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“Yes, when he was with her kid. He was laughing and obviously having a good time.”
“Chad, he probably felt your testosterone going into over time. Besides, do you want to start a relationship based on a lie?”
I lifted up my hands, “Who said anything about a relationship? I just said that I’d give you a break, go out with Ivy on a couple of playdates and then I’ll tell her the truth. Besides, this is helping Joshua. Think about ‘tomorrow’s child’.”
She shook her head, probably because I was throwing her own words back at her.
“Let me get this straight. You want to borrow my son so that you can go out with a girl. Oh, but you’re helping Joshua get into a good preschool by pretending that you’re his dad and this girl is his mom. And then to make matters worse, after she likes your dumb ass, you’ll tell her the truth?”
I nodded my head thinking that this made perfect sense, but I could tell by the look on her face she wasn’t convinced. Besides, I didn’t like the way she used my name and the word ‘relationship’ all in the same sentence. I was getting the shivers, so I headed to the fridge to grab a beer.
“I could do with a break. Things are getting stressful at work…”
I handed her a bottle, “Exactly! So, I’m doing you a favor, too. Helping out my little sister and spending time with Joshua. And he’ll be in line for one of the best preschools. Shit, you wouldn’t even have to worry about researching them. I’ll do all that. This is a win-win situation and you know it!”
She smiled, “Chad, if that’s what you need to tell yourself then go ahead, be my guest, go and be a Fake Daddy with your nephew!”
Now she saw things my way. I knew that she would in the end. I clicked my bottle against her’s and took a swing of it. I must admit my plan was to get Joshua into a good preschool. How I would do that with Ivy’s name and not Olivia’s was a minor technicality. We would go on a couple of playdates and then I’d tell her the truth. Olivia was exaggerating; I doubted Ivy would hold it against me. She’d think that it was cute that I used Joshua to get close to her. Then again, this Fake Daddy thing could get out of hand.
I sip my beer thinking that there was no way that I would let it get out of hand. Officially, I didn’t work and I had no reason to let things get out of hand. I’d never gone to so much trouble to get close to a woman and that was the part that scared me the most.
Chapter Four
Ivy
I felt like a little kid on Christmas day. I was sitting in the living room while Hazel was taking a nap and I was looking at my phone wondering what time Chad was going to call. I could have gone to work after the tour, but to say that working for Smith & Jones was the most exciting job in the world would be a lie. It was a far cry from it.
When I left Chicago and came back to Granbury, it felt like the right decision at the time. I would be focused on my daughter and not working stressful hours and most of all, I wouldn’t have to deal with bad boys like Danny, Hazel’s dad. I wouldn’t be around guys that made me weak in the knees and do stupid things like having sex without protection because they preferred for us to be skin-to-skin.
I love Hazel like crazy, but when did I become twenty eight and boring? I used to go out. Have fun and now I was lucky if I could get a babysitter.
I sighed as I flicked through the different channels. Every few minutes, I would stop to see if Chad had called me. I shook my head and turned my phone around so that I wouldn’t see the non-flashing screen seeing as I turned the phone onto vibrate so that it wouldn’t disturb Hazel. Considering she was only nine months and was upstairs, sometimes I swore her ears were too sharp for her own good.
If I was sitting in front of the TV and flicking through the channels, she never woke up. But the moment my phone rang and it was one of my girlfriends or parents, then she would wake up. It was as if she didn’t want me to do something exciting, then again, maybe I was just fucking paranoid.
My phone vibrated and I didn’t hesitate in picking it up.
Chad: I was just thinking that if you’re bored, we could go to the park. Joshua’s just woken up from his nap. You game?
I sighed as I thought about Hazel sleeping, I could wake her up, even though I shouldn’t do it. I had to get her up and prepare dinner, give her a bath and then put her in bed. Mom always complained that I put her to bed too late. I sighed as I thought about his proposal and coming up with all the reasons that I shouldn’t do it.
Me: Sure, where and what time?
I’ll give Hazel one of those ready-made meals that I have stashed in my bedroom. The last time mom came over, she raided my cupboards claiming that I was poisoning her granddaughter with that ready-made shit.
Chad: Do you know Parr Park? I could meet you there in about twenty minutes.
Ivy: By the jungle gym?
Chad: Sure, in Parr Park.
He made me laugh, I was talking about where in the park. I knew that I would find him. He would be the one with the dark hair with shades and with his stroller, it would be impossible not to see him. I had to wake-up Hazel and get her ready for a trip to the park. Something that I hadn’t been doing lately. I decided that it was best to wait until she was a toddler and older so that she could enjoy it more.
Me: See you in twenty.
Chad: Great.
The park was pretty great and had everything for both the younger kids and the older one’s, too. That wasn’t the real reason that I was excited to go. The idea of seeing Chad twice in one day was the real reason that I was getting ready to go. Quickly. Before I changed my mind about seeing him again.
***
Hazel was just lying in her crib. I loved watching her when she did that, because I wondered what was going through her mind. Before, when she wasn’t able to sit up, it was because she had no choice. Now she had the option, I wondered why she would sit and watch her mobile at times, or other times she’d be too busy trying to destroy it.
