Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Carter opened his eyes to Eli by his side; placing a wet towel on his forehead. It looked bright out by the look of the sunlight seeping in through the opened curtains.

"I don't know what I was expecting, but this is completely different", he said with a raspy voice. " Isn't Paisley supposed to be the person by my side?"

Eli gave him a deadpan look. " Ms. Brooke was by your side all night. I arrived by 5am with a doctor and had you treated. *You're welcome*"

" All night?", Carter repeated, ignoring Eli's other statement. " She didn't sleep?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that you're stressed and it's what caused your fever. You need to rest well. You'll have to share your work too, you can't keep this up"

" Your nagging is giving me a headache" Carter tsked.

Paisley walked out of Carter's room and quietly closed the door.

"I managed to put Karter to sleep again. It might be an hour or two till he wakes up" she informed and noticed Carter looking at her.

She shot him a small smile. "You woke up earlier than expected"

"That's because it's a fever, I'm not dying"

" You fainted. Like, dropped limp on the floor. That's kind of a big deal"

" I'm fine now", he smiled. " You should get some rest. I heard you took care of me all night"

" I'm not that tired. Besides, I should make sure you get some rest. Eli's orders"

Carter glared at Eli as he stood up and smiled at Paisley.

"Well, I'll head to work now. Please take care of this airhead"

"Airhead?!"

"I will" said Paisley and Eli left after a curt nod.

Carter removed the wet towel on his forehead and sat up on the sofa.

"You should get up"

"I'm sore all over. I need to stretch a bit"

Paisley nodded in compliance.

" I'm sorry for causing you trouble"

" It's fine. I was just shocked"

" By a man fainting?"

" No, by how exhausted you are. I didn't think it was that serious" she said thinking back to the first time they met. The bags under his eyes, the speeding car and Karter.

"You told me you were tired and i disregarded it. I just thought you were extremely irresponsible"

Carter smiled. " In your defense, you had no idea who I was or what I did"

" Well, yeah, but still"

" What happened that day was a mistake I didn't think I'd ever make. I honestly don't get how it happened, even till now. I was scared shitless that something bad would happen to my car"

Paisley shot a glare at him and he chuckled. " What? I'm being serious"

"It's not funny"

He laughed. " I'm glad you were there to help though. Would've been scary to buy a new one when I'm so attached to the one I have"

Paisley scoffed and shook her head. " Just when I think we're getting somewhere at having a reasonable conversation"

Carter smirked and laid back on the sofa. He let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

"Maybe I really am tired. I should get some more sleep huh?"

" Obviously"

" Then I will"

Paisley stared at him.

*Idiot. Seems like I'll have to be you and Karter's nanny*

The thought of Carter collapsing again didn't sit right with her and she planned to make sure he stayed stress free.

*

Carter woke up to Karter on him, reaching for his nose; a deep frown on his chubby face. He smiled and held Karter's little hand in his.

"Hey, Cubby" he called and Karter cooed.

"He kept reaching for you, so I had no choice but to place him on your chest" Paisley explained as she placed the plates on the table. " Did he disturb you?"

"It's fine" Carter smiled.

" You should eat and take your medicine"

Carter sat up and placed his son between his laps.

"It's soup. It helps a lot with fever" said Paisley as Carter reached for the plate, placing it on his left lap with Karter leaned against his right.

"Common, Karter. Let your dad eat" Paisley beconed and her jaw dropped in shock when Karter hid his face between his father's arms.

Carter chuckled at the expression on her face and kissed his son's chubby cheeks.

"He's never refused me before", she breathed in disbelief.

" Well, you're not his dad, are you?" Carter boasted. "He knows I'm sick, so he's gonna stick to me like glue"

" Well that's disappointing" Paisley pouted and looked down at Karter who turned a deaf ear towards their conversation; struggling to to grab a hold of Carter's spoon.

"Here he goes again" Carter announced in amusement as he struggled to keep his soup a safe distance from him.

"Okay, okay. Hold on, Cubby", Carter chortled in defeat and held the plate up for him.

Karter grabbed a hold of the spoon, dipped it in the plate and put it in his mouth.

"Good boy!" Carter gasped excitedly as he clapped. "You're such a big boy now, aren't you?"

Karter giggled. Wanting to show off, he scooped another spoon full of soup and shoved it in his mouth, spilling some of it on his clothes.

"You're getting better!" Carter clapped and kissed his forehead.

Paisley stared at them with confusion written all over her face.

"What the hell am I looking at? What's going on?"

Carter laughed and held Karter's hands to avoid him dipping them in the soup.

"He likes it when I praise him. He's really energetic now, so he wants to play. I guess he slept a while, huh?"

" Well, yeah. I had to rock him back to sleep. Last night's commotion woke him"

Karter let out a squeal, signifying to both of them that he was getting bored.

"Try playing with him" Carter suggested.

"How do I do that?"

"Funny faces, dance, jump- really almost anything silly"

" O-okay", Paisley said and hesitated a bit before clearing her throat.

She stared at Karter who had his big beady eyes on her, then placed her ten fingers on her head and smiled awkwardly. Silence weighed on all of them as both father and son stared at her.

Carter in confusion and Karter having no idea what to make of her expression.

"You're really bad at this, aren't you?" Carter teased.

" This is my first time doing stuff like this!" She exclaimed in frustration.

" Well, do a better job"

Paisley let out a deep breath and widened her smile with her index fingers, poking her tongue in and out of her mouth.

Karter looked up at his dad, both of them holding equal confusion at her actions.

"Okay, I'm horrible at this. Even Karter thinks so"

Carter smiled and gently placed his son on the sofa, slowly getting up.

"You shouldn't get-"

"I'm fine" he interrupted " just let me bail you out from from the tight spot you're stuck in"

Paisley looked at Karter who kept staring at her and gulped.

" Okay" she nodded.

Carter stood behind her and held up both her arms, waving them frantically.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She whisper yelled.

"Move your hips and legs"

"What?!"

"Move your hips and legs" Carter repeated.

*I can't believe I'm doing this* she sighed internally and did as he said. As Carter moved her arms and she wiggled her lower body, an amused smile could be seen on Karter's face.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "He's smiling!"

"Exactly. Now continue!" Carter ordered and stepped out from behind her, waving his arms and wiggling his lower body along with her.

Karter giggled, squealing and moving his arms, clapping along to the song his dad sung ever so poorly.

At a point, Carter had to sit to catch his breath, leaving Paisley on the spot as she had to double her performance.

"Nah-nah ah! Ah ah nah!" Karter sang and clapped along to her song. She jumped from side to side, twirling and moving her arms, mimicking several animals in her dance.

Carter stared up at the young woman he had so easily trusted and invited into his home. The way her face lit up whenever Karter's did. She had the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.

"Carter! Get up! I can't do this on my own!" Whisper yelled and earned a laugh from him.

" Well, you're gonna have to. I'm tired", he said, feigning fatigue.

" Get the fuck up!"

"You forget, I'm sick"

She turned around and jumped, landing with a wide smile and placing her hands under her armpit, mimicking a duck.

Carter laughed at how nervous she looked.

"You're killing it though" he smirked.

"Really? " She beamed.

" Really" he affirmed and got up, joining her with an even more ridiculous move.

Paisley couldn't hold back her outburst. As she watched the fully grown man act like a complete bafoon just to amuse his child, she felt extremely happy.

And the fact that she was a part of that amusing and heartwarming scene gave her so much comfort.