Chapter Ten #2
His head snapped to the right where the boys were. “What?” one of them snapped at Elijah’s menacing glare .
“Better not be causing trouble,” Elijah warned them.
“We’re not on your property are we?” The boy hissed.
“That’s not what I was referring to.”
Elijah walked away, and then I groaned and said, “Thanks.” He looked over his shoulder. “You know, for driving me that night.”
“No problem.” He waved it off.
“Did you have trouble getting home?” I asked.
Another head shake. “Nah. I called someone to pick me up.”
I nodded. “Good.”
“See ya.”
See ya?
See ya?
Why would he say that? See you in passing? Of course, that was what he meant, but it was still weird. Almost friendly.
“Can I have more chips?” Lucy called out.
“Lucy!” I shouted. “You can’t ask that.”
To my surprise, he only said, “Bye, kid,” and headed toward his truck.
No harsh comment to or about Lucy. Maybe he meant it when he said he felt bad.
______
Sadly, it was time for me to go back to the real world.
I’d spent the last six weeks with Lucy and Eli so I wasn’t excited to head back to the nursing home even though we needed the cash.
I was almost broke and by the end of my first week, I dreaded the idea that I might have to ask Dad for help to get food until payday.
I hated asking anyone for anything. I never did.
That was what I had my credit card for. Besides, it was enough that they helped me with Lucy and now Eli while I finished up my last semester of the nursing program and worked.
The only time I hadn’t been with my babies in the last month and a half was for classes and it still sucked. One more month, and I’d be finished for good. My chest vibrated with excitement.
My entire class had our National Council Licensure Exam scheduled for the following Monday after we graduated— if we passed, but I knew I would.
It was exhilarating and nerve-wracking. I got a lot more time for studying lately than I ever had before, but being this close, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d fudge it up somehow.
That was why I needed to go to work and let Georgie tell me how I’d pass with flying colors.
I would miss the old woman when I finally left.
She was my rock while I was away from home.
There really were two different families when you held down a job—a work-family, and then the ones that were your actual world.
The work-family you didn’t really see outside of the job, but without them you knew you’d never make it.
You shared secrets, fears, comforted one another when needed.
There were things that I shared with Georgie that I couldn’t tell my mom.
Georgie came without judgment. Mom had plenty to go around.
Everyone there knew I’d be moving on this summer.
They were trying very hard to get me to continue at the home after I got my RN license.
As much as I liked them all, I couldn’t stick around.
I’ve always wanted to be at a hospital. It provided better hours and better pay.
I wasn’t greedy, but with two kids to feed I needed more cash.
Besides, I wanted a house too. All of these things required more money than what I had.
One more month. One more month.
I had it.
Lucy and Eli kept me going day-to-day, but this career… It pulled me out of bed every evening or whenever I caught a bit of sleep. I was a good CNA, and I would be an even better nurse. My kids would be happy because their mom stayed focused on the career she wanted.
I still had them. They still had me. They also still had their dad. Just not under the same roof.
“What do you think, Eli?” I peeked down at him in his car seat.
“Think mommy will pass her exam next month?” His response was a giggle, but I thought it was more like gas.
I hoped. “Lucy Evelyn Jameson,” I called out as I stood by the doorway to our apartment.
Lucy and Eli both had Scott’s last name. “What’s taking you so long?”
“God bless America!” she murmured as she stepped through the hallway carrying her shoes.
Despite us needing to hurry, I smiled. I got creative with cussing after becoming a mom.
Lucy was picking up on my sayings as much as she’d said it lately.
No one else I knew used the phrase like a cuss. “I can’t get these stupid things on.”
I sat the car seat down and bent on one knee.
“Come here, and I’ll help you.” She could put on her pants herself but still struggled with shirts and shoes all the time.
“See the Velcro is easy. You just peel it back, slip your foot in like that, and stick it in place.” I looked at her face to see her staring at mine.
“Were you even watching?” She smiled and picked her nose.
I dropped my head and groaned. “Okay, let’s go. ”
I got off my knee and grabbed Eli in his car seat, and double, triple -checked the diaper bag before opening the apartment door. “Did you get everything?” I asked Lucy before locking the door, and she nodded.
Every time I walked to my car, I searched for Elijah. The habit worsened after last week’s confrontation. The odd moment lingered in my head. I’d admit it wasn’t totally unpleasant, but his stare was unnerving.
I didn’t need the reminder that my breasts were huge. Men. At least men still noticed me in that way, right? Pathetic especially since I didn’t have the time to make myself pretty anymore. Nice clothes and makeup were just as rare as sleep these days.
Elijah’s truck wasn’t in the driveway, so maybe he wasn’t home yet. The usual gang of boys weren’t out tonight either—thank Heaven! That small reprieve was over when Eli fussed.
“Oh, fudgesicle. He’s hungry again!” Lucy said dramatically as I opened the back door and latched his car seat in.
“Go, get in your seat, and I’ll buckle you in.”
I should have planned our departure an hour ago. It was too late though to correct my mistake.
I adjusted the nursing pad inside my bra.
His tears were suddenly full-blown and caused me to leak like crazy.
I had my breast pump packed for this reason.
My boobs killed me when they were engorged.
Hopefully, it would get better in another week or two once my breasts knew exactly how much milk to produce for him.
“He’s breaking my eardrums,” Lucy informed me.
