The Billionaire's Nanny

46

"Let me check your temperature again," I held the gun up to his head as Lucas put his shirt over his head. 

"We're on our way to the hospital Chris," he breathed and clutched his head. 

I felt a small twinge of guilt for making him speak since talking only seemed to intensify his acting head. 

It was Saturday morning and Lucas was not anywhere near better, and the light rain drizzling this morning only added to make him feel even worse. He was still very warm outside but shivered occasionally from the could of the downpour outside. 

Feeling too tunned to speak after his confession last night, I let my mind wander with all the different reasons he must have said those words, and the thought was enough to lull me to sleep until I had to give him some more Tylenol at midnight. 

After hours of staying awake thinking, I finally concluded that his confession was more out of the combination of being sick, sleepy, and drugged up because there was no way Lucas in his right state would say he loved me. It was too much wishful thinking, too far-fetched. 

Whatever hope I kept though only lived till this morning. He did not make any reference to his words last night and that simply meant he neither remembered nor meant them. That was all the motivation I needed to shove last night's event back to the farthest most unreachable part of my brain. 

"What's on your mind?" Lucas asked, snapping me from my thoughts. 

"I was thinking of taking a sweater along, it's going to be cold outside." I lied, walking toward the closet. 

"Okay, even though I know you're lying," he said without missing a beat. He was probably too sick to indulge me further. and I walked to the closet to grab him a sweater and coat, before heading downstairs with him. 

***

"Thank you for coming," I said to Mia as she walked in through the front door. 

"I think the roles should be switched," she dropped her bag at the foyer gave me a small hug which was completely out of her nature then she rushed past me to where Lucas sat on the couch. "How's he doing?"

"Terrible," Lucas growled before taking a sip from the glass of water I kept beside him. "Did you tell mom you were coming?"

"I snuck out, she would bring the roof down if she knew you were so sick and had not gone to the hospital yet." Mia's frown deepened and her brows furrowed in worry as she sat next to her brother, examining him, "I would have forced you to go to the hospital if I had known you would be so sick." 

"Chris already did that job," he mumbled. 

"It's been going on for more than a day now," I explained, "I cannot risk having his fever go higher which is why I insisted we went to the hospital today."

"Please stop explaining yourself Chris," her eyes softened as they met mine, "You are nothing short of an angel, I don't even want to think what would have happened to my brother in your absence." 

"Can you please watch the kids?" 

"Do you even have to ask?" 

"Aunt Mia," Abby's scream filled the living room as she made her way down the stairs in small heavy, and loud steps. "Aiden, Aunt Mia is here," 

Mia closed the distance between them, catching her in an embrace. She lifted her in the air and brought her back down, trailing kisses over her forehead that made her beam with joy. 

Aiden followed next and Mia traded one twin for the other, repeating the process and Aiden's reaction was just like his sister's. "How is my little genius doing this morning?" 

"Happy," Aiden grinned. 

"And I'm tired," Abby said, flipping her hand in her usual exaggerated tone. "I had to work all morning." 

"Really princess, what did you have to do?" Mia leaned lower so she was at a closer level with the kids. 

"Chris said we have to clean up our room and put the toys away too." Aiden chipped in. 

"Oh my little angels are so hardworking," she pulled them closer and kissed each one of them on their cheeks, "you know I'm always proud of you two." 

"What is wrong with daddy?" Abby asked as her attention drifted to her father who was holding his head. 

Walking past us, they made their way to him and despite his bad shape, he allowed them to climb next to him. "daddy, you're sweating," Abby said in concern, pressing her small hand on his forehead to wipe his sweat away. 

"It's really hot today princess." he managed to speak. 

"But it's raining," Aiden asked, confused. 

"Sometimes it's okay to sweat even when it's raining." Mia chipped in seeing how each word came out as a labored breath for Lucas. 

"We should get going," 

"Where are you going?" Abby questioned. 

"Can we come with you?" Aiden whined too, holding my hand and giving me one of his babies pouts. 

"You can't come, sweetie. Dad is a little ill now and we have to make sure he gets better so I'm taking him to the hospital." I explained. 

Abby moved to sit next to her dad and to my surprise she placed her hand over his head, examining him. "Is that why you are hot daddy?" 

"Yes princess," he took her hand, kissed it, and placed her gently on his lap. Even when he was sick, he tried to be a good dad. "But I'll be fine before you know it." 

Aiden had a frown as he sat on either side of his dad. "Promise?" 

"I promise my little genius," he pulled them close to his chest, grunting lowly as they wrapped their small hands around him in a tight embrace.

I turned to Mia with pleading eyes, "you can keep an eye on them right?" the moment I asked the question, I realized it was stupid, seeing as Mia had been nothing short of a mother to them since they were born. 

The look she gave me said the same too, and it also helped to put my mind at ease knowing that the kids were safe while I was with Lucas. 

