A childish cough sounded from the hall. Gray turned and found Lori silhouetted in the doorway, Magda's hand clutched in hers. Chocolate and cookie crumbs stained the corner of Magda's mouth.
She stared at the dollhouse with wide eyes. She glanced at Gray standing beside it, and her mouth quirked to the side. Wanna get outta my way, big guy?
Lori urged her forward. "Come on, Magda. It's yours." Her cocoa-colored eyes darted to the Big Wheel parked in the corner as if considering it for an alternative, given its distance from Gray. Then her gaze skated right back to the house.
Taking pity on the kid, Gray stepped away and sat on the edge of the bed. Magda let go of Lori's hand and sprinted forward, Lori strolling behind. The little girl dropped cross-legged in front of the house and pulled one doll after another from the basket.
Hands clasped loosely between his knees, Gray watched. Couldn't stop. He'd built the house that made her happy. Her tiny smile brought a rush that rivaled the first time he'd mastered a barrel roll in pilot training.
Magda lined up her dolls on the floor, a cough rumbling in her chest. Lori sat on the floor and pulled Magda onto her lap. Magda smiled up at her, pressed two fingers to her lips and gestured forward.
"You're welcome," Lori said to Magda, then grinned at Gray. "That was sign language for thank-you. When I visited her in the hospital, I taught her some basic signs. There's a whole movement out there for teaching sign language to babies. It's supposed to lessen their frustration until they can talk in formalized language. The same premise works with international children who don't speak English language yet. She's picking it up so quickly. I think she's really smart."
Gray stifled a grin at Lori's maternal pride, predictable and sweet. "I'm sure she is."
Lori licked her thumb and reached to swipe cookie crumbs from Magda's cheek. "I should have offered her something healthier like a cheese stick or an apple, but I just wanted everything to be perfect for her."
"One cookie won't kill her."
"Is that your official diagnosis, Doc?"
"Yes, ma'am. Give this kid a cookie a day."
"With milk."
"You bet." Conversation fizzling, Gray waited. For what? He didn't know.
Silence echoed through the room, broken only by the toll of church bells, a car horn, a cough from Magda.
Lori smoothed a hand over Magda's tufting hair and smiled a polite dismissal at Gray. "You probably have things to do, work or something. You can go now."
Magda chose just that moment to glance up. Yeah. The door's that way.
Gray took in the two of them, their faces so close together, so right, and knew he wasn't needed. His mission was over for the day. Magda and Lori were settled, not that it seemed to make leaving any easier.
He shoved to his feet. "She's allowed quiet play at home for the next five days. She can play with other kids out in public after that."
"Thank you. I've already got a sitter lined up to help with the times I can't work up here."
"Watch for fever, chest pain, worsening cough."
"Gray, I have the instructions from her pediatrician."
"I'll stop in tomorrow to listen to her chest."
Her eyes flashed as if she might argue, then the flame died. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
"Be careful that she doesn't get too worn-out."
"I'm going to help her into PJs in a minute." Lori rested her cheek on top of Magda's head. "We'll be fine. We're going to eat supper and watch a video. A little Disney should go a long way toward keeping her still and starting her English lessons."
"That sounds great."
Gray waited for an invitation to join them. He enjoyed a Disney flick as much as the next guy. The family's designated Disney dude, he'd sat through Cinderella three times when his niece Jessica was stuck in bed with the chicken pox.
Propping a boot on the bed rail, he waited through another cycle of cars passing beneath the window.
Lori didn't ask, just plucked at her shirt and held her foster daughter in her lap. Hair flowing around them both, Lori tucked Magda closer into the perfect mother-daughter picture. A picture that by his own choice didn't include him. "Well, enjoy your video."