Page 206 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
We said goodbye and I hung up the phone. My poor kid, so sick this close to Christmas. I hoped that it was just a twenty-four hour bug that would go through his system. I didn’t want him to be sick for the holidays.
I gathered my things to work on at home and turned off my lights in my office. I walked to Tim’s office.
“Austin’s sick,” I said. “I’m going to pick him up, but I’ll work on editing that article tonight and send it over your way.”
Tim nodded. Although sometimes he could be a bit of a prick, he was a good boss. He was a single father as well. His daughter was in college, but he understood the trials and tribulations of raising a child alone.
On my way out of the office, I bumped into Tiffany.
“Hey,” I said. “I was just on my way out…”
“Can we talk?” she asked, interrupting me. She looked upset. I wondered if the interview didn’t go well. I was slightly torn. I wanted to stop and talk with her, but I really needed to go get Austin.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Austin is sick, and I need to go pick him up right away.”
Tiffany looked down at the ground.
“It’s fine,” she said, but I couldn’t help but notice that she wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
“I should be home in less than an hour,” I said. “You can call me, and we can talk then.”
She shook her head.
“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “We can talk about it later. I hope Austin feels better.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
We parted ways as I walked outside. I felt like something was wrong with her, but Austin came first. He always would, no matter what woman came into my life.
I drove to my mom’s house quickly, wanting to hold Austin. As soon as I walked in the door, my mom greeted me.
“He’s sleeping,” she said. “He fell asleep right after I got off the phone with you. I’m sorry, he probably could have stayed here until you got off work.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Should I wake him up?”
My mom shrugged.
“It’s up to you,” she said. “He may get up in two minutes, or he may get up in two hours.”
As much as I liked my mom, I didn’t feel like waiting around her house for Austin to get up. I went into her bedroom and saw him sleeping on the bed. He looked like an angel and reminded me of Layla for a split second. They both had similar features; dark hair and dark skin. As much as I loved him, sometimes it was painful how much he resembled his mother. Even though I was moving on with Tiffany, I was starting to think I would never get over Layla.
As I stroked Austin’s head, I began to think about what the two of us had been through over the past three years. On one hand, I felt happy that Austin was little enough that he didn’t feel the same sadness that I did. He knew that he had a mother who was watching him in Heaven, but other than that, he didn’t talk about her much. I didn’t expect him to. He had been a year old when Layla had passed away.
On the other hand, I continued to feel guilty that he didn’t have a mother. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he would bring it up. Most of the other children at daycare had mothers or stepmothers. Would he realize that things were different with our family? Would he want me to find a replacement for Layla?
I wondered how Tiffany would be with Austin. I assumed she would be great, but I had heard horror stories of people introducing their children to their girlfriends. In some cases, the girlfriends couldn’t deal with the baggage. In other cases, the children made it so difficult that the couples broke up. Sure, there were lots of cases where girlfriends became wives and stepmoms, and everything was great, but how was I to know what the case would be with Tiffany?
Stop overanalyzing, Cayden, I told myself. I was notorious at overanalyzing situations and it didn’t get me anywhere but stressed out. I was worrying about situations that hadn’t even happened yet. Tiffany and I weren’t even official. I had to slow down my train of thought before it crashed and burned.
I wasn’t used to having these feelings, though. I had been by myself for so long that I forgot what it felt like to be excited about someone. I forgot what it felt like to want to see someone, to want to fall for them. While part of me was scared to get involved with Tiffany, the other part of me was excited and happy. I deserved to fall in love, didn’t I? Didn’t both Austin and I deserve to have a woman in our lives?
Austin started to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me. Once he realized that it was me sitting next to him, a huge smile formed on his face.
“Daddy,” he whispered, snuggling next to me. As he got closer to me, I could feel the heat radiating off of his body. He had a fever. I would have to call the doctor on the way home. He hadn’t run a fever in a long time.
“Hi, buddy,” I said, stroking his hair.
“I don’t feel good, Daddy,” he said. His voice was hoarse, and I could tell that it hurt for him to speak.
