Chapter Text
The steady beeping of my alarm roused me from my dreamless sleep.
My fingers nimbly clicked the button on the side of my phone to silence the insistent noise before rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I stretched one arm above my head and the other one to reach for the video monitor that was connected to the baby’s room.
A smile graced my face as I saw my little sprout snoozing the morning away like a champ.
Perfect.
Just stay asleep for at least thirty more minutes, sunshine. That way mommy can get ready for the day.
With that final thought, I decided to take advantage of my good fortune and quickly flicked on the light and made my bed before dashing off to the bathroom. Once the water was warm enough, I eased my tired body into the soothing shower’s spray.
I quickly made work of the knots in my shoulder while scrubbing my body clean. Once I was thoroughly washed, shaved, and refreshed—I left the shower stall and quickly towel dried myself off.
Grabbing the baby monitor, I glanced at the screen and checked on the baby after my 10-minute shower.
Thankfully, I saw my little star still snoozing away like a champ.
Yes! Today is going to be a good day.
With this positive thought in mind, I performed my dental routine while releasing my long, brown hair from my shower cap. It’s much easier to wash my hair at night so that my morning routine stays only 30 minutes long instead of turning into an hour-long adventure.
Besides the time constraint, I’m pretty sure that I’d end up breaking my leg in the slippery shower if I ever tried to rush.
Yeah…chasing a tiny toddler around in a cast is not on the top of my to-do list.
Not to mention my hair usually just goes up into a messy bun. Unless I have a webcam meeting scheduled, there really isn’t any point of getting dolled up when you’re trying to keep up with an eighteen-month-old.
And thankfully, that isn’t on today’s itinerary.
Today’s adventure includes some yummy breakfast while I quickly review the data and spreadsheets that’s needed for work on Monday morning. Then we are going to enjoy the rest of our Sunday together and attend Mommy and Me music hour, explore the new interactive exhibit at the Natural History Museum, eat some lunch nearby, and then run off whatever remaining energy we have at the park before nap time.
That way mommy can peacefully shop for the ingredients for tonight’s dinner without a fussy baby screaming her head off.
After all that, it will be the usual nighttime routine.
Dinner, bath, and bed.
Maybe even a nice storybook or two before she goes off into the land of nod.
And once she’s settled down into dreamland, I can do my nightly tasks.
Dishes, cleaning, laundry, and preparation for tomorrow morning’s work.
Then once that’s settled, I’ll do my evening exercises, take a long shower so that I can wash my hair, and snuggle up in bed with a relaxing book.
I recounted each task of my itinerary in my head as I threw on some denim, capri pants and an old, faded t-shirt that I got from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ages ago. I decided that the old shirt was a fitting theme for today’s main event; Mommy and Me music hour.
Once dressed for the day, I checked the monitor again. Still sleeping so I’m going to keep taking advantage of this time.
First, I emptied the clean dishes from the dishwasher and put everything back in its place. Then, I grabbed her bags and the lunch that I packed the night before and loaded them into her stroller that was by the front door. All the while, I double checked that I had everything that I needed.
Perfect.
Now I just have to start breakfast and—
I got two steps into the kitchen before my Tiny Terror broke the silence of the condo with her angry shrieks and wails of protest. She did not like being confined in her crib all by herself.
A smile of amusement broke out on my face as I pivoted my body towards my little banshee’s bedroom.
I cooed at my little girl as I opened her door, “Oh, no! Who left you in there all by yourself?”
She loudly snuffled before wailing, “Ma-mama!”
Her chubby hands made grabby motions towards me.
My heart melted.
“Oh—was it that mean, old, mama that left the cutest baby in the whole world trapped in her tiny prison?” I playfully tutted as I lifted her out of her crib and held her to my chest, “My poor, poor baby~”
She sniffled again while making an “Ah,” noise in agreement to my assessment.
Her little arms clung to the front of my shirt while her little legs curled around my sides as she ‘koala beared’ into my chest.
I continued to make soothing noises as I rocked her side to side.
“There, there, shhh—It’s alright. Mama is right here—You are just too sweet for those salty tears,” I whispered as I kissed the side of her head and chubby cheeks.
She snuffled again before making whimpers of content.
I smiled again at her before laying her on the changing table and getting her out of her toddler sleep bag. Those chubby legs immediately began kicking away in excitement once they were freed.
Grabbing one of her little feet, I began kissing the sole of her foot before giving it a little tickle, “Is my little Ellie excited for the fun adventures that we’re going to have today?”
She squealed with delight and tried to take her foot back from me.
That joyous smile is the only thing I’ll ever need in my life.
“Come here my little star—Let’s get your booty changed~” I sing-songed while quickly disposing of her old diaper and changing her into a fresh diaper, “There you go! Does that feel better?”
She let out another squeal of delight as I gently put her on her carpeted play area in her room so that I could clean up the changing area. Once she got to her feet, she immediately ran to her bookcase and started throwing her books off the shelves in laughter.
So, the chaos begins.
I laughed at her destruction, “Are you already making a mess this morning, Ellie?”
She giggled as she flapped her chubby arms at me with a book in each hand. The books’ pages rapidly fluttered against each other like two distressed birds.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” I confirmed while walking towards the garbage can in the kitchen. Easily hopping over the baby gate, I opened the cupboard door and deposited the waste into the small bin beneath the sink.
Ellie shook the baby gate’s bars in protest of being kept away from her mama.
“Ma! Ma! MA!” She cried with each shake.
“Yes, my love, let mama wash her hands and I’ll get you some nummy yummies in a second,” I calmly told her from the sink.
“Maaaaammmmm!” She groaned back before flopping to the floor in protest.
I snickered at her chaotic energy before bending down to pick her up while moving her tiny table from the corner of the living room to the front of the tv. Once that was situated, I closed up the living room/ play area by pulling the accordion gate from one end of the wall to the other.