“Thanks for your commentary over there. How about you grab his bottle from the diaper bag?” I asked. Luckily, I came prepared for this. I had already made his next bottle before leaving and had some breast milk packed in a mini cooler to stay chilled until it could get to Mom’s fridge.
“You have it, not me,” she pointed out.
I blinked at my shoulder where it rested.
“Oh.” Kids did something to the brain. “Come here, Eli,” I cooed as I unbuckled and scooped him up.
I opened the driver’s side door and sat down with him.
By the time I found his bottle, he was screaming bloody murder, and my nipples were leaking with him.
Please don’t soak through my shirt before I can change the pads .
“Here you go,” I told him, and he latched onto the nipple right away.
“Finally,” Lucy muttered from her seat .
I fussed with Eli’s hair while he took his bottle, worrying about how he’d handle his first night away from me. A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it, and I wiped it away. This wouldn’t last forever, but it truly sucked when every fiber in my body begged to be with them. Always.
“Elijah’s home now!” Lucy piped in, and I turned my head to see his headlights.
“I see that,” I told her. “Don’t even think about yelling at him.”
“I told him I wanted more chips.”
I sighed. “You can’t go around asking strangers for things, Lucy. You know better.”
“He’s not a stranger anymore.”
That child.
“He sees me!” she yelled next. “He’s got a bag in his hand. My chips!”
“Lucy!” I called after her but she was already opening her door and rushing out. Bottle and baby in hand, I hurried out after her. “Lucy!”
I paused, eyes going round. He really had a bag in his hand and was coming our way.
He saw me and pulled the bag closer to his side as he stalked toward us.
His irises were like black orbs underneath the streetlight and even more intimidating.
Suddenly he was next to Lucy, offering her the grocery bag.
“I’ve had them in the truck all week. Just haven’t seen you until now. ”
She glanced up at me quickly. “Can I have them? Please?”
I sighed and finally nodded. “What do you say?”
“Thank you.” She beamed up at him. Kids were so simple.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I told him. I caught a peek of a lot more than one bag of chips in the bag he gave her .
He shrugged, gaze skimming over me quickly that time. “Are you a nurse?” he asked.
“CNA,” I replied, quickly adding, “But I graduate nursing school next month.” I didn’t have to tell him that. Why did I feel the need to do so?
He nodded, placing his hands in his front pockets. I tossed Eli’s empty bottle in the open door and laid him over my shoulder as I patted his back. Stepping closer, Elijah peered down at me and Eli. “What?” I said nervously, bouncing my left foot.
“You have something on your shirt.” His brows furrowed in the middle as he gazed down at… I followed his gaze to my chest.
“Your boobies are leaking!” Lucy screamed for the world to hear.
“God bless America!” I muttered. The milk had leaked through my pads and bra onto my scrubs.
I glanced up to find his eyes widening. “Oh, that’s…” He covered his mouth and waved his hand around. “Is that normal? Do they do that?” He sounded and looked amazed. You’d think I told him I went to outer space.
“It happens every time Bubby cries.” Why did my child feel the need to tell someone that? She paid too much attention!
“It’s normal when the baby cries or if they’re full.
It should stop soon though,” I quickly added to Lucy’s words, spine stiffening, heat spreading across my cheeks.
“Is it normal for grown men to ask such a strange question? Are you one of those that gets offended to see a woman breastfeed in public?”
“What?” His gaze traveled away from my chest, to Eli’s head, and up to my face. Elijah stepped away. He must have seen my embarrassment. “No. Fuck. Wow. I’m always making myself look like an— Shit!” He gawked at my chest again before he averted his gaze. “Sorry. ”
“It’s okay!” I said and closed my eyes, trying to control the level of embarrassment we were both experiencing.
I sighed and turned my gaze to Elijah’s.
“I know it’s strange for people that don’t have kids, especially guys…
” He looked up slowly. Now it was me turning my gaze from his.
“We’re good, you know? The chip incident is forgotten.
You don’t have to bring her anymore.” I gestured toward the bag and resumed rubbing Eli’s back.
“Are we good?” His eyes darted to Lucy for confirmation.
“I’ll take Funyuns every week,” she declared.
I sucked my cheeks in to keep from smiling. I was seconds from correcting her, when he replied with his own smirk. “You drive a hard bargain, kid. How many weeks do I have to do this before I earn your forgiveness?”
“Five!” She held out all five fingers and thrust them up toward him. “And it’s not kid. It’s Lucy. Say it with me. Lou-see. Lucy!”
“I’ll stop calling you kid when you stop calling me demon worshipper.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “I already know you’re Elijah.”
“All right, then it’s settled,” he said. “Lucy.”
She giggled, and he glanced at me. I quickly lost my smile. “We need to hurry,” I said to Lucy so Elijah would know. “I’m going to be late for work.”
He took another step backward, pinning me with a stare I couldn’t quite decipher. I thought I had him pegged as a jerk, but now he was a puzzle all over again. He couldn’t possibly be into me. That much was obvious. The only thing it could be was a guilty conscience.
I walked around the opened doors of my car and buckled Eli into his car seat. He let out a deep sigh. “Come on, Lucy.” I also caught sight of Elijah still standing there watching us as I grabbed her hand and led her around the car .
“Remember my Funyuns,” she told him.
“I’ll remember.” His voice was almost thoughtful when he spoke. After strapping her in, I shut the door and walked around again. “I’ll see ya around then.” He tossed his hand up.
I fidgeted with my hands before finally throwing mine up. “Okay. Bye.”
“See ya.”
See ya.
He really needed to stop saying that.