Free Baby Benefits by Emily McKay

sacrifice, because frankly, it had been a relief. Taking over the business from his father had finally given him a place in his freewheeling, fun-loving family.
    In fact, right now, the only regret he could think of was that his assistant seemed to have morphed into someone else. Had she always been this passionate about things and he’d just never noticed? Or had she been completely suppressing her personality for the past nine years? Was he such a tyrant that she’d believed that necessary?

    The phone rang halfway through dinner. Kendrick, ever the seventeen-year-old, jumped to answer it before Raina could remind him that at their last “family summit” they’d voted not to take phone calls during dinner.
    A minute later he returned with the cordless handset in hand and a scowl on his face. “It’s for you.”
    Cassidy slouched back in her chair, not bothering to shove aside her bleached blond bangs when they dangled in her eyes. “I thought Raina wasn’t supposed to take calls from Darth Vader during dinner.”
    “No one is supposed to take calls,” their mother pointed out diplomatically.
    Raina shot her mother a grateful look as she accepted the handset. “Kendrick already answered it. I can’t just hang up on him.”
    Cassidy glared at Kendrick, who merely poked at his stir-fry in response.
    As she scooted her chair away from the table and left the room, Raina had no doubts about who was on the other end of the line. Four times in the past hour, her cell phone had rung, “The Imperial March” Darth Vader ring tone Kendrick had installed on her phone echoing through the kitchen before she’d finally switched her phone to vibrate. Her ambivalence about their conversation this afternoon made ignoring his calls all the easier.
    When she’d left this afternoon, he’d seemed to be making progress. He’d mastered changing diapers and though Isabella didn’t seem too happy about it, she’d even drunk the bottle Derek had heated up for her. Since he’d seemed stubbornly determined not to call the nanny for the night, she’d left believing Derek and Isabella would at least make it through the night. However the numerous phone calls had strained her optimism.
    Two months ago, when her younger siblings had finally joined forces against “the Empire,” she’d explained the new policy to Derek. Every evening between seven and eight, she’d be unreachable. Either he’d forgotten or was—once again—ignoring her attempts to set boundaries.
    Once out of earshot of her family, she put the phone to her ear. “I thought you understood—”
    “I know,” he interrupted. “No phone calls during dinner.”
    “If you leave a message on my voicemail, I promise I’ll—”
    “But this is an emergency. I think Isabella has a fever.”
    She resisted the urge to scoff. “Look, Derek, kids get fevers all the time. Just take her temperature, if it’s over—”
    “How?”
    “How, what?”
    “How—” he spoke slowly with clipped words “—do I take her temperature?”
    Ah. She’d forgotten she was dealing with a man who was both a control freak and knew zip about kids.
    “First you’ve got to find the thermometer. Lucy is very thorough, so I’m sure she packed one in Isabella’s bag. Then you’ll need to take her temperature either rectally or under her arm.”
    “Rectally?” Derek’s voice sounded choked.
    “Yes. It’s more accurate. And—” A chorus of complaints called out from the kitchen to protest her time on the phone. “Why don’t you just look it up on the Internet like a normal person would. I’m sure there’s a site somewhere that tells you how to take a kid’s temperature.”
    Then, for the first time in nine years of working for Derek, she hung up on him.
    Six
    Frankly, it felt good. Though that single act of rebellion did little to mitigate her bruised emotions.
    For all these years, she’d done everything he’d asked. She’d worked the long hours; she’d sacrificed her