Chapter 10: Found Out

Little one did, in fact, have an ear infection. Her pediatrician confirmed it and let me look for myself the next morning. I didn't want to believe it since she didn't have a cold, but there it was, inflamed with that angry red color.

"Just mix the amoxicillin with one ounce of formula," Maggie, Sofia's pediatrician said. "She should take it easier like that."

I swayed with Little One, who was still crying after the torture she endured. "And if she doesn't?"

She looked up from the chart and smiled sympathetically. "She has to take it. If she doesn't like it with formula, you'll just have to squirt it into the back of her mouth," she said. "I don't think you'll like her reaction to that, though."

I rolled my eyes and rubbed Little One's back. "You think?"

"I'm sorry, Edward."

"What can I do for the pain?"

"Keep giving her the Tylenol or alternate that with ibuprofen — it's up to you. Some babies like a warm, not hot, cloth against their ear. That's soothing."

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"Slant her mattress by sticking a pillow between the mattress and frame. That'll alleviate some pressure when she's sleeping."

"Okay, I can do that."

She tore the prescription off of her pad and handed it to me. "Finish this, okay?"

"I am a doctor, you know," I said. "And you're positive on giving her antibiotics?"

"Yes, Doctor Cullen. We want to clear this up as quickly as possible. I'm not giving her antibiotics just to give her medicine. She needs them."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just making sure."

She smiled and stood up, fixing her stethoscope and conveniently moving her blouse to show cleavage. I looked, not going to lie and say I didn't. If this was all I was getting now, some pediatrician cleavage, I'd take it.

"Call me if you have any more questions," she said.

Once she was gone, I put Little One back in her car seat and kissed her forehead. She was still upset, but the crying had stopped.

"Did you see that?" I asked, smirking. "Yeah, I still got it."

. . . . .

I spent the afternoon with Little One in my arms or in her car seat next to me. She liked the warm cloth against her ear. It probably reminded her of a bath, which I did give her, even though she didn't need it. I was pretty fucking relieved when she took the amoxicillin with the ounce of formula. She didn't even seem to notice the difference. She just drank it, and then took a little more regular formula. Not as much as usual, but I couldn't blame her. I refused to eat when I was sick, too. Like father, like daughter, I suppose.

"You know what I'm missing today?" I asked her as she stared up at me, groggily. "Work. I love my job. If I didn't, you know, love you too, I'd be pissed." She yawned and stretched her little hands as she got comfortable in my arms. "But you needed me, so I'm here."

Soon after she fell asleep, I laid her down in her crib so I could get some rest of my own. I was fucking exhausted after staying up all night with her. I kept her monitor next to me as I laid down after setting an alarm to wake me up at four — when her next dose of medicine was.

Sofia didn't let me have a nap, though. She woke up, crying again after twenty minutes. But as soon as I had her in my arms, she stopped and fell back asleep. The little one was trying to kill me, swear to God. I brought her into the living room with me and laid down on the couch. She stayed asleep as I held her against my chest.

I stayed awake with her, fighting off the serious fucking need to sleep until four o'clock. Little One wasn't happy with me waking her up for the medicine, but she did take it, though not without a fuss.

"I know you hate it, but you have to take it," I said, running the nipple over her pursed lips. "You don't want to see the alternative, and I don't want to do that to you."

After she took the medicine, I tried to give her a normal bottle, but she refused. She actually started screaming as I tried to coax her to open her mouth again. I eventually put it down and lay back down with her again. Apparently, she just wanted to keep sleeping.

. . . . .

I was jolted awake by the sound of knocking on my front door. Sofia was still sound asleep on my chest. I held her against me as I sat up and walked over to the door. I was exhausted and would have been pissed if it were anyone else, but seeing New Girl when I opened the door woke me right up and put a smile on my face.

She had food, after all.

"I figured you wouldn't be cooking tonight," she said, smiling warmly, her eyes zeroing in on the little one in my arms.

"You would be right in that assumption," I said. "Come on in."

New Girl came in and put the casserole dish on my kitchen counter as I laid Sofia down in her bouncer. Thankfully, she didn't start crying the moment my arms left her. She stayed asleep, looking peaceful.

"Where are your plates?" Bella asked as I walked into the kitchen.

"Cabinet right above you," I said, opening it for her before going over to sit down on a bar stool.

"Tired?" she asked, opening three drawers before finding the silverware.

"Exhausted," I said. "She kept me up all night last night."

"She was asleep when I left. Did she wake back up?"

