Page 70 of Daddy's Little Mama Bear

But he had also seen how bare her fridge was. Was she hurting for money? He didn’t think she was. Maybe it was bare because she didn’t know how to cook. Or maybe they had takeout a lot.

Either way, it was going to change. Once Mac got back to his house, he was going to come up with a list of foods, thengo grocery shopping, and then make all of them before he took them over to her. He wanted her well stocked up with food. Stuff they could have this week but also things he could put in the fridge so if she wanted to, she could thaw it out and have it.

That was his goal and he was going to accomplish it. Hopefully, Janie wouldn’t complain or tell him he shouldn’t do it. He was going to do it either way. Mac knew she liked his food so he didn’t have to worry about that.

“Here you go,” Mac gently said as he held the sippy cup up to Ellie’s mouth.

She furiously started to suck on the sippy cup.

“You were just thirsty, huh?” Mac said. “So thirsty and I wasn’t paying attention to you. I’m sorry, princess. I’ll do better next time.”

He walked over towards the pantry and pulled out everything he needed to make chicken noodle soup. Maybe he could take some of the chicken he had and put it into the soup. Give it some extra protein for them.

“I wonder if your mama is asleep right now. Maybe we should go check on her, but I don’t want to wake her up if she is asleep. Better yet, we’ll just stay down here and make chicken noodle soup together,” he said. “How does that sound?”

Ellie just looked at him as she drank her water. Mac started getting the soup all put together and heating up on the stove. The noodles just needed to be cooked and it was ready. Would Janie be awake by that time? Her hour nap time was almost done, but he didn’t want to wake her up if she was still asleep. She needed all the sleep she could get.

“You’re such a good girl drinking your water,” Mac said as he looked down at Ellie again.

He turned around and gave the pot of soup a stir. The noodles should be ready any minute now. Little pitter patter of feet were coming down from the hall. He turned his body andsaw Janie come walking, hair wild and sleep still evident on her face.

Absolutely adorable.

“Hi, Pinky,” he said softly.

She stared at him and rubbed her eyes with her balled up fists.

“Do you want a hug?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

JANIE

She didn’t think she was going to fall asleep. Janie wanted to prove to Mac that she wasn’t tired and didn’t need a nap. But that didn’t come true.

Mac had tucked her in and kissed her forehead. She had found herself relaxing more and more into the bed as she held Josie close to her. She honestly hadn’t even realized she fell asleep until she woke up needing to pee really badly.

Now she was here, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with her hair everywhere looking at Mac. He was still holding Eleanor in his arm as she drank water. It didn’t seem like Eleanor had moved one bit. Wasn’t his arm tired from holding her like that?

“Do you want a hug?” Mac asked.

Without even thinking, Janie started to walk towards him and he opened his one side. She wrapped her arms around his torso and snuggled into his body. Feeling his arm wrap around her was heaven. Feeling the heat from his body made her relax with each second.

When she had woken up, she had panicked. She had completely forgotten that Mac was there and taking care ofEleanor while she got work done and then took a nap. Janie gripped onto his shirt without thinking as he shifted his weight.

“I’m not going anywhere, Pinky,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

She felt her face heat up at him saying that. She didn’t mean to do that, but she had. Could she embarrass herself any more with him here?

Janie pulled away from him and swatted at her hair, trying to get it down. No doubt it was sticking in all these awkward angles. Well, she knew it was since she had seen herself briefly in the mirror as she walked out of the bathroom. But it hadn't crossed her mind that he was going to be looking at her.

“Are you hungry?” Daddy asked.

Janie closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. She needed to stop calling him Daddy in her head. This was the second time and before she knew it, she would be saying it out loud to him.

“Pinky?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

She nodded her head and opened her eyes. His gaze was filled with worry.

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