Choosing Us (Pierced Hearts Duet #1)(42)

I cleaned up after them.

I took care of them as if they were my own.

Put their needs above all else.

I’d been working sixty and seventy-hour weeks. Missing classes because most of the time I’d never make it home, staying in the guest bedroom instead. Curtis hadn’t seen me in who knows how long, I hoped he was okay.

Skyler was too pregnant to move, let alone handle the hell raisers who didn’t appreciate a damn thing in life. I was exhausted.

Beyond exhausted.

Now to learn there were cameras watching me…

Well that, that was just fucking bullshit.

So, I did what any woman would have done in my position, I let the bunny in my hands have it.

“Do you have any idea how tired I am? No, you don’t because you’re not here! You’re with your patients who are obviously more important to you than the children you’ve brought into this world!”

“Gah!”

I pointed the stuffed animal at her. “You tell him, Journey!”

She kicked her chubby legs, her face turning bright red. “Gah! Lah! Bah! Gah!”

I turned it back to me. “Exactly what she said! She needs you! Not me! YOU! So instead of recording my time with her to make sure she’s safe and taken care of, how about you actually do it yourself from time to time? I understand you’re trying to provide for them, but I haven’t met or seen you once! Not one time in three months! Do you have any idea how weird that is?! I report to Skyler, a woman who’s not even blood related to these kids, when it should be you. Where are you?!”

I spun the bunny around and unzipped the back, adamantly thinking there was a camera inside, and I was going to find it once and for all. I pulled out all the stuffing, throwing the fluff everywhere.

Seething, “Can you hear me? I’m going to find you! And then we’re really going to have words!”

“You know that’s a stuffed animal, right?”

I jumped as soon as I heard Jackson’s voice, abruptly spinning to face him. I shouted, “No! It’s your dad!”

“Since when did my dad become a bunny’s ass?”

“He’s in here! I know it!”

He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at me. “Mary Poppins, Journey is watching you lose your mind on one of her favorite stuffed animals. So, before you traumatize her any more than you already have, put it down and step away from the bunny.”

I scowled, stepping toward him. Shoving the stuffed animal into his chest. “Fine. Then I’m going to find the man that’s inside the bunny.”

“This isn’t Toy Story, Camila. There’s no one inside of it.”

“You’ll see,” I roared, making my way toward the garage door.

“Where are you going?!”

“I just told you!”

I sidestepped Jagger, who was standing in the kitchen with a huge grin on his face as if he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“What about Journey?”

“You can watch her!”

“What? I’ve never watched her before! You can’t just leave her with me! It’s not my job to watch her, it’s yours!”

“You can handle it for an hour! Just hold her, feed her, change her diaper! You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times!”

“Mary Poppins, what the fu—”

“Finish that sentence, and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap when I get back!” I slammed the door behind me, grabbed the car keys off the holder, and stepped into the vehicle I was only allowed to use for the kids.

I couldn’t think of a better time to use it more than now. Their father was going to hear what I had to say, with or without his consent. He needed to be here, he was missing everything, and I loved Journey too much to allow things to continue as they had been. But it wasn’t just for Journey, I cared for them all. Even the biggest pain in my ass.

My thoughts weighed heavy on my mind as I drove toward the hospital, thinking only of his kids. Not caring how it would make me look in their father’s eyes. I was doing this for them.

What should have taken minutes, felt like hours before I was barreling through the surgical unit doors to the nurse’s station.

“Hi, I’m looking for Dr. Pierce. I’m—”

“Camila, his nanny.”

I jerked back, completely caught off guard.

How did she know me?

“I’m Renee, his RN.”

Oh, it must be through Skyler, since I had to take that CPR certification. She must recognize my face from my driver’s license.

“Are you okay?”

“What?” I shook away the thoughts. “I’m fine. Do you know where I can find him?”

She looked at the computer screen in front of her. “Oh, you’re in luck. He just finished his rounds. He should be in his office.” She nodded down the hall. “Go past those double doors towards the elevator and then take it up to the fifth floor. His office is 519.”

“Alright, thank you.”

“Does he know you’re coming?”

I shook my head no and she slowly nodded with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

“Do you think it’s best to meet him here?”

“How do you know we—”

“Journey is adorable, isn’t she? She’s gotten so big. You’re amazing with her. A real natural.”