Meanwhile Ellie slammed her tiny hands on the tiny table in protest to it being empty of its usual yummy smorgasbord of snacks.
“Well, hold on one second little miss impatient,” I half-heartedly chastised while dumping some of her sweet potato puffs in response, “Somebody woke up before mama could cook her a nice breakfast before we go on our adventure.”
“Ah,” She replied while fisting handfuls of puffs and shoving the balled hand towards her mouth.
I kissed the top of her head, gave her the sippy cup filled with water, and switched on some educational cartoons before turning back towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
She hummed in contentment as she watched the opening credits of Blue’s Clues.
Ellie sure does loves dogs.
“Da-Dog! Dada-Dog! Dog!” She chirped happily as Blue appeared on the tv screen.
“That’s right, honey! That is a dog—Is it a nice dog?” I acknowledged as I poured the eggs into the frying pan along with the sauteed vegetables.
“Dog, dog, dog, dog,” She repeated while clapping her hands together.
“Yay! Clapping!” I answered back while also clapping my hands with her, “We are clapping!”
“App, app!” She parroted back before the sound from the tv distracted her.
Something must have amazed her because she next started whispering in her ‘awe voice’, “Wow…wow…”
I whispered back as I flipped the eggs into an omelet shape, “Are we whispering now?”
“Wow…” She softly breathed back.
“Oh, I see, we are whispering now. Are you going to tell mama a secret?” I questioned in the same volume level as her.
She let out a giggle before taking a deep breath in and—
“WOW!”
“Oh, my goodness! Are we shouting now?”
“WOW! WOW! WOW!” She hollered as loudly as she could.
“WE ARE! WE ARE SHOUTING!” I yelled back with a laugh at her silly mood this morning.
She giggled in response to my laughter before shoving the last of her puffs in her mouth. Once she saw her table was empty again, she slammed her hands down in anger.
“Can you ask for more, Ellie? Can you say more? Ma-ore? More?” I asked while walking over to the adjoined living room with the plates of our breakfast.
“Ma-ma-ma-ma!” She responded in short bursts while shaking the baby gate’s doors.
“Mmmm…not quite. Try it again. Ma-ore. MA-orrreee. More,” I instructed while trying to get her to focus on my mouth’s movements.
“Ehhh!” She cried out in frustration.
“Okay, okay, we’ll try that again later,” I appeased while moving her to her highchair before sticking her suction plate to the tray and putting bits of food on it, “Now we have some yummy eggs drenched in ketchup, a few bits of toast, some sliced and diced banana, a cut up granola bar, and a sippy cup filled with milk. What are you going to eat first?”
Ellie looked at her plate then back at me before scooping up a big chunk of eggs and ketchup.
She then proceeded to hurl her handful of food to the floor; all while maintaining eye contact with me.
Like a boss.
“Ah, a very good choice in proceeding with your reign of chaos in my once peaceful kingdom, but the jokes on you—tonight is the night I mop floors, so nyah~” I informed her before immaturely sticking my tongue out at her.
She giggled at my silly face which I took advantage of and popped some eggs in her mouth. Ellie made an indignant face at first and pushed the offending food out of her mouth with her tongue, but soon smacked her lips in realization.
“Oh…? Did someone realize that mummy actually knows how to cook a nummy yummy breakfast?” I teased as she scooped the eggs back up and shoved it into her mouth.
I nodded in approval before digging into my own breakfast.
This back and forth went on for a bit of time as we ate our meals.
Some of it ended on the floor, but the majority of it did go into her belly.
So, that’s a win in my eyes.
I applauded her on how well she ate while cleaning up the food from the floor and stacking the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
Once the dining area and kitchen was cleaned up, I pulled her out of the highchair and started walking to the bathroom to clean her up.
After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and getting some of the bits of ketchup out of her brunette hair, I carried her back to the changing table in her bedroom. From there we tossed the ketchup-stained pajamas into her dirty clothes hamper, thank goodness for Shout, and picked out today’s outfit.
A cute, teal blue shirt with a darling pun on the front with matching pink shorts and light brown sandals.
The pun was music themed; it had a tiny strawberry jam jar listening to music with the words ‘This is my jam’ on it.
“I know, I’m a terrible human being for buying such an abomination, but that isn’t even half of my nefarious plan for the day,” I informed Ellie while monologuing like a villain, “I bought that outfit with the one purpose to take thousands of photos and videos of you ‘jamming out’ during music hour today. And the best part of my plan is—nobody can stop me! Mwahaha!”
I started tickling and viciously kissing Ellie at this point. Her squeals and giggles fueled my maternal nature to wring out more laughter from my child until I had her in a koala hug once more.
“I love you sooooo much,” I whispered to her as I hugged her to my chest, “I just want to make sure you know that each and every second of each and every day.”
“Mama, ma-ma-ma, ma, ma…”
“Oh, yeah? Is that right? You think mama, should hurry up and do your hair so that you can be finished getting ready for the day?”
“Eh-yah—Ah, ah, ah, AH!” Ellie proclaimed.
“Alright, alright, let’s get your brush and tiny hair bands and…” I trailed off while concentrating on putting two little pigtails on the top of her head. Once those were in place, I grabbed two, matching, pink barrette bows and clipped them into place where her pigtails were at.
Ellie happily munched on the plastic toy car that I kept nearby to keep her distracted when she’s particularly fussy during diaper changes or hair care routines.
“There! All done!” I happily exclaimed while swinging her around in my arms before stopping at the tiny, sun-shaped mirror that hung in her room, “What do you think?”
Ellie’s grin got even bigger as she saw her reflection in the mirror.
She threw the small toy car away and eagerly reached for the little baby girl in the mirror with a squeal of delight.
“Do you see a baby in the mirror?” I asked with a laugh.
“Ba-by!” She shrieked in excitement.
