Page 64 of Tripped By Love
“Why don’t I come with you,” he suggested.
“You’re busy. It’s going to take longer in the waiting room than it will to get the swab done. I’m okay. Chevelle’s okay.” I said it to him but was reminding myself as well.
“I was pretty much done for the day. I was just going to do some paperwork at the office. It can wait. This can’t,” Marco said smoothly.
The offer and his insistence wrapped their way around my heart. My parents had always offered to come with me to Chevelle’s appointments, but I’d never taken them up on it. I’d needed to show them, more than anyone, that I could stand on my own two feet while taking care of my son. I’d needed to prove that I wasn’t falling over while trying to be a mom, and yet, today, I sort of felt like I was.
So, instead of telling Marco I didn’t need his help, I simply let him tag along.
The skies were dark with the threat of an early summer storm that wasn’t supposed to hit until this evening. It gave the air a heavy and full feeling that fit my mood. We walked in silence to my parents’ house.
When I opened the door, it was to find that Chevelle had just woken up from his nap. He had Hippo tucked up against him and a sippy cup in his hand while he sat on my dad’s lap. Dad was surprised to see me home so early and doubly surprised to see Marco with me.
“Mama!” Chevelle said, dropping the cup and holding his arms up for me.
I pulled him from my dad, kissing his cheek and the top of his head before squeezing him until he grunted and giggled. He laid his head on my shoulder and grasped the end of my shirt in his hand. I closed my eyes, letting the sweetness of him sweep over me.
“What’s up?” Dad asked, eyes darting between me and Marco.
“I have to take him to the clinic for a DNA test,” I said, trying to sound confident and sure, unruffled. I couldn’t break down in front of him as I had briefly with Marco.
Dad frowned. “Is there a chance…?”
He trailed off, and if my heart hadn’t been so heavy, it would have made me laugh because it was obvious Dad was uncomfortable asking the question that had run through his mind. Had I been sleeping with more men than Clayton? Could Chevelle be someone else’s?
“No.” I shook my head. “But because I didn’t list him on the birth certificate, it’s the only way Clayton can prove it.”
Dad nodded, looking to Marco again, a curious expression on his face that I wasn’t sure I could read. Was it approval or confusion or hope? Hope was the worst, because sometimes I let myself feel it too.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked.
“She went to her office. She needed a book for some research she’s doing over the summer.”
Dad rose, and I kissed his cheek. “Okay. We’ll be off, then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded, and I headed for the door as Marco and Dad exchanged goodbyes. I grabbed Chevelle’s diaper bag, and the three of us headed out. Instead of going to the Prius, I headed for the porch and the stroller that I had waiting there.
“You’re not driving?” Marco asked, surprised because I usually did whenever Chevelle was with me.
“No, I think the air will be good for me.”
He looked with uncertainty at the dark clouds and then pulled the stroller down for me. I settled Chevelle inside, tickled his neck, and said, “We’re going on a little adventure to see Jaci.”
Chevelle giggled.
Jaci was a lab tech at the clinic who I’d been friends with when I’d worked there as a nutritionist. Even though we rarely saw each other these days, every time I brought Chevelle in for vaccinations or lab work, she was the one to help us. She always had cookies for him when we were done, and I was thankful that he usually remembered that instead of the pain of the shots.
Marco was silent as we walked, listening instead to Chevelle jabber away to Hippo. When we walked in the door of the clinic, it felt like every eye in the room turned to us, and I realized for the first time what we must have looked like. A family. A little trio. My heart clenched again. I wanted that for Chevelle and myself someday.
I registered at the lab, and then we made our way to the seats in the waiting room. Marco’s arm slid along the back of my chair as I sat with Chevelle and a book from the diaper bag in my lap. We flipped the pages, and Chevelle pointed out the animals, saying their names and making the sounds. Even though he knew the names and sounds, he still got a kick out of making the grown-ups say them.
Chevelle shoved the book in Marco’s face and asked with a sly smile, “Maco, cow. Sound cow?”
Marco didn’t even hesitate, didn’t look around embarrassed. He just belted out a low, growly, “Moo.”
Chevelle grinned, turned the page, and said, “Pig, Maco. Pig.”
Marco leaned forward until his eyes were even with Chevelle’s, then he stuffed his face into Chevelle’s neck, making snuffling noises that had Chevelle giggling hysterically. His tiny boy laugh filled the waiting room, and it clenched my heart while easing it all at the same time.
