Three days passed without a word from Kevin. He had mentioned that he had wanted to see me before he went. Foolishly, I constantly checked my cell, willing it to ring.
As for Jake, he had been a perfect angel since the spanking. He was almost too good. After punching out for the day, I headed downstairs to pick him up from the daycare.
He was waiting for me at the door, his eyes bright.
"MOMMY!" he shouted gleefully. I scooped him up.
"Hey booger. How was your day?"
He beamed. "I made daddy a Chwistmas present!"
My eyes widened. "You did."
He nodded and thrust a piece of paper into my hand. I shook it out.
One messy blue handprint stared back.
"I think your daddy's going to love this," I said gently. Jake nodded.
"Me too!"
After getting a rundown on the day from the teacher, we headed out to the car. Jake held onto his masterpiece proudly.
"Can we get some chicken nooooogets?"
"Not tonight buddy," I said.
In return, I got a full lip pout. I buckled him into the backseat and ruffled his hair.
"Mommy's actually going to cook tonight."
Jake's eye grew wide. "Woah."
I had gotten it in my mind sometime between getting seced up in the bathroom and noon when I had downed a bag of peanut M&M's that Jake and I needed to eat healthier. If I ever needed to walk down the red carpet with Kevin, I wanted him to have eye candy.
"Hey mommy?" Jake asked a few minutes later.
"Yeah?"
"When's daaaaa-ddy coming?"
"In two days."
"That's a long time!"
I laughed. Anything longer than two minutes was a long time in the world of a three-year old.
"It'll be here before you know it."
Jake kicked back in his seat and began to hum. The sound loosened the tension in my shoulders. I pulled up to the apartment humming along with him.
The rest of the night went by quickly. Jake helped me make some Jell-o to go with our homemade mac and cheese. After declaring I was 'the bestest cook ever' and taking a bath, I tucked him in and settled down next to his bed to read him a story.
"It was cold. Froggy woke up and looked out the window. "Snow! Snow!" he sang. "I want to play in the snow!"
Jake giggled. "Silly Fwoggy."
I smiled. "Go back to sleep, Froggy," said his mother. "Don't you know? Frogs are supposed to sleep all winter. Wake up when the snow melts."
And thus began the epic tale of Froggy, stubborn just like my own little boy. We watched Froggy get dressed, only to do it all over again when he forgot something important (like his underwear - Jake's favorite part, of course). By the time Froggy fell asleep, my own little hopper was cuddled up to me breathing softly.
"Good night, Froggy," I whispered. I closed the book and put it on his dresser.
I spent the rest of the evening watching workout videos On Demand. I was sweating like a pig but feeling good. I checked my phone.
Nothing.
"That's the last bag."
Lauren pointed to a big suitcase coming round the belt. I scooped it up and looked down.
"we're gonna need a cart," I said.
Lauren laughed. "It's all Jake's presents."
"True," I said. "Wait here!"
With my scarf flapping behind me, I ran over to a grouping of big metal luggage racks. Lauren laughed as I pseudo-surfed back to her.
"You're a goon," she said affectionately. we grabbed our bags and started loading up the cart.
I was hoping things were going to go well. I had tried calling Shay before we caught our flight and she hadn't picked up the phone.
In fact, she hadn't answered my calls for the last couple days.
"What kinda car did we get?" Lauren asked. O'Hare airport was bustling with people flying in or flying out for the holiday.
"We didn't have much choice," I said. Lauren arched an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
I smiled. "We got a soccer mom SUV."
Lauren laughed. "Just what I always wanted."
We were used to sports cars and leather. The SUV had worn woven seats and tons of cupholders. I opened up the back and started to toss in our bags. Lauren climbed in and hung over the backseat, watching me.
"It's roomy," she said.
"Well, at least it's got one thing going for it," I said. Snow was beginning to fall; it was about two degrees outside. My breath came out in large white clouds. I leaned in and kissed her. She pressed her gloved hand to my face.
"Mmm," she said lowly. I took her bottom lip between my teeth.
If it wasn't for the fact that the plane had arrived late, I probably would have found out just how roomy the backseat was. Instead I pulled away, gave Lauren a look of longing, and shut the door.
Laur had crawled up to the front by the time I hopped up into the driver's seat. I checked my mirrors and pulled the seat back.
"Ready to play Santa Claus?" I asked. Lauren nodded, the little pom-poms on her hands bouncing.
"Let's do it."
Thirty horrendous minutes later we arrived at Shay's apartment. Lauren was gripping the dashboard.
"Are we still alive?" she whispered.
"Traffic wasn't that bad," I said.
"Nick, you cut off a cabby and he stuck his whole body out the window yelling."
I laughed. "Yeah. Chicago's great."
I think we were both thankful to get out of the car. We each grabbed a suitcase full of presents. Lauren slipped her hand in mine.
I wondered if she was nervous. It couldn't have been easy for her to know that she was about ready to meet a woman that was now the mother of my child.
"She'll love you," I said. "Who couldn't?"
Lauren smiled. "Flattery gets you everywhere, Nick."
I opened the door for her.
"I know."
We took the elevator up. Laur fidgeted from foot to foot. When the doors opened, she hung back.
"C'mon," I urged.
Together, we walked to Shay's apartment. I jostled my suitcase, knocked, and waited.
"Are we early?" Lauren asked.
"No, we're actually late," I said. "What else is new?" I knocked again.
It seemed to take forever. Finally, the door swung open slowly and Shay peered out.
She looked horrible. Her eyes were red; her clothes and hair were a mess.
And she was clutching a big tub of chocolate chip cookie dough. Jake peeked between her legs.
"Thank goodness you'we here!"
