Chapter 6
They had such a wonderful time at the conservatory that he didn’t want the day to end.
There was a point when Harri started acting out, but Anna pulled her into her arms, and she fell asleep.
After about half an hour, she was awake and enjoying herself again.
That was when Anna said that they’d have to leave soon because Harri needed to have her dinner.
He didn’t mind that he was being shackled down by not just one but two women when he thought about it.
And when they ended up getting fried chicken at a chicken place so that Harri could have strips, he enjoyed his dinner alongside Anna and laughed until he thought he might hurt from it.
He’d had the most fun all day and wasn’t looking forward to going home to his own little condo and missing out on bedtime for the little girl.
“We had fun. And thank you for not buying her everything in the store. That would have been hard to explain to her that she couldn’t take it all home.
” He said he thought that he’d done fairly well in only buying the butterfly stickers.
“Yes. I know you wanted to buy her the backpack too, but she wouldn’t be able to wear it at school, and that would have been a waste of money for her.
She doesn’t care that she doesn’t need everything so long as you break it down to her level of thinking. ”
“I’ll have to remember that for next time.
” He was at her house, and he was surprised to know that it was only a rental for her.
The for-sale sign out front had her worried, she told him, as she didn’t know if the people who bought it would want it as their home or a rental.
“I can imagine that would be hard, renting a whole house. I’ll have to be more careful in the future for when I buy houses to make sure that the renter will be taken care of when I’m done. ”
“You have money.” It wasn’t a question, but he told her that he did.
“We have a little saved up, but not enough to buy a house. It’s going to be hard for a couple of months to get used to paying a car payment, but we’ll be fine after that.
I’ll just have to pick up some more time at the post office.
” He started to say that he could help, but caught himself in time.
That he knew would piss her off, and he didn’t want to ruin a perfect day with her and Harri by being himself again.
Instead, he decided that if she needed anything from him, he’d wait for her to ask.
She had a good job and a good head on her shoulders, so he wasn’t worried about her having a financial crisis right now.
But he would help her if she asked. He really didn’t think that she would, though.
After following her home to make sure they got there all right, he headed to his own home.
He’d not used his cell phone all day, only to take pictures, and thought that he’d enjoy looking at them later tonight.
His mom had messaged him once to ask him how things were going and then later that evening to tell him that she loved him.
It was an end to a perfect day, he thought, and he couldn’t wait until he got to see Anna and Harri again.
He called his mom to tell her what they’d done all day.
“I have some pictures of Harri for you, too.” He sent them while he was talking to her.
“She’s beautiful and so smart. I think she has a better vocabulary than most four-year-olds because her mother talks to her like she’s an adult.
She’s not afraid to bust her on her bottom, too, when she gets a little lippy.
I wanted to defend her, but I’m staying out of that for now. ”
“Good. You don’t want to step on her toes since she’s been on her own for so long.
” He said that they work well together. Then he told her about how Harri had gotten her name.
“Oh, that poor girl. To have to raise up a child when she was no more a child herself. That’s so sad about her husband, too.
I wonder if she found him or not. That could be why she distrusts so much. ”
“I’m the reason that she distrusts me. I blame that fully on me.
But once we talked, I had a wonderful time with her.
We went to get dinner together, too. I’ve never had so much fun.
” He was grateful that his mom didn’t say she told him so, but he could tell himself.
Once they were off the phone, he took a shower.
He was feeling the effects of the day and wanted to go to bed.
He’d been going since before seven this morning, and he was worn out.
After making him a bowl of cereal, he ate it at the counter and rinsed out his bowl.
He was going to have to get himself a house soon, even though he had a three-bedroom condo.
It would be crowded with the three of them in it, as it only had one bathroom.
Still thinking about how big he’d need, he got online and looked homes up.
There was plenty to choose from, but he knew nothing as to what Anna and Harri would want in a home.
After an hour of shopping, he headed to bed.
It was nearly midnight when he thought of Anna again and smiled.
She’d been nice to him all day, and there were a couple of times when he knew she wanted to hit him.
But he was learning about having a daughter in his life and a seemingly endless supply of money.
He didn’t want her spoiled any more than her mother did.
Waking at seven, his usual time to get up, he was at work at eight.
He was in such a good mood that he didn’t mind running the church crowd and was happy to be there when they started pulling out of the lot.
Once a week, they had to control traffic at the local church, and he knew that today the sun was shining in his favor.
Getting the traffic flowing in the right direction made him feel good.
There hadn’t been a fender bender, nor did there seem to be any harsh words over having to stop people from making the streets too overcrowded.
At lunch time, he called Anna. She said it was laundry day and that she and Harri were getting their clothing separated out.
He knew how to do laundry, too, and wondered what it would be like to have little things in his wash.
He still marveled at how much Harri looked like a shrunk-down version of her mother.
Even their shoes matched when they went out.
“I have to change sheets too, so that takes us a bit longer than normal. I usually do them on Saturday, but we were busy all day yesterday, so I’m a day behind.
” He said that he has a service come in and do his house twice a week, so he didn’t have to worry about it.
“That must be nice. I’ve never been able to afford someone to come in and dust, much less clean my house for me.
But Harri is neat as a pin, so I don’t have much to worry about. ”
He noticed that she did put her things in her backpack when she had them.
So she’d not lose them, she’d told him. When she’d had to explain to him about the character on her pack, she did it in a way that didn’t make him feel stupid.
She’d told him who she was and how she related to some of the things on the shows that she watched.
Harri even had him look up the cartoon so that he’d have a better understanding.
He was falling for the kid hard and wondered what it was going to do to his heart if he and her mother couldn’t work things out.
Suddenly, he was speaking to the little girl.
“I had a lovely time yesterday, and thank you for not making me cry.” He told her she was very welcome and that he’d had a good time too. “Most adults hear that mommy has a kid, and they run away. You didn’t, so good for you.”
Laughing when she handed the phone to her mother, he told her what was said.
He could hear Anna telling Harri to watch herself, and that was the end of it.
He wondered what it would be like to have an entire family of little Harri’s running around and decided that he couldn’t do any better than that.
She was the perfect little girl for his family, and he wished he’d gotten to know her better the week before.
He felt like he’d missed some really good times.
After lunch, he was still feeling good about the day and wondered if they’d allow him to pick them up for dinner tonight.
Then he remembered that Harri had school tomorrow and would need to get into bed earlier.
He would, too, as he was feeling the effects of not getting a full eight hours of sleep last night.
But still, he might go by with a pizza or something just to be able to hang out with them.
“I was wondering what you’re doing for dinner tonight.
I know that we all have to work, so I was wondering what time I could bring over a pizza.
” She didn’t say anything for a few moments, and he was worried that he’d overstepped his bounds.
But she told him that they usually ate at six so that she could be bathed and in bed by nine.
“I can do that. Do you want a salad to go with your pizza? I usually have one when I have it. The place where I’m going to pick up has the best house salad dressing. ”
“That sounds heavenly. We’re headed to the grocery store in town now.
I have to pick up Lunchables for her lunch for the week.
” He said that he got off at four today and would be there at six with the pie.
“No sodas, however. I don’t like her to have them, so I’ll pick up some juice too.
What do you want to drink? You can have soda, but she can’t. I’m brewing tea for the week, too.”
“I’ll have tea then. That sounds really good.” He told her that he didn’t drink it sweet when she asked him. “Is that all right? I can drink it if that’s what you’re making.”