little warm, but thankfully her face isn’t as flushed as it was last night, or should I say this morning.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” I keep my voice quiet, not wanting to wake up Emma.
“I don’t feel so good.” Her lips pout and how can I deny her face.
“I know, baby girl. Come on let’s let your mommy sleep.” I sneak out into the living room where I find Janet.
“Hey baby. I told you not to wake up your mommy.” Janet turns around, jumping a bit when she sees me and not Emma. “Well good morning, I didn’t know you were here.”
“Felicity was sick last night. I helped Emma take care of this little monster.” I pick up Felicity and hug her. Felicity must not feel good because instead of squirming and laughing she lays her head on my shoulder.
“You guys could’ve come and got me. I would’ve helped.” Her protest is feeble as if she likes the fact I stayed all night to help her daughter and granddaughter.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Do you want some breakfast?” Felicity shakes her head against my shoulder.
“I need you to eat something,” I tell her, taking her into the kitchen to see what I can entice her with.
After convincing her to drink some water and eat some crackers, I check the time. It’s been long enough and I give her another dose of medicine, hoping this one will knock out the remaining sickness.
“What do you want to do now?” I ask as Felicity nibbles on another cracker.
“Cartoons?”
We head into the living room and I find a cartoon with superheroes on. Janet explains that since Felicity has superheroes living next door she has abandoned all her normal princess-y shows for superhero ones.
As she should. Ha.
I look down at Felicity’s little body and it’s so small compared to mine, and the primal need to protect her takes over. There’s no way I will let Harrison scare her ever again. The force of wanting her and Emma to be safe almost knocks the breath out of me. When Emma told me about Harrison showing up at her place threatening her, I almost lost my shit. It took everything in me not to go and beat the shit out of him, ensuring he would never come near my girls again. Hell, I still want to. Going to Emma’s work to guarantee she was safe made me feel weak. I wanted to smash something, that something being Harrison, but Damien and Ben convinced me to be reasonable, even though they seem almost as pissed off as I am.
Felicity stares up at me and gives me a cheeky grin, saying I’m way better than the hero on TV.
“I’m stronger, too.”
Felicity giggles and Janet gives me a knowing glance. Damien’s right—another one of the Trifecta has been lost to a woman. Well for me, it’s two.
Felicity gets restless and another swipe of her forehead with my palm shows her fever is gone.
“Can we go play outside?” Her face looks up at me, making my heart squeeze, but I also know she’s not ready for strenuous activity just yet.
“Why don’t we color?”
Her face lights up. The smile she graces me with shows almost all of her teeth. She scrambles off the couch.
“You have to be quiet. You don’t want to wake up Mommy.” Felicity nods before making her way down the hallway as quiet as she can be.
“You’re good with her,” Janet says with a big smile.
“She’s a great kid.”
“I meant Emma.”
I take a deep breath, letting her words sink into my soul. “I want nothing more than for her to be happy. Having the three of you move next door was the best thing that’s happened in my life, and when I find something worthwhile I don’t let it go.”
Now it’s time for Janet to let what I said sink in. She studies me, and I don’t hide what I’m feeling. I refuse to tell her I love Emma, not until I tell Emma first, but I let her see it on my face. She smiles before looking down the hallway making sure Felicity hasn’t come back yet. “She was hurt by Felicity’s dad. She still hasn’t told me that story, but I have a feeling she’ll open up to you if she hasn’t already.”
I keep my gaze steady. Emma trusted me with her secret. I’m not going to let her down by telling anyone, even if it’s my future mother-in-law. When she realizes I’m not going to say anything