I hear silence on the other end of the line, and I ask again. “How did everything go?”

She hesitates on the other end before she answers. “Everything is great. I need to stay a few extra days so I can meet with a few more people from the team.” She pauses and asks in a quieter voice, “How is Bella?”

“She’s good,” I answer. “I mean, the way Bella always is. She’s had some trouble with the nanny we got while you’re away, but Helen’s been helping whenever she can.”

“I can imagine.” Laura chuckles. There’s a small silence on her end, and I hear a click.

“Laura?”

“Yes, I’m here,” she responds. No, she’s not here. She’s there, and we’re here without her. A few extra days sounds more like a few extra weeks.

“Did you change your return ticket yet?”

“No, not yet. They didn’t have anything immediately available when I tried to switch flights.”

“I’ll have a jet ready for you when you give me a date.” The sooner, the better. If I could, I would go pick her up myself. I knew I would miss her but I wasn’t prepared for this. I don’t know how to express what I’m feeling for her but I’m hoping she can sense it through my desire to have her home soon.

“That’s not necessary,” Laura says quickly. “I don’t want my ticket to go to waste.”

“It’s not a waste. We want you to come home sooner.” I want to hold her and tell her what her leaving for a few days is doing to me. I don’t know if she’s ready to hear what I want to say, and I’d rather tell her when we aren’t separated by hundreds of miles. That’s partially true. I also don’t know how to say the words to her. Since the day I saw Sam talking to her, I’ve been on edge.

Sam was way out of line for entertaining the idea of being married to Laura but damned if he didn’t have a point. I don’t want her to leave me either, but it’s hard to say that when I’ve made everything so cut and dried in the contract.

I hear muffled voices in the background. Laura gets back on the phone with me when she’s finished her conversation. “I’m sorry. I have to let you go. I forgot about a designer I was supposed to meet with. I’ll try to call you back later.”

I hang up and look over my planner. Aside from a few tasks that could be put off until next week, I’m free for the day. I used to be in the habit of keeping my whole weekend open to spend with Bella, but I had the urge to come into the office to get some work out of the way today. I call the housekeeper to make sure she’s hired someone to watch Bella.

“Yes, Mr. B. It was tough to get someone on short notice for a Saturday, but you know I managed,” she sniffed. “I was forced to go with another agency because Bella’s gained quite the reputation with the old one.”

“Jesus. I know, I’ll have a talk with her before I leave. She’s getting older. I thought she would have adjusted by now.”

“Age is nothing. What the girl wants to know is that she has two parents who love her. That’s all.” Helen usually keeps her opinions to herself, so I know this is likely something she’s been holding in for a while.

“You’re right. I need to spend more time with her.”

“Yes, but she needs Laura too. She’s real attached to her.” Helen doesn’t know about our agreement, at least not to my knowledge. I wonder if she’s sensed that something is off.

“Laura should be back in a few days. We can talk about it then,” I agree. If I talk to her about it anymore, she’ll know more than I need her to know.

Later in the afternoon, I return to the house, only to see Bella running toward me, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t want to eat it, Daddy,” she sobs into my shoulder. She mumbles more words into my shirt and drags her face across my chest.

A slim woman hovers behind her, wringing her hands. “I’m sorry. Mr. B, is it?”

I nod.

“I tried to get her to eat the dinner your cook made, but she’s not listening. And the housekeeper,” she faltered and looked over her shoulder as if waiting for Helen to magically appear, “she left the house, and I didn’t know who to call to calm her down. She’s been throwing a tantrum for the past ten minutes.” Her face looks ashen as she relays her story.

I hold up a hand to stop her from continuing. “I understand.” I pick up Bella, who’s quiet now, aside from the ragged breaths and hiccups that make her small body jerk. “You get paid through an app, correct?”

“Yes,” the woman replies nervously. “I don’t want to get into any trouble for this. I honestly didn’t expect this reaction. She’s only my second client, and I—I wasn’t expecting this,” she finishes.

“Look, I believe you, uh, Jenna?” I recall the electronic text that was sent to my phone with her information. And I do believe her. If I have any questions, I can and will refer to the nanny cams that are set up around the first level.

“I think she’s overwhelmed with what’s going on at home right now, so I’ll chalk it up as having a new babysitter causing her nerves to get the best of her.” I rub Bella’s back as I talk, and I feel her body begin to sag into me. It’s a little early for bedtime, but she’s probably worn herself out from her crying.

I slip my phone out of my pocket and pay the woman, and give her a generous tip in the process. No telling when I might need her again, and I want her to have a reason to return.

I see a look of relief on her face when she looks at the payment received on her phone. “Thanks, Mr. B. Just so you know, she was a doll before dinnertime. I don’t know what changed. Maybe she just really doesn’t like mac ’n cheese. I assumed all kids did.” She shrugged.

“She does like it,” I begin, but think better of it. I shake my head and smile. “We’ll have to sort this one out when she’s calm. I hope we haven’t scared you off, she takes a while to adjust to new people, that’s all.”

“No, I’m sure she’ll come around,” Jenna agrees. “I’ll make a point to never serve that meal again, though.”

She leaves, and I set Bella down on the bench in the foyer. As much as I want to let Bella sleep, I need her to wake up to see what’s wrong with her. It’s possible she had a stomachache and needs some medication. Maybe she really was that upset by her dinner.

“Hey, honey.” I shake her shoulder gently, and she curls to her side, her hands cupped under her cheek. I brush back the wisps of hair that have settled on her face.

“Mmmmfff.” Bella snuggles into the back of the settee even more. Resigned, I think carrying her up and dressing her for bed might be the better option after all.

Then Bella lets out another jerky breath and opens an eye. “Daddy?”

“Yeah, honey. You’re awake?”

