AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Anyway, it’s gotten to the point where my mom’s in far too much pain to keep putting off the surgery. I told her tojust schedule it, and I’d get things figured out for Rhys. I’m wondering if you know of any places that might be a good fit for my son.”
The sympathetic look remained in place on Avalon’s face. “I’m sorry, Banks. I wish I could say I’ve got a name to give you, but I don’t. I’m more than happy to ask around for you, though.”
This was beyond frustrating.
The thing was, I’d done some research on my own for the last two days on daycare centers, but none of them were places that stood out to me. Truth be told, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about my son being one priority of many in that setting. I knew people did it all the time, and I was certain there were plenty of parents who struggled with it. The whole idea left me feeling unsettled.
That was why I came to Avalon. Even though she didn’t yet have children of her own, with the way she became friendly with just about anyone, I thought she might have been able to offer some help.
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Don’t go out of your way or anything like that, but if you happen to talk to anyone who has any suggestions, I’d appreciate if you’d pass them along to me.”
“I can absolutely do that for you,” she promised.
I gave her a nod. “Thanks. This has been particularly frustrating, because it all makes me feel uneasy.”
“How so?”
I swallowed hard as I dropped my gaze to the countertop, where I was resting my forearms. I wished it had been easy to just talk about certain things, but it wasn’t. After all this time had passed, I thought it would get better, but some stuff was just difficult to face no matter how many dayspassed.
“Violet and I talked a lot about our plans for Rhys,” I started, returning my attention to Avalon. “She was going to stay home to be with him while I worked. That’s what we had been doing, and it was working out great for all of us. Well, I thought it was, and it was clear I was wrong about so much there. But the bottom line is that we had many discussions before Violet delivered him. In the end, we’d decided that neither one of us wanted to see him in a daycare, where he wouldn’t likely be getting the time, attention, or affection we wanted him to have. It sucks that I now have to do the one thing we didn’t want to do in order to be able to provide for him.”
Sadness washed over her. “I’m so sorry, Banks. I wish there was something I could say to fix this and make it better. I know there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make it right for you, though. Just remember that you’re doing what you’ve got to do to be the best dad you can be for Rhys. In the end, when he’s old enough to understand, he’ll realize how much you love him.”
“I know. It’s not exactly been a walk in the park trying to figure out this single dad thing, but I know I’ll get there eventually, because Rhys needs me to and because I want to be a good dad to him.”
“I hope you know we’re all willing to help you in any way that we can,” she returned.
I nodded. “I do.”
And I did.
If there was one thing that had been made abundantly clear to me from the start of this whole mess, it was that my coworkers went above and beyond the call of duty for me. I was beyond grateful for them, and I tried to look on the bright side, because there weren’t many opportunities to do that these days.
Just as I was about to walk away, Avalon spoke again. I should have known—this was who she was. “So, how is the little guy doing?”
A smile formed on my face. Thinking about him or being with him was one of the only times I found myself capable of feeling any positivity. I realized the grieving process had its ebbs and flows. There would be good days and bad, but there was one constant in all of it.
Rhys.
No matter how bad I might have been feeling, one thought of him could turn it all around for me.
“Rhys is doing really well, actually. Growing like a weed.”
“He’s so adorable, but it’s been far too long since I’ve seen him. I bet he’s changed a lot.”
Nodding, I confirmed, “He has. I swear, even going home every day after being here for a few hours, I feel like he changes and grows so much. It’s crazy.”
“Well, I know it’s not an ideal situation or a permanent solution, but I’d be happy to have him join me here if you need an extra set of hands until you work out where you want to put him for daycare.”
“I’d love nothing more than to have him here, but it’s not the best setting for him, either,” I noted. “That said, I appreciate the offer, and if it comes down to it, I might need to take you up on it for just a little while until I get things figured out. If nothing else, at least I’d have a few more days of not having to worry so much about him.”
Avalon’s face lit up. “That sounds great. And don’t think it’s a hardship for me. If you ever need someone to watch him, even if it’s so you can run an errand on a weekend or something, I’d be happy to do it. I’ll need some practice for when Damon and I decide to start having some babies.”
I lifted a brow. “Are you planning on having that happen anytime soon?”
She shook her head. “No. Well, not immediately anyway. I want to get through our wedding this spring before we take that step.”
“Probably not a bad idea.”
