Shelly
With thoughts of last night running through my head, I’m standing in the kitchen making breakfast with a grin so big my cheeks hurt. I hardly slept last night because all I could think about were Mikey’s hands on my body. It’s been so long since I’ve been intimate with a man it took next to nothing for him to bring me to a quivering mess.
“I take it all went well last night?” My sister’s voice scares the shit out of me, causing me to jump, and sending cream cheese flying through the air.
“Jesus, Brea. Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?”
“No, but that was pretty funny.” She laughs as she grabs a paper towel to clean the glob of cream cheese on the floor.
I shake my head. “Yeah, you’re a real comedian.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. How did it go last night?” She goes about pouring herself a cup of coffee.
I give Ryker his bagel and tell him to sit and eat. Mikey is due here soon to take us to the park and I want to be ready. “It was good,” I tell her as she leans against the door frame waiting for a response.
“Judging by the look on your face, I’m betting it was more than just good.” Up until that moment I didn’t think it was possible for my smile to get any bigger.
“We had a really nice dinner at Logan Michaels’ house and then he brought us home.” I shrug like it’s no big deal.
She bursts into laughter. “Spill it, what happened after he brought you home?”
“He walked us upstairs and waited for me to put Ryker to bed.” I sip my coffee. “And then we spent some time alone, where he took the time to bring me to a quivering mess.” I spit the words out like it hasn’t been three years since I’ve been with a man. Yeah, I know, that’s one hell of a dry spell, but I was so afraid to date after Eli left. Mikey is really the first man to pique my interest since then.
She slaps me playfully on the arm. “Bitch, you were holding out on me.”
I bite my lip. “He was so sweet. He wants to take me out one night this week, but I told him I had to talk to you first. You know me, the only two people I trust my son with are you and Carly.” Carly is my friend, she lives on the second floor. I literally bumped into her one morning. We started talking, and next thing I knew, we were having coffee in her apartment. A few play dates later and we became good friends. Her son Lincoln is four but will turn five in August. She volunteered to watch Ryker for me while I’m in school since she’s a stay at home mom.
“I have plans with Eric on Thursday, but other than that, I’m free. Just let me know which night he wants to take you out.” She puts her cup in the sink.
“Awesome. I assume it will be tomorrow night, since we work Friday and Saturday, but I’ll confirm while we’re at the park and let you know.”
“I’m getting in the shower. You three have fun at the park.” She kisses Ryker on the head and then goes to her room to get her clothes together.
The buzzer rings, and after I confirm that it’s Mikey, I let him in and send Ryker to his room to get his shoes on. I open the door just as Mikey is arriving. “Hey baby.” I close the door behind him and he pulls me in for a kiss.
Ryker comes running back into the room. “Eeewww. Why are you kissing Mommy?”
We both pull apart and begin to laugh. He isn’t used to seeing me around men. His father has been gone for three years now. He gets that he doesn’t have a father like other kids and I’m not sure he would recognize his own father if he saw him. Of course Mikey is amazing with him. He squats down before him as usual and admits to Ryker that he likes me. “Hey, little man, I want to be your mommy’s boyfriend, is that okay?”
“Does that make you my daddy?” His tiny brows furrow with confusion.
“Listen, little man. I know you don’t know your daddy very well, and you haven’t seen him in a long time, but no one can really replace him. What I’d like to be is the man you come to whenever you need something. I promise to help take care of you and be there for you since your father isn’t. Is that cool?” He nods his little head. “Now, do you know what a pinkie promise is?” He nods again and Mikey holds up his pinkie. “I pinkie promise, okay?” Ryker nods and locks pinkies with Mikey.
Their display nearly breaks me. All I’ve ever wanted was for Ryker to have a male figure in his life. Someone to teach him how to be a good man and how to take care of his family. I want him to grow up to be a respectable hard working man and to witness Mikey promising that to him means more than I can ever express. I just hope he means it. I’m not sure we can handle anymore hurt.
“Are you ready to go to the park?” I ask both of them. They both look up at me and nod. “Well, let’s get going then.”
Ryker is full of excitement when he sees Mikey pull into the parking lot of his favorite park. Being a single mom, I can only afford to do so much, and being that the park is free, we spend a good bit of time here. It’s amazing how a ninety-nine cent ball and some swings can fill a boy with so much joy. While I get him from the back seat of the SUV, Mikey grabs the stuff from the trunk. I make note he’s grabbed a bag that I hadn’t packed, and of course it’s from the local toy store. I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. This man is already thinking about my son and making him happy. We find a spot under a tree to set up the blanket, and while we get things squared away, Ryker runs around with his ball, not noticing that there’s a separate bag.
