Authors: V.S. Tice
“Yeah, I guess she likes it. I also overheard her telling Juliet she doesn’t want or need a man in her life anymore.”
“Wow.” I finished loading the dishwasher.
“Yeah, but it’s still not as wow as your news.” He grinned. I threw a dishtowel at him.
Bedtime that evening was a little crazy. The twins were wound up and didn’t want to settle down. William finally got them into the bathtub as I was climbing in next to Victoria for her bedtime story. We were about five pages in when Gregory and Michael burst into her room and jumped onto the bed.
“We heard you reading,” Gregory spoke.
“Can we listen too?” Michael finished.
“I’m sorry, Sophia,” Will rushed in after them. “Let’s go, boys,” he ordered and they groaned.
“Do you care if they listen?” I raised my brow at him.
“You sure?” He looked at me questioningly. I nodded. “Okay, I’m gonna go clean up the bathroom.”
“Okay,” I waved him off and continued to read.
Gregory and Michael were full of questions about the story. Victoria was getting irritated, but I told her they didn’t get to hear from the beginning so they needed to catch up. She took their questions for as long as she could.
“Listen, if you ask one more question you have to get out,” she barked.
“Victoria,” I hissed. She looked up at me with a scowl. “Apologize for being so mean.”
“But they keep…”
“Apologize,” I warned.
She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Sorry,” she grumbled.
I continued reading, and the boys didn’t ask any more questions.
By the time I finished the chapter they were all asleep. Victoria was on my left, Gregory on my right, and Michael was curled up with his head on my right leg. I fought the chuckle about to burst from me. I was stuck. Eventually Will showed up.
“Looks like you have a magic touch for bedtime.” He smiled and picked up Michael.
I slipped to the end of the bed and pulled Gregory into my arms.
“I can come back and get him,” Will argued.
“I’ve already got him so get moving.”
We took the boys to the sofa bed in the suite. It surprised me that Allison wanted the boys in the room with her. She was shocking me left and right. Although her tongue was still sharp, there did seem to be some small changes about her. I was determined to focus on the good.
I passed Victoria’s room and found Collin at her bedside. He was running his fingers through her hair lightly as he said goodnight to her. I moved to his side, picked up the book and tucked her in with a kiss to her cheek. He grinned when I turned to look at him, took my hand, and walked us to bed. There was nothing I wanted more than to shower after spending a couple of hours cleaning and then cooking spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. But when I got into the bathroom I saw there was a bath drawn in the tub. Collin wrapped his arms around me.
“Did you do this?” I craned my neck to the side to look at him.
“Who else?” he chuckled.
He grasped the bottom of my shirt and tugged on it until he had removed it. When he unlatched my bra, he kissed my shoulder blade, and when he pulled my jeans off, he kissed a warm trail down the back of my left thigh. With all of my clothes removed, he took my hand and helped me into the tub. Before I even had a chance to ask, his clothes were piled with mine on the floor and he was climbing in behind me.
Lying back against his chest, I closed my eyes and relaxed until his hands began to wander. Starting at my shoulders, he manipulated them firmly. I moaned. His brilliant fingers slid gently over my body. His lips pressed to my neck, just below my ear. His long fingers worked with surgical precision.
“I love you, Sophia,” he murmured against my skin.
We lay in the tub for ten more minutes before he carried me to the bed, soaking wet.
The next morning Victoria burst into the bedroom.
“Mom, Dad,” she called as she bounded in.
My eyes shot open. I grasped the covers tightly over my naked body, sitting up. Collin mimicked my actions.
“Hey,” I was more than a little flustered. “What’s going on?” I looked to the clock. She had twenty minutes before she had to get up.
She shrugged. “I woke up.”
“Okay, well, why don’t you go get cleaned up and dressed for school. I’ll meet you in your room in ten minutes.”
“Can’t you come help me now?” she whined.
“Give me ten minutes and I will be in, okay?” I nodded.
“Fine,” she huffed. Collin chuckled.
I sighed in relief when she left and threw myself back onto the pillows. Soon, the feel of his warmth was against me, his arm slipping over my waist.
“Good morning, Mommy.” I felt the smile on his lips as he kissed my collarbone.
I tugged on his hair teasingly. He growled and moved his mouth lower.
“Ah, ah, ah,” I slipped out of the bed. “If I don’t get moving, she will be back in ten minutes. Not a good idea to start that.”
I entered the bathroom and quickly wrapped myself in a robe. Grabbing my toothbrush and toothpaste, I went to work on my morning breath. After I got dressed, I went to Victoria’s room. She was trying to brush through her hair. I walked up behind her and helped her before we went downstairs for breakfast. Since we had extra time, I made pancakes and bacon. The twins slowly dragged themselves into the kitchen with their uniforms on and Will carrying their backpacks. They sat down, perking up at the sight of pancakes.
“Can we have some?” they asked at the same time. I giggled and nodded.
“Are you sure?” Will asked.
“I made extra for them.” I nodded toward the extra plates.
“Thanks.”
“I thought they had to register with the school?”
