What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 30

"Having Mommy and Daddy right here makes me so happy." Brynlee's heart was filled with a deep sense of security. She happily grabbed one of her dad's fingers, wrapped her other arm around her mom, and drifted off to sleep with a contented smile.

Kaia and Finnian lay completely still until they were sure their daughter was sound asleep.

Kaia gently pulled her arm free, slipping Brynlee's favorite stuffed bunny into the space where her arm had been.

"I need to go next door and finish some work. You stay here with her."

Kaia slipped out of bed quietly. Without waiting for him to say anything, she opened the door and left.

The next morning was the day of Brynlee's crucial checkup. Kaia woke up early. She was in the middle of washing her face when she heard her daughter crying from the next room, sobbing for her mom and dad.

Kaia dropped her toothbrush and sprinted over. In the dim guest room, her daughter was standing on the bed, clutching her stuffed bunny, too scared to get down, her little face wet with tears.

"Mommy, where did you go? I couldn't find you..." Brynlee cried pitifully.

Kaia pulled her daughter tightly into her arms, kissing her forehead over and over. "Mommy's right here, don't be scared."

"Don't leave, Mommy. I don't like being alone." Brynlee buried her face in Kaia's shoulder, her little hands gripping Kaia's pajamas tight.

Kaia dressed her daughter and carried her downstairs, only to see her mother-in-law, Elaine, standing by the stairs. "Brynlee is up so early? Grandma was just about to go check on you."

"Where is Finnian?" Kaia demanded. She couldn't believe he had actually disappeared in the middle of the night after agreeing to stay with their daughter.

Elaine looked startled by Kaia's obviously angry tone.

"Noelle had a terrible stomachache in the middle of the night, so I told Finnian to go check on her," Elaine explained, pausing for a second. "Noelle called me originally. I was going to go, but I saw Finnian downstairs getting a glass of water, so he went instead of me."

Hearing that, Kaia instantly understood everything.

Right then, Kaia's phone rang. It was Finnian.

Kaia glanced at the screen and put the phone back in her bag, making no move to answer it.

Miles noticed her silence the call. His dark eyes flickered. "Is Finnian swamped today? Why didn't he come with you?"

"Yeah, he's busy every day," Kaia replied evenly. "It's just a routine checkup, no need to drag him all the way down here."

The three of them were walking through the first-floor lobby when the elevator doors chimed open, revealing two figures.

Finnian was holding a woman's jacket and handbag in one hand, and a bag of medication in the other. Next to him, Noelle was pressing a cotton swab to the inside of her elbow where blood had been drawn. The two of them were parading right through the hospital lobby.

"Daddy!" Brynlee saw him first and ran over as fast as her little legs could carry her.