Mikey and I collapse on the blanket, watching Ryker run freely. “He’s such a happy boy. You’re doing an amazing job with him.”
“Thank you. It has taken a bit of determination. I was afraid when I ran with him, and though I haven’t heard from my ex in years, I often get the feeling I’m being watched. I’m always looking over my shoulder and keeping Ryker close.”
“Will you tell me what happened?” Mikey’s voice is soft as he stares out at my son.
I let out a deep breath. “Sure, just not today. I don’t want to ruin our beautiful day.”
“Okay, when can I take you out this week?”
We both watch as Ryker continues to run after the ball, but when he kicks it, he trips and falls. Mikey is ready to run to him, but I stop him. Ryker is laughing, so I know he’s fine. “Look, he’s fine.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you do it. I wanted to make a b-line for him to ensure he wasn’t hurt.”
“It takes practice and I know my son.” He nods. “Now to answer your previous question, if you’re free tomorrow night, Brea says she can watch him. She has plans with her boyfriend on Thursday, and then we both work Friday and Saturday.”
He smiles at me. “That sounds perfect. Is there something special you’d like to do?”
“Not really, but we can talk about it later. You’re going to come back to the house, right?”
“I have to, I promised Ryker pizza tonight.” I burst into laughter. “Let’s go play with him.”
He grabs the bag he brought and calls him over to show him what’s inside. He bought him a plastic bat and ball, a Frisbee, another ball, and a kite. As he’s pulling things out of the bag, Ryker’s eyes are growing with excitement. He grabs the bat and asks to play. I grab the ball and stand across from him and Mikey. Mikey is teaching him how to hold it and how to swing the bat. “Throw it, Mommy,” he shouts with excitement.
“Here it comes.” I toss it softly in an underhand toss. He swings, but misses. Mikey throws it back and tells Ryker to watch the ball until the bat hits it. It takes me throwing the ball to him a few more times and just when I think he’s going to give up, he hits it.
“Yay, great job, buddy.”
“Throw it again, Mommy,” He cheers.
This time I toss it to him, and to my surprise he nails it, but I wasn’t prepared. The ball flies at me, hitting me in the forehead. Lucky for me this is a plastic ball or that really would have hurt. I dramatically fall to the ground, laughing hysterically, when Ryker comes running over to see if I’m all right. He kneels beside me, shaking me. “Mommy, Mommy, are you okay?”
With laughter I assure him that I’m fine, that’s when Mikey takes a knee beside me. He jumps on top of me and screams, “Pig pile on Mommy!”
“Or we could tickle her, little man.”
My son starts trying to tickle me, but it’s really Mikey doing all the tickling. Ryker giggles and squeals as I try to fight the two of them off. Scooping Ryker up, I roll to my side, lying him on the ground, where we begin to tickle him. His squeal is the cutest sound in the world. “No, Mommy, I want to tickle you.”
We all stop to take a deep breath. “No more tickling Mommy. I need to get lunch together soon.”
“Can we build the kite first?” He runs to the bag that is sitting in the grass by our blanket.
“Sure, if it’s okay with Mikey. He bought it.”
“Of course it’s okay. Let’s sit on the blanket and we can build it together.”
While they begin to work on the kite, I start pulling out some food. Ryker is stuffing his face as he listens to the directions Mikey gives him. Of course Mikey is doing the same. He grabs his sandwich, shoves a bite into his mouth, and gets ready for more directions. This is one of those cheaper kites, but it’s still really nice. Watching the two of them talking and laughing as they put it together warms my heart. I really like Mikey and I hope he sticks around, because it seems Ryker does too.
They both plop the last bite of their sandwich into their mouths, drink some of their water, and then run off to fly the kite. I lean back on the tree and watch, snapping some pictures of the two of them running through the field, trying to get the kite in the air. It isn’t a super windy day, but there should be enough to get it into the sky.
I sigh, realizing today is the most relaxed I’ve been in a long time. It’s stressful feeling like you have to walk around looking over your shoulder all the time. It’s nice having a man by my side. I may not have been dating Mikey for long, but I know there’s no way he would let anyone hurt us. Besides, it’s been so long now, I’m hoping my ex is still in jail or he has simply moved on. Either way, I’m enjoying the quiet and being able to have fun with my son without stressing.