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It will be different, I vowed. Maybe my baby wouldn't have an attentive father, but I was going to be the best mom possible. My child wouldn’t be sixteen years old, bitter and angry, telling a near stranger that their parents didn't care about them or that they could run away and the parents would be relieved. No, my child would know that they were the center of my world.
I know I still needed to tell Todd, but I would also let him know that the baby didn't need him financially or emotionally. I could provide everything my child needed.
25
Todd
Ifelt guilty leaving Dean with Betts like I did, but clearly not guilty enough to go back and deal with him myself. I would need to find a way to make this up to her.
I took care of some business and at lunchtime, I returned down to Betts's work area where I found her and Dean sitting at a table talking. Dean was looking at her, his expression showing interest in what she was saying. Maybe leaving him with her was a dick thing to do, but it appeared that it was going well.
I smiled affably as I approached them. "Hey, guys, how about some lunch?"
The minute Dean saw me, his expression morphed back into his usual scowl.
"I'm hungry. How about you, Dean?" Betts said.
He shrugged.
"Why don’t you show your dad what you did?"
He reached out and turned the laptop toward me. I reached down and tapped the space key to wake the screen. On it, I saw a webpage related to the hockey team's fundraising and charity work. It was sleek yet fun-filled with videos and pictures.
I turned my gaze to him. “You did this?”
He shrugged again.
“This is great. Damn near perfect.”
He looked away as if he wasn’t comfortable with my praising him.
“Let’s go to lunch and you can tell me everything that you’ve learned so far today.” I expected him to refuse, but he stood and prepared to go.
We left the office and went to a bistro just down the street from the office building.
Once we ordered, I looked across the table at Dean as he sat next to Betts. “So, how was it today?"
"It was fine."
"Did you learn anything?"
"Betts told me some things about marketing."
I looked at Betts, hoping that helplessness didn’t show on my face. Why couldn’t I get my kid to talk to me?
"Tell your dad about the idea that you came up with,” she suggested.
I turned my attention back to Dean. "An idea? I'd love to hear it."
Dean looked down, toying with his spoon. "Betts says sometimes the hockey team does things for the community. I was thinking that maybe you could have a Junior League night where high school hockey players could sub in for the regular team after they shadowed them."
That idea wasn't half bad. In fact, it was pretty good.
"High school kids could play the first half and then the adult players could play the second, and all proceeds could go to support high school sports or whatever."
Hockey had three periods, but it was still something we could work with, and it would be fantastic publicity.
"We were thinking that maybe the Buckaroos would want to join in,” Betts said.