“Is she a pretty baby?”
“Pra-tty! Bay-bay-ba-by!” She parroted, not quite understanding the words, but having too much fun with the mirror to care.
My cellphone’s alarm interrupted our fun.
“Oop! Time to go Ellie!” I informed her while grabbing my phone and racing back towards the front door where I left her stroller after packing our bags.
After quickly strapping Ellie into her stroller, I was rushing out the door so fast that I nearly ran over my elderly, next-door neighbor, Patty.
“Oh! Sorry Patty!” I called out while turning the stroller to the opposite side at the last minute.
“Oof! Where are you two running off in such a hurry, Jane dear?” Patty called out with a chuckle as she dramatically clung to the side of the hallway.
I laughed at her theatrics before responding, “We’re off to Mommy and Me music hour and a few more adventures afterwards.”
“Well, I hope one of those adventures involves visiting me and the birds at the park today,” Patty replied while motioning to her large canvas tote bag that I knew held a huge bag of bird seed.
“What do you say Miss Ellie?” I asked while looking over the stroller at the top of my daughter’s head, “Should we go feed the birds today?”
“Ber! Bers!” She squealed out while reaching for Patty.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” Patty happily proclaimed as we reached the elevator doors, “What other adventures do you two have planned for this beautiful, sunshine filled day?”
I happily listed off our itinerary for the last day of the weekend. Patty happily listened while playing peek-a-boo with Ellie.
“It sounds like you and your mommy are gonna have so much fun today!” She informed Ellie before turning on me with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “You know my offer to babysit still stands.”
“Patty…” I warned.
“You’re young and need to enjoy a night on the town every once in a while,” She explained.
“Thank you, but no thank you, Patty,” I politely declined, “I don’t want to miss a moment of Ellie’s baby years.”
“She isn’t going to grow up in one night,” Patty argued, “Heaven forbid you might go out and meet a nice young man—”
“No. No dating.”
“I know your ex-husband left a bad taste in your mouth—”
“This has nothing to do with him, Pat. Ellie is still so young and impressionable, and I don’t want to risk her getting attached to somebody and it not working out…” I quickly explained, trying to steer the conversation away from that old scar.
“Like Hell it doesn’t—”
“Patty, please,” I pathetically begged, hoping my dear friend would show mercy and drop the subject.
“Oh, alright, but I mean it when I say that I’m here if you two need anything at all,” she relented yet still, somehow, gazing at me with a determined look, “You know I love you girls like family and just want the best for you.”
“I know you do, Pat…I’m just not ready or comfortable enough to think about dating at this point…ya know?” I sheepishly admitted.
“…I do know, Jane dear…that’s why I worry so much about you,” Patty admitted with a faraway look on her face.
“Well, don’t worry too much—It’s way too beautiful of a day outside for us to sit around worrying about the past or the future,” I reminded her with a small smile.
“You’re darn right it is! Oh! That reminds me—You know how I hold a bridge game every Thursday with the girls from my cooking class?”
“Is that your group of friends that ended up getting the cops called on them on St. Patrick’s Day?” I asked trying to place the faces of the cooking class friends.
“Yes and no,” Patty replied, “We got the fire department called on us on St. Patrick’s Day when we tried a different recipe for cabbage stew and well…forgot about the stew during our celebration.”
“Oh…I thought it was the cops because someone named Carol?...”
“Oh, no, that’s Cheryl, dear…Yeah that was the Fourth of July celebration where she mixed too many hard liquors together and climbed the flagpole.”
“I’m sorry…what?”
“Long story and not pertinent information to this story that I’m telling you about, Jane dear,” Patty informed me with a grin as we exited the condominium’s elevators.
“Patty, I love you and your amazing stories,” I informed her with a bark of laughter, “Is there any way you can tell me both stories when we meet up at the park later?”
She laughed before nodding in agreement, “I have lived a full life, haven’t I? I’ll see you later on today then?”
“You can count on it! Same place by the Alice in Wonderland statue?” I confirmed pausing my trek towards the nearest subway station.
“Same place,” She agreed before giving us a wave, “Bye, Jane dear. Bye-bye Miss Ellie!”
Ellie and I both waved goodbye to Patty before continuing on our way.
Alright, time for adventure.
“See you later, ladies!” Bethany Cramer called out, “Don’t forget about Girl’s Night next Saturday—Jane, I expect to see you there! No getting out of this one!”
“Oh, uhm, sorry Bethany, I—”
“Ah, ah! No getting out of it!” She bulldozed over my stuttering, “It’s high time we get you a man so that I can give my Maid of Honor speech at your wedding!”
Her forced, high-pitched chortle made my gums itch, but I managed a fake laugh at her ‘playful’ banter. Just long enough for her to lock her beady eyes on Tera Harrison trying to get her twin boys strapped into her tandem stroller.
"Excuse me, Jane,” Bethany dismissed me as her mouth hardened into a frown. I watched her rake her eyes over Tera’s disheveled appearance with obvious disgust, “I need to go motivate Tera to rejoin that spin class with me again—Honestly, I don’t know where she gets this idea that David is going to stay with her when she hasn’t lost a single pound since she’s had the twins. I mean…look at you—You managed to keep the weight off and your husband still left you—Anyway, gotta run! Don’t forget this upcoming weekend! Tera, darling, got a moment?”
My mouth opened to defend myself and Tera, but Bethany had already sprinted off like a gazelle being chased by a cheetah. She does have the pointy bone structure of a gazelle, but I don’t know if the horns are of the gazelle or of the devil…
“Ignore her,” Jena called out from beside me, shoving her short, black hair behind her ears as she shifted her youngest son, Xavier, to her other hip, “All that blonde hair dye has exacerbated the bitch portion of her brain.”
I let out a snort at that.
