30. Hattie
THIRTY
Hattie
The outfit I finally settle on is comfortable and sexy—my black skinny jeans, perfectly shaping my ass.
I paired those with a silky black top that shows off my chest—only a classy amount—and a black jean jacket on top.
I’ll be warm enough if it gets too chilly out tonight, and I’ll be comfortable if we ended up not watching the movie a little bit.
I finished my makeup and I’m putting the finishing touches on my hair when my phone rings.
“Hey, H,” Tilly says in a raspy voice on the other end.
“Oh, T, you sound like shit.” Fuck, is she calling to cancel?
There’s a shuffling of voices and then Bells gets on.
“Hey, I’m sorry. Tilly wants to tell you herself but she literally can’t. She has some sort of flu or something. She thought it was a cold but she got worse all day. I’m taking care of her, but she’s definitely not up for taking Ollie tonight. She wants me to say she’s sorry,” Bells explains.
“No, of course. Please tell her I hope she gets better soon, and thank you for letting me know,” I reassure her. If Tilly is sick in bed, she must be really bad. She isn’t an unreliable friend.
We hang up and I sit on the edge of my bed, sighing.
Lina is out on a date tonight, so she won’t be home.
I still don’t want Christopher watching Ollie without someone there—especially after that day at the bar, it only solidified what I know about him.
He’s been doing his supervised visits with Emmy twice a week, but it’s only been three months since he’d been back.
There are no other options, but I guess that’s the downfall of dating your own nanny—there’s no babysitter to call on date night.
I guess tonight isn’t our first date after all.
I head downstairs to break the bad news to Emmy.
“Hey, wow you look great. Are you ready?” Emmy smiles.
She’s wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a Scream T-shirt over a long-sleeve, and her red hair is curled. Her eyes were made up behind her black glasses. Shit, she looks so good.
“Actually, we have to cancel.” I frown.
Emmy pulls me aside, into the kitchen, so we’re out of Ollie’s hearing.
“Are you okay? Do you not want to do this anymore?” Emmy asks, anxiously.
“Sorry, no, I want to reschedule. Tilly is sick and Lina has a date so there’s no one around to watch Ollie. I’m sorry.” I sigh.
Emmy pauses, taking everything in before speaking. “What if he comes with us?”
“What? It’s a date.” I look at her, confused.
“I’m pretty sure I saw they were also playing Casper. We can all go and make a night of it if you and I keep the PDA down. That way it’s not a total loss and we can still spend the night together,” Emmy says.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I just want to spend time with you, and this way we can all have a good time.” Emmy smiles.
My heart swells at least three sizes while staring at Emmy.
She isn’t even upset that we couldn’t be alone.
She just found a solution. She isn’t mad that we can’t even hold hands or that my kid is coming along.
I think she’s actually excited to hang out with both of us.
I’ve never had anything like this before, but I could get used to it.
“You’re seriously perfect, you know? And if I were allowed, I’d kiss you right now,” I whisper the last part.
“I’d kiss you back.” Emmy winks.
Ollie is bummed he’s not going to Tilly’s tonight, but once he finds out he’s coming with us to the drive-in, he’s thrilled.
We’ve only been once before, last summer to see a rerun of one of the Cars movies.
Emmy insists on driving; I think it’s her way of keeping things like it’s a date.
She buys the tickets and sets everything up before we can get out of the truck.
She’s arranged pillows, blankets, and a variety of my favorite snacks and drinks.
Everything looks so cozy, as she helps Ollie climb into the truck.
We’re parked right by the speakers, and the screen is huge as we wait for the movie to start.
Ollie starts eating some of the popcorn Emmy brought, and I snuggle in between them under the blankets.
Emmy and I keep a casual distance, only our legs touching under the blankets. She’s answering all of Ollie’s questions about the drive-in, and I’m wondering if she read up on this place once she knew Ollie was coming.
The screen is huge, but what makes it even cozier are the beautiful trees behind it.
Somehow they’re some of the only ones left with orange leaves left on.
There’s almost an entire forest full behind the screen, making a beautiful background for a spooky movie.
And as much as I would’ve rather seen Scream, Casper isn’t a bad choice and it’s one that Ollie actually likes.
I relax into the pillows, taking a handful of miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
As I unwrap each one individually, Ollie asks Emmy scary movie trivia.
He hasn’t seen any of the scary movies yet, but he knows enough from the decorations I keep around the house and from when I talk about them.
Emmy knows a fair amount, which surprises me since she’s more of a reader.
