10
SPENCER
By the time I’m driving up to my house, Hadley is out like a light. My neighbor Ford is busy unpacking his car. I wave at him as we pass. We're good friends too, and when we're both in the city for our teams, then we often meet up.
“Ford Spears is looking mighty fine.” April looks on with wide eyes, but I get a sense that she is trying to rile me.
I sit a little taller in my seat. “Doubt it.”
“Huh, I knew that his house was finally ready to live in, and he apparently now lives there, but he looks a lot hotter in person than what you see online.”
Ford plays hockey and spent a lot of his childhood in Lake Spark too. Being in his late twenties and with his short haircut and trim physique, it gets a lot of attention from girls, apparently April included.
“Down, girl, I’m confident he is waiting for someone.”
“Jealous?” She looks at me, amused.
“No… Hey, doesn’t Pickles need a walk?” I change topics as I pull us up in the driveway.
“Yeah, he does. Should I wake Hadley?”
Parking the car in the garage, I turn the engine off. “Nah, it’s okay, I’ll do it. She needs to wake up or she won’t sleep later.”
A minute later, I’m peeling Hadley slowly off the backseat and into my arms, resting her head against my shoulder. I’ll wake her once we're inside and I set her on the couch.
I notice that April is staring at me, her eyes fixed on the scene.
“You okay?” I whisper. “You look like your cold heart might actually be thawing.”
Her lips quirk out. “Just noticing that… it doesn’t matter.” She twirls around and heads out of the garage before I can figure out what is crossing her mind.
I don’t spend time trying to figure out where April’s head is at, because I have my little girl wrapped in my arms. I have no illusions, I know that this won’t last forever; Hadley is growing at record speed.
When I lay Hadley on the sofa in the living room and she begins to grumble as I slowly wake her, I feel like she is at a stage of life when I’m enemy number one. The teenage years already spook me, and we're not even halfway there yet.
“Come on, sweet pea, time to wake up.” I tuck her hair behind her ear, but her little hand swats me away.
“Grr.”
Her sounds only make me smile to myself because she is adorable.
“It’s not even dinner time yet.”
She slowly pulls herself up to sitting and rubs her eyes. “Can I watch a movie?”
“That’s all you want to do,” I note.
“Because you’re not good at playing with dolls or drawing.”
Hadley isn’t afraid to speak her mind, sometimes ruthless, but I can’t even be mad. She has a point, I’m not great with playing, and I feel relief every time a babysitter comes to help out and play with Hadley.
“We can go outside to play. Want to throw the ball around?” I suggest.
“No. It’s always me watching you practice throws.”
“I can go gentle, grab the tee-ball set.” I hear the eagerness in my voice.
She shakes her head in disagreement. “I don’t like baseball, I like ballet.”