“Doesn’t really bug me when she talks poorly about me, but I feel bad for Tera—”
“Don’t—Tera is a bitch too—”
“Jena!” I admonished with a laugh.
“What?!” She exclaimed with a laugh, “You know it’s true! She’s always talking shit about all the moms in the group to make herself feel better.”
“Does she? That’s not very nice of her,” I calmly replied as I hit the button for the elevator.
“You’ve never heard it because she only opens her loudmouth when they bar hop on Saturday nights,” Jena revealed as she stepped into the elevator with me.
“Is that why you stopped going to ‘Mommy’s Night’ with them?” I asked with an amused grin.
“That and because I was getting sick of Bethany bragging about Carson’s shit not stinking,” she grumbled before shooting a preoccupied Ellie a concerned glance, “…Sorry, am I cursing too much?”
“Eh…a little, but I don’t think Ellie will repeat what you’re saying,” I told her with a strained smile.
“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Jena reassured, “Some kinds talk a mile a minute and others only talk when prompted. Ellie isn’t behind on her milestones and says enough words for her pediatrician to not be worried—So, you shouldn’t worry either.”
“I know you’re right—I know—But Bethany said that Carson—”
“Bethany swears that her crotch goblin is a genius, but I saw the little shit eat Play-Doh the other week—Can’t be much of Mensa material if you eat fucking Play-Doh!”
I let out a snort, “Jena…Carson is just a kid—”
“Who bit my fucking baby!” She shouted in outrage, “You’re on my list when you mess with one of my cubs! Bethany should thank whatever air-headed, spray-tanned deity she prays to that I didn’t wipe the floor with her when she said ‘Oh, boys will be boys!’”
“Jena!” I squealed as I swatted the air in her direction while belly laughing at her antics, “You’re so bad!”
“Nah, you’re just too good, Jane,” she said with a smile, “Wanna get some coffee and shit talk some more?”
“The coffee sounds delicious but let’s talk about some fun stuff—Did Caiden get into that art program?” I asked.
“See this is what I’m talking about—You’re too good. Yes, he did get into the program, but I’d rather you stop deflecting and vent for a bit. I heard what Bitchy Bethany said about your husband leaving you,” she commented with a pointed look.
I let out a sigh as we turned the corner to head to our usual coffee shop.
“Look…I’m not ‘nice’ or ‘good’, I just…don’t have the energy to discuss my failed marriage anymore—All that drama in the past took the fight out of me, ya know?”
“I…can understand that,” Jena admitted, “Coparenting with Omar is so fucking draining. Dealing with the aftermath of him missing his visitation and his harassing texts…”
I stayed silent as I remembered my own divorce and the threatening messages.
“Didn’t you say the court ordered you to switch to an app where they monitor the messages, and doesn’t he also have to do pick-up and drop-off at the mediation center now?” I finally asked with concern in my voice.
“Yeah, now they did—Mostly because they got tired of him bitching and wasting their time with false accusations of me not letting him see his kids,” she said as we waited in line, “Now that it’s on record how I show up on time with the kids every other Friday night but he’s, as usual, nowhere to be found, he can’t file false claims of parental alienation to the courts.”
“I thought you said he was doing better after he got his new girlfriend?”
“Nah, that was his Christmas girlfriend that he was trying to impress,” Jena waved off, “Now he’s—Oh, hi! Could we get two large, iced, mocha lattes with…how many shots of espresso did you want?”
“Enough espresso to see sound please,” I answered with a toothy smile as I glanced at the nametag of the young cashier.
Poor ‘Tim’ looked like he also needed enough espresso to see sound.
I remember those college days while working part-time at the front desk of the Administration department. Trying to stay awake after pulling an all-night study session while fighting the boredom of an emotionally draining job.
“Six—No, seven shots of espresso, please and—”
“Oh! And a blueberry muffin!” I chimed in as I saw one of the associates bring out a plate of fresh muffins.
“Yes! That sounds awesome—Did you want to split it?”
“Nope, we’re gonna get two blueberry muffins because calories don’t count when you’re with friends,” I declared.
“This is why I love you,” Jena replied with a nod off approval before turning her attention back to Tim, “And two blue berry muffins, please and thank you!”
“All right, your total comes out to be $16.96, will that be cash or card?” Tim asked, trying his best to mask the exhaustion in his voice.
“Car—”
“Cash,” I said while quickly giving him a twenty-dollar bill.
“Boo—you whore!” Jena hissed at me, “It’s my turn to treat!”
“Yes, but we are celebrating Caiden’s artistic debut!” I reminded as I dropped the change that Tim handed back to me into his tip jar.
“Ugh…I’m getting the next two coffee dates—You hear me?” She growled as she thanked Tim who handed us our order number for our table.
“Yes dear,” I ‘meekly’ agreed with a giggle.
“Mama!” Ellie squealed out as she pointed at the art deco hanging int the window, “Wass at—Wass at!”
“That’s a pretty glass mobile, Ellie,” I cooed down at her as we sat down to wait for our waitress to bring us our food and drinks.
“Oooohh!” Xavier gasped as he clapped his chubby, little hands on the table after Jena placed him in a highchair.
“Ah-Ah!!” Ellie cried out indignantly.
“I think Miss Ellie wants to sit next to her future husband,” Jena teased.
“Jena,” I admonished as I also grabbed a highchair for Ellie.
She happily giggled and clapped as the two babies hugged each other.
“Awww…come on, Jane—It’s true love!” Jena sing-songed as I laughed at her.
“Or the start of a beautiful friendship,” I corrected.
“That too…I’d be happy with either one,” she told me as she pushed Ellie’s bangs out of her face, “God, you make sweet babies Jane.”
“You do too!” I reminded, “Caiden, Nadia, and Xavier are absolute sweethearts!”
“Yeah…they are…Still don’t know how that happened,” she said with a self-derisive snort, “Especially since their mom is such a cynical bitch.”
