his nose. ‘Don’t you have a boyfriend?’

      She felt herself blushing. ‘No. Not right now.’ She gave a casual wave of her hand. ‘Boys are too much trouble.’ Then she rolled her eyes. ‘And too messy.’

      His dark brown eyes looked between her, her untidy pile of clothes, then back at her again. He didn’t even have to say the words out loud.

      Cordelia decided it was time for a quick subject change. ‘Do you think your girlfriend wants to be an astronaut?’

      Rory took another sip of milk and nodded his head thoughtfully. ‘I’m not sure. Didn’t you want to be an astronaut?’

      She loved the way he asked her. As if every person on the planet wanted that job. She shook her head. ‘Nope. I want to explore the pyramids. Or build a pirate ship and paint it red. Whatever came first.’

      Something swept over his little face. ‘Is that where your mom is?’

      She almost felt her heart fold over in her chest. She couldn’t help herself and did the most natural thing in the world. She sat up and put her arm around Rory’s shoulder. ‘No, honey. I’m very lucky. My mom is still here. She’s quite old, but she lives by herself now.’

      His brow creased and he looked up at her. ‘Oh. My dad doesn’t have his mommy any more, and neither do I.’

      She wasn’t used to kids. And she wasn’t quite sure how to frame her reply. She’d had lots of life and death conversations with patients over the years—and with grief-stricken relatives. But this was a kid. Way out of her range of expertise.

      ‘I heard that. And I’m sorry. But you’ve got a great dad. And I bet he does everything with you that a mom and a dad would do.’

      Rory seemed to think for a few seconds then took another big glug of milk, resulting in the cutest milk moustache she’d ever seen.

      This little guy could tear the heart clean out of her chest. It didn’t matter that she felt as if she were treading on eggshells. It didn’t matter she was so far out of her comfort zone it was scary. He had a way about him. An aura that just pulled her straight in.

      ‘I might get a new mommy one day.’

      She swallowed and spoke carefully. ‘You might.’

      His wide brown eyes looked up at her. ‘Do you think she’ll like me?’

      She pulled him up on to her lap. ‘Rory Du Bois, I think anyone who could be a mommy to you would consider herself the luckiest woman on the planet. Of course she’ll like you. She won’t just like you. She’ll love you. Just as much as she loves your dad. That’s how these things work. Your dad wouldn’t marry anyone who didn’t love you just as much as he does.’

      She was probably way overstepping here. But even knowing Gene for a few days made her know that would be true.

      Rory’s big brown eyes were fixed on hers. He blinked. Just once, and put his head back down, leaning on her shoulder. ‘That’s okay, then,’ he murmured.

      She reached over and СКАЧАТЬ