Page 113 of Forbidden Kisses

"Really? Riley's staying with us? Can we do a TV marathon? We can watch all the Disney originals with Dad."

He looked at me with a huge grin. Riley could barely hide her laugh.

"A what?" I asked, because that sounded like hell.

"I've been showing Jeremy the classic Disney movies,” she explained. “So many kids these days don't know them anymore."

"They're awesome, Dad. You know them?"

Yes, they were old as fuck. Like me. Of course I knew them. But that didn't mean I wanted a marathon.

"Can we do a marathon, please? Pretty please?"

His eyes were pleading. Riley had a sympathetic expression on her face, so what else could I say except, "Sure, let's go home and watch them."

By the time we got back to the condo, I figured they might have forgotten about their plan, but no such luck.

We all headed to the TV room. Riley darkened the blinds, and Jeremy got hold of the remote. Usually, we'd make popcorn when we watched anything in this room, but right now, I just wanted to keep him hydrated.

"All right, what should we start with?Cinderella?" Riley suggested.

"No, let's start withSnow White," Jeremy replied.

I’m in hell.

"All right,Snow Whiteit is," Riley said with a huge smile. Jeremy had an almost identical one.

It made these two happy, so why not? So, for the rest of the day, we watched cartoons back-to-back.

When Jeremy fell asleep, I simply took him to his room, then came back for Riley. She had also fallen asleep. I was the only one who saw the ending ofThe Lion King. Spoiler alert: I'd actually forgotten most of it, and it wasn’t too bad. Riley didn't even move as I scooped her up and brought her to bed.

The next day, we started all over again. Jeremy wasn't feeling much better. He could keep water down, but food was trickier. He'd managed to have toast for breakfast, but I'd felt too optimistic at lunch and gave him some of that turkey chili I'd made yesterday. That didnotgo well. Needless to say, he only had water and more toast for the rest of the day.

As the afternoon went by, we went through yet another Disney marathon.

At five o’clock, Riley's phone beeped, but she silenced it. I looked at her over Jeremy's head, which was in her lap.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The reminder that I was supposed to go to that event at work."

"Oh yeah, sorry. I totally forgot," I said. "I'll call you an Uber.”

She shook her head. "I'm not going."

I frowned and paused the movie. Jeremy was sleeping, and I gestured with my head for her to step out of the room.

After we tiptoed out, I closed the door and asked, "What do you mean, you’re not going?"

"Jeremy's sick. I don't want to leave him."

As much as I fucking loved every word coming out of her mouth, this wasn't right.

"Riley, I'm here with him. There's nothing you can do."

"But he likes having me here."

We both did. I'd been so wrapped up in having these past few hours that I didn't even remember that she had plans this evening. It wasn't just Jeremy who needed her. I needed her, too, but still.