Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Carly
I practically chug my glass of wine at ladies’ night.
“Damn, Carly, slow down, we just started,” Roxy chastises as she refills my glass.
“You have no idea how crazy this week has been,” I protest as I take another sip of my refilled glass of merlot.
“Aside from Ava’s finger, what else happened?
” Margie asks. The entire building, of course, knew within twelve hours that Ava had sprained her middle finger.
They’ve brought candy, stuffed animals, and Cam even made her a pink, sparkly muffin, which she immediately had to video chat share with all her friends, in addition to asking if I can post it on my social media.
No one prepared me for this part of parenting.
“Well, aside from the whole finger fiasco, Bray walked in on me while I was naked, as in, no clothes, full frontal,” I state, sipping more wine.
Cam’s eyes widen. “Wow. What did he say?”
I roll my eyes. “He apologized, of course. I think the poor man was in shock for a good twenty seconds.”
Cam and Roxy exchange a look.
“It’s not like that. Plus, he’s a doctor. He sees naked people all day,” I say, trying to fight my blush.
“But not ones that he’s good friends with,” Jocelyn points out.
“Yeah, friends, just friends,” I counter.
“Did you chat with anyone on the app yet?” Cornelia asks, changing the subject.
“Not yet,” I admit.
“My dear, you just need a good dicking,” Cornelia says as she pats my arm.
“Aunt Cornelia!” Piper says as her cheeks turn pink.
“What? She does. I mean, seriously, how long has your dry spell been? A woman can’t live on vibrators alone,” Cornelia continues.
I hate agreeing, but the woman isn’t wrong. However, there is absolutely no way that I will admit out loud to anyone that whenever I use mine, I’m thinking of Bray.
I shake my head a little. “Well, maybe I’ll fire it up when we get to Italy,” I say, hoping to appease her.
She smirks. “I once fucked an Italian man. Best damn sex of my life.”
Piper groans, and Cornelia winks at her.
Margie starts laughing. “You fucked two of them. Don’t you remember?”
Cornelia frowns and then smiles a knowing smile. “I forgot about that time. I was talking about the time I went wild right after I was widowed.”
“Oh, I forgot about that one. What was his name? He was delicious,” Margie says.
“Wait! You had a threesome with two Italian men in addition to fucking another one?” Cam asks.
Cornelia nods. “Margie and I may have had an old ladies gone wild adventure after our husbands died. We went on a tour of Europe and spent four days in Italy. A lot of wine was consumed, and the rest is a little hazy.”
“Holy shit! I hope our wedding is up to your standards,” Cam teases.
“I’m too old for that level of bedroom activity now,” Cornelia assures her. We all chuckle.
“Now, back to Bray ogling your naked body,” Jocelyn says, turning to face me.
I roll my eyes. “It was seriously just…nothing. No big deal. It was actually awkward as fuck.”
“Was your bush under control at least?” Cam asks.
I glare at her. “I was…trimmed.”
“Well, at least you weren’t full bush. That would have been embarrassing,” Jocelyn adds.
“Full bush is back in,” Roxy states.
“Is it?” Cornelia asks.
Roxy nods. “Oh, thank God. I have missed those days,” Margie says with a wistful look.
I sigh. “I mean, I had just taken an everything shower, so the lady bits and everything else were under control. I suppose it would have been more mortifying if it wasn’t.”
“Exactly,” Jocelyn agrees.
“Not to change the subject, but…what is everyone taking for the wedding? Cam, like, do you have colors or something?” Roxy asks.
Cam claps her hands. “Well, Drew is the best man, and Fletcher’s brothers are his best men. His nephew Timothy is going to be our ring bearer and Ava is going to be our flower girl. I don’t have colors, per se. Just flowers, lots of flowers.”
Piper puts her head in her hands and smiles. “It sounds wonderful. I can’t wait till we’re all there.”
There is a round of “me toos,” and then Margie tells us a story about the Italian men she slept with when they were on their European adventure.
By my third glass of wine, I’m feeling a little better.
Except, I can’t help wondering if Bray liked what he saw or if he just saw my stretch marks and belly.
Ugh! I need to get over it. I need to go back to keeping Bray firmly in a friend zone that can never be breached.
I get a call from Bray at three the next afternoon, and I panic as I answer.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, still anxious after Ava’s fall.
“Nothing. Everything is OK. There was just a bad car accident, and they need an extra set of hands. I have to go in early, but Hutch is working from home and can take an hour off to come babysit. I’m sorry I can’t stay,” he says, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice.
God, why is this man so perfect? I really should set him up on a dating app. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.
