Page 13 of The Six-Week Single Dad
Chapter Seven
Hayden
Iwasn’t joking when I admitted to Bea that I was going to struggle at this ‘being a Dad’ thing. Not even an hour into the experience and I was already beginning to doubt myself, and we were only pushing Alfie around the supermarket in his buggy.
“Pasta, that’s something quick and easy we can both cook, right?” suggested Bea.
We had been discussing who would do what and, because I was going to be at work during the day, it was decided that we would try to take turns with cooking. In retrospect, we should have had the discussion the previous evening, when we weren’t trying to deal with a screaming one-year-old but, you live and learn.
“He’s probably tired. This isn’t his usual routine.”
“I bet it’s nappy related.”
“You can deal with that then.”
“And what are you going to do when I’m at work?”
“Wait until you get home.”
“What?”
“I’m obviously joking. I wouldn’t leave Alfie in that state.”
There was a woman who seemed to be following us around the aisles and I could tell she was horrified by our most recent exchange. There was a part of me that wanted to play up to that, but I didn’t have the heart. Instead, I threw more jars of pasta sauce in the trolley.
“Maybe we can get some of those healthy ready meals too. You know, the ones you can pop in the microwave or the oven?”
Bea punched me on the arm. “Really? When it’s your turn to cook, I’m getting a microwave meal, and when I do, you’re getting a five-course banquet?”
“Did I say that? I thought you might enjoy the ease of their preparation too.”
I grinned. The easy banter with Bea was way more enjoyable than anything I’d had with Maddy or anyone else I’d dated over the last year or so.
Of course, I’d known her for a long time. She’d always been Tom’s little sister. More of an annoyance than anything, at least until she’d blossomed in her early teenage years. And now, as I watched her pushing Alfie’s buggy, her long, dark hair, piled up on her head in a messy ponytail/bun arrangement, dressed simply in jeans and a cute top, I was definitely looking at her differently.
“Remind me how big your freezer is again?”
“What for?”
“If you’re serious about this easy cooking thing, I’ll pre-make some meals and freeze them. Then all we have to do is heat them up when we need them. I can prep some over the weekend if you like?”
She was an utter gem. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten so lucky.
By the time we got to the checkout, the trolley was overflowing with all sorts of products, and when the cashier put everything through and told me the total, I winced.
“Did you want me to pay half?” Bea asked, as she packed the items into the carrier bags we’d had to buy.
“Don’t be silly.”
All of a sudden a smell hit me. Alfie had definitely filled his nappy. There was no way I could get home before changing him. I’d have to find the baby-change room. Bea was clearly thinking the same thing as she pointed me in the direction of the toilets. I hurried off.
“Right,” I said to Alfie as I started to unpop his romper suit. “Let’s make this as easy on Daddy as we can, please, so if you could just stay still…”
My words had little or no effect as he wriggled around on the changing mat that I’d found in his bag. I was pretty adept at changing a nappy; Maddy made sure I was able to do that almost as soon as Alfie was born. I managed to get him sorted out as quickly as I could, aware that Bea was waiting by the tills as I still had the car keys. Soon Alfie was clean again.
He gave a huge yawn as I put him back in the buggy and I did the same.
I hadn’t truly realised quite how stressful it could be and I was only a few hours into it. How had Maddy coped? Then I realised she had her mother on tap and I wondered how many times she would have passed Alfie over to her. A pang of guilt hit me as I realised I should have offered to help more and taken some of the pressure off. Then I remembered the times I had, only for Maddy to come up with some excuse as to why I couldn’t, or she was busy, or there was a mother’s-only coffee date.
