Page 210 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“I apologize on his behalf for being such an asshole,” I said.
“Whatever, Tiffany,” Brad said. “Leave, I don’t care. Good luck finding someone who will fall in love with a whale like you.”
The words pierced my heart, but I refused to let Brad know that he had hurt me again. I turned on my heel and began to leave the restaurant. The people at the other tables were still looking at me, but I didn’t care. I held my head high as I walked through the restaurant. I would not let Brad’s behavior rub off on me. We were two completely different people. While part of me wanted to cry, the other part of me was celebrating inside. I did something that I never thought that I would do. I had finally stood my ground when it came to Brad. He no longer had power over me. I was free.
CHAPTER 27
CAYDEN
I stretched my arms as I heard the birds chirping outside. Morning. I thought it would never come. Austin was up late last night after his evening nap. I think I finally put him to bed around three in the morning. I had almost taken him to the ER, but I knew that they wouldn’t be much help. I hoped that we would be able to get him some relief today at his doctor’s appointment.
I took a deep breath as I opened my eyes. The sunshine filled my room. I looked at the clock. It was just after ten. I could not remember the last time that I had slept this late. It was a good thing that I had emailed Tim late last night telling him that I wouldn’t be in today. If I hadn’t done that, the whole office probably would have been really worried about me. I wasn’t the type to miss work.
I rolled over in bed and bumped into Austin. He hadn’t gone to bed with me. He must have snuck in after I passed out.
“Hey, Daddy,” he said, looking up at me. I smiled at him.
“Hey, buddy,” I said. “Are you feeling any better?” I leaned over and felt his forehead with my palm. He was still burning up.
“No,” he whimpered. “I don’t want to go to Grandma’s today.”
“We won’t, buddy,” I said. “We are going to stay home until your doctor’s appointment.”
Austin looked at me quizzically.
“Doctor?” he asked. A terrified look formed on his face.
“The doctor will help you,” I explained to him. He had a fear of doctors, or more specifically, a fear of needles. “No shots this time.” I patted his head. He smiled.
“Are you staying home with me?” Austin asked. I nodded, and his smile grew. Even though he never said it, I knew that he loved the days that I stayed home with him. I wished I could do it more often. Layla and I always had talked about raising Austin. She was going to quit her job and stay home with him full-time. We had everything planned, and then the cancer hit.
“Let me get you some more medicine for your fever,” I said, getting out from under the covers. Austin frowned.
“It tastes so gross!” he said, making a disgusted face. I laughed. Typical Austin. He was a bit dramatic, like Layla, but it was endearing in a way. I walked out of the bedroom and to the kitchen. Austin’s doctor appointment was at one in the afternoon. We still had some time to kill. I wouldn’t mind lying in bed watching cartoons until it was time to leave. I knew I should probably check my work email, though.
I grabbed Austin’s medicine from the cupboard and carefully measured out the correct dose. As I placed the medicine cup on the counter, my phone buzzed. It was Tiffany calling. I answered the phone.
“Hey, Tiffany,” I said.
“Hi,” she said. She sounded kind of depressed. We hadn’t had a chance to talk last night because she never called me back. I thought about bringing it up but didn’t want to rock the boat. I did feel a little offended that she didn’t return my text, but it was something that I had to get over.
“How are you?” I asked. Austin walked into the kitchen. He looked rough. I could always tell when he was sick. His eyes would glaze over. Poor kid.
“I’m… okay,” she said. I frowned. She was never just okay. She often used words like great, excited, and fabulous. I wasn’t used to this Tiffany.
“Austin still sick?” she asked.
“He is,” I replied.
“Tim mentioned you might work from home if he was still not feeling well when I turned in my article,” she explained. “I’m sorry. It sucks to be sick so close to the holidays.”
“I agree,” I said. “I’m taking him to the doctor this afternoon. I’m hoping we have some time to turn this around before Christmas. He was really looking forward to everything.”
“Yeah…” she said. Her voice trailed off.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I could no longer pretend that nothing was wrong. Obviously, something was bothering her.
“We can talk about it later,” Tiffany said. “Austin is sick. You need to go focus on him.” I handed the medicine cup to Austin. He pressed it to his lips and swallowed all of it. He handed the empty cup back to me and stuck out his tongue.