“Well, to be fair, a lot of the horror movies started out as books,” Emmy says.
“You read horror?” I ask, surprised.
“No, not at all actually. My older brother likes horror movies and he always tried scaring me with them when I was younger,” Emmy explains. “But I found out that the more I read about them, the less scared I am.”
“Ah.” I nod. That makes more sense.
“I have a bottle of wine, if you’re interested. Obviously I’m not drinking, but I don’t mind if you do,” Emmy offers.
“No, I’m okay but thank you.” It’s a relief knowing I can relax and enjoy a glass and she’ll take care of Ollie if I want her to. I’m not really in the mood tonight, though.
The movie starts, and Ollie is unusually quiet.
I don’t know if it’s because of where we are or if he’s actually scared.
Either way, he rests his head on my lap and I brush my fingers through his curls.
I twirl them, and he yawns a few times but keeps watching the movie.
On my other side, I reach for Emmy’s hand.
It’s under the blanket, and I know Ollie isn’t looking over anytime soon.
Our hands intertwine, and I lean my head on her shoulder.
Emmy puts her arm around me slightly, and it appears like she’s just leaning it against the pillows.
“You look so beautiful,” she whispers in my ear.
I blush, feeling a shiver run down my spine. I smile and look at her, thanking her silently.
About halfway through the movie, Ollie falls asleep in my lap. His mouth is wide open, and a Skittle is stuck to the side of his cheek. I caress his cheek, watching as his chest moves up and down with each breath. He always looks so peaceful when he’s asleep.
“Do you want to go?” Emmy asks, noticing.
“Can we stay?” I whisper. “I’m having a nice time.”
“Of course.” Emmy nods.
I lean in more to her chest and relax. Ollie doesn’t stir, so I feel more at ease.
He’s starting to snore, which means he’s falling into an even deeper sleep than I expected.
Emmy rubs her thumb lightly over my hand, and I feel nice and cozy.
I finally feel complete. Being with Emmy makes things feel more finished, like I’m no longer looking for a missing piece.
She fits in perfectly with Ollie and I, never making me second guess what this could be.
We’re going to take it slow, but at least I know how good this feels.
It gives me hope to know maybe this is how our family could one day be.
The sky is dark now, completely black with the stars being the only light above.
I try to make out some of the constellations but that isn’t my strong suit.
I can feel Emmy’s eyes on me as I look at the stars, and I wonder if she wants to kiss me as much as I want to be kissed.
But Ollie could wake up at any second, and how the hell would we explain that one?
So, I keep looking at the stars and hoping we’ll be able to have some time alone later.
“So, this isn’t how I pictured tonight going,” I say quietly.
“Please don’t worry about that with me,” Emmy says. “I can go with the flow if you haven’t realized. And I think that’s half the struggle of parenting, you’re not on your own schedule anymore.”
“That’s true,” I agree.
“Just promise me something?”
“What?” I ask.
“That we will get to make this up another night, whenever you are free by yourself,” she says.
“The second Tilly is feeling better or Lina is free.” I nod.
She squeezes my hand gently, and I look back at the movie.
It’s almost over, maybe twenty minutes before the credits start rolling.
I can hear the crickets out in the grass underneath us.
I look around and a few yawns escape my lips.
I don’t want to be sleepy, but I worked a full day today.
This is the only time I have free this week, and I don’t want to skip it.
Now I’m wishing I had called in sick for once.
I mean, what’s the point of owning a business if I can’t have a day off every once in a while.
I take a sip of the Dr. Pepper she brought, hoping it’ll give me a boost of energy.
I probably shouldn’t have caffeine this late, but I also know the coffee I had twelve hours ago is out of my system.
Plus, we still have the drive home and we’ll need to put Ollie to bed.
I don’t know if he’ll go easily or be grumpy when we wake him up to get in the truck. It’s a toss-up, unfortunately.
“What do you think about doing laundry when we get home?” Emmy whispers in my ear, breaking my train of thought.
I give her a confused look. Is she seriously asking me if I want to do chores when we get home? Had Ollie dirtied his sheets or something gross I didn’t know about? Sighing, I’m about to ask what exactly needs to be cleaned when she leans in again.
“Laundry might be a nickname…” she says, quieter in my ear.
I perk up, realizing what she’s asking me. “Yes.”
“Good, meet me in there after the coast is clear,” she says, winking.
“Did you really make a Friends reference?” I ask, realizing where that’s from.
“I hoped you’d get it.” She laughs.