"Are you okay?" I asked as Lucas and I sat in the back of the car, while Benard took the slow drive to the hospital. My hand had not left his since we climbed into the car. 

"I've been better," he mumbled, "are we there yet?" 

I looked out through the window as we drove closer and closer in the direction of the hospital, "Soon baby..." I brushed the hair in his face aside and kissed his forehead. "You're going to be fine the moment we get there." 

"I have you, I'm more than fine," he attempted to laugh but probably thought better of it and tightened his hand around mine instead. 

His words brought back a wave of fresh memories. And by memories, I meant the moment he said he loved me. It had probably slipped his mind, long gone, but even after pretending to let it go, the words still played a thousand times in my mind. 

"I love you so much Christine, so f*****g much." 

I shook my head briefly in an attempt to wipe the thoughts from my mind, not that it helped though. It would take a lot more than that to get those words that were supposed to light my entire world away from my mind. 

At least I could focus on making sure I stayed close by his side until he was himself again. 

"How long has he been sick?" the doctor asked as he examined Lucas on the table. 

"Three days," I answered, watching as the doctor did his thing examining him. "Is he going to be okay?

"He's dehydrated and needs a bag of IV fluids. I'm sending him into the ER." 

"The ER!" I worked to hold back a gasp, "isn't that like for the really serious cases?" 

"Don't worry, it's not what you're imagining. "your boyfriend here, needs to be monitored until his fever goes down." 

I gave the doctor a questioning look, "Mia said his girlfriend would be bringing him in when she called last night." he explained, quirking his brows, of course, she did, "and I suppose that's you." 

I looked down at Lucas, he looked lost in his world of pain, and right now, whether or not I was still his girlfriend was the least important matter to fuss about, so I just nodded. Lucas though made it more affirmative, by saying a gruff, "yes, she is." 

Thanks to the appointment set last night, the process took no less than 10 minutes, and even better, Lucas got to have the privacy of a separate room from the crammed ER I had seen on our way in here. An overwhelming feeling of joy and relief washed through me when the nurse said a few hours later that his health had been stabilized. I moved from where I had been standing all morning in the corner of the room and took the seat next to him, holding his hand and brushing his hair softly. 

"How do you feel now?" 

"I might not die after all," he joked, pushing himself up.

"It's not fair to joke like that." I feigned a serious face, but could not keep it up as he circled his thumb over my wrist. 

"I hate hospitals," he said making a face, "when do we leave?" 

"You get to have your own private room, it can't be so bad," I managed a chuckle, "plus, remind me how you get to hate hospitals with what you do."

"I'm a biotechnologist, I don't have to like the nasty smell of hospitals," 

"I'm sure," 

My hand remained in his as we sat silently for the next few minutes. Most of that time, I spent watching Lucas. In my opinion, he still looked pretty sick, but I felt a little less worried since he could have a conversation without that pounding in his head. His temperature was much much much stable now and he was even more hydrated with all the fluids being pumped into his system through the IV bag. 

"Stop looking at me like that," he growled, with his eyes shut. 

Embarrassment flooded through me, but I quickly brushed it off, "Like how?" 

"Like you would cry just from looking at me," he finally opened his eyes and looked at me. "I'm better now."

"I know, I just don't know how else to look at you," I admitted. "The last few hours have had me so worried..."

"I'm so sorry for bo..." I gave him a sharp look that made him clamp his mouth shut immediately, "what I meant to say is, thank you for being here for me," he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it softly, "even when I've been nothing but a big d**k to you." 

"To be fair you do have a big d**k," my bad joke did the least to lighten his mood, and a small smile tugged at his lips followed a smirk, "but I don't want you thanking me, I just want you to be Lucas again," to be my Lucas again. 

An awkward a short silence followed after I spoke, and from the look on his face, I knew he was thinking again.

"What's on your mind?" 

"You don't want to know." he turned his attention to the window. The cloudy morning had morphed so quickly into sunny noon and it would have been impossible to tell that there was a downpour this morning. That was California for you. 

"I would not ask if I did not want to know." I want to know everything about you. 

He gave a small sigh, followed by a few second's silence before he spoke. "It's nothing new, just me thinking how lucky I am that you are so different from her." he turned to look at my face, probably trying to read my expression so he could weigh his words carefully. I was either doing a great job at keeping a straight face or he was too sick to see what talking about her did to me. "Sarah and I did have something before our marriage fell to crumbles, but as far as my memory goes, I cannot remember being taken care of so much or feeling..." he trailed off, and for a second I wished I could reach in his heart and take out those words he left hanging. 

He tightened his hand around mine, bringing it closer to his chest and my pulse sped up thinking if he was about to repeat the same words he said to me last night. "I know it's hard for you to believe anything I say right now, hell I don't expect you to but I am truly sorry for how ugly things have been between us in the last few days."

