Page 58 of Keeping His Babygirl

I whirl on her and level an angry glare her way. “That was before you decided to ruin a perfectly fine day. Henry is upset and tired. I’m taking him home for a nap.”

“And what about us?” she asks, looking back at my dad to try and draw his support to her side.

“You can come over after Henry has had his nap.”

I strap a still crying Henry into his car seat and drive away feeling both better and worse than I did before. I stood up to my mom for the first time ever. I didn’t let her bulldoze over me, and it felt great. I feel terrible that our altercation ruined Henry’s fun day, but I couldn’t back down. I’m his mother, and I know what’s best for him. She needs to respect that.

Not for the first time, I feel grateful that we live in Monett, and she lives several states away. I couldn’t handle this kind of thing every day. Just two more days of dealing with her. I can do it for Henry’s sake.

Damn it’s going to be a long two days.

He’s sound asleep by the time we get home. I carefully carry him to bed and gently lay him down. He whimpers when I put him down, then rolls over and falls right back to sleep.

Thank you, sweet baby Jesus. I need him to take this nap almost as much as he needs to take it.

I look around my already clean apartment for something to do to keep myself busy and come up short. It’s spotless from my obsessive cleaning jag two days ago. I plop down on the couch and open my reading app on my phone. I’ve barely read a chapter before I nod off. I wake up to Henry tapping my cheek.

“Mommy, wake up.”

I let out a wide-mouthed yawn and stretch my body. I’m stiff from falling asleep sitting upright.

“I’m awake, buddy.”

“Where’s gramma?”

“She’ll be here in a little while. Her and Pop Pop are coming for dinner.”

He smiles brightly. “Can we watch trains?”

I grab the remote and put on his show. He’s watched all the episodes multiple times but never seems to tire of them. Unlike me, who could recite them forward and backward and would rather eat rocks than watch another episode.

Instead of torturing myself by watching his cartoon, I decide to start dinner. I prep the salad, and I’m halfway through putting the lasagna together when my parents show up. My mom instantly latches onto Henry, completely ignoring me. Probably for the best. My dad follows me into the kitchen and watches as I finish putting dinner together.

I pop the pan of pasta in the oven and turn to face my dad. He obviously wants to talk about something. I just don’t know if I have the courage to ask him what that something is.

“You did good today with your mom,” he says, shocking the crap out of me. “She was out of line, and she knows it. Though we both know she won’t apologize.”

“I was harsh.”

He shakes his head. “She deserved that and more. She’s been unkind to you, and it’s not fair.”

I give him a sad smile. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life, it’s that life isn’t fair.”

“Ain’t that the truth, kiddo. Now, do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“What makes you think something is bothering me, dad?”

“Because I know you. You’re smiling and acting like everything is fine, but I can see right through that,” he says.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about—”

A brisk knock on my front door cuts off what I was going to say. My mom calls from the other room that she’s got it. I hurry towards the door, but she gets to it first. A young guy hands her a beautiful vase full of yellow roses and I immediately know who they are from.

She sets the flowers on the table and pulls out the card before I can reach for it. “Mom—”

She reads the note, and she looks up at me with shock on her face. “Who’s Axel?”

I jerk the note from her hand and read it.

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