Page 31 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
“Good afternoon,” Dr. Quan said. “This is my intern, Lavinia. She’ll be conducting your visit today.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Luke said, standing with the baby chimera in his arms.
“Who is this little angel?” Lavinia asked, as Luke set the baby down onto the patient bed. The chimera bleated.
“This is Barnabus,” Luke replied, scratching behind the chimera’s ears, beneath Barnabus’s little horn stubs.
Lavinia smiled, inspecting Barnabus. She checked on the baby chimera’s vitals, and almost immediately, she deduced what the problem was.
“I believe Barnabus has selenium deficiency,” Lavinia said. “It can cause weak rear legs and also keep the baby from swallowing properly.”
She turned back to confirm with Dr. Quan, and he nodded, gesturing for her to continue. “See how he’s holding his legs; that’s the telltale sign.” She pointed for Luke to see. He nodded, understanding.
“We’ll give him an injection now, and then you can bring him back in a week from now for another checkup and possiblefurther injections,” Lavinia told Luke. She turned back to Dr. Quan. “Anything to add?”
“Nope, that’s perfect,” he replied, giving her a proud smile. “I think you’ve got it from here.” Dr. Quan took his leave, and Lavinia left to retrieve the injections.
Satisfaction coursed through her. She loved her work, applying the things she had learned in school. It made her feel accomplished and competent that Dr. Quan trusted her to run appointments alone. Even though school was difficult and trying, she did love learning.
That was something she and Calahan shared, she reminded herself. They were definitely fated to be together.
Lavinia returned to the patient room and administered the shots, while Luke held the baby chimera in his arms. The baby made a bleat of displeasure, and Luke stroked his little goat-head with his ringed fingers, soothing.
“All done,” Lavinia said. She petted the baby chimera’s furry head, then brought him a bunch of thin crunchy carrots, which he happily ate. “You can make the follow-up appointment in the front.”
“Perfect.” Luke stood, giving her that winning smile again as he held onto the baby chimera with one muscled arm. He made as if to leave, then paused by the door, turning around. “You work at the Baby Dragon Cafe, don’t you?” Luke asked, cocking his head. “I think I’ve seen you there before.”
“Yes, I do,” Lavinia replied. His lips spread into a smile, eyes glittering with mischief.
“Tell Emmeline I said hi.” He looked pleased with himself.
“Sure,” Lavinia replied, and then he was off.
There was no way Lavinia would be telling Emmelinethat, or Emmeline’s blood pressure would shoot through the roof. Lavinia didn’t see Emmeline Sterling often, but she knew enough that Emmy was triggered every single time she heard Luke’s name. Saphira had mentioned once that the two went to university together and there was some history between them, but Lavinia didn’t know the whole backstory.
After Luke left, Lavinia went back to Dr. Quan’s office, sitting down at her desk. She typed up her notes and filled out paperwork. There were no more appointments for that day, so she did the work at a leisurely pace, preparing for tomorrow’s appointments.
When her phone lit up, she turned her attention to see a text from Calahan. She opened the notification, which was simply a photo. A smile spread across her face.
It was a photo from last night, of her sleeping on her books. They had gone to the Tales & Tails Bookshop off Main Street on Elderberry Lane for a study date; the bookstore was a bit rundown, but quiet and devoid of distractions.
It was a lovely place, and the study date had also been lovely, until they’d gotten to the actual “studying” part. Then, Lavinia had in fact fallen asleep on top of her books while she listened to a playlist titled “you’re daydreaming while you’re lost in the palace gardens.” In the picture, Calahan had taken her glasses off and set them aside, tucking her hair behind her ear, but she still looked ridiculous, mouth open, a dribble of drool spilling out.
So rude, delete that!!she texted him.
No thanks, you look too cute,he replied.
She giggled to herself. It had been ten days since their first date. She and Calahan had gone out two more times since then,once to the farmers’ market, and once to study. It was just as she had planned, just as she had imagined, sweet and easy. So easy! Mama always said love was easy.
She was moving on from Theo, no, really, she was. Calahan was so clever and mature. Being with him felt very grown-up. Like the right decision.
Thewrongdecision would be to pine over someone who wasn’t interested in her and jeopardize the most important relationship in her life in the process.
For a moment, Lavinia worried she was simply using Calahan to get over Theo, but no, that wasn’t true. She knew with absolute certainty it would not happen with her and Theo, and she really did like Calahan. Maybe this was what was always meant to be.
Besides, she didn’t have any time to waste, not with the winter just a few months away. She had wasted enough time already!
Beena and Lavinia both had birthdays in May, so it was easy to imagine the ghost of her mother’s past as Lavinia’s companion. She had met Garrett on a cold December day, and they had started dating immediately after, everything happening so seamlessly.
