During my lunch break I decided to make a FaceTime call.
“Hey,” Ellie answered, and I noticed the tight expression on her face. She looked stressed.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
She blew out a breath and tucked some hair behind her ear. “Chloe was supposed to watch Ava this afternoon but she can’t because she caught a virus from the hospital. You know how my first class started Tuesday? Well, the professor told us there would be a quiz today that would count for 25% of our grade. If I miss it, I might as well drop the class.”
“A quiz on the second day? That’s harsh.” I frowned. “What about your parents?”
She shook her head. “Already tried that. They can’t get off work this last-minute.”
“I can watch her,” I offered automatically.
There was a pause and when Ellie responded, she had a skeptical look on her face. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. There’s not much going on here today. I bet my dad wouldn’t mind if I took off a little early.”
A smile broke out on Ellie’s face and she let out a relieved sigh. “That would be awesome. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I’m sure. It’ll be good for us to spend some time together.”
“Is that Colton?” Ava’s voice came from somewhere in the background, followed by thundering footsteps. “I wanna see!”
I was laughing when her little face came up on the screen. How could someone so little sound like a two-ton rhino?
“Hey, Bug. Would you like to hang out with me?”
Her face lit up. “Yeah!”
“Awesome. So, what did you do today?” I asked, looking forward to whatever random answer she was going to have. Ava had an endless supply of interesting things to say.
“I had to pee really, really bad,” she started, her arms flailing in animated gestures. “But I just… just swallowed it back into my body. Yeah.”
She giggled and I laughed. “I didn’t realize that was possible.”
Instead of responding to me, Ava started making faces at herself on screen and Ellie tried to nudge her way back into the picture. “Would you be able to get here around 2:00? My test is at 3:00.”
“I’ll be there,” I said, excited.
After hanging up, I told my dad I would be taking off early to babysit. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, he laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.
“What?” I asked defensively. “How hard can it be?”
Swiveling to face me in his office chair, he shook his head and chuckled. “Good luck, son.”
I walked away feeling confident. My dad didn’t know what he was talking about. I was going to rock this shit.
I watched Ellie rush around her living room. After shoving her books into the backpack, she put on her coat, then almost fell over when trying to step into her boots. I steadied her by putting my hand on her shoulder, and she gave me a grateful look.
“You’ll do great. We’ll be fine. Stop stressing,” I said, rubbing up and down her arm.
“I know.” She smiled, throwing her backpack over one shoulder. “Thank you so much for doing this.”
Ava tugged on my hand. “Can we go to the mall?”
“Sure,” I replied immediately.
A wicked smile spread on Ellie’s face. “If you want to take her somewhere, you’ll need my car because it has her car seat. Which means you’ll have to let me drive your truck to class.” She did a ‘give me’ gesture with her hand and I sighed.
No one drove my truck but me. Ever.
But then I looked down at Ava’s big blue eyes and I couldn’t say no. If Ava wanted to go to the mall, then we’d go to the mall. I was pretty sure if she said she wanted to go to Fiji, I’d try to find a way to get us there.
I was in serious trouble.
“Okay.” I dropped the keys into Ellie’s palm. “Be careful with my baby.”
“And you be careful with mine,” she quipped, raising up on her tiptoes to give me a peck on the lips before leaning down to kiss Ava on her forehead. She headed toward the door while rambling random instructions. “Ava’s potty-trained so you don’t need to worry about diapers, but if she starts walking around with her legs crossed, it means she has to go pee. No matter how much she insists on it, she can’t absorb the pee back into her body. She knows how to buckle herself into the car seat. Just make sure the clips are locked in place. Oh, and the chest clip is called a chest clip for a reason.” She made a slashing motion at armpit level. “Don’t let her drain your bank account. It’s probably best to stay away from the T-O-Y store.” She spelled out the word so Ava wouldn’t know what we were talking about, and I chuckled.
“We’ll be fine,” I reassured her again. “Good luck on your test.”
With a final wave, she was gone. I glanced down and Ava beamed up at me.
“Okay, Bug. Let’s go have some fun.”
The mall was a blast. After going to the play place, we went for seven rides on the carousel. Each time, Ava chose a different horse to ride. She told me she wanted to be fair. Said she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, which was really fucking cute.
We took five round-trips on the escalator, then we hit up the toy store. It would’ve been so easy to blow an entire paycheck in there, but Ava and I negotiated until we settled on some dragon LEGOs. She was beyond happy and it only set me back fifteen bucks.
With Ava on my shoulders we made a pass through the pet store, then ended our afternoon in the food court for a snack.
I’d just gotten Ava strapped into her car seat when Ellie called.
“Hey,” I answered the phone. “How’d your test go?”
“I think it went okay. It was tough but I felt like I knew most of the answers. How are you guys doing?” she asked, and I could hear a hint of anxiousness in her voice.
“We’re fine.” Walking around to the driver’s side of the car, I gave her a brief rundown of everything we did. “And after we went to the pet store—”
“The pet store?” Ellie interrupted. “Please tell me you didn’t get her an animal…”
“How mad would you be if I did?” I teased while putting on my seatbelt. There was no way I would get a pet for Ava without Ellie’s permission, but I couldn’t help giving her a hard time about it.
