The Unexpected Romance

Chapter 18

At about 8 a.m. on August 28th, Aubrey came downstairs while Chad and Finn were having breakfast at the kitchen table.

"Ooh, breakfast smells good today," Aubrey said, admiring the scrambled eggs on the table.

"Yep. Come sit down," Chad said as she did so.

"Today's going to be a long day today. I can already feel it," Aubrey said, feeling nervous.

"What's up for you today?" Chad asked.

"I have to represent a client in court today. Been a while since I've done so. I just hope it all goes well," Aubrey said.

"Aubrey, ever since we moved here, you've been very successful at your law firm. If I know you like I think I do, I am confident that you'll get through it," Chad said.

After Aubrey finished her breakfast, she grabbed her purse and prepared to head out for the day.

"Well, here goes nothing. Bye, Chad. Bye, Finn," Aubrey said, giving them both a kiss goodbye and heading off for the day.

"Hey, Finn, want to go to the park today?" Chad asked.

"Yeah!" Finn said excitedly.

"Alright. We'll go in a couple of hours," Chad told him before cleaning up the table from breakfast.

Two hours later, Chad and Finn arrived at the park. Chad sat on a bench while Finn went to play on the playground. Thirty minutes later, as Chad watched Finn play, Jessica came by.

"Hey, Chad," She said.

"Jessica, out for a walk today?" Chad asked.

"I started my maternity leave yesterday, so I might as well relax before our new baby arrives," Jessica said as she sat down with Chad.

"Are you and Ashley all prepared for the big day?" Chad asked.

"We just have to finish decorating the nursery," Jessica replied.

"Have you picked out a theme?" Chad asked.

"We figured he might like dinosaurs. So, we settled on that," Jessica said.

"Nice," Chad said.

"Yeah. "Hey, is something wrong with Finn?" Jessica asked, worried.

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, confused as Finn walked up to him.

"Daddy, I don't feel good," Finn whimpered, approaching Chad and Jessica.

"What do you mean you don't feel good?" Chad asked, feeling Finn's forehead.

"Oh, no. I think you've got a fever. Come on, let's get you home, and then I'll call the doctor," he said as he put Finn in his car seat.

"Will he be okay?" Jessica asked, concerned.

"Boy, I sure hope so," Chad said before getting into the driver's seat.

"Me too. Feel better, Finn," Jessica called to the little boy before she left to continue her walk through the park.

Before Chad started his car, he called Aubrey hoping to get in touch with her, even though he knew it'd be a long shot.

"Come on, pick up!" he muttered to himself, but the call went to Aubrey's voicemail instead.

"You've reached Aubrey Donaldson. Leave a message at the tone," after the tone, he began to leave her the message.

"Hi, honey. It's Chad. We were at the park today, and Finn came down with a fever. I'm bringing him home, and then I'm going to call the doctor. Please call me back when you're done at the courthouse, okay. Later," he said before hanging up.

As Chad pulled into the driveway, Aubrey called him back.

"Hey, Aubrey," he said, answering.

"Hey, Chad. How's Finn doing?" Aubrey asked.

"I haven't checked his temperature since we left the park," Chad reported.

"Oh, okay. Listen, I'm really sorry I couldn't answer you when you called. The trial went on for so long," Aubrey said, apologetic.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I just got back home, so I'm going to give Finn some ibuprofen and then put him into bed and then call the doctor," Chad said.

"Great. I'll be home as soon as I can," Aubrey promised.

"See you soon," Chad said, hanging up.

At that point, Aubrey made it back to her car as quickly as she could. But before she turned the key in the ignition, she called her secretary to cancel any meetings for the rest of the day due to her son's fever.

Back at home, Chad was on the phone with Finn's doctor. He was on hold for about 10 minutes until he got through after talking with the nurse.

"Dr. Hendrix, it's Chad Donaldson. My son Finn is a patient of yours, and he has a fever," he said.

"Did you give him any medicine?" Dr. Hendrix asked.

"Not yet. I wanted to call you first before I do anything," Chad replied.

"Is he keeping his food down?" Dr. Hendrix asked.

"Far as I know he is," Chad said.

"Okay. Just give him some medicine and watch his temperature. If he doesn't improve within 24 hours, take him to the hospital," Dr. Hendrix suggested.

"All right. Thank you, sir. I'll call you back later if necessary. Bye," Chad said, hanging up.

As he was about to look for the proper medication, Aubrey came home.

"Chad, Finn, I'm home," Aubrey yelled from downstairs.

"We're upstairs, honey," Chad yelled from Finn's bedroom.

Just then, Aubrey set her purse down and then rushed upstairs with a worried look on her face. "Hey, how is he?" she asked.

"I just got off the phone with Dr. Hendrix. He said to give Finn some medicine and then watch his temperature," Chad recapped.

"His medicine is downstairs. I'll go get it," Aubrey said as she went downstairs to grab a bottle of medicine as well as a medicine cup before bringing it up to Finn's bedroom.

When Aubrey came back into Finn's bedroom, she was greeted by her son, who, despite being crummy, was happy to see her.

"Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?" Aubrey asked before feeling Finn's forehead. "Oh, no. You do have a fever. Well, not to worry, your daddy and I will do whatever it takes to make you feel better. Now, Daddy was talking to the doctor when you got home, and he said that you need to take this," she told him as she poured a dose of Tylenol into the medicine cup. When she handed Finn the cup, he downed the dose.

"Now try to get some rest. I'll check on you in about an hour," she continued before stepping outside the bedroom.

"So, how'd it go today?" Chad asked.

"I hated the idea of having to have my phone off while all of this was happening. Also, that trial went on for way longer than I expected. I'm just glad I got to leave right away after seeing your voicemail," Aubrey said. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know. All I know is when we got to the park, Finn was feeling fine while he was on the playground. Jessica came by a half-hour later and talked to me, and she noticed something wrong with Finn. He came up to me saying he wasn't feeling good. So, I felt his forehead, took his temperature, and then noticed he had a fever. Then when I rushed him home," Chad recapped.

"Glad you did. I just hope that medicine helps his fever go down. Especially since he starts preschool soon," Aubrey said, worried.

Aubrey took Finn's temperature one hour later and noticed it had gone down to about 99. She sighed with relief, knowing the medicine was working. A few hours later, she gave Finn another dose and then checked his temperature one last time for the night. She was grateful to find that Finn's temperature had returned to normal.