Fallen

“Headcount,” I spoke to myself while walking down the path. “Four lions, check. Two leopards, yup there they are. Five hyenas… the other two are in holding… I just saw him. Where, oh where are my bears?” I peeked around the enclosure, “One… two… there’s Melody, oh thank god,” I mumbled to myself and sighed out of relief.

I grabbed my empty food containers and headed up to the office to finish my report. I kicked my boots off and slipped my socks off my feet, then into my flip flops. I logged off the computer and reached into my bag, grabbing my car keys. I bid farewell to my coworkers and headed out toward my car. I needed to pick Carson up from daycare in an hour, so hopefully traffic wouldn’t be too bad. We were going to be having dinner with his best friend and his mom at our house later in the evening.

The drive to Carson’s daycare wasn’t as bad as it had been previous days. Damn the nice weather causing tons of people to flock to the city, wanting to see the animals at the zoo. I appreciated their support for my field, but the minute I was out of work I just wanted to be with my kid, not sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I pulled my car into park once I found an open spot in the parking lot, then walked inside to greet one of the teachers.

“Hey, Ms. Ridley, I’m here to pick up the little squirt,” I smiled at the red haired, mid-40’s woman who seemed to truly adore my son. I saw him sitting at the coloring table with a few of his friends, furiously scribbling away at something.

She smiled back at me, “What a surprise to see you so early in the afternoon!”

I laughed, “I know. I am surprised by that too… traffic has been a nightmare.”

“Momma!” Carson’s voice squealed out from the other side of the room. I looked over to see his little feet moving as fast as possible.

I crouched down and held my arms out, grabbing him in them and hugging him tight, “Hey, little man. Were you a good boy today?”

“Always,” he giggled while nodding. “I colored you a picture of a lion! You can bring it to work!”

“Thanks, bud,” I kissed his forehead. “Go get your stuff so we can head home. We have to go to the grocery store on the way. Remember Cash is coming over tonight to play and for dinner with Ms. Val?”

Carson nodded and bounced away from me, headed back toward the coloring table. After a couple minutes of him saying goodbye to all of his other three-year-old friends, he made it back to my side with the coloring page in his hands and his book bag on his back. He gave me a grin and grabbed my hand, ready to pull me out the door of the daycare.

“Say goodbye to Ms. Ridley, Car,” I gave him a look, telling him with my eyes that not saying goodbye to his teacher was rude.

“Bye Ms. Ridley!” He beamed at her, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Bye Carson,” she waved at him with a smile then turned her attention back on the other children in the daycare.

We got out to my car and I grabbed Carson’s book bag off his back, tossing it into the backseat. I then picked him up and hoisted him behind my seat and into his car-seat. My friend gave me so much crap years ago about how a jeep was not “practical” for having children… Me being me, I said “well that’s good because I don’t want kids,” yet here I was, four years later, with a kid in the backseat of my jeep. Carson insisted on buckling himself up now, but I always had to check after him. Once he was fully strapped in I climbed into the car, turning on the engine.

I turned to look at him, “Do you want a snack for the ride?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed and let out a small squeal when I handed him a bag of goldfish. He would get so excited over having a junky snack since I generally made him eat healthy during the day.

The grocery store with a three-year-old was always an experience. It would be a miracle if there were a day that we made it half-way through the store without a temper tantrum for me not letting him get something that I