My friend really liked this story, so I thought other people might too! Here we go!
"Caden McKinley?"
Connor looked up. "Oh, that's us!" He picked Caden up and followed the dental assistant out of the waiting room.
"Please wait here, Dr. Price will be in soon." She left.
Connor set Caden down on the dentist chair, and he immediately scanned the white room nervously. "Daddy," He said suddenly. "What's that?" He pointed his chubby finger at the dentist's pick.
"It's only a long metal toothpick, sweetie." Connor said soothingly. Caden looked doubtful.
Just then, the dentist came in, and Connor's mouth fell open a little.
Dr. Price was the most handsome man he had ever seen. His hair was perfect, his brown eyes were gorgeous, and his teeth were blindingly white (they would be, if he was a dentist). Dr. Beautiful had started talking now, still wearing a 100-watt smile. "You must be Mr. McKinley. Oh, and this little guy must be Caden!"
Connor barely registered his words. Then his adorable three year old boy burst into tears.
Connor frantically looked back and forth between the dentist and his crying kid. What was Dr. Price going to think? He rushed over to where Caden sat. "Oh, no, honey, shh, shh…" He hastily tried to amend the situation.
"I-I'm sca-ared!" He wailed.
"But why, Cade? There's nothing to be scared of!"
Caden clung to him, still sobbing. "He-he's scary and he's gonna take my teef!"
"What? No, sweetie, I promise he isn't." He looked at Dr. Price helplessly. "I am so sorry…"
The dentist held his hands out. "No, it's fine, happens all the time." He opened a cupboard and pulled out a sheet of shiny stickers, then crouched down to the toddler's eye level. "Do you want to see my stickers, Caden?"
Caden was only sniffling and whimpering now, but he didn't make any sign of hearing Dr. Price – if anything, he held onto Connor's shirt tighter. Connor nudged him a little, speaking softly. "Look, Cade, he has stickers."
Still nothing. Dr. Price took the lead. "Mr. McKinley, do you want to see my stickers?" He encouragingly gestured for Connor to join him. When Connor had let go of Caden and crawled across the floor he started talking about the stickers in a pointedly loud voice. "See, they're dinosaur stickers. The dinosaurs were all really big, bigger than cars."
"Um… Wow, cool!" Connor played along, admittedly feeling a bit silly.
"This one is called a pterodactyl." He pointed to the sticker. "They could fly. Do you want this sticker, Mr. McKinley?"
"Uh, yeah. Yes, I really would like that sticker."
"Okay, then it's yours." He tore off the perforated edge and gave Connor the sticker. "Put it on your shirt." He whispered.
Connor obliged. Caden was watching them with some interest.
"Now when people ask you about your sticker, you can tell them that it's a pterodactyl, and they could fly."
Caden inched over to where they were sitting on the floor, eyeing the stickers.
Dr. Price didn't pay any attention to him so he wouldn't get scared again. "And this one is a brachiosaurus. They were one of the tallest dinosaurs, and they ate leaves."
Caden sat down on Connor's lap, and the dentist finally looked over at him.
"Do you want this sticker, Caden?"
Caden nodded, and Dr. Price pulled off the sticker.
"Your daddy can hold it, then when we're done with the checkup you can put it on your shirt."
Caden's eyebrows crinkled, apprehension clear on his face. But apparently, the prospect of stickers was too good to resist. "…'kay."
All through the appointment, the dentist talked about dinosaurs to keep Caden distracted. When they were done Caden smiled shyly at him and started to play with his sticker, making growly noises and talking to himself.
Dr. Price took the opportunity to pull Connor to the side. "Mr. McKinley, is this Caden's first dental exam?" He asked in a low voice.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, usually we recommend that kids start seeing a dentist at a year old. And Caden has a few small cavities."
Connor put his hand over his mouth. "Oh my gosh, I had no idea!" He felt really stupid, especially in front of this attractive doctor. "We brush his teeth…"
"Well, you're going to have to bring him back in to get the cavities filled."
Another excuse to see this guy? Connor was all for it.
It was much sooner than Connor had anticipated that he had to go back to the dentist's office.
He had just finished teaching his Saturday morning dance class, and he realized, looking at his calendar, that the date they had picked for Caden to get his fillings wasn't going to work out. He had time, so he went down to the dentist's to figure everything out.
The receptionist informed him when he arrived that Dr. Price wasn't busy, so he went straight back to see him. The dentist was doing something on his computer when Connor went in. He looked up and stood, automatically smiling. Connor's chest fluttered a little. "Mr. McKinley! I wasn't expecting you back so soon."
"Yeah, me neither. But I actually realized that we can't come in at 3. Do you have any other times?"
Dr. Price pulled up a calendar on the computer. "I can do 3 the next day, is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's great, thanks!"
"Anytime."
Connor didn't really want to leave. He fumbled for something to say. "Um… how long have you lived here?"
"Oh, a few years now. Ever since I got out of college."
"Where did you go to school?"
"I was at BYU for my undergrad, then I did my graduate work at Mount Sinai School of Medicine."
"Wait, you're Mormon? That's crazy, I'm Mormon!"
"Really? Oh, that's so cool!"
"I can't believe I haven't seen you around. Which temple do you go to?"
Dr. Price's face looked a little pink. "Well, I don't usually… I mean – I have to work a lot, so…"
"Um, okay. Where were you for your mission?"
Just like that, they were chatting like old friends. The longer they talked, the more Connor liked him, and the more he shot longing glances at those adorably pouty lips. There was a lull in the conversation, as Connor stared and Dr. Price simply looked at him, confusion on his face. Then, without even thinking first, Connor stepped forward and kissed his kid's dentist.
Dr. Price's eyes were wide. Connor was just as shocked at his own actions. He turned pale and stuttered out an apology before he quickly turned and rushed out.
What on earth had he been thinking? He was married! He hadn't spent years working to conquer his emotions for it all to go down the drain over a pediatric dentist. Especially not now, when he had a ring on his finger and a three year old son at home. How was he ever going to go back there? He couldn't face Dr. Price again after that.
He probably hated Connor anyway.