Page 60 of Accidental Doctor Daddy

I clenched my jaw, listening to the twins wail—and to the creeping realization that I wasn’t just hiding me from Seth.

Ella was hiding me from Carrie, too.

Carrie’s voice floated through the apartment. “Sorry to drop in—I brought you some groceries and pastries. Figured you could use a treat.”

Shit. She’s staying.

A sharp cry from the nursery snapped me into action. Marissa. I grabbed the first thing I saw—a pink tank top of Ella’s—and yanked it over my head, rushing to the babies.

Marissa’s tiny face was scrunched, her lungs impressive. I scooped her up, bouncing gently. “Hey, sweetheart,” I murmured, forcing calm into my voice.

Through the cracked door, I caught snippets of Carrie chatting, oblivious to the storm brewing behind the nursery wall.

Then— “Mind if I peek at the girls?”

My blood iced.

Ella stalled. Carrie pressed, softer, “I’ll be quiet.”

No time. I set Marissa down, whispered an apology, and ducked into the cramped closet, pulling the door shut just as footsteps creaked closer.

The darkness closed in around me—baby laundry, spare blankets, and my own disbelief.

Forty-eight years old, crouched in my daughters’ closet, hiding like a damn teenager. This is insane.

But then again, losing the promotion to Seth? Worse.

Carrie, just outside the door to the nursery asked, “How are you feeling? Still sore everywhere?”

Ella chuckled nervously. “Um not really, but this morning might be an exception.”

“I’ve heard it comes and goes.”

If only she knew how Ella got sore…though, if this goes on any longer, I will be, too.

Between her husband last night, and Carrie this morning, I started to think anyone named Bowan was determined not to do the right thing. My lats had started to cramp up from the weird position I was in.

I ground my teeth, forcing myself to stay silent when all I wanted to do was curse and stretch. The pain built, though, not heeding my order to stop.

From my narrow view, I caught sight of Ella as she stepped into the doorway, Carrie right behind her. The other woman craned her neck, scanning the room, eyes lighting up at the sight of the twins. I couldn’t see her face fully, but I recognized the voice—she was all warm chatter, the tone of someone who adored babies and wasn’t leaving until she got her fill.

I recalled one of the hospital functions—a gala, I think—where she cooed over somebody’s baby. Seth, tipsy on one too many gimlets, confessed she had always wanted one, but settled for the restaurant because she didn’t think she’d be a good mother.

I didn’t know if that was how she felt about it, or if he was just drunk, but seeing half her face now, I imagined he was right.

“There they are,” Carrie whispered. “Oh, Ella, look at them. Have they grown since the last time I saw them?”

Ella chuckled nervously, moving to pick up Marissa. “Feels like they have. They’re eating like horses.”

Carrie cooed, leaning in to stroke Summer’s soft hair. “Aww, still asleep. Good girl.”

I pressed myself further against the closet’s back wall, every muscle taut. If Carrie turned even slightly, she might see me through the crack. My stomach twisted with the tension of it all—the bizarre image of me, a grown man, father of these twins, hiding in a closet like some guilty teenager.

Not that she knew I was their father.

And it had to stay that way.

Chapter 23

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