“No, she is not and if you disrespect their amazing and strong mother again then I will have no choice except to fight you to defend my friend’s honor,” I playfully threatened as I raised my fists at her.
She shook her head at my dramatics before going quiet.
“…What’s on your mind, Jena?” I prompted, “You’re not normally this quiet.”
“…I think Omar is going to sign his rights away,” she whispered in horror.
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline.
“What?!” I nearly screeched in the cramped coffee shop, “After all that he put you and the kids through? With the bogus court hearings and calls to CPS and the threats when you started dating Marcus—He’s jut gonna…roll over—Just like that?”
“His new girlfriend is child-free by choice and wants nothing to do with Caiden and Nadia,” Jena revealed.
“Okay…well then she can go out of town or whatever for the three days he has them every other week!” I decided with a nod of my head.
“He hasn’t picked them up in over two months, Jane,” Jena told me, “His mother is blaming me for divorcing him and letting this ‘devil woman’ take him away from his children and our community—”
“What does his shit choices got to do with the price of eggs?” I demanded, a slight country twang coming out in my anger.
“…I keep forgetting that you’re originally from the Midwest and then you say shit like that to remind me of your corn-fed origins,” she mumbled with an amused look on her face.
“Oh, hush,” I waved off, “But seriously, is she causing trouble for you again?”
“Nah…Well, she’s trying to get me in trouble with the Church, but my parents are actually supporting me this time around,” Jena explained.
“Really? That’s great, Jena!” I squealed in excitement, “They’re finally warming up to Marcus?”
“We’ve been together for five years and married for two…it was only a matter of time before they see what I’ve known all along,” she said with a fond smile.
“What’s that?”
“That Marcus is the son-in-law that they’ve wanted all along,” she informed with a wink.
“I know that divorce is a big taboo in your culture, but…you would think that after the way Omar treated you and the kids that they’d rally around you, ya know?”
“I know that,” Jena grumbled, “They didn’t know that. They were just so focused on how I brought them shame because my marriage didn’t end due to infidelity but because I wasn’t happy.”
My hands subconsciously clenched at the word ‘infidelity’.
Jena shot me an apologetic look.
The waitress came during this lull of silence with our order.
“…Well…better late than never, right?” I tried to lightheartedly joke as I sipped my coffee and gave Ellie a piece of my muffin.
“Yeah…they’re mostly coming around because they see what a difference it is to have an active partner part of the household rather than a man-baby who is just emotionally and mentally checked out of every relationship and physical interaction,” she elaborated, “Well, that and because they’re absolutely disgusted on how Omar has turned his back on the kids and his responsibilities these last few years.”
“He still hasn’t paid his back child support?” I disappointedly asked.
“No, and they can’t garnish his wages because he’s been declaring unemployment while getting paid under the table—It’s just…all so frustrating how he just keeps finding all these ways to con the system and his kids are the ones who suffer for it,” she angrily announced, “I don’t even care about the money—I make more than enough to support us just nicely, but dammit—The asshole can’t show up on time to pick up his kids? Is a passing fling really more important than a relationship with your own children? It’d be one thing if they were babies and never knew him. But they’re almost teenagers and have memories of him being…well, he was somewhat there when we were together—Honestly, he only ever played with them when it struck his fancy, but still. They see how Marcus is with Xavier and they want that with their own father. And that breaks Marcus’ heart because he doesn’t want to overstep but wants them to feel important too and—Ugh, God, Jane…Sometimes I wish Omar did what your ex did and signed away his rights before they were—Fuck, I didn’t mean that—I—Jane, I—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I quickly reassured, but knew I had a strained smile on my face, “You’re going through a lot right know and are worried about your children—”
“But that doesn’t give me the right to say shit like that,” she denied, angry with herself, “Fuck, that’s shit that Bitchy Bethany would say—”
“Seriously, Jena, it’s fine,” I told her again, “You’ve been put through coparenting Hell these past few years and honestly my divorce was a breeze compared to what you went through.”
“Bullshit.”
“…It’s fine…”
“Bullshit.”
“Jena…”
“No, Jane,” she stubbornly argued, “You can’t say my divorce was worse than yours when I know that bastard threatened to—”
“It’s in the past,” I cut off, my arm curling around Ellie protectively, “I’m safe. Ellie’s safe. We’re all fine. Really.”
“…Wanna talk about it?” She prompted with a knowing look.
“…I feel guilty,” I finally muttered.
“Uh-oh…What did Bethany say?”
I snorted at that, “How did you know it was Bethany?”
“Because women like that have a gift for making you feel this big,” Jena replied as she held her pointer finger and thumb two inches away from each other.
“…She asked if I looked into the damage an absentee father does on a young child’s mind and development before deciding to divorce James rather than ‘suck it up’ and work through my issues,” I admitted.
“…Jesus Christ,” Jena growled, “And then she picked herself up off the floor after you busted her in her oversized, botched botox mouth, right?”
“Jena…”
“No, you’re right, narcs like Bethany would call the police…I’ll deck the bitch in her mouth the next time I see her,” she declared with a malicious grin, “I’ve got enough bail money stashed away for a rainy day—Marcus knows where it’s at and I’ve got his number memorized for my one phone call.”
I snorted at her vindictive plot.
“I couldn’t ask you to—”
“Good thing you’re not asking then,” she interrupted, “God, she’s just such a cun—”
“Ah! Little ears!”
“I’ve been cursing all morning but now you want to curb my language?”
“Only with that word,” I amended, “It’s a pretty harsh word.”
“Bethany has a pretty harsh face!”
“Eh…not the best one liner you’ve delivered,” I told her with a small chuckle as I finished my latte.
“I’m just…You don’t actually believe—Oh, my God, you do.”
“It’s just—I have looked into how important it is to have a two-parent household when raising a child and…I worry that I’m doing Ellie a disservice for not—”
“Did you have a daddy growing up?”
