Dalton
It was nice of her to leave one light on when I’d returned from the hospital. I’d felt awful about having to leave her with the kids when I’d gotten the call. One of my patients was being admitted into the hospital and had insisted on speaking with me. When I’d told her about the call, she’d insisted she agreed with me that I should go.
I’d offered to call Mrs. Jenkins to come stay with the kids, but Amelia absolutely refused and said she’d stay and get their dinner. I’d messaged her an hour ago just as I was wrapping up and she’d told me they had all gone to bed with no problems, to take as long as I needed. I’d expected her to be up when I arrived, but the house was dark and quiet—all but the one light.
I slipped my shoes off and shut the light off, heading upstairs to my bedroom. I could see light spilling into the hallway from under the bedroom door and quietly opened the door, expecting to find Amelia awake, but she was on her back, dressed in one of my T-shirts, sound asleep, with a book open, resting across her chest.
I softly smiled and went around to her side of the bed, gently taking the book from her chest, careful not to wake her. I’d just bookmarked her spot and shut the light off when she let out a soft moan and opened her eyes, looking up at me with hazy eyes.
“? What…what time is it?”
“It’s late,” I whispered. “Go back to sleep. I’ll just be a minute.” I cupped her cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead.
When I returned, she’d slipped under the covers and was lying on her side. I crawled in under the covers and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back against me.
“How did it go?” she asked quietly.
“Okay,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to discuss what had happened at the hospital tonight. It had been so long since I’d had a close interaction with a patient who was dying; I wasn’t sure I knew how to deal with it anymore.
She rolled over, facing me, studying my eyes in the dimly lit room, then without a word pressed a kiss to my lips.
“I know it was hard for you to go, but I’m glad you went.”
“Me too.”
I pulled her into me, holding her tight. I needed to feel her close to me right now. I needed to know she was here.
“Tommy and Claire were talking to me about getting a tree tonight.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is that so?”
“They wondered if I would join you guys on that venture.”
I looked down at her moonlit face, waiting to hear her answer. We’d barely been seeing one another a month, but to me it felt as if we had been together for much longer, and I already knew I was falling for her. Hell, if I were honest with myself the day she walked into my office for her interview, I’d thought about what it would be like to have a relationship with her. That had scared me so bad I could do nothing but be an ass to her, but she’d finally broken down my barriers.
“What did you tell them?”
“Nothing. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me tagging along for that family time.”
I frowned. “You weren’t sure?”
She looked up at me, those large brown eyes staring back at me, and shook her head.
“I’d love to have you with us.” I winked. “If you want to be, that is.”
“I’d love to join you.”
I pushed myself up onto my forearm and looked into her eyes. Placing my hand on her cheek, I lowered myself and placed a kiss on her lips, my tongue washing through her mouth. She wrapped her arms around me, and as I deepened the kiss, she let out a tiny moan.
“Here’s a hot chocolate for you, and one for you, Tommy, and one for you,” I said, handing Amelia her cup.
“Extra marshmallows?” she countered.
I smiled and winked. “You know it. Now, let’s venture off and find a tree, shall we?”
“Yes!” Tommy shouted, slipping his gloved hand into Amelia’s as Claire shoved hers into Tommy’s.
I smiled at Amelia as the four of us walked through the gates of the second largest tree lot in Eastport. Christmas had always been a hard time ever since Kenzie died. The kids and I had done our best, but the three of us had struggled through the holidays. I knew my attitude hadn’t helped things, but this year with Amelia in my life, I felt lighter than I had in a long time.
As we walked around, she started singing Christmas carols, which got the kids going, and soon the four of us were all singing “Jingle Bells” as we walked around the lot together. Finally, Claire pointed at a tree, claiming it was the perfect one, which, upon closer inspection, we all agreed.
“Is this the tree?” the attendant at the tree lot asked.
I looked down at both kids, who both stared up at me with goofy smiles. I couldn’t help but chuckle and nod.
“Sure is. Can you wrap it for us? I’ll go get the vehicle and pull it up to the gate over there,” I said, pointing at the loading area.
“Sure can,” he said, grabbing the tree and taking it over to the wrapping station.
I was just about to leave when Claire grabbed my hand.
“Dad, don’t you think we should take a picture?”
Pictures were something we used to do when Kenzie was alive. The kids hadn’t asked since she’d passed. However, I normally stopped at a grocery store lot and picked a tree from whatever was leftover two days before Christmas, and it was out by boxing day. I realized now I’d missed out on capturing memories that used to be important for the past few years.
I looked at Amelia and handed her my phone. “Would you?”
“Oh, sure.” She smiled, pulling her glove off as she set her hot chocolate down on the ground.
“No, Dad. Amelia needs to be in the picture, too,” Claire cried.
looked at me and smiled, then pulled his phone from my hand, stopping a couple who were walking by and asking them if they would mind taking the picture. They took his phone and waited for us to get into position.
