I drove toward my parents’ house. I was furious. Not only had Tiffany lied to me about something being wrong, but she had seen her ex-boyfriend behind my back. To add fuel to the fire, her ex-boyfriend was the asshole that I’d the run-in with at the jewelry store. I could not believe it.

I felt stupid for letting myself fall for her so quickly. It was obvious that I didn’t know who she was, and I didn’t know about the feelings that she still had for Brad. I should have known better. There was a reason that I kept my heart guarded, to avoid moments like this.

I wasn’t sure what to do next. Did I give her a chance to explain? Did I never talk to her again? I knew the second option wouldn’t be possible, as we still worked together. That was another reason that I felt stupid. Why did I date someone from the office? Everyone told me that work and romance didn’t mix. I was honestly a believer of that until Tiffany came along.

I parked my car at my parents’ house and debated going in. She wasn’t expecting me until much later. She would want to know why I was there and what happened with Tiffany. I did not feel like explaining it. I thought about leaving and going to a bar, but I knew my choices were limited on Christmas Day. Plus, I still had to drive Austin home later that night.

I decided to go in and face my mom. Maybe she wouldn’t press the issue too much. Maybe I could lie and tell her that Tiffany and her mom got into a fight and we left early. No, that wouldn’t work. She would wonder where Tiffany was. I also didn’t like lying to my mother, either.

I grabbed the purple dinosaur gift from my backseat. Austin would be thrilled to have it and especially happy that it was a gift from Tiffany. I almost didn’t want to give it to him, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. It wasn’t his fault that Tiffany had screwed up.

I walked inside and was surprised to hear silence. Austin wasn’t running around and screaming, and my sister and her family had left, too. I went into the living room to see my mother curled up on the couch under a blanket.

“Where’s Austin?” I asked, walking into the room. I sat down on a chair and placed Austin’s gift on the side table. My mom sat up straighter. It looked like she was about to fall asleep as well.

“He is upstairs taking a nap,” my mom responded. “Why are you home?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” I said. I hoped she wouldn’t press any further. We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching a Christmas movie on the television. Finally, she spoke again.

“Did Tiffany get Austin a gift?” my mom asked, pointing to the bag on the side table. I nodded.

“She got him the damn purple dinosaur.” I’d to crack a smile. Even though I was pissed at her, I still couldn’t believe that she had figured out a way to get it. Austin would probably be happier about the purple dinosaur than he was about the green one.

“Wow,” my mom said. “That was nice of her. Too bad she wasn’t here to give it to him herself. He is going to love it.”

I nodded. He would love it.

“I hope things aren’t too bad between you and Tiffany,” she said. “You have to realize that all couples are going to go through trials and tribulations, but it’s about working through them and making your relationship stronger. Whatever happened can’t be that bad. She obviously cares about you a lot.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked. My mom had only seen us interact for a little while. How could she tell that Tiffany cared about me? My mom pointed to the gift again.

“She got Austin a gift,” my mom said. “Not only did she give him a gift, but she got him one that he really wanted. She is trying to get Austin to like her because she knows that Austin is so important to you. Some women out there don’t care about men’s children. You have landed yourself a good one, Cayden.”

I bit my lip. My mom did have a point. Tiffany got Austin a gift that meant a lot to him. It may have been a silly purple dinosaur, but it was a way to get Austin to accept her. She wanted Austin to like her.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said.

“Give her a chance,” my mom said. “I’m telling you, Cayden, it’s hard to find a good woman, especially one who is open to dating someone with a child.”

Part of me wanted to tell my mom about what happened, but the other part didn’t want to get into it. She obviously knew something was wrong and she knew that Tiffany had done something to upset me. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want my mom thinking that Tiffany was a bad person because she had seen her ex behind my back.

“I’ll play it by ear,” I told my mom. “Without getting into too much detail, I’ll just tell you that she did something that I don’t agree with.”

My mom nodded.

“You don’t need to tell me the details, Cayden,” she said. “I just want you to go into this with an open mind. I know it’s been a while since you’ve dated, but no one is perfect. We all have our flaws.”

My mom was right. Everyone, including me, had their flaws. I knew Tiffany had some, but I didn’t know keeping secrets from me was one of them. No matter what my mom said, I still felt betrayed. Tiffany should have told me the truth from the beginning. I didn’t care that I was busy with Austin being sick. She had plenty of opportunities to tell me and she didn’t take any of them.

