And Father Makes Three

“Well, not yet, but Dr. Jim told me you were feeling better, so I just had to come and see for myself.” Sitting on the edge of her daughter’s bed, Elizabeth placed her hand on Jordan’s forehead, relieved to find it cool and dry.

“Cool. How long can you stay? The Boston Brothers will be right back on. They’re singing a new song today.”

“The Boston Brothers? Hmm. Have I heard of them?” Teasing Jordan, Elizabeth tucked a thin strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.

“Mom, they’re only the hugest, cutest band on the planet. They’re coming to Phoenix, you know. I just saw the commercial.” Wistfulness filled Jordan’s eyes.

Elizabeth knew her daughter wanted to go to the concert but going to a place with thousands of screaming fans wouldn’t be good. A normal immune system could fight off all the bacteria and viruses, but a compromised one only invited them to set up shop, which would delay Jordan’s treatment even more.

“We’ll see, sweetheart. I can’t make any promises, okay?” Elizabeth watched the light fade from Jordan’s eyes and wished there was something she could do. Even if her daughter were healthy, tickets had probably sold out months ago. “Maybe next time.” Elizabeth squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Jordan, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. Is that okay?”

“He’s not going to poke me or stick me with needles, is he?” Jordan’s bottom lip trembled and tears filled her eyes.

Her child had been through so much, and they had so much more to get through to beat the leukemia. Elizabeth forced a smile.

“No. He just wants to say hi.”

“Sure. As long as he does it before Tyler, Justin and Shane start singing.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Elizabeth pushed herself from the bed and went back for Blake. “Okay, are you ready?”

When Blake nodded, she wove her arm through his and guided him into his daughter’s room. Silence between the three permeated the small area, broken only by the commercial running in the background. Beside her, Blake stiffened.

Inner turmoil made speaking difficult as her daughter eyed them quizzically. Despite the air-conditioning, the room grew warm. She’d love to take off her lab coat, but without it, she’d feel even more vulnerable and exposed. She inhaled sharply and spoke before she lost her nerve. “Jordan, I’d like you to meet…my friend, Blake Crawford.”

“Friend?” Jordan shifted in the bed, careful not to upset her IV. Her eyes widened as she stared at Blake and grinned. “Are you going to get married?”

“Married?” They both spoke at the same time.

Releasing his arm, Elizabeth inched away, her heart thumping furiously inside her chest. Jordan must have gotten the wrong impression. Tom had been the love of Elizabeth’s life, but he’d died almost six years ago when Jordan was four—her daughter didn’t remember him. She didn’t know who wore the more dazed expression, but she felt Blake’s almost immediate withdrawal.

Jordan’s smile added more tension inside the room. “I saw it on The Miriam and Teddy Show. When one of the parents introduces a friend, that means they’re getting married. Plus, I’ve been asking God for a new daddy. He is good.”

Everything had backfired. She couldn’t tell her daughter the truth about the adoption, or that her real father stood a few feet away from her. Not yet. Not until they beat the leukemia.

Elizabeth sat on the edge of Jordan’s bed and pushed what was left of her daughter’s long bangs from her eyes. Now she knew why Blake’s were so familiar. There was no mistaking that Jordan was his. She looked back over her shoulder, but he deftly avoided her gaze.

“In this case, Jordan, Blake is just an old friend. He’s come to see if he’s a bone marrow match, just like all my other friends who are being tested.”

Jordan crossed her arms, her lips curving down, disappointment on her face. “That’s all? Well, I don’t see why you can’t get married. I want you to be happy.”

“But I am happy.”

“Then why do you still cry when you see Dad’s picture? People only cry when they’re sad.”

“That’s not true. People also cry when they’re happy. Like at weddings and such.”

“My point exactly.”

When Jordan stuck out her bottom lip, Blake’s heart skipped a beat. Tessa used to do that, and it had driven him nuts because he couldn’t resist and he’d always given in. But Tessa was gone now, leaving him only with memories and a daughter who was definitely his. A daughter he was afraid to love and possibly lose. The image of another hospital bed rose in his mind’s eye.