“Yes,” she says softly. Tears well up in her eyes again. “When is Laura coming back?”

“Well, she’s going to come back later this week.”

“How do you know?” Bella stabs her finger into her nose and wiggles it around. Normally I would correct her, but I choose my battle carefully this time. “I spoke with her earlier this morning. You were still asleep,” I inform her quickly when I see her eyes narrow into slits.

Bella doesn’t say anything for a moment. She plays with the buttons of my shirt quietly and then looks directly at me. “Is Laura going to leave like my real mommy left?”

My heart drops at her question. I don’t know how I can answer her without lying. Yes, honey. Laura will be leaving in the same fashion that your other mother left you. Except this time the mother’s departure will be my fault. “Laura is going to come back by the end of this week, and we’ll all get back to normal. We’ll do some normal family things together. How does that sound?” I pull her into a tight squeeze, and she nods into my neck.

“Okay. Now that we’ve got that settled let’s get some dinner in that tummy. I know that’s not my stomach being so loud and impolite. Sounds more like your stomach, and I thought you were supposed to be more proper, with all those tea parties you have!”

Bella giggles and scoots off of her seat. “I am proper. I never pick my nose at a tea party.”

“Well, if you’ve learned anything about polite society, that should be it.” I lead her back to the kitchen gallery, scoop up the abandoned plate of offending pasta, and drop it into the sink.

Doing a quick survey of what’s in the pantry as well as the refrigerator, I determine that I can make something with tuna, capers, toast, peanut butter, and a bottle of expensive wine. When the hell did we run out of everything, anyway? I thought Helen took care of all the household groceries. I’ll have to ask her what’s going on. I open the freezer, desperate to find something to feed Bella.

There sit several small foil containers with lids stacked on top of each other. I forgot all about the meals Laura froze before leaving. I retrieve one and examine it before grabbing another, and another. They’re all neatly labeled with the day that the dish was made, as well as how long it will stay fresh for consumption. The containers have directions for warming them up, and I slip two into the oven to reheat.

Bella pipes up from her perch on a barstool. “I helped Laura make them. She said I’m her little sous chef.” She frowns thoughtfully. “I still don’t know what that means.”

“I can’t believe she made so many,” I muse. “How long was she planning on being gone?” I mutter under my breath.

“And me,” Bella insists.

“Yes, and you,” I murmur. I look through the contents of the freezer again. Laura took the time to make several different dishes and freeze portion-sized servings just for...for what? I don’t know why she’s done this. Each one seems to be a favorite of Bella’s, so I suppose that’s why she did it.

But it doesn’t answer my question, not all the way. Why did she do it? She knew anyone would make Bella’s favorite dishes at the drop of a hat. Why go through the trouble when she knows she’s going to leave us anyway? She has nothing to gain from this. I let the freezer close and sit on the opposite side of the counter from Bella.

“Talk to me.” I wrap my hands around her small ones and look into her big blue eyes. “You’ve been doing so well. Why did you get so upset today with the new lady?”

Bella looks uncomfortable and fidgets in her seat. She pushes her hair off her face before answering. “I wanted Laura. She does everything for me.”

“So, you’re saying that other people don’t do everything for you?”

“No, they do.” Her brow puckers. “I like Laura. Laura does things, but she does everything different.”

“How?”

“She does it because she loves me.” Bella’s face clears and her eyes brighten. “Because she loves me,” she repeats. She rattles off all the ways that Laura has taken care of her in the short amount of time that Laura and I have been married.

When she lists it all out, I’m in shock too. The timer on the oven goes off, and I pull out our dinner. Bella scrambles down from her seat and yanks open the double doors to the refrigerator. “We need some white cheese.” She scans the contents for a minute before spying the parmesan container.

“Laura says lasagna isn’t complete until you add every type of cheese.” She hands it to me to open, and I pry open one side and hand it back for her to sprinkle some on her plate.

“I bet you loved hearing that.” I grin. Bella doesn’t answer, her fork already busy trying to cut a piece off of her wedge of lasagna. “Let me help you.” I grab a knife and help her cut it into manageable pieces. “Be careful, it’s still hot,” I caution.

“I know,” Bella says, blowing on a piece that she’s stabbed with her fork. “Laura told me when I have a hot bite to sing the alphabet one time in my head before I do the hot test on my lip.”

“That’s solid advice.”

“Daddy?”

“Hmm,” I mumble between my own chews. The lasagna hits all the right notes and is melting in my mouth. I have good food every day, gourmet food most of the time. But this is a meal cooked from the heart, and I can’t get enough. I mentally calculate how long it will take to warm up a second piece.

“I know I never met my real mom, but…” Bella pauses with her fork in midair, the cheese from the lasagna connecting her bite to a piece on the plate.

“What’s wrong?”

Bella sets her fork down. “Do you think it’s okay if I call Laura ‘Mommy’? I mean, my real mom won’t be upset, will she?” Her eyes are as wide as saucers and trained on me, waiting for the slightest indication that this might not be a good idea.

“Sweetheart.” I don’t know what to tell her. “What do you want? We’ll be okay with whatever you want to do.”

Bella looks at her plate and plays with her fork again. “If I call her ‘Mommy,’ maybe she won’t leave like my real mom did.”

I’m around the counter and crushing Bella to me.

“Your birth mother left because she wasn’t able to be your mom. You can call Laura whatever you’re comfortable with. She’ll be part of your life either way.” I curse myself silently for the false promise, but I can’t bear to see Bella like this. I know Laura would have promised her the same if she were here.

“Mmmmfff.” Bella is trying to speak, but I’ve crushed her mouth into my chest.

“What?” I pull back to look at her.

“Mommy.” She smiles slowly. “Laura’s my mommy.”