Page 10 of Defending A Promise
I nod and smile, “I promise.” I hate that my parents are so worried about us, but it’s been months since I’ve had any messages waiting for me. Now that Nicholas and I have moved back home and away from that environment, I think my parents feel better, just not great. None of us feel great about it, but we’ve done what we can to prevent anything else from happening.
“Lois, are you ready to go?” Dad asks as he’s moving suitcases through the house and out the front door.
“I’m ready.”
I open the back door and call for Nicholas to come inside. “Nickels. Come say goodbye to Nana and Papa before they leave for their vacation.”
My little guy runs into the house and grabs onto their legs and hugs them. “Bye.”
“We’ll miss you,” Mom says, but he’s already out of here and down the hallway to his room.
“Be careful and have the time of your lives.” I pull them both into a hug.
“We will. You, too.”
“We will,” I parrot as I watch them climb into the waiting taxi.
Once they are off on their adventure, my plans for the rest of the weekend are ready to begin. “Nickels. Want to go to the beach and build sandcastles?”
“Yeah!” He comes running into the living room and throws his fist into the air.
“Okay, then go get your swim trunks on and I’ll put some lotion on you.”
He holds up one finger. “Be right back, Mommy.”
I laugh at him, “Okay.”
And he’s off again.
We stayed at the beach a whole lot longer than I anticipated but we were having so much fun splashing in the Atlantic Ocean and building sandcastles and then knocking them down. Well, Nicholas was having fun with the knocking them down part.
Being that it was later than I thought it was, we decide to stop at Jack’s Place for some burgers and milkshakes. Right now, my little guy has eaten only a few bites of his burger, but all of his French fries.
“Buddy, I need you to take at least three more big bites of your burger.”
He shakes his head hard enough to move his entire body. “I’m not hungry.”
“That’s because you’ve eaten all your French fries and drunk most of your milkshake. You need to eat some meat to grow big and strong muscles.”
I watch as he pouts and stares off into space. He’s exhausted and I’ll be surprised if he’s still awake when we get home.
I finally give up the fight. He’s not going to eat anymore and he’s now yawning a lot. It’s rough being four. “Are you ready to go home?”
He nods. “I wanna play with my trucks.”
Instead of arguing with him and telling him he’s getting in the bathtub and then straight to bed, I just pull out my wallet and leave some money on the table. “Let’s go, Nickels.”
He climbs out of his booster seat and takes my hand as we walk out of the restaurant and get into my car.
We’re not a half a mile from the restaurant and he’s already out cold in his car seat; his head leaning against the headrest and his mouth hanging open wide. My heart melts as I keep glancing at him in my rearview mirror.
My life hasn’t gone exactly as I had planned. I always thought I would get married and then have kids. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be a single mom, but having Nicholas is the best thing that could ever have happened to me.
Ever.
I just wish River could have met him. They look alike and even have some of the same mannerisms. River would have been a fantastic uncle if given the chance.
This world can be so cruel sometimes.
