Page 94 of Sexted By Santa
“I’mfine.”
“I don’t mean physically,” I said, even as my fingers twitched to pull up her sweater enough to scan her glucose monitor and read the numbers on the device. “You just seem a little out of sorts today.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just bummed you’re working today, I guess.”
Ah, guilt, my old friend.
“Sorry, kiddo. At least I’ll be home all weekend. We’ll have a great Christmas together, all right?”
“Okay. See you later.” She scurried out the door without a backward glance. I sighed.
“Don’t worry,” Christian said. “All kids have off days, right?”
I tilted my hand to-and-fro. “They do, but an off day isn’t a sign of a health problem for all kids.”
He looked concerned. “You think something’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Probably not. She’s not happy about my work schedule and my hovering. I get it.” I sighed. “She might be missing Shirley too. I’m sure a visit to Aunt Henry’s will cheer her up.”
“Henry will love her.”
I smiled. “Just do me a favor and check her monitor soon. She didn’t finish her lunch, so she might need to eat a bit more. Maybe one of those scones? But since you can’t plan for it exactly, just check her numbers and adjust as you go. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“She hasn’t given you a hard time about that, has she? She seems angry anytime I check up on her.”
“No,” he said. “She’s been great. She showed me all the settings and explained how the insertion works and the process you go through to change it every few days. She watches everything you do, Jax. She’s well-versed in how it all works. I haven’t had to do much except be there.”
“Oh, I know. It’s her body, after all.”
Christian nodded once. “It is. And all this anger on her part, it’s just her trying to exert control over her life, you know? I imagine it’s been hard for both of you.”
“Yeah. It has.” I gave him a little push toward the door. “Go have fun. This is a great chance for you two to bond. I’ll stop worrying.”
“You don’t have to stop worrying,” Christian said. “Just…trust a little more.”
“I’ll try.”
“That’s all you can do.”
He walked out of the room, and I quickly called, “But I still want text updates!”
I could hear him laughing from down the hall. “I was counting on it!”
Ah well. You couldn’t teach a worried dad new tricks in a day, but I was working on it. Maybe I’d make it my Christmas wish: to worry less and trust others more.
23
CHRISTIAN
Tori collapsed on the settee with a sigh, her cheeks flushed. A long, filmy ballgown in silver and white trailed behind her. It evoked the image of a fainting damsel in distress, and I chuckled.
“You wearing out?”
“No!”
Tori’s mouth said one thing, but her drooping eyes said another. She’d been playing dress-up with Henry for an hour now—pausing only for water and bathroom breaks as they swapped gowns, added accessories, and applied makeup. Aunt Henry had been delighted to have a glamorous playmate. She’d gotten me to reluctantly submit to her ministrations for the occasional costume party when I was younger, but Tori was a much more enthusiastic participant.
