Page 179 of Sticks and Stones
God.
Getting up, Elizabeth headed toward her father, and she gave him a soft kiss on his lips.
She loved this man so damn much.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Sex Machine, I’m not here to bust your balls about you humping your ME. I get humped by mine. It’s a genetic thing.”
He mumbled.
“Yeah, but he’s your husband.”
Sam was trying to save Charlie’s ass.
“Okay, let’s focus on how the surgery went, and not who is married to whom. We can take a break from that,” he said, doing damage control before Mr. High said way too much and pissed off his daughter.
That worked for Elizabeth.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Dad. Your gallbladder is out, and the doctor said it looked like it was spun with thread. It was silvery and in bad shape.”
Jesus.
“You didn’t ask for pictures, did you?”
She snorted.
“No, but Christopher has privileges here, and he scrubbed in to make sure you were okay. He sat by your head and held your hand through it all.”
That touched his heart.
“I love that boy. He’s the best son-in-law a man could have. Go have babies with him for me. I need to be a grandpa.”
She just laughed, and Sam held his breath.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she offered. “Anyway, Charlie, I was waiting for you to wake up so I could see you before I have to say goodbye.”
At her words, he opened his eyes and stared at his child, not sure if he understood what she was saying.
He was confused.
“Wait. How long was I out? It was just Saturday. Where are you going?” he asked.
Then, to prove he was flying high, he smiled.
“You look like your momma, but with my eyes staring back at me. She had such a pretty face, and so do you. You’re my pretty, pretty baby girl.”
Yowza.
She hoped she wasn’t like this when she was waking up from anesthesia.
That was hella embarrassing. While she couldn’t bust his ass about Sam, she absolutely would bust his ass about being this out of it.
Later.
As for leaving, she felt bad dumping this in Sam’s lap. Charlie was a handful on a good day.
Yeah, someone was going to have a battle when he figured out she was on her way out.
Without.
