He leads me to his bedroom, and we get under the covers, and I lay my head on his chest, still in my red silk dress. Lying in his bed with him feels normal. Like we have done it a million times before.
“I’m a good mom, right?” I’m trying not to let him get into my head, but he is. He’s making me doubt myself, and why should I? Who potty trained her? Who was there for her on the first day of school? Who helps her with her homework? Who feeds her every night? “Like you don’t think there’s anything he could use... that would make me seem unfit...”
“No. You literally do everything you can to support Emily and give her what she needs. You have a place to live, a decent job, and have been by her side the entire time. He can’t say that. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
I nuzzle into his chest, and a soft sigh erupts from my throat. Not everything is about sex. Intimacy has many layers, and this is just one of them. Just being there, present with the other person, and showing them you care, even with a subtle touch.
***
“MAMA,” EMILY SAYS,shaking me which wakes Damon up.
Crap. I didn’t think we would fall asleep.
“Oh my goodness, I fell asleep. Good morning, sweetie.”
“What are you doing in here?”
“Damon and I were up late talking. Guess we fell asleep. Sorry, sweetie.”
Emily smiles and pulls at my hand. “It’s time to make breakfast. My tummy is growling. Can’t you hear it?”
I look back at him with a smile and get out of bed. “We better feed this girl before... she eats us.”
He follows us into the kitchen as we rummage through the refrigerator.
“Cinnamon rolls. That’s perfect,” Emily says.
Damon preheats the oven and opens the rolled package. “Here you go. Put them apart for them to grow on this cookie sheet. Then when they’re done, we will let you ice them up.”
“Why don’t you go get dressed while we are waiting on these to be done,” I state.
He gets the coffee started and sits at the dining table. “Sorry...”
“No need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t plan on falling asleep either.”
The question looming in my mind is, what are we going to tell Emily? She must be wondering why we were in the same bed.
The oven beeps, and I slip the cookie sheet into the oven and set the timer for twelve minutes. They will be done and cooled before we will all need to leave.
“Has he tried calling you?” Damon asks.
“I had twelve missed calls from him when I checked my phone this morning.”
He isn’t going to leave me alone. Why did he show up now? After all these years? Maybe because of the holidays approaching? His parents weren’t very happy when he up and left us. For the first year, they kept in contact with me, but stopped after that.
“Maybe you should go down to the police station. See if there’s anything they can do. Just don’t think he’s going to let up, and you don’t want him showing up at your house in the middle of the night.”
Once the oven beeps, and we ice them, Emily and Damon sit down to eat while I get dressed.
Emily doesn’t waste any time before digging in.
“He just keeps calling me. Ugh. Why won’t he stop?”
We all sit around the table, eat breakfast, and then head out. It’s time to take Emily to school, and then drop me off at the high school on his way to the fire station.
Harper must be able to tell something’s wrong because the first thing she asks me is if I’m okay.
“Just a long night. Emily’s dad won’t stop calling me. He showed up at my place last night out of the blue. Wanting to see her after years of nothing. Jackass.”