Page 49 of Daddies' Little Spitfire

Leo sighed and ran his hand downhis face. Oliver felt the same way and knew it was only going to get harder until her brother was on board with this. They knew it wasn't going to be easy and if they could make it through war, they could make it through this.

"If she leaves, we'll go after her. We'll show Rogan that we want her and care for her," Oliver said. "Hopefully it won't come to that, but if it does then we have to be prepared for it."

Every part of him hoped that if she did talk to her brother, that she wouldn't leave. That she would pick to stay here with them. But there was a little part of him that knew she would go back with her brother.

Why wouldn't she? He wouldn't keep her held hostage like they had. But would her brother have her best interests in mind? Would he let her get away with everything or would he crack down and take care of her like they were?

Oliver knew Rogan was her brother, but that didn't mean he was going to look closely after her. He could just want her back home, so he knew where she was but did not actually care.

He didn't want that for Hedda. He wanted her to flourish and be the best version of herself. And Oliver didn't know if her brother was the best person to help her with that.

Rogan seemed busy with his business and whatever he normally did. The fact that he didn't come until two days after they had taken Hedda showed. They didn't want her to go with him, even though he was her brother. If it came to that, it wasn't going to sit well with Oliver.

"We do care about her and we'll prove it to Rogan," Leosaid, nodding his head. "No matter what happens, we'll fight for her because she's ours."

Oliver nodded in agreement and relaxed a little. If it came down to that, they were going to need to come up with a game plan on what to do. He didn't want to go to New York without one, especially because it was Rogan's turf.

He watched as Leo started to walk around the kitchen, looking into the fridge and at the counter.

"Shit," he said.

"What?" Oliver asked.

There on the counter were the snacks Leo had placed before they left.

"She hasn't eaten anything," Leo said.

Oliver sighed and closed his eyes for a second. Eating was proving to be a difficult thing with Hedda. Just like sleeping. She didn't want to do either but both of them were vital for her to be able to function.

Michael told them she had lost weight while staying with them and he knew it was true. They had video chat several times with Hedda before she came to Missouri, and now she is a lot skinnier.

Oliver didn't like that. He wanted his girl to be healthy. He wanted her to not care about what she ate. What were they going to do to get her to eat?

They had threatened to put a feeding tube down her throat if she didn't eat, and that helped but she still didn't eat a lot. Probably because her stomach had shrunk since she'd stopped eating.

They were trying to help her regain her appetite, but it was proving to be difficult. From years oftraining and seeing it firsthand, they made light foods that would be easy on the stomach but also that were dense with nutrients. They had her drinking at least one protein drink a day so she was getting some protein in her.

It wasn't the best option, but it was an option that was going to work for a little while. She had gotten better at drinking.

"I want her to sleep but at the same time she needs to eat," Leo said. "She's been asleep for five or six hours now, right?"

Oliver looked at the time and nodded his head. It would be almost six hours in a couple of minutes. He didn't realize that they had been talking for so long.

"I think this is the longest she's ever slept," Leo said. "I don't want to ruin it."

"Give her until six hours and then wake her up to eat. Maybe she'll go back to sleep after."

They didn't know how she was going to react to waking up with them beside her in the room. Was she going to freak out or was she going to be calm and collected? Oliver was betting on the freak out version or maybe she would even get angry.

She seemed to be channeling everything into anger. Probably a way to keep them at arms distance, but that wasn't stopping them. If anything, it fueled Oliver on more to show her that he was going to be there for her. He had no doubt his brother felt the same way.

"Maybe she'll eat a little bit more today," Leo said, worry evident in his voice. "Maybe I can give her pasta with a meat sauce."

"Light," Oliver reminded him.

He understood what Leo was worried about, but she wouldn't be able to eat a lot of that. It was heavier and her stomach would fill up faster.

"Right. Light. Chicken noodle soup and she can have a protein drink," Leo said. "Or maybe just some broth with some meat in it and if she is still hungry, then she can have a protein drink or more broth and chicken."

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