I wrapped my arm around Amelia, while Tommy and Claire moved in front of us. The four of us smiled as the couple took our picture, then Claire whispered something to Tommy, which made him laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Amelia questioned.
Tommy looked up at the two of us and grinned. “Claire says you two should kiss in the next picture,” he said, covering his mouth as he giggled.
I couldn’t help but smile and asked the couple if they’d mind taking a couple more pictures, which both of them smiled and shook their heads.
I grabbed hold of Amelia and brought my lips to hers as Tommy looked up at us with wide eyes. It was then the couple snapped the picture.
“Thanks,” I said and wished them both a Merry Christmas, only to turn back to see Amelia standing there with a worried look on her face.
I frowned as I made my way back over to them.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered so only she could hear.
She looked up at me, her skin a little pale, and shook her head. “Nothing, I think we should just get the car,” she said, giving me a weak smile.
I’d asked Amelia many times after we’d gotten home what was bothering her, only she refused to tell me, quickly changing the subject or focusing on the kids. She was going to head home after they’d gone to bed, but I convinced her otherwise, and she’d spent the night with me.
I’d just poured a cup of batter into the waffle maker when Amelia came into the kitchen.
“Morning,” I said, as she helped herself to a cup of coffee.
“Morning.” She softly smiled, only it barely reached her eyes.
She went to walk by me, but I stopped her, leaning in for a kiss.
“You ready to talk yet?” I whispered, not wanting the kids to think something was wrong.
She looked up at me with worried eyes and placed her hand on my chest. “I should have told you, but the day I was shopping, I ran into Connie. She was all over me, threatened…”
“What, that she was going to report us?” I questioned, looking at her.
She nodded.
“Did you do as I suggested and stand up to her?”
She nodded. “I did. I denied everything, but she was there last night. She saw us take the photo. She saw us kiss,” she whispered, fighting back tears.
As I thought about what to say, the phone rang. I grabbed the receiver and answered it. As I listened, my heart raced, and I hung up the phone without saying a word. I stood there for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts, when I finally felt Amelia’s hand on my arm and turned to look at her.
“, what is it?”
“That was human resources. They’ve asked that I attend a disciplinary meeting today at three.”
Amelia looked at me, tears in her eyes, and was about to say something when her cell phone rang. She looked at me, grabbed her phone, and listened intently, then hung up.
“Who was that?” I questioned.
“Same as you,” she whispered, giving me a worried look.
“Just remain calm and follow my lead, okay?” I whispered into her ear as she climbed out of the car. I placed my hand on her lower back.
She looked up at me, concern in her eyes. “, do you really think it’s a good idea that we show up together?”
“Just remain calm and follow my lead. We have done nothing wrong.”
“I’m not sure they are going to see it that way. I’m your subordinate. They could constrew this as me trying to keep my job or something.” She shrugged.
“Amelia, please. They can say what they want. We know what the truth is.” I leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Do you enjoy having your head on a chopping block?” she questioned.
“My head isn’t on a chopping block. Come on, let’s go,” I said, guiding her toward the door.
Once inside, we made our way to the administrative floor and toward the Human Resources office. I wasn’t backing down, and I wasn’t putting up with any shit at this first meeting.
I allowed Amelia to walk into the room first, and then I followed to see Connie sitting in a chair across from Rose, the head of human resources.
Irritation flooded me as Rose nodded toward the two empty chairs.
“What is this about?” I barked, opening my suit jacket and sitting down beside Amelia.
“Well, , Amelia, a formal complaint has been brought to my attention and what it contains is rather disturbing,” Rose said, opening a folder on her desk.
“Care to enlighten me?” I questioned.
“It’s been brought to my attention that you are currently involved in a relationship with Amelia, your nurse on staff.”
I kept a straight face and waited for her to continue.
“That you have been caught engaging in sexual relations in many parts of the hospital?”
I saw Connie turn and look at the pair of us from the corner of my eye. I cleared my throat and stood up, causing Rose to stop speaking.
“I think this meeting is over for now. I’ll be getting in touch with my advocate, and I’d recommend Amelia do the same thing.”
Rose looked over toward Amelia, who at first didn’t move, but then stood up and nodded.
“I’ll be getting in touch with mine as well.”
I didn’t hesitate. I opened the door to the room and walked out. Once I heard the door close, I turned and saw Amelia coming up behind me.
“I’m glad you followed my lead. Those accusations are…”
“Ridiculous,” she finished.
“Yes. Let’s head on home and call our—”
She held her hand, which stopped me from continuing. She looked to the floor, then to the wall behind me, anywhere but directly at me.
“Amelia, it’s going to be—”
“No, , it won’t be okay. This is a disaster. To be honest, I just want to be alone so, I think for tonight, and for the next little while, I’m just going to stay at my place instead.”
I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t want her to be alone, to have to deal with these things on her own, but I knew it was probably for the best, so I let her go.