I nodded as she spooned the . . . I wasn't exactly sure what it was out of the dish. "It was understandable. She has a pretty bad ear infection."

"Aww, poor girl." She frowned, handing me the plate and fork. "It's shepherd's pie. Is that okay?"

"I'll try anything," I said, taking a bite.

She looked at me as I chewed, nibbling on her lip. I wanted to laugh. She was nervous I wouldn't like it.

"This is delicious," I said, making her smile.

"I'm glad you like it, Edward. It's kinda my . . . comfort food."

"Some damn good comfort food," I laughed. "Any reason you made comfort food?"

"I thought you might need it. You were pretty distraught last night."

"I, uh . . . I was worried about her."

She nodded, bringing a plate over and sitting next to me. "She's going to be fine, right?"

"Yeah, she's on antibiotics, and I just have to keep giving her the Tylenol for pain and fever. The fever isn't too bad right now."

"That's good." She smiled. "Hey, look at it this way, who could ask for a better father than a doctor when they're sick?"

I laughed. "I'm not sure it's a good thing. A little, nagging bitch called 'worst case scenario' keeps popping into my head."

"But she'll be fine. You said so yourself."

I nodded, continuing to eat. "So, summer is coming up, right?"

"It is the middle of May," she teased.

"You get off of work, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. A whole two months without anything to do . . . I'm going to wind up cleaning out my dad's house. I just know it."

"Why?"

"Because he never throws anything away, and when I have free time on my hands, I clean. My apartment will be spotless as soon as the excitement of not having to work wears off."

"Wanna clean mine?" I smirked, hoping to win her over.

"No, thank you. And it looks like you're doing just fine."

"Damn."

As I took another bite, Little One started crying. I moved to get up, but Bella stopped me.

"Can I?" she asked.

I smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

I finished my plate as New Girl brought Sofia into the kitchen. Little One was resting her head against Bella's shoulder as her eyes zeroed in on me.

"I think she's wet," she said as I wiped my mouth.

"Not surprising. Here," I said, holding my hands out, "let me go change her."

"Are you done eating?"

"Yes, and it was delicious. Thank you," I said, taking my daughter. "Do you want to stay for a little while? Maybe watch a movie? I have a massive collection."

She bit her lip and nodded before a smile crept onto her face. "I'd love to."

"Pick one. They're in the cabinet next to my TV."

. . . . .

After changing her, I took Little One's temperature. It was just around one-oh-one, so that was good. I wished it were lower, but I had to wait for the antibiotics to do their job. I picked her back up and she moved her little hand to the back of my head, grasping my hair. She didn't pull, so I let her do what she wanted. She'd let go quickly anyway.

When we came back into the living room, New Girl was still picking a movie. Her fingers traced each DVD case as she read the title.

"Find anything?" I asked, laying Little One down in her bouncer.

"I'm not sure we share the same interests in movies," she said, pulling one out.

"Shit," I said, grabbing it from her. "It was a gag gift, I swear."

She tried to hide her laughter. "I'm sure it was."

"I don't need porn, woman."

She nodded, smirking. "I'm not judging."

I was going to murder Emmett the next time I saw him, and then probably kill myself for putting it in there.

After throwing the old, swear to God, gag gift away, I came back out to find New Girl putting a DVD in the player. When I asked her what she picked, she just told me to watch. I sat down on the couch, and she settled in closer to me than the other armrest. Her knee was close to touching me as she pressed a few buttons on the remote.

I didn't mind it.

"I was actually surprised to find this," she said, looking over to me. "I didn't take you for the animated movie type."

Shit, she found Happy Feet, didn't she? I realized I shouldn't accept DVDs as gifts anymore, and I really shouldn't put them in the cabinet. Why couldn't she have picked Transformers or some shit?

Just as I expected, the title menu revealed she did, in fact, pick Happy Feet. I groaned as it started. When I looked over to her, I realized she was smiling.

"You like this movie?" I asked as she turned the volume down so it wouldn't wake the little one, who was sleeping again.

"I do," she said. "You don't?"

"It was a gift . . . from my mom. I think she was being funny."

"So you haven't seen it?"

I shook my head. "I'm surprised the wrapping was off."

"Well, it was. And you'll like it, I think. It's cute. You should probably get used to movies like this. Sofia will love them."

"So watching Saw with her wouldn't be a good idea?"

Her mouth fell open. "No! If you ever make her watch that, I will personally report you for child abuse."

"Harsh. I was kidding," I laughed. "And I'm not sure that would be considered child abuse, just so you know."

