Page 46 of Doctor Daddy Dilemma

Traffic was horrible this afternoon, on the one day I really felt rushed to get home. Mom and Dad were due to arrive any minute. Their plane landed an hour ago, and after getting their bags for their week-long stay, I was certain they’d beat me to the apartment where Lex waited for me, hanging out with Bash. I was on edge, nervous for them to meet him after all this time.

My father had always had his personal thoughts about Lex, but most of those were based on my previous assumptions about his behavior. That colored everything for so long I wasn’t sure if my parents could shake their presuppositions about him now that the truth had come out. It gave me anxiety over how this introduction would go and how they would react to him. I wanted to be home before they arrived.

When I parked, I didn’t see any unfamiliar cars in the parking lot, but I hurried up to the apartment anyway. I knew things would probably be a little untidy with my busy schedule and how active Sebastian was now at nearly twenty months. Lex and I had been at this long-distance thing for over four months now. I used to spend my weekends keeping things clean and my evenings totally engrossed in my son. Now, it felt like I barely had time to clean.

Thankfully, when I walked in Bash was sitting on the couch with a book pretending to read and the living room was immaculate. Lex had gone all out, organizing, dusting, and vacuuming the floors. He stood near the bookshelf in the far corner of the room putting Bash’s books on the shelf after what appeared to be father-son reading time.

“Oh my gosh, babe, it looks so nice in here.” I almost whimpered as I poured out my gratitude. I couldn’t believe he had cleaned the apartment for me while managing a busy toddler.

“Yeah? Well, I’m sure it’s just your decorating choices.” He slid the last book from his hand onto the shelf and moved toward me as I dropped my keys and purse on the stand near the door and walked over to Bash.

“Book,” Bash said proudly, holding up the colorful cardboard book. His chubby rosy cheeks puffed out in a grin as I scooped him up and sat with him.

“Did Daddy read to you?” I asked, and he nodded eagerly but his focus was on the story in his hands. I turned to Lex who sat down beside me. “Thank you so much, babe.”

“No problem. I got the dishes caught up and the kitchen cleaned. I scrubbed the bathroom down and made the bed in the guest bedroom too. All you have to do is relax.” He pushed the hair off my forehead and kissed me. This man was more incredible than I ever believed. I never gave him enough praise for how he loved me so well. I truly didn’t deserve this.

“I could cry.”

“Only happy tears, I hope…” His words were cut off by the sound of the doorbell which I knew was coming.

“God, they’re here already. I’m so nervous.” I bit my lower lip and started to get up, but he pressed a hand to my shoulder.

“I’ll get it. You relax. You just got home from work.”

Lex stood and walked to the door, and I tried to do as he said but relaxation would not come until after the introductions were over and I saw my father’s first impression. I remembered introducing my previous boyfriends to him and he was always a little skeptical, critical of some even. It wasn’t do or die. Dad would support whatever decision I made, but it meant a lot to me to have his blessing.

“Mr. and Mrs. Martinez, so glad to finally meet you. Come on in.” Lex sounded genuinely happy to meet my parents and again it warmed my heart. The grumpy, brooding man I met more than two years ago had been transformed and I hardly recognized him, which wasn’t at all a bad thing. I was falling in love with him in new ways every day.

Turning over my shoulder, I smiled at Mom, who rushed straight to me, leaving her bags with Dad at the door, to plop on the couch and slide Sebastian onto her lap.

“Nanny!” Bash squealed and Mom lavished his whole face in kisses.

“How was the flight?” I asked, turning to face her. It was a bit more comfortable this way, though I had to wait for her to finish greeting her only grandchild first. I knew where I stood—about three rungs lower on the ladder now that she had a baby to cuddle again. I snickered at the way she loved him so much and Mom looked up at me.

“Oh, you know. It’s just a flight—cramped seats, no snacks, loud passengers. I’m glad to be here. I missed you so much.” She squeezed Bash one more time before he spotted his Poppy and climbed off her lap to run to the now-closed door to hug my dad.

“You missed me or you missed Bash man.” I chuckled again and she swatted my leg.

“I missed you both, but I really missed the baby.” Mom winked and started telling a tale of her girlfriends at the senior center where she volunteered on their craft days, and as much as I wanted to absorb it all, my ear was tuned to the conversation behind me, where Dad was already laying it on thick with Lex. Mom had zipped past him so fast she hardly even said hello. Bash was who she was here for, but I knew later when her excitement to see my baby wore off, she’d be interested in getting to know the man I loved.

Dad, however, pecked Bash on the cheek and held him on his hip while he dove right into the fray with Lex. I wished I could see the look on his face, but turning to look at them would have made it very obvious to Mom I wasn’t listening.

“And what exactly are your plans for my daughter? This long-distance thing is a real strain on her, you know?” I pictured Dad with a scowl and winced. It just happened to be at a perfect moment in Mom’s story. “She tells us how desperately she wishes you were both in the same spot every time she calls us.” Again, another wince from me, but how could I help it? I didn’t want Lex to feel like he was in an interrogation room. I almost blew my cover to interrupt them and save him, but Lex spoke up.

“I have a plan to rectify that.”

After that statement, Mom’s story was white noise. My attention was fully focused on my boyfriend’s voice. What plan was this?

“You do?” Dad asked and Bash babbled something about “Poppy” and “trains.”

“If you’d be so kind, sir, I do.” I heard Lex clear his throat. I knew that sound. He was tense, but he had become a master at diffusing his own temper lately. “My practice has been doing so well, I’ve considered expanding, opening a new branch. And where better to place a renowned plastic surgery firm than a few hours north of one of the biggest celebrity cities in the world? I should have done it sooner.”

My heart stopped beating for a full minute as it sank in what he was saying. Lex was planning to move to California and start a new branch of his practice?

“Hm…” Dad hummed but that’s all he said and Lex took the liberty to continue. Mom, however, had figured out that I wasn’t listening and grew silent. I felt her hand resting on my knee and looked her in the eye as tears began to well up. What was Lex saying? Why like this? Why now?

Mom grinned at me and I saw her eyes misting as Lex went on.

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