“Kind of—”
“Okay, you got a step-dad for—”
“A really nice step-dad,” I reminded.
“Yes, he was a really nice man before the accident, may God rest his soul,” she murmured the last part to herself as a sign of respect for the dead before hurriedly asking, “But during your formative years as a child—Did you have a daddy?"
“…No…but—”
“No, ‘but’ nothing. You didn’t have a daddy and you turned out fine,” Jena commented, “You’re successful, intelligent, kind…You’re everything that a mother could dream her child turns out to be—Why are you doubting yourself now?”
“What if the lack of father figure is what led me to marry James in the first place?” I asked.
“I had a daddy in my life, but I still picked a schmuck like Omar for my first marriage,” Jena pointed out, “Hell, my dad would have been on my side in the beginning of my divorce had my mother not whispered seeds of doubt in his ear. But, I digress, I have a wonderful relationship with my father and yet, mistakes were made and lessons learned…Shit just happens like that sometimes. And Hell, if our first marriages didn’t happen then we never would have gotten our awesome children in the first place!”
I let out a hum, “My mama always told me that for pretty flowers to grow—life had to, uhm,” I covered Ellie’s ears before whispering the next word, “shit on you.”
“God bless those Midwest idioms because damn…that needs to go on a bumper sticker,” Jena teased.
“Hush…” I lightly swatted her arm with a good-natured chuckle.
“Feel better?”
“A bit…yeah…”
“Good, so, did you watch the latest episode of The Mandalorian?”
“Oh, my goodness, yes! Isn’t Grogu just the cutest?!” I squealed out with a clap of my hands.
All the drama in our lives faded away as we talked about everything and anything to pass the time.
It’s nice to know that the company of good friends can keep the calories and the stresses of life at bay.
The line to the museum’s planetarium had a good-sized audience waiting for the next Space Show.
Ellie was happily babbling to herself in her stroller while she showed Raffie, her stuffed giraffe, the Sun plushie that we just bought in the gift shop. It was part of a collection of plushies that showcased our solar system. I’ve been buying her one plushie a month and the Sun was the last one for her collection.
“Do you like your Mr. Sun lovey, Ellie?” I cooed down at her. She squealed in delight as she brought the stuffed Sun to her chest for a big hug.
It was the least I could do after that new interactive Dino exhibit was a complete bust. Ellie did not like the texture of sand in between her fingers as she and the other kids ‘dug’ for fossils.
Hmmm…maybe next year she’ll be more into getting her hands dirty.
“Oh, dude—No way!” One of the teenaged boys in line exclaimed as they bumped their friend’s shoulder, “There is no way that video was real!”
“I’m telling you man—They totally exist!”
“Alien lizards fighting bad guys don’t exist!” His buddy sneered while shoving his friend in the shoulder.
“What do you know? You speak English but are failing it at school!” The buddy with the video snarled at the boy with the beanie.
“Go frick yourself, man!” Flunking beanie friend tried to roar in his defense but his voice cracked at the worst time.
His friends ruthlessly teased him and asked if ‘they’ finally dropped.
“You guys suck,” he mumbled before pulling out his phone to ignore their taunting.
“Nah, that’s Trev’s mom that ‘sucks’,” A scrawny kid with braces obnoxiously laughed as, I’m assuming Trevor, nailed him in his arm, “Ow, dude! It was a freaking joke!”
“Dudes, shut up!” The boy with the video hissed at the group, “My mom said that she’d ground me if she caught us acting like hooligans.”
“You’re the one who brought up lame, crime-fighting aliens,” Beanie Boy grumbled, but refused to look up from his phone.
“Who says the word ‘hooligans’ these days?” Brace-Face asked, “Dude, is your mom from the 60s?”
“Yeah, she probably time traveled from Roswell to tell him stories about hero alien alligators,” ‘Trevor’ jeered at video kid.
“Alien reptiles!” Video kid pretentiously corrected with a sneer.
Brace-Face and ‘Trevor’ then proceeded to make alien noises and prod at Beanie Boy.
“Cut it out!” Beanie Boy hissed, “Why are you picking on me when it was his dumb video and his dumb mom?!”
“It’s not dumb! ...And don’t call my mom dumb!” Video kid argued before angrily facing the larger kid of the group, “Trev, you said that your dad said that there was a secret alien task force that hunted down like alien technology and stuff… and like whatever was left over from the invasion!”
“Dude, that invasion was a total hoax!” Brace-Face crowed, “The President had to come on TV and everything to tell all the dumb people that it was a movie set!”
“Yeah, ‘cos the government would never lie to us,” Beanie Boy sarcastically replied with a roll of his eyes.
“Bro, that wasn’t even what I said,” Trevor corrected Video kid while ignoring the others in the group, “I told you that my dad said that there was a secret, special Task Force that like dealt like with serious crimes and shit—”
“Dude! You just said the ‘s-h’ word!” Brace-Face gasped in shock.
“Dude, grow up—We’re thirteen we can say ‘shit’,” Trevor snapped.
I looked down at Ellie’s seated form, still blissfully unaware of the conversation happening in front of us.
You better not be cursing at thirteen.
“Grant, I don’t even know why you’re being so, like, negative about all of this,” Video kid declared with a glare at Grant, aka Beanie Boy, “You believe War Baron and Silver Sentry exist, but you don’t believe in aliens?!”
“First off, I don’t believe that there are crime-fighting alien lizard reptile things because that makes no sense,” Grant began, “Not to mention Silver Sentry has been shown on TV like all the time—”
“All of that could have been made up!”
“Yeah, power of TV magic, baby!” Brace-Face interjected into the conversation.
“At the UN?” Grant argued, “Really, you really believe that a bunch of the world’s leading ambassadors is gonna let a guy dress up like a superhero and talk at their podium if he wasn’t really a superhero?”