“Colton…” she warned.
I guffawed. “No, I didn’t buy anything. We just looked. That place is like a petting zoo.”
“I want a bunny!” Ava cheered from the backseat.
I laughed.
Ellie groaned. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
“What about a fish?” I lowered my voice so Ava wouldn’t hear as I admitted the truth. “I almost bought her a fish.”
Ellie gasped. “No fish.”
“Why not?” I asked, thinking about how low maintenance it would be.
“Because they always die. Remember that goldfish I won from the county fair? Herbie was belly-up within 24 hours and I was devastated.”
“You put him in tap water and fed him Doritos,” I deadpanned.
She scoffed. “Details. Besides, fish are gateway pets.”
“What’s a gateway pet?”
“You know, you get one, it dies, you’re crushed, then before you know it you’ve got five cats, two dogs, and a gerbil.”
I started laughing because she wasn’t completely wrong, and Ava started laughing, too, even though she had no idea what we were talking about.
“Anyway,” I said, starting up the car. “We just got finished up at the ice cream store.”
“Ice cream?” Ellie asked, sounding a bit alarmed.
“Yeah… Is that okay?”
She made a frustrated growling noise, and I would’ve found it really sexy if she hadn’t sounded so concerned. “I’m so sorry, Colton. I should’ve told you. This is all my fault.”
“Told me what?” I asked warily.
“Ava’s lactose intolerant.”
“Oh sh
—I mean, shoot,” I said quietly into the phone. Damn. I fucked this up. “Is it going to give her a stomachache?”
“That depends. She can handle small amounts,” she replied, suddenly sounding more calm than I felt. “How much did she have? A kiddie scoop?” she asked hopefully.
“No.” I shook my head even though she couldn’t see it. “She had the Double Trouble Sundae.”
“Oh shit,” Ellie breathed out.
“I’m sorry.” Groaning, I let my head fall back and covered my face with my hand.
“No, this is completely my fault. I always tell people before they watch her. I just forgot this time because I was thinking about my test. Listen.” Her voice turned serious. “If you come straight here, you might get back in time.”
That had me sitting up straight in the seat. “Back in time for what?”
“Don’t panic,” she said, and those two words had me, in fact, panicking. “You have about 20 minutes until she vomits.”
“Gotcha. I’ll see you soon.” I didn’t even wait for her reply before hanging up and dropping my phone into the cup holder.
I spent the next ten minutes glancing into the rearview mirror at Ava as though she was a ticking time bomb, while also driving very carefully because—precious cargo.
As I watched her, she showed no signs of feeling sick. Happily kicking her feet, she sang along to the radio while looking out the window.
A sigh of relief left me as I pulled the car into Ellie’s driveway and I quickly ran around the car to get Ava out.
“Hey, Bug. How are you feeling?” I asked, fumbling with all the buckles and straps that kept her safe.
“Good,” she replied as I picked her up.
Then, something extraordinary happened.
Ava made a content humming sound as she hugged me around the neck.
Wrapping my arms around her little body, I returned the embrace.
Stunned, I stood there with her in the driveway for a minute, my heart exploding in my chest.
Getting hugged by Ava was like finding something rare and unexpected.
One time when I went fishing, a Monarch butterfly landed on my hand. I remember watching it, wings slowly flapping, as it found my finger an acceptable place to rest. I barely breathed, too afraid I would scare it away. Finally, the butterfly took off, ready to find the next best thing.
It might’ve been silly, but I had felt honored and lucky. Like I’d been given some sort of gift.
This moment felt kind of like that, only one hundred times better.
The hug went on for several seconds. The air was getting chilly as the sun sank low on the horizon, painting the clouds a bright orange. I knew we needed to go inside, but I didn’t want it to end yet.
When Ava pulled back, we smiled at each other.
Then, without warning, her facial expression changed and vomit sprayed from her mouth, covering my neck, the front of my shirt, and the arms of my coat.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, choking out a sob along with more vomit, and some of the foul-smelling chunks landed in her hair.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Trying not to panic, I ran her up to the house as fast as I could while she continued to heave.
The front door swung open and Ellie greeted me, her expression a mixture of apologetic and concerned. She took Ava from my arms, not even seeming bothered by all the puke.
“I’ll get her a bath really quick. I’m so sorry, Colton,” she said, rushing up the stairs as she tried to talk over Ava’s whimpers. “You can take a shower in my parents’ bathroom and my dad will get you some clothes.”
“It’s okay,” I called after her, but she had already disappeared around the hall.
Dave appeared from the kitchen and gave me a sympathetic look. “No one ever tells you this, but 70% of parenting is getting thrown up on. Looks like you’ve been officially initiated.”
“I feel really bad about this.” I shook my head. “I screwed up.”
“Nah. Ava knows she can’t have ice cream. Little sneak pulled a fast one on you.” Letting out a chuckle, he went to pat me on the shoulder but changed his mind when he noticed the mess he’d be putting his hand in. “I’ll show you to the bathroom.”
