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“They’re going to John’s brother’s wedding. We can’t afford to not open…”
“What about Julia?” Meredith suggested and she shook her head no emphatically. “Why not?”
“I am not about to deal with that conversation right now Mere. Avery and I have only been seeing each other for a month…I haven’t forgiven him enough to tell her what this situation all stemmed from, I don’t want her to know what happened. I don’t think I could begin to handle her overcompensation from that…”
“Alright, so what do you want to do? I can open the bakery and have Noel come in to help me with things but I can’t handle Tommy and customers. There’s no way I’ll leave him in the back alone and he can’t be behind the counter because of the coffee machines. You can’t take him and get the wedding set up on time. He’ll be into everything there.”
“I know.” Colleen sighed trying to think of something that would work.
“Well let me know what you decide, if I’m opening, I need to get ready and go.” Meredith kissed her cheek as she got up from the bed.
Colleen scrolled through her contact list, trying to see if there was anyone, she would feel comfortable staying with Tommy for the day but everyone she knew was either out of town, had plans, or wasn’t that responsible to watch her precious little boy. She tried to figure out if there was any way to reschedule deliveries for their events today but nothing was close enough in location to double them.
She paced around the bedroom as the time rolled around to four, then half-past with no answers or solutions coming to mind. She had to leave by eight if she was going to make the wedding on time. A tiny thought rolled into her mind and she didn’t begin to stop and double guess herself as she dialed Avery knowing it was a huge step.
“Colleen, what’s wrong baby?” Avery asked with a glance at the time after seeing her name on his phone.
“I…need your help today,” she managed to get out after a minute.
“What sort of help?” he asked feeling slightly worried considering the time.
“Long story short, Meredith was supposed to watch Tommy for me because I have that wedding to get set up…”
“The one about an hour outside town, right?” he said feeling more alert.
“Yeah, well she was supposed to watch Tommy for me but Dana got sick last night and so now Meredith has to open the bakery. All of my regular backups are busy or out of town and there’s no way Meredith can leave the bakery in just Noel’s hands so…can you…”
“Watch Tommy for you?” he guessed when she stopped feeling hope bubble up through him.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t absolutely necessary Avery. I can’t call your mom because she’d…”
“Have a million questions about him, when do you need me there?” He was not about to say no to this opportunity.
“Now, I have to be out of the bakery by eight which gives me a couple hours to let Tommy get comfortable with you.”
“Let me get dressed and I’ll be right over.” He smiled as he pulled a pair of jeans from the dresser. “And baby, I’m glad you called me.”
Colleen didn’t know if she was as happy about it but at least it would put someone she could mildly trust with Tommy. Avery wouldn’t harm her son and it would tell her whether there was any chance of them being able to move forward together, be a family. If she came home to find Tommy completely unreasonable or Avery beyond himself then she would know there was no hope for them, but perhaps they could find a medium that would do well for them all.
It was just past five when Avery got there and she gave him a light smile as he came into the house, kissing her softly. “Hi.”
“Good morning baby, you look gorgeous,” he stated before smelling the coffee. “Mind if I have a cup to finish waking me?”
“Go ahead, I need to change and check on Tommy. I don’t normally wake him on Saturdays but I don’t want him to wake up without me here and find a stranger in the house.”
“Let him sleep baby and come sit with me, I promise things will be okay.” He took her hand, leading her into the kitchen.
Colleen got everything ready for the day while they were in the kitchen, showing Avery where Tommy’s favorite snacks were, where the emergency information was, and then fretted as she changed, waking Tommy at six. She took him downstairs and held her breath as she introduced him to Avery.
“Hey buddy, want to hang out with me while Momma goes to work today?” he asked falling for the small cherub face that was so similar to Colleen that his heart ached to be able to call him his.
Colleen’s heart stopped when Tommy reached out for Avery, snuggling into his chest with a smile at him. She waited until seven-thirty to leave the house, taking Avery’s car instead of hers in case he needed the car seat installed in hers. “If he gets too fussy and a nap won’t help, you can take him to the bakery. Mere will be there to help calm him down.”
“We’ll be fine, won’t we, buddy?” Avery said with a smile at her son and his little nod let her leave without second-guessing herself.
She reached the bakery to find the van nearly loaded and gave Meredith a smile of thanks. “You’re the best you know that?”
“Naturally, so what did you do with Tommy?” she asked helping her get the last items into it.