I sat with my mom for a little while longer when Austin came in the room. He still looked exhausted but smiled when he saw me.

“Are you ready to go home, kiddo?” I asked him. He nodded.

“We need to take all my toys,” he said. I looked at the huge pile of toys under the tree. It would take me a while to cart all of them out to the car.

A few minutes later, I’d the car loaded with all of Austin’s Christmas toys. I said goodbye to my mom and dad and left for home with Austin.

“Where’s Miss Tiffany?” Austin asked. I looked back at him in the rearview mirror. I wasn’t sure how to respond to him, but I knew that I’d to pretend that everything was okay. I didn’t want him to get worried about me or Tiffany on Christmas Day.

“She’s at her house,” I told him. “She got a present for you, though. I’ll give it to you at home, okay, buddy?”

I watched as Austin smiled.

“Tiffany got me a present?” he asked. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “We’ll see when we get home.”

“I can’t wait,” Austin said. “Tiffany must really like me if she got me a gift!”

A short while later, we were settled in at home. Austin sat on the couch, excited to see what Tiffany had got him. I gave him the bag and he dove in after the toy. Seconds later, he produced the purple dinosaur.

“Bonkers!” he exclaimed. “How did she find this? How did she know that I wanted this dinosaur?”

I smiled, pleased that he was so excited to receive the gift.

“Christmas magic,” I told him. “Do you love it?”

Austin nodded enthusiastically.

“Miss Tiffany is the best,” he said, hugging the dinosaur. “I wish she was here right now, so I could give her a big hug and tell her thank you. Can we call her, Daddy?”

I shook my head.

“She’s busy right now, buddy,” I lied. “We can try later.”

Austin nodded and dashed off with his dinosaur.

“I’m going to go play in my bedroom,” he yelled to me.

I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a drink. I needed it tonight. As I put the ice in my cup, I thought about how Tiffany and I were here less than twenty-four hours ago. Things were good. We had a great night with my family, and an amazing hookup. But, now, our future was unknown. Just like that, things were completely ruined.

I wondered what happened after I left. Did Brad return? Did he just take my spot at the dinner table, picking up his relationship where it had left off? I still couldn’t believe that Tiffany’s mom had invited him over. Was she trying to cause trouble? Based on what Tiffany had told me, I would believe it. She was an evil woman.

I sat down on the couch and sipped my drink. I couldn’t get Tiffany off my mind. Part of me wanted to text her to tell her how much Austin liked the gift, but I didn’t want to open that door. I knew that she would want to talk about what had happened earlier. I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I wasn’t sure when I would ever be ready to talk about it.

Tiffany had royally screwed up by not telling me about Brad. Would I have been mad if she told me about meeting up with him? Of course, but at least she wouldn’t be a liar. I think that was the part that irked me the most. She had lied to me, multiple times. I gave her many chances to explain what was wrong and she kept telling me that nothing was wrong. How could I trust her after this?

I thought about calling Sarah to vent about it, but I didn’t want to take her away from her family on Christmas. I also thought about texting Allen, but I knew that he would just tell me to get over it by getting under someone new. He never got upset about a girl, he just moved on to the next one.

As I sat and drank, I began to get angry. I was angry at Tiffany for seeing Brad behind my back. I was angry at Brad for being an asshole. I was angry at Tiffany’s mom for inviting Brad over. Mostly, I was angry at myself for getting into this situation in the first place. I was also angry that I’d introduced Tiffany to my family. I should have never let Austin get to know her.

I was glad that I wouldn’t have to see her until at least Monday. I wouldn’t contact her before then and if she tried to contact me, I would ignore her. I needed to take some time to think about what I wanted to do next. Although I was angry, I didn’t want to act irrationally, especially since we still worked together.

Austin came into the living room with both the purple and green dinosaurs. He hopped up next to me on the couch and began to play with them.

“Did you have a good Christmas, buddy?” I asked him. He looked up at me and smiled as he nodded his head.

“It was awesome!” he exclaimed. “I got both dinosaurs and a ton of other toys! I’d so much fun today. Christmas is the best!”

I smiled. No matter what happened between Tiffany and I, I was happy that I’d given Austin a Christmas that he deserved. He was happy, and that was all that mattered to me.

“I love you, Austin,” I whispered to Austin, kissing his forehead.

“I love you, Daddy,” Austin said, snuggling closer to me.