I followed him up the stairs. Taking a right, he showed me to the large master bedroom at the end of the hall and set a spare change of clothes on top of the dresser.
When he turned to me, his face was serious. “Brielle was pretty devastated after you moved away,” he stated matter-of-factly. “It was even worse after you lost contact with each other. As a father, it was hard to watch my little girl go through that.”
“I know,” I said, guiltily looking down at the white shag carpet.
“I don’t want to see that happen again,” he told me, his voice firm. “You two were just kids back then. I’m not blaming you. But I’ve seen her heart broken more times than I care to admit.”
The Dave I remembered had always been a laid-back guy. Never took things too seriously. But the man in front of me now was a father trying to protect his daughter, and I respected him for confronting me.
Squaring my shoulders, I tried to maintain as much dignity as I could while being covered in barf. “I’m not going anywhere. You have my word on that.”
Seeming satisfied with my answer, he nodded once before adding, “She puts on a brave face, but these past few years have been rough.”
I nodded, realizing how hard it must’ve been for Ellie’s parents to see her abandoned, to watch her struggle as a single parent.
“I’m pretty sure she couldn’t get rid of me if she tried,” I promised.
“Good.” Dave smiled, his easy-going demeanor back in place. “Go take a shower, Colton. You stink.”
Snickering, I headed into the en suite bathroom.
After I was freshly showered and wearing some of Dave’s black sweat pants and a blue T-shirt, I found my girls at the other end of the hall.
My girls.
There was no question that this bedroom belonged to Ava. Light purple walls. Disney princess bedspread. At least two laundry baskets full of stuffed animals and dolls. Stacks of books, books, and more books—some of them I recognized.
Ava was sitting on her twin-sized bed dressed in a pink nightgown while Ellie sat behind her, combing out her wet hair. The dim light from the lamp on the nightstand cast a calming yellow glow throughout the room. Ellie ran a towel over her own wet hair and I realized she must’ve needed a shower, too.
For a few seconds, I watched them and suddenly an image popped into my head. What would be like if we all lived together? If we were a family?
It was just an idea, really. A dream I’d been too afraid to hope for. I’d spent a good part of the last couple years thinking a normal life wasn’t in the cards for me.
I wasn’t afraid of that anymore.
When things with Travis and Angel had moved so quickly, I thought they were crazy. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love with someone so fast.
Now it was my turn to be the love-struck fool.
My situation was a little bit different, though. Although Ellie and I had spent most of our lives apart, she was still the same person I knew fifteen years ago. She was the girl who held me while I cried the day my mom died. The girl who refused to leave my side that night, no matter how much her parents tried to get her to come home. The one who was there to comfort me every time I woke up and realized it wasn’t just a bad dream. And I wasn’t even embarrassed about crying in front of her—because she was my best friend.
Ellie was more guarded now than when we were kids, but she had every reason to be. Standing there, I realized that, for the first time in a long time, I was truly happy. And despite how the afternoon ended, today had still been one of the best days of my life.
Glancing my way, Ellie caught me staring. I just smiled. She smiled back. My bare feet padded across the hardwood floors as I went over to the bed.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Ava,
sitting down next to her.
She hiked a shoulder. “Good. You wanna play Yegos with me?”
Yegos. So fucking cute.
She looked so content now, you’d never know she just did a remake of The Exorcist half an hour ago.
Ellie cut in before I could answer. “Colton might have to go home, sweetie.”
“I can stay a while, if that’s okay,” I insisted, and Ava nodded happily.
“Of course it’s okay,” Ellie said, pulling me off to the side and lowering her voice. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to stick around, especially after what happened. Kids are exhausting sometimes and I can’t apologize enough for not telling you about her intolerance—”
“Hey,” I softly interrupted. “Seriously, I’m not mad at all. I had a great time. In fact, I’d love to be the one you ask from now on if you need someone to hang with her.”
Her expression morphed from shocked to ecstatic in an instant, and I knew I’d do almost anything to put that look on her face.
“You did a really good job today,” she said and I scoffed. “Seriously, you did,” she insisted, linking her hand with mine. “I can be a little uptight sometimes, but it just comes with the territory of being a mom.” She shrugged. “I have the same class every Thursday afternoon at 3:00. It would be awesome if you wanted to watch her.”
“Done.”
“And for future reference, she can have processed cheeses. American cheese doesn’t seem to make her sick and she can have mac and cheese—the boxed kind with the cheese powder, and I substitute the recipe with almond milk. But no cow’s milk, yogurt, or ice cream.”
“Got it.”
Ava let out an impatient sigh. “Did you forget about playing with me?”
I laughed. “Nope. I’m about to dominate these Legos”
Apparently, LEGOs were a lot different than when I was a kid. It came with a million tiny pieces and an instruction manual. After a lot of tinkering, I’d constructed a small dragon and handed it over to the happiest little girl ever.
The Good Guys Box Set: TRUCKER, DANCER, DROPOUT, and A Trucker Wedding Page 36