Chapter Four
Ivy
I felt like a little kid on Christmas day. I was sitting in the living room while Hazel was taking a nap and I was looking at my phone wondering what time Chad was going to call. I could have gone to work after the tour, but to say that working for Smith & Jones was the most exciting job in the world would be a lie. It was a far cry from it.
When I left Chicago and came back to Granbury, it felt like the right decision at the time. I would be focused on my daughter and not working stressful hours and most of all, I wouldn’t have to deal with bad boys like Danny, Hazel’s dad. I wouldn’t be around guys that made me weak in the knees and do stupid things like having sex without protection because they preferred for us to be skin-to-skin.
I love Hazel like crazy, but when did I become twenty eight and boring? I used to go out. Have fun and now I was lucky if I could get a babysitter.
I sighed as I flicked through the different channels. Every few minutes, I would stop to see if Chad had called me. I shook my head and turned my phone around so that I wouldn’t see the non-flashing screen seeing as I turned the phone onto vibrate so that it wouldn’t disturb Hazel. Considering she was only nine months and was upstairs, sometimes I swore her ears were too sharp for her own good.
If I was sitting in front of the TV and flicking through the channels, she never woke up. But the moment my phone rang and it was one of my girlfriends or parents, then she would wake up. It was as if she didn’t want me to do something exciting, then again, maybe I was just fucking paranoid.
My phone vibrated and I didn’t hesitate in picking it up.
Chad: I was just thinking that if you’re bored, we could go to the park. Joshua’s just woken up from his nap. You game?
I sighed as I thought about Hazel sleeping, I could wake her up, even though I shouldn’t do it. I had to get her up and prepare dinner, give her a bath and then put her in bed. Mom always complained that I put her to bed too late. I sighed as I thought about his proposal and coming up with all the reasons that I shouldn’t do it.
Me: Sure, where and what time?
I’ll give Hazel one of those ready-made meals that I have stashed in my bedroom. The last time mom came over, she raided my cupboards claiming that I was poisoning her granddaughter with that ready-made shit.
Chad: Do you know Parr Park? I could meet you there in about twenty minutes.
Ivy: By the jungle gym?
Chad: Sure, in Parr Park.
He made me laugh, I was talking about where in the park. I knew that I would find him. He would be the one with the dark hair with shades and with his stroller, it would be impossible not to see him. I had to wake-up Hazel and get her ready for a trip to the park. Something that I hadn’t been doing lately. I decided that it was best to wait until she was a toddler and older so that she could enjoy it more.
Me: See you in twenty.
Chad: Great.
The park was pretty great and had everything for both the younger kids and the older one’s, too. That wasn’t the real reason that I was excited to go. The idea of seeing Chad twice in one day was the real reason that I was getting ready to go. Quickly. Before I changed my mind about seeing him again.
***
Hazel was just lying in her crib. I loved watching her when she did that, because I wondered what was going through her mind. Before, when she wasn’t able to sit up, it was because she had no choice. Now she had the option, I wondered why she would sit and watch her mobile at times, or other times she’d be too busy trying to destroy it.
I lifted her up and smiled, she was quiet as she looked in my eyes, then attempted to pull my chain. That seemed to be her favorite pastime whenever I held her in my arms.
No wet diaper.
Not feeding time.
There was no reason for me not to leave home immediately, apart from changing again. I had a feeling that we weren’t just going to the park and if I was a lucky girl, I could get more than a swing at the park. I could possibly get a kiss, too.
The were two playgrounds and even a splash pad. I knew that the kids were too young to enjoy that, but Hazel was old enough to enjoy the sand pit. She could sit up, which was more than Joshua could do. Maybe Chad could hold him and let him get a bit of a feel of the sand.
I shook my head as I was thinking of us as a couple and we’d only just met. This wasn’t a good idea, but Hazel started to clap her hands on my shoulders.
Maybe she could feel that her Mommy was a bit too excited about our trip to the park. I had exactly fifteen minutes to calm down and just hope that I did by the time we got there, but I had a feeling that I would be even worse. There was something about Chad that was making my body’s temperature go beyond 37.5 degrees and it wasn’t good. But I liked it.