"I don't..."

"You do not have to say anything. The last thing I want is for us to settle our issues here on a hospital bed. I just needed to get it off my chest, I want only you and I see only you and you're the only one that has occupied this splintered depraved, and very imperfect heart of mine."

His words punched me in the gut so hard, I sucked in a breath sharply. I was nowhere near prepared for this, and I sure as hell did not know the best way to reply, so I said the only thing I could think of. "What are you saying, Lucas." 

"I'm saying I..." he paused, exhaled, and closed his eyes for a second, when he opened them, doubt and uncertainty pooled in his deep blue eyes. But it was not the fear of committing, it was more out of the fear of doing or saying something wrong, "I'm saying thank you, thank you so much for being in my life." 

With a small smile, I managed to keep the disappointment that flooded through me off my face. "You're most welcome. You should get some rest." 

After spending the rest of the day at the hospital next to Lucas, watching as he got better by the minute. I called in twice to check on the kids and was glad to see that they were having so much fun with their aunt. They built a pillow fortress and camped inside. Robin called too and promised to finish taking care of things at the office in Lucas's absence. 

Lucas was asleep most of the time and whenever he woke up he would grumble about how nasty it felt to be in the hospital. It was almost funny watching him scrunch his face up as Abby or Aiden would. I fell asleep after having some lunch I got from the hospital's cafeteria and did not wake up until the doctor came back in. I was glad when the doctor said he was strong enough to go home. Lucas was the happiest as the doctor signed off his discharge papers. 

"This does not mean that you can go throwing yourself into the whirlwind of stress from your job Mr. Maxwell." the doctor advised, "stay home tomorrow and rest or I guarantee you will be back here again and for much longer."

"Of course," Lucas said drily, almost rolling his eyes. I could tell I would need to put up a fight to keep him from leaving for work tomorrow. 

Lilian and Martha were waiting in the living room as we got home. "Mom, I was not expecting you," Lucas said, moving to lay on the couch and not bothering to hide the disappointment in his tone. 

The kids were running around with Zoey and immediately directed their attention to hug me as I joined them. "How are my three little angels doing?" I asked, trying to balance all three of them in an embrace. 

"We're playing three little pigs," Aiden said in excitement. "I'm browny," 

"And I'm Whitey," Abby added, almost jumping out of my arm happily, "and Zoey is Blacky"

"Bla-ky," Zoey mimicked. 

Seeing the joy and excitement on their faces was enough to wash away whatever sadness had coursed through me all day. "So who's the big bad wolf?" I asked, my tone matching their excitement. 

"That would be me," Mia joined us, holding a tray carrying a coffee kettle and some teacups. Emma followed closely with a tray of cookies, "How's he doing?" 

I got to my feet and joined her back to the living room. "Much better. he still needs a lot of rest though." 

"You could have as well died without telling me," Martha cried, as she examined Lucas like a toddler. 

"Mom, I'm better now. You can stop freaking out." Lucas sighed and curled his legs on the couch. Mia walked in and dropped the tray on the table.

"F-freaking out? Freaking out?" she said with unbelievable laughter, "my son is so sick he had to go to the hospital and not a single person told me. I am not nearly freaking out enough." 

"This is the exact reason no one told you, mom," Lilan said with a sigh. 

"He's an adult," Mia added, "I'm sure he's fine now." 

"When you have your own son, you can decide when he's an adult," she moved to sit next to Lucas, pushing her fingers through his curl, "Oh my baby, tell me you're better now. What did they give you at the hospital." 

"I'm fine mom, really," Lucas said, but it sounded more like a complaint. "Chris was here all along."

She turned to look at me like she had not seen me standing there all along. I could not find it in me to be offended though, her mind was probably spiraling with worry about her son. "Thank you so much dear," she stood up and hugged me tightly. "Mia told me you convinced my stubborn son to go to the hospital."

"It's the least I could have done. If I had I my way he would have gone yesterday." I smiled, hugging her back.

"You are just an angel. That's what you are." she looked between me and Lucas, her eyes stopping on Lucas briefly, "maybe I do not have to be so worried knowing that you are here for my baby."

"I'm not a baby," Lucas countered. 

Ignoring him, she turned back to me, "I'm just so glad you're here."

With his family there to watch him, I was not worried about leaving him to take a quick bath. Robin had arrived by the time I came back down and seeing as Martha was no longer paranoid with worry, I could tell he must have been the one to calm her nerves. 

Lucas still looked weak as he lay on the couch watching his family worry about him. "They have to leave," he said in a low tone as I sat next to him. 

"They're just worried. We were all worried." 

"Mom is being paranoid. I'm not dying from a contagious disease. I'm fine now," he argued, "find a way to make them go home, please."

"I'll try."