Page 67 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

She shook her head. “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.” Janie looked down at Eleanor in her arms. “Do you want some chicken?”

Eleanor rubbed her face into Janie’s chest and whined.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Janie sighed. Eleanor needed to eat something. Maybe she could get some warm milk into her system. That was better than nothing. Janie looked up at Mac. “Could you warm up some milk for her?”

“Sure,” he replied. “I’ll put it in a sippy cup for her and I can feed it to her if you want. You’re almost done with your food and you can go work for the hour if you want.”

Janie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s going to go in your arms.”

“We’ll see. Princess likes me.”

That was true. Both of them seemed to really like him. Which was only going to make things worse when he left. It was going to break both of their hearts.

Janie finished up her food and relaxed into the chair. Eleanor had her eyes closed as her head laid on her chest, but she knew Eleanor wasn’t asleep. She kept whining and nuzzling her head into her chest.

“I’ll take Eleanor and you can go work for an hour. After, I’ll come up and get you so you can take your nap,” Mac said as he rounded the corner. “While you’re taking your nap, I’ll make chicken noodle soup for all of us to eat.”

Janie chuckled. “Good luck. I won’t be taking a nap after I work for the hour. I think I should just be able to work for two hours instead.”

“Not going to happen. You already know that so don’t try and figure out how to change it. I’m not changing it. You’ll see once you get done with the hour of work that you’re ready for a nap,” Mac said as he placed the sippy cup on the kitchen counter. “In all honesty, I shouldn’t even allow you to work for an hour. You should just go straight to a nap, but I’m being generous. Hour of work and then you take a nap.”

She sighed and nodded her head. Maybe she could go down for a ‘nap’ but actually go back to work. She could work on her phone, but it was a little harder and would take longer.

“Princess Ellie,” Mac gently said. “Do you want some warm milk?”

Eleanor moved her head and looked at Mac. “Macie,” she softly said.

Mac opened his hands and picked her up. Eleanor immediately snuggled into his chest and Janie’s eyes went wide. How was that even possible? Mac carefully repositioned Eleanor in his arms and gave her the sippy cup that she glady started to drink.

“What?” Janie whispered in shock.

Mac looked up and gave her a small smile. “My sister has kids and I take care of them sometimes. As I said before, I know kids and they like me. My sweet princess likes me.”

Part of her was hurt that Eleanor was calming down in Mac’s arms. He wasn’t her dad. She was her mother and she wasn’t calming down with her. Was she a bad mother? Had she done something wrong?

“Don’t feel bad that she was calming down with me. You can think about a lot of what ifs and I don’t want you to,” Mac said as he cupped her face with his free hand. “You’re an amazing mom who takes care of Eleanor and loves her with her whole heart. I don’t want you to think of anything else.”

She nodded her head and looked away. He could read her like an open book and it made her feel vulnerable.

“Go get your hour of work started. I’ll come up when it’s done so you can take a nap,” Mac said.

Janie was hesitant. She knew he said he had a sister with kids, but what if he didn’t know something and it went all wrong?

“I’ll take good care of princess here. If I don’t know something or am unsure, I’ll come and ask you. Don’t you worry.”

She nodded her head, got up from her heat, kissed Eleanor’s forehead, and walked towards her office. It was a turn on to see him taking care of her like that. Was she going to be able to get any work done while he was holding Eleanor?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

MAC

He had been meaning to go over to Janie’s house to check on both of them. After they went to the doctor for Ellie to get her check up, he hadn’t seen them. Janie had told him that she was going to stay home and didn’t need to go anywhere.

That was when he came up with the plan to bring over dinner so he could see them. Could he have just asked? Sure, but there was a possibility she would say no. But he knew she wouldn’t say no if he brought food over. She had mentioned she loved his mac and cheese he made from scratch.

Mac was glad he ended up coming. As he walked up to the door, he could hear Eleanor screaming and crying. Worry had gone through him and when Janie opened the door, he knew that both of them weren’t feeling good. Especially his princess.

Once Pinky had gone to her office, he continued to hold Ellie in his arms as she drank the warm milk. He looked around the kitchen and pantry, trying to assess what she had and what she didn’t.

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