She has a point, and it’s what I want to feel, but this is a complicated situation.
“Besides, your father and I booked a last-minute weekend away and there is no school today for Teacher Institute Day.” That’s good, they deserve it.
My mom opens the back door of the car and immediately puts on a silly face for the passenger in the car. “Guess where we are?”
I walk a few steps so that I'm in view, and I do have a curiosity, even excitement somewhere within, however mostly I feel fear.
Maybe I soften an ounce when I see my six-year-old daughter give me a little half-smile. Her blondish-brown hair is up in a bun, and she is in a black leotard with pink tights and a tutu.
“Hey, Hadley.” I give her a tiny wave.
Hadley’s mom is no longer—or rather never was—in the picture, and my mom pretty much raises Hadley when it’s baseball season. My parents have a house here in Lake Spark that I bought for them a few years ago so that there is no disruption to Hadley’s school schedule. I’ve always been in Hadley’s life in some way, but it feels like we are strangers to one another sometimes due to my schedule. It’s a confusing time for her, I’m sure.
My mom helps my daughter out of the booster seat, and Hadley walks to me before she pokes my leg with her finger. “I’m staying with you now.”
Awkwardly, I scratch the back of my head and lean down to her eye level. Her brown eyes are filled with curiosity. “Yeah, kiddo, you are. Remember what we talked about?”
“Yes. Sometimes I stay with Grammie and other times with you.”
“Very good. You’re going to stay with me for a while now, until spring.”
“Right. Baseball.” She seems deflated. I wish she was more excited about my career. Isn’t it the dream? Saying your dad is a professional athlete?
I touch her shoulder. “But that’s exciting, right? I mean, I have the pool, your playroom is all set up.”
She nods her head and begins to walk in the direction of the door, dragging her feet.
I quickly go grab her bag from the trunk and grab my mom’s attention in the process. “She doesn’t want to be here.”
“It’s difficult for her too, but give it a day or two and she won’t want to leave,” my mom assures me.
Closing the trunk, I sigh. “I’m not here alone.” I just get it out.
My mother’s eyes grow wide and she looks elated. “You have a new girlfriend?”
“No. Just a…” I pause for a second, as I have to swallow around this lie. “Friend. Hudson’s niece, actually.”
Her brow raises. “Just? Hmm.”
No, Mother, we made a sex tape, and the world may soon know.
“Really. She would rather see me on a BBQ skewer, but for a, uh, project it was easier if she stays here.” I plaster on a fake smile. “I thought that I had a little more time before Hadley would be here.”
We begin to walk side by side back to my house.
“She doesn’t know about Hadley, I assume?”
“Not many people do, Mom, you know that. Besides, it’s better that way because I enjoy my privacy. Anyways, April wasn’t awake when I woke for my workout, and by the time you called to let me know you were two minutes away, unplanned, then I haven’t had a chance to prepare her.”
Holding the door open for my mother and balancing a bag in one arm, I lead us inside.
A pitched squeal fills the house, which fills my blood with a compelling need to run straight in the direction of Hadley’s sound. Dropping the bag by the stairs, I run to the kitchen and into a scene that instantly makes my lips curl into a smile when I stand in my tracks.
April is wearing pineapple-print pajama pants and a tight tank top, and she's standing in the middle of the kitchen with a spatula in the air, a dusting of flour on her cheek, with her eyes glued on the little pink tutu in the air because Hadley is leaning over to pet Pickles, who is in the exact same spot as when I woke up and tried to convince him to go for a walk with me.
“You got me a puppy!” Hadley’s excitement hits a new level that I didn’t know was achievable.
And now I’m about to pop her dream. “Pickles belongs to April. He's staying here for a little bit.”
