"Okay, so tonight you wouldn't be looking for clients. Tonight, you just need to have some fun.”
"I still don't know." I flop down on the couch. "There's still so much to do. I've been here for two weeks and haven't made a dent in what I want done."
"You haven't because you're too much of a perfectionist." She sits down beside me, whacking me with a throw pillow.
"I am not…" I go to argue when tiny little squeals circle around us. A brown teddy bear goes flying past our heads. The apple of my eye falls into my lap, and he plants a sloppy kiss to my cheek.
I mess his dark curls, and he shoves my hand away. “No, Mama. No.” He wags his little finger at me. He pinches his little brows together, giving me a look so serious, that I know he had to get it from the other half of his gene pool.
“Sorry.”
He gives me another wet kiss before he stands back up and goes running off with a screech.
Watching my son jet off without a single care in the world, and then eyeing my blank walls in front of me, it's hard to remember I used to be the person who had everything mapped out in each direction. I was supposed to finish college, start my career, meet a guy—the perfect guy—get married to said perfect guy, and we would buy a house together, I would decorate. Then after all that—eventually have kids.
Well, two pink lines threw that roadmap out the window.
I was suddenly a single mother, moving back in with my parents because I got drunk and forgot to ask the God of Thunder to wrap his hammer.
Though the second I held my little boy in my arms, with his full head of dark hair and piercing brown eyes, I no longer cared about my plans. Or the forgotten condom. My son, Matthew Levi, was my new path, and though it hasn’t been easy, I don't regret any of the steps I took to get him. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
It’s safe to say, Liam made good on his promise and made the night memorable.
My son zips past me again, this time with two cars in his hands. He slides across the wood floor making little puffing noises as he plays.
"I don’t understand where he gets all his energy from? Do you just feed him sugar?” Terry asks, watching my son run around, going from one corner of the condo to the next. He’s claimed each corner with his toys: His favorite Sonic plush in one, a pile of hot wheels, and a stuffed animal army strategically placed in the others.
“I don’t, thank you. He’s getting used to his new surroundings. He’s never had this much space to just run around in and claim space to. He’ll simmer down in a few days.”
“Do I get a hug, little man?”
Matty shakes his head and steps back from Terry’s open arms. “Na-uh.”
“Why not?” Terry fake pouts. Matty’s big chocolate eyes dance around the room, with a sly little smirk on his face. Terry goes after him, and he squeals, running off in the opposite direction.
“He’s seen me every day for the last two weeks and he still treats me like I have an infectious disease. I’m seriously hurt.”
“Stop. He’s just being shy. You know how he is.”
Terry tilts her head. “I brought him twenty new hot wheels. I should be his best friend.”
"You are, trust me. He loves his Aunty T. He just doesn’t know how to say it to your face yet.” I tease her. Matty is two and a half and shy as they come. He loves me and his grandparents, but everyone else it can take a long time for him to warm up to. Even if they bribe him with toys.
"Hmm. I guess I'll take your word for it. Now come on, let's go out tonight. My mom said she would come over and watch Matty. He loves her." She rolls her eyes.
"Only because she always brings over those double fudge brownies he loves."
"I knew the way to that little man's heart was food," she huffs. "But seriously, you do deserve a night out and we need to go."
"I don't know. You know Matty gets up before the sun. I still have to be able to function and there's still so much to do." I wave my hand around my unfinished living area.
"Stop making excuses."
"They're not excuses if they are true."
“You haven’t been out since you moved here."
She’s right, but it’s not like I have much of a social calendar. Terry is one of the few friends I still talk to. I lost touch with Amanda, or I should say I ended the friendship when she kicked me out of our apartment after finding out I was pregnant. A screaming child cramped her style.
And after all I did for her.
Terry offered me her place to crash at, but at the time, I wasn’t ready to raise a child on my own, so I moved hours away to be with my parents. As for my other friends, well, time, distance, starting my own interior design business, and being a single mother made things hard.
"And I wouldn't make you stay out super late. I'm pushy, not cruel." She crosses her arms.
"You got the pushy part right."
She stands from the couch and moves in front of me placing her hands on my shoulder. "When was the last time you wore that red little number I saw hanging up in the closet?"
I chew on my lower lip. "I haven't yet. I've been...saving it."
"Annnd tonight's the night. Let’s get out of these pajamas that you've been in all day and get your sexy ass in that dress.