“Oh, no worries. That’s fine. I can leave a little early if Hutch needs to get back to work,” I say, feeling bad as usual. It’s always my friends helping me and seldom the other way around. I hope they don’t think I’m using them.
“Carls, it’s fine. Seriously, no one minds helping watch Ava.
She’s a great kid. He’ll probably just bring his computer here, and she can draw while he finishes up stuff,” he says.
He started calling me that nickname one night when we got drunk, ordered pizza after tucking Ava in, and watched some movie where the main character was named Carl.
I pretend to hate it, but secretly I love that he has a nickname for me.
I breathe out and let my nerves calm. “OK. As long as he doesn’t mind, I do have a kid coming in for a three o’clock appointment. He should be here any second,” I explain.
His voice lowers a little, and his speech slows in a calming manner. “It’s alright. Everything is alright.”
I take a shaky breath. “Right. OK. Great. This appointment is over at three thirty. So let Hutch know I’ll be home a little before four.”
“Will do. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says.
“I hope it’s not too bad at work,” I add.
“That makes two of us,” he says sardonically.
We say goodbye, and I disconnect as my student walks into the room. My mind stays on my insecurities around all the help we get as I work with the young man on a summer school thesis statement assignment.
By the time I get home an hour later, I’m worrying my lip between my teeth while opening my door. But I freeze as I hear Hutch’s deep laughter and Ava’s high-pitched giggles filling the air.
“Stop that, Ava,” he manages as I push the door open and find the two of them at the dining room table.
Ava’s head whips in my direction and her cheeks heat. Hutch turns to face me, and his cheeks also turn pink.
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
“Nothing,” Ava says quickly as she pretends to be very busy with coloring a page in some booklet Bray bought her at the art museum last week.
I put my hands on my hips. “What are you two up to?”
Hutch shrugs and looks guilty over at me. “Just…having a laugh, right, Aves?”
“Yep,” she says, and she presses her lips together, trying not to laugh.
I cock my head to one side. “Oh?” I start as I walk over and sit down. “Share the fun, what’s up?”
Ava keeps her eyes trained on the paper.
Hutch bites his lower lip before speaking and then, on a sigh, says, “Don’t be mad.” I give him a pointed look, and his lips twitch with a smile. “Ava broke her middle finger.”
“Sprained,” Ava corrects.
“Right, sprained,” Hutch continues. “And the bandage got dirty, and Bray didn’t have time to change it, so I did. And well, the finger is swollen, and it does just kind of stick up, and then I started laughing, and Ava asked why, and then I told her. And she started laughing and…yeah.”
I definitely know Ava knows what the middle finger is for because she’s seen people do it. But geez, like I need one more parenting moment this week.
“Ava, we really shouldn’t do that, OK,” I say as I glare at Hutch, whose cheeks are getting more and more red as we speak.
“Yeah, I know. Mr. Hutch said that too,” she says with a small grin and then quickly makes her face neutral again.
I roll my eyes. “You two are trouble, you know that?”
Ava climbs out of her seat and into Hutch’s lap, and wraps her arms around his giant neck and squeezes. “But we’re fun trouble, right?” she asks as she buries her face into his chest.
He squeezes her back and kisses the top of her head. “I think we’re the most fun type of trouble,” he agrees.
She giggles. “Don’t be mad, Mom,” she says in a muffled voice.
I pat her back and laugh because what else can I do? “I’m not mad. Honestly, it is serendipitous that it’s your middle finger.”
“Seren…what?” she says, pulling her face away from Hutch.
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll learn that word another day. Just don’t use that, it’s not nice,” I say.
“OK,” she says with a pout.
Hutch whispers something in her ear and she giggles again. He tickles her, and she squirms off his lap.
“Well, I’m off, kids. Have a great night,” he says, standing and grabbing his laptop.
“Do you have to go?” Ava asks.
He nods. “I promised Miss Jocelyn that we’d go out for dinner.”
“Oh,” she says, looking down and giving him a sad puppy dog face.
He roars with laughter. “Ava, that shit…I mean stuff, doesn’t work on me. I invented it. We’ll play another night. OK? I promise.”
“Fine,” she says, crossing her little arms and trying to look mad, but when Hutch makes a face, her lips turn up into a smile.
“’Night, Carly,” he adds as he opens the door and leaves.
“Wanna see what else I learned, Mom?” Ava asks as I look over at her.
I wince, hoping it’s not more inappropriate finger signs.
What I wouldn’t give to have a partner who could help me raise her?
But at the same time, I’m equally grateful for all the amazing friends who have stepped in, even if deep down, I envy that people like Hutch have found their person and I haven’t. Maybe I should start swiping right.