Forcing his memories back, he let his gaze skim over the doctor again as she sat on Jordan’s bed, patting her daughter’s hand. In that moment, Dr. Randall disappeared, leaving behind a caring, warm and beautiful woman. It scared Blake worse than running into a burning building without his protective gear.

Elizabeth tweaked her daughter’s nose. “We can’t get married because we don’t love each other.”

Relief coursed through him when Elizabeth didn’t encourage this conversation. Yet he found himself wanting to know more about her. Not good. This is how it had started with Tessa when he’d literally run into her outside biology class. That had ended up with a date. And from there, a whirlwind courtship and marriage, which resulted in his daughter’s birth. The same daughter who wanted him to do it all over again.

“So why don’t you learn how to love each other?”

A strangled cough forced its way out of Blake’s lungs over the sound of some boy band. Music. A much-needed distraction right now. He’d eavesdropped on their conversation and knew they’d been discussing this group. “Isn’t that The Boston Boys playing?”

“The Boston Brothers,” she corrected. But his daughter had a one-track mind right now. “So why don’t you go out on dates, fall in love and then get married?”

“Because it doesn’t work that way.” Elizabeth rushed the words out as she rubbed her daughter’s hand again.

“Maybe God isn’t real after all.” Tears welled in Jordan’s eyes.

This conversation wasn’t going according to the plan. Blake forced himself to cross the room and stood on the opposite side of Elizabeth, trying to formulate some sort of response. Dread pounded in his heart as he stared down at Jordan and saw the look he’d worn too many times growing up reflected in her blue eyes that were so much like his own. She missed her dad. He’d lost his mom at a young age, at a time when he’d really needed her.

He wanted to tell Jordan the truth, but now that he’d met her, he realized Elizabeth was right. In this fragile state, his daughter probably couldn’t handle the news of the adoption.

But something monumental shifted inside him. Blake had been given a chance to come into his daughter’s life from this point forward, even if he couldn’t tell her the truth. He thrust his fears of blowing it aside as an old saying of his mother echoed in his head. He didn’t really believe in the words, but Elizabeth looked as if she needed some help.

“Sometimes God answers prayers in His own time, not yours.”

“Well, He’d still better hurry up.” Jordan coughed, and concern flashed across Elizabeth’s face. There was so much he didn’t know about his daughter’s leukemia, but he planned to find out.

His gaze met Elizabeth’s and he found himself lost in the depths of her blue eyes. Breaking his gaze away, Blake picked up his daughter’s other hand. Unfamiliar emotions bombarded him as he held her small, delicate and cold fingers. He tried to infuse a bit of warmth into them while he stared at the child he and Tessa had created.

“Your mom and I are just friends. Nothing more,” he said, trying to make things as clear as possible for her. And for himself.

Another frown formed on Jordan’s lips, but her attention wandered past Blake’s shoulder to the television on the wall. The Boston Brothers were finishing up their latest hit. The light gone from her eyes, Jordan pulled her hands away and resettled herself in her sheets. “Okay. I just thought it would be cool to be a bridesmaid.”

Blake’s startled gaze met Elizabeth’s stoic one. Her lips creased into a ghost of a smile, yet he sensed her dismay.

“Not only will you be a bridesmaid, sweetie, you’ll be a bride.”

The forced brightness in her voice told Blake that Elizabeth seemed to have lost hope, too. He fought the urge to wrap his arms around her because it would send the wrong message to Jordan.

Seconds ticked by, sliding toward an uncertain future. From somewhere deep in his brain, a distant memory surfaced and he almost felt the urge to pray. Too bad he didn’t believe in God. That had been his mom’s thing and look where it had gotten her. He shoved his thoughts back where they belonged. Today was what mattered.

And tomorrow.

And the day after that.

“Pinky promise?” Jordan opened an eye and stared at her mom.

“Pinky promise.” Elizabeth tucked her pinky through Jordan’s and tugged gently. “Now, Mommy’s got to get back downstairs before someone misses me. I’ll be back after my shift.”