“It could be like one huge conspiracy to like keep the masses in line and shit,” Trevor pointed out.
“Dude if Silver Sentry was an actual superhero then where was he when we were being invaded by that knock-off Death Star?!” Video kid practically spat.
“For the last time, Derek,” Grant snapped, “That was all fake! We didn’t actually get invaded by aliens! It was a movie set that went wrong and caused a bunch of damage! The President said so!”
“And he never lies—”
“Shut-up Sean!” The group of boys yelled at the kid with braces.
Their bickering soon turned into incomprehensible squabbling as I tuned out the rest of their conversation.
I remember the videos of the ‘alien invasion’ that they’re talking about. Those videos are from when I was in high school and showed a movie set’s special effects getting out of hand and causing mass panic in the city. The film industry that created the mass hysteria had already issued a massive apology for the damage they caused and also issued a giant check as compensation for their screwup. But there were still groups of conspiracy theorists lingering that firmly insist that the videos were real, and an alien invasion was stopped by some kind of superhero.
My own mother had scoffed at the idea of aliens and superheroes while my stepdad had just shrugged and said ‘anything is possible these days’. Mom had teased Brian and said that he better not start spouting nonsense about Bigfoot or secret ‘Monster Mutant Communes’ next. Brian had joked back that the day he starts believing the National Enquirer’s headlines of mutant lizards living in the subway tunnels is the day that he’ll commit himself to the psych ward.
Being a stereotypical teenager at the time, I was too preoccupied with my own life and high school to really form an opinion on the matter. As time wore on…I still don’t have a hard opinion about it all. I’ve mostly adopted my stepdad’s mindset about everything and have become agnostic to a lot of things.
I’ve never personally seen a mutant reptile or alien or secret government experiment or whatever the tabloids spewed out these days so I can’t say for certainty that they do or don’t exist.
Regardless of it all, I just want to focus on the here and now.
My eyes landed on Ellie’s beautiful blue eyes staring back at me.
The smile on my face subconsciously grew at the sight.
“Hey, honey,” I whispered as I knelt down to get a better look at her newest plushy, “Are you gonna be a Beatles baby?”
She giggled at me and held up Mr. Sun to me.
“Why thank you,” I told her before softly singing, “Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-dooooo…”
I had Mr. Sun give her kisses and tickle the underside of her jaw. She squealed in delight before grasping the plushy out of my hand to give it a big squeeze.
“Oh…So, nice,” I cooed at her as my fingers gently tucked her bangs behind her ears, “Are you excited to see the pretty stars?”
“’Tars! ‘Tars!” She parroted back.
“That’s right, sunshine,” I agreed with a laugh, “Stars.”
“Nose?” She asked as she pointed to her nose.
“Yep, that’s your nose,” I agreed, “Where’s your…toes?”
She lifted up her sandaled foot in response.
“Very good, honey,” I cheered, “Can you say toes? Come on, sweetie…Say toes. Ta-ohs.”
“Diss!” Ellie declared as she handed Mr. Sun back to me.
“That’s Mr. Sun, Ellie,” I patiently answered, “Can you say toes?”
Ellie ignored my request and took Mr. Sun back from my arms.
…I guess not…
I thought defeatedly as I propped my head in my hand.
Oh, well…we’ll just enjoy this time now and work on ‘toes’ another day.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” An authoritative voice boomed out at the front of the line, “We will soon be opening the doors to the Space Show in about five minutes—We ask that you help us speed things along by patiently waiting in line until the last person from the previous show has exited the auditorium. If you need assistance…”
I let the sound of the usher’s voice wash over me as I began securing my belongings in the stroller before unlocking its wheels.
Since Ellie was calm and distracted by her toys, and we still had five minutes before being seated, I decided to pull out my phone to check my email and text messages.
There were a couple of work emails that could be addressed tomorrow during normal business hours, but I can at least be productive and start the outline of my response while I wait in line.
Clicking on the new email tab, I began forming my first paragraph to address their offer for overtime this week. I was going to accept the offer, but I had to make sure that a few boundaries were respectfully put into place so that they didn’t try to overload me with tasks that one of their other teams were unable to finish on time.
Extra money was always a good thing as long as my mental health and bonding time wasn’t sacrificed to earn it.
“Ma-ma! Ma!” Ellie chirped at me to gain my attention.
Speaking of bonding time…
“Yes, my little love?” I whispered down at her as I powered down my phone to slip it into her diaper bag, “Did you want Mr. Sun to sing a Beatles’ song to you again?”
“Diss, diss!” She chanted at me as she held the plushy up to me once more.
“Alright,” I answered as I took her toy from her, “Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-dooooo!”
Her squeals of delight as the sun plushy tickled her chin made my heart soar.
It always fascinated me how such a small, bundle of joy could light up my life more than our own actual Sun…
A long yawn escaped my mouth before I had time to stop it.
Oh, boy, what a day!
Ellie absolutely adored music hour with our Mommy and Me group. Not to mention our fun, impromptu coffee date with Jena and Xavier.
She wasn’t too impressed with the latest exhibit at the museum, but we were able to salvage that trip with the Space Show. Bright lights are always a hit with babies.
And we had a wonderful afternoon feeding the birds with Patty in the park.
Yep, today’s adventure was an absolute success in my book. Now, I just have to go through my nightly checklist before settling down in my nice cozy bed.
Ellie is still fast asleep and dreaming peacefully about bright, beautiful stars?
Check.
All rooms are tidied up and toys have been put away?
Check.
Floors have been swept and mopped?
Check.
Dishes are in the dishwasher and in the process of being cleaned?
Check.
Today’s laundry has been washed, dried, folded, and put away?
Check.
Tomorrow’s meals are prepped and ready to go?
Check.