"It should be. Those types of movies are terrible."

"You don't like horror movies?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Damn. I should have picked the movie then. We could have gotten you over that aversion."

"I would have left," she said. "Now watch the dancing penguins and envision your future."

The dancing penguins weren't that terrible. Well, they weren't great, but I survived. New Girl apparently had a thing for penguins because she loved the movie. It obviously wasn't her first time or second time, possibly even third time seeing the movie. Little One even decided to wake up and enjoy it, not that she actually understood a damn thing. She lay contentedly in New Girl's arms.

"It's time for more Tylenol," I said, standing up and stretching after noticing the clock.

"She acting a lot better," Bella said, running her fingers over Sofia's cheek.

"Yeah, but she has her moments. Watch your hair."

"Ah, she's pulled your hair," she laughed softly. "I guess that's what happens when you have crazy hair."

"Hey, I like my hair, thank you very much."

"I didn't say I didn't."

I smirked. "You like my hair."

She blushed and chewed on her lip. "Go get your daughter's medicine."

. . . . .

I wasn't comfortable with taking Little One to daycare when she was sick, so Mom agreed to watch her for me. It was either that or not working, and Dad wasn't too keen on that option.

"She's been sleeping a lot since she doesn't feel well," I told Mom. "She's also been really moody."

"I don't blame her," Mom said, kissing Sofia's cheek. "Poor girl."

"Yeah, I don't like seeing her this way."

She looked up and smiled. "It's because you love her, and you don't like her not feeling well."

"I know."

She cocked an eyebrow. "You know?"

"I love her, okay?"

She grinned and threw an arm around my neck, almost squashing Little One between us. "I knew you'd realize it. It's something, isn't it?" she asked, pulling away. "That love for a child."

"It's . . . different, but it's a good feeling."

"One of the best feelings in the world. Just wait until she can say it to you. I swear, sweetie, your heart will swell."

I ran my hand through my hair and smirked. "My neighbor thinks Little One loves me, too."

"Well, your neighbor is a smart woman because she does. This little girl loves her daddy." She smiled, passing me back Sofia.

I kissed the little one's cheek and whispered I loved her, trying it out. It still seemed a little odd to say. I mean, I only figured it out two days ago, and I didn't exactly just figure it out. I had help from New Girl. But honestly, love was the only way to describe the feelings I had for Sofia. It just seemed . . . right.

"I'll pick her up when I get off," I said, giving her back to Mom. "Call me if you have any issues, or if her fever rises."

"I will," she said.

"And make sure you give her the medicines right on schedule."

"You've told me when to give them. I will, Edward. I've had sick babies before."

"Okay, well, I'll see you later. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Have a good day!"

. . . . .

As I stood at the nurse's station, I caught two nurses looking at me. I turned my head, and they looked away. I went back to my chart, but heard their soft whispers that I couldn't quite make out. What the fuck? I looked over again and found one of them with their mouth agape.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

The other one shook her head. "Not a thing, Dr. Cullen."

I cocked my head. "Juicy new gossip?"

They continued to shake their heads as I closed the chart and walked away. I was . . . well, I was fucking curious. I wanted to know what they were saying about me, and I knew Jasper would know. I got on the elevator and went upstairs to the ICU, looking for him. I found him sitting down, going over charts.

"What's the gossip about me?" I asked.

He looked up. "I wouldn't exactly call it gossip since it's true."

"What?"

"Jessica saw you with Sofia, leaving the pediatrician's office. She was running an errand."

My face fell. "Are you telling me everyone knows I have a kid?"

He nodded. "But really, Edward, did you think you could hide it?"

I put my head down on the counter and groaned. Did I think I could hide it? Well, no, but I did think my personal business should stay personal. I could already hear the rumors about how I fucked up — about who Sofia's mom was.

"Don't worry about it, man," Jasper said. "Hey, now you can brag to others about the things she does," he laughed.

"I don't 'brag'."

"Also, some women find dads to be hot."

"Already knew that, but thanks."

He smirked. "Don't let them get to you. Be, you know, proud."

"Proud that I knocked up a twenty-two year old and have a bastard child?"

"Dude."

"Proud that I have a daughter who I love?"

"Exactly. Now, go and show those gossiping women a picture of Sofia and you. They'll be so overwhelmed with swooning they won't think about where she came from," he laughed.

I pointed and smirked. "Good idea. Use it to my advantage."

"Just don't use it to get them into bed. You're trying to change now, young one."

"Seriously? Young one?"

He smirked. "Just leave me alone. I have actual work to do."