12. Jax #2
Unfolding the towel, I wrap it around her small body before lifting her into my arms. “Let’s get you in a warm bath.” If she gets sick, Candice and Sophia will kill me.
I chuckle to myself as I walk into the kitchen with Maddie following close behind me.
She’s like my little shadow. Wherever I go, so does she.
I don’t know what the hell to do with her.
After she was bathed and dressed, I chopped up a banana for her to eat while we watched some television.
She squealed with delight when some stupid show came on the Nick Jr. channel.
Dora the Explorer . It was painful, but she seemed to enjoy it immensely.
“Wanna come to the shops with me, sweet girl?” I ask, scooping her into my arms.
“Yes,” she replies, clapping her hands. “Can Puppy come?”
“Yes, Puppy can come.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Candice’s number.
“Hey,” she says when she answers. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine, but you owe me big time for this.”
“I know. I’m sorry for dumping her on you.”
“To be honest, I’m enjoying having her here. She’s cute.”
“She is,” Candice replies with a sigh.
“I’ve gotta go and pay some bills, is it okay to take her with me?”
“Of course. Call past the shop and grab my car keys, it has the booster seat for Maddie in the back.”
“We’ll walk. It’s not that far.”
“Okay. Don’t let her out of your sight, and make sure you hold her hand when crossing the road—”
“I won’t let anything happen to her, Candice,” I say, cutting her off. I may be inexperienced, but I’m not stupid.
After doing what I need to do at the post office and the bank, we head back home. I love the feel of Maddie’s little hand in mine. It’s crazy how quickly this kid has wormed her way into my heart. She’s walked most of the way, but every now and then when I could see she was tired, I carried her.
“Hat,” she squeals when we walk past one of the shop fronts, which has a range of colourful caps on display in the window.
She has a fascination with my cap and is always taking it off my head and plonking it on her own.
When I spot a pink cap that says Princess across the front, surrounded by some sparkly shit that girls like, I decide to get it for her.
“You want me to buy you that hat?” I ask, pointing to it.
“Yes,” she squeals, clapping her hands as her pretty brown eyes light up. It makes me laugh.
The moment I pay for it, she puts it on her head, turning it backwards like mine. I kiss her on the cheek as we leave the shop. I didn’t think having her with me would be so enjoyable, but I’m loving my time with her.
Once we’re outside, I put her down and she automatically reaches for my hand. This kid is making me soft.
We don’t make it far. “Rice,” she says, pointing to the picture of the bowl of rice in the window of the Chinese restaurant as we pass.
“You hungry?”
“Yes … rice.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. Fried rice is my weakness. I love it.
We go inside and someone comes over to seat us immediately. I’ve eaten here a few times and while the place isn’t much to look at, with its mismatched furnishings, it’s clean and the food is amazing. Once we’re seated, the waiter gives us a few minutes before he approaches the table.
“Are you ready to order?”
I pick up the menu, and Maddie does the same. It makes me chuckle, because not only is the menu upside down, I know she can’t read. “Rice,” she blurts out.
“Boiled or fried rice?” The waiter looks at me for the answer. I have no idea what type of rice she likes.
“Ride rice,” she says. Fried rice it is then.
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Would you like something else?” I ask, Maddie, placing the menu on the table and looking over at her.
“Ride rice,” she answers with a smile. A girl after my own heart.
“Just the rice, thanks.”
I place a small amount of rice into her bowl and fill mine. Picking up my spoon in my left hand, I’m surprised when she does the same. I watch as she picks all the prawns out with her fingers, dropping them on the table beside her. “Yukky.”
I hate them too. I usually order my rice without prawns.
The smile on my face grows as she brings the spoon to her mouth and most of the rice lands in her lap.
“Do you want me to feed you?”
She frowns. “No!” Stubborn, just like her sister. “More rice,” she says a few minutes later, holding her bowl out to me. “Ta.”
Maddie eats a total of four bowls of rice before she’s finally had enough. For someone so tiny, I’m surprised at how much she can eat. After paying the bill, I lift her into my arms.
“Time to go home.” At least we’ve wasted a few hours. I have no idea what to do with her for the rest of the day. I hope I don’t have to sit through another episode of Dora.
“Down,” she says once we leave the restaurant. She babbles all the way home. Although I don’t understand half of the things she’s saying, I still listen intently.
She suddenly comes to an abrupt stop when we reach my place.
“Puppy!” she screams. When I see he’s no longer tucked under her arm, my gaze moves to the ground around her feet.
Fuck … no dog. We had him when we left the house earlier, and she insisted on bringing him.
“Puppy!” she cries as the first tears start to fall.
Lifting her, I hold her tightly against me. “It’s okay … we’ll find Puppy,” I say, rubbing my hand over her back to soothe her. It doesn’t help, because she’s openly sobbing now.
“Puppy lost.”
Fucking hell.
I head back in the direction we just came from. I rack my brain, trying to think of the last time I saw her holding it. I have no idea.
She’s still crying when we arrive back at the restaurant where we ate.
I place her on the floor and she runs straight for the table where we sat.
There’s a pile of rice on the floor where she was sitting, but no dog.
I hate to see what state she’s going to be in if we can’t find it.
I asked the waiter before we left if anyone handed it in, but nothing.
We head back to the post office next, followed by the bank.
Again, no Puppy. She’s absolutely beside herself now, and I’m starting to freak the hell out.
I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.
Her big brown eyes are brimming with tears and it breaks my heart.
I walk up and down the street, scanning the footpath as I go, just in case she dropped it, but to no avail.
What a disaster . I consider calling Candice, but I’m not game enough to do that.
I couldn’t stand dealing with two upset Crawford women.
“I’ll buy you another Puppy,” I whisper.
“No … my Puppy.” She cries into my chest and I feel like an arsehole for even suggesting it. It wouldn’t be the same.
Removing the pink cap from her head, I gently run my hand over her soft blonde curls.
I need to call Candice, maybe she can soothe her.
I’m no good at this kind of stuff. I’m pulling my phone out of my pocket when it hits me—the store where I bought the cap.
We didn’t look there. We cross the street hastily.
Entering the shop, I make my way to the counter. “Excuse me,” I say to the woman standing behind it, “you didn’t find a Snoopy stuffed toy by any chance?”
Smiling, she reaches under the counter and by some miracle, she pulls out Puppy.
“Puppy!” Maddie squeals as she reaches for him. She kisses it before hugging it to her chest. “P-p-puppy,” she whimpers, her tiny body still racked from all the crying.
“Yeah, we found Puppy, Peanut.”
I thank the lady, and as we leave the store, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Crisis diverted.