The suit that I’m wearing for tomorrow’s webcam meeting has been ironed and laid out on my bedroom chair?
Check.
I’ve done my daily exercises and showered for the night?
Check.
Alright, nothing left to do except set my alarm for tomorrow morning and relax with a nice book before nodding off to sleep.
Today was an absolute perfect day.
POV Change
Today was an absolute horrible day.
On top of dealing with customer calls to the IT department that I work part time for, my back was starting to feel that familiar ache from wearing my prosthetic for too long. I was trying to avoid it for another day or so since I was so jam packed with my schedule, but I’ll have to recalibrate the titanium carapace sooner rather than later. Not to mention realign my back muscles through inversion to try repair the damage from the extra weight.
If all that wasn’t bad enough, I also had to help Mikey try to reign in Raph’s rage when he went nutso on some local thugs.
You would think that after we severely immobilized the Foot Clan’s operation seven years ago, all of us would have had figured out how to live life outside of fighting the crime syndicate.
Sure, we all had our own steady source of income, but Mikey and I seemed to be the only ones with a life outside of work and patrols.
Mikey was busy with his art but still made time for his hobbies like skateboarding and videogames—Sometimes I’d join in on that last pastime with him.
I also had my own ‘career’ but enjoyed designing and inventing new technology more than anything.
But Raph and Leo were on the whole other side of the extreme/calm spectrum.
It seems all Raph did in his spare time was pick fights so he could storm out to hang with Casey. That is, when said hockey mask vigilante wasn’t previously engaged with our favorite red-haired news reporter, April.
I’m not even sure which is worse.
When Casey and Raph team up together to administer vigilante justice. Or when Casey isn’t there to help keep Raph in line and stop him from overdoing the justice part.
He keeps ranting about how we need to finish off the Foot while we still have a chance.
We’ve tried to calm him down and explain to him that crime will continue to exist even if we eradicate all the members of the former Foot Syndicate. I mean…the Foot syndicate went through two evil leaders already.
Hun was currently running the show.
He was in charge of both the Foot and Purple Dragons now. But Hun was only committing a lot of petty crimes compared to his two former predecessors.
But Raph was like a dog with a bone.
Speaking of a dog with a bone…
Leo has…well, Leo seems to only solo train and meditate these days.
We’re lucky if we catch a glimpse of him in the lair.
Sure, he’ll go on patrols with us, but even then he seems to be hyper-fixated on this idea that the other shoe is getting ready to drop. He’s a lot more quiet about his fears than Raph is, but both Mikey and I think that, for once, the two seem to be on the same page.
Just…displaying their obsession with the Foot in a different manner.
If this was Mikey’s thoughts, he would make the joke that the two have a ‘Foot fetish’.
Ugh…that pun is so horrible that I can feel a migraine coming along for just thinking it.
“Donatello, what troubles you my son,” the raspy voice of my sensei called out from the doorway.
“Oh, Master Splinter,” I called out in alarm, “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Hmm…perhaps I should have Leonardo increase your training then,” Splinter replied with a cheeky grin.
“Oh…uh,” I stammered in response, silently hoping he was only joking.
“I only joke my son, but you must always remain alert—even when you are in your own home,” Splinter reminded me, “You must remember that my own master was in his home when he was ambushed by Oroku Saki.”
My distaste for the name must have shown on my face.
“Ah, I understand what troubles you now, my son,” Splinter wisely recognized before coming further into the room, “You are worried about your brothers and how they are handling the final demise of our traitorous foe.”
“I wouldn’t say they were handling it, sensei. It’s more like they’re in denial of the whole ordeal,” I explained while looking back at the computer monitors.
“That may be, my son, but having a false sense of security is just as dangerous as constantly looking for the danger,” he warned me sagely.
“False sense of security?” I questioned, “I wouldn’t say that Mikey and I have a false sense of security—We just found different activities to fill our free time…”
I lamely defended myself before trailing off towards the end of my sentence.
Yeah that excuse sounded even more flimsy out loud than in my head.
And from the look Master Splinter was giving me, he was also not impressed by my weak explanation.
“The world can be a cruel place Donatello,” he began with a faraway look in his eyes, “It is even more so vicious to those who are different from normal society. I taught you and your brothers the art of ninjitsu with the hope that you would be able to survive whatever the world throws at you. Do not become lax in my teachings, my son. I have already lost so much in this life and could not bear it if I lost my found family.”
The look of sadness in Master Splinter’s eyes made me reflect on my recent neglect to my training.
He’s right.
I don’t have to be a fanatic like Raph and Leo, but I do need to step up and stop skipping my training sessions.
“I apologize, sensei,” I murmured before bowing as a sign of respect and repentance.
“There is nothing to forgive, my son, as long as you strive to rectify the situation,” Master Splinter replied with a smile before patting my shoulder.
“Hai, sensei,” I automatically responded before rising up.
“Good…now, finish up in here and go rest,” he directed, “I know you have a ‘shift’ tomorrow morning, so you shouldn't overdo it tonight.”
“Hai, sensei,” I agreed again.
“…And Donatello,”
“Yes, sensei?”
“Be sure to rest your back more,” he lightly chastised with a knowing look, “Taking care of your body does not make you weak, but wise.”
How did he…
Because dad is dad. He always knows…either that or he’s a Jedi. Could be both—How cool would that b—OW!
The memory of Mikey’s awed voice whispered in the back of my mind.
Maybe Mikey was onto something about dad being a Jedi…
“…Hai sensei,” I acknowledged after a stunned silence as I watched him walk out of the room.
Slumping to my computer chair, I let out a deep breath that I hadn’t realized that I was holding in.
Well…I guess I should go to bed and try for a better day tomorrow.
The sudden twinge of pain in my back made me think twice about collapsing in my bed.
On second thought…I’ll go to bed after I remove my prosthetic shell and realign my muscles.
Yeah after…definitely after…