“They do, but Mrs. Bed…I mean, Ms. Bishop is pretty sure they’ll get shown to class today.”
I nodded. Of course she could get them signed up and attending in the same day. She was a Bishop.
At 2:00, Will met me at the front door to go pick up the kids. We drove in separate cars since Victoria and the twins had separate after school activities. Apparently, Allison had gotten the twins in with the fall soccer league, even though it was a month after registration.
As we pulled up to Victoria’s horseback lesson, she was going on and on about Halloween and the different costumes she was considering. I had to admit, I was surprised she didn’t want to be a mermaid again. She talked mostly about dressing up as a princess.
Victoria was halfway into her lesson, and I was sitting on the fence talking with another nanny, when I heard the horse’s loud “neigh,” Victoria’s scream, and her instructor call out for her. As my head snapped toward the commotion, a multitude of things washed over me. Anxiety crashed onto my shoulders as Claire grabbed for the reigns of Victoria’s horse, fear coursed through my veins as the horse jerked her body around roughly, and panic grasped my chest when Victoria flew from the horse’s back and hit the hard dirt.
I was off the fence and sprinting toward her without any concern of being trampled by a horse. I screamed her name the entire way, but she didn’t answer or move. I slid toward her body like she was the home plate of the World Series. Fighting my instinct to wrap her up in my arms, I quickly appraised her body for damage.
“Don’t touch her!” Claire yelled when my hands reached out for her instinctually.
I placed a hand on her forehead and called out to her. Nothing, there was no response at all.
“I called 911,” a random voice yelled from behind me.
“Victoria, sweetheart, can you hear me?” Again, nothing.
Tears began to roll in large drops down my face.
“I tried to get her, I thought I could get the horse in time…” Claire chanted and rocked slowly as she looked down on Victoria’s still body.
Laying my head on her chest, I could hear her heart beating ferociously. I breathed in relief and then placed my cheek next to her mouth. Warm breath collected on my cool skin. More relief washed over me. She stirred.
“Victoria?” I leaned over her.
Wincing, cries of pain bellowed from her.
“What hurts, baby?” I scanned her body for the hundredth time.
“My arm,” she cried.
I looked to her right arm, but it seemed fine. Her left arm, however, had a bright red patch and a dark purple color was starting to spread. I assumed it was broken.
“Is there anything else?”
“My head,” she sobbed and tried to sit up.
“Stay lying down.” I slipped next to her and curled to her body.
The sirens announced the ambulance’s arrival and the paramedics surrounded us quickly. They checked her over, asked some questions, and then placed her in a brace before moving her body to the board. I followed them into the back of the ambulance and pulled out my cell phone.
During the ride to the hospital, I called Collin to let him know about the accident. I got his voicemail, which was normal, so I left a voice message and then sent him a text.
When we arrived at the hospital, I told the nurse to have Dr. Bishop paged. Once she realized Victoria was his daughter, she rushed from the room. The emergency room doctor looked over her diligently before he ordered an x-ray of her arm and an MRI of her head.
Victoria was conscious and still upset, but they had given her pain medication and an IV to settle her down. I wiped at the tears still streaming down my face.
While she was getting her x-ray, my emotions started to calm, replaced by exhaustion. I walked to the closest coffee vending machine for some liquid lucidity. On the way back I stopped at her room and looked upon a familiar face.
“Well, hello there.” Dominic stood against the side of the door.
“Dominic,” I nodded and tried to walk through the doorway. He grabbed my arm.
“Hey, is that any way to greet a friend?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m really tired and stressed right now. Victoria is hurt and I have to wait for her to come—” Suddenly his lips were plastered on my mouth.
At first I was frozen in shock, but then anger flooded me. What the hell was he doing? With my one empty hand, I shoved him away from me. He smirked over my shoulder. I followed his line of sight and saw Collin charging toward us.
“I can’t believe you—” He grabbed my head and kissed me again.
That was it. I dumped the hot coffee over his head. He screamed and when he pulled back from me, I kneed him in the balls. He curled inward on himself and made gargling noises.
“Don’t ever use me to hurt the people I love,” I growled at him. Then he threw up at my feet.
Nurses rushed to help him. Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back from the mess.
I spun quickly in his arms. “I didn’t—” He pressed his lips to mine. These lips I welcomed.
“I know,” he whispered when he pulled away. “Remind me not to make you angry.” He grinned and looked at Dominic as he was escorted away in a wheelchair.
Relief flooded over me. I was glad he trusted it was Dominic who had done the kissing, not me. Then Victoria flashed in my head again.
“Oh god, Victoria. Collin, the horse—”
“In here.” He pulled me with him into her room. “Now tell me what happened.”
We sat on hospital chairs in her room, and I explained the whole horrid scene with the horse. Victoria returned to her room two hours later. She was fast asleep with a cast on her left arm. According to her doctor, she was shaken up, but her largest injury was the broken arm. He gave me instructions for pain management and how to take care of her cast. Collin reviewed her chart thoroughly and questioned the ER doctor before he was finally satisfied with the results of the tests done. We took her home that evening and I spoiled her with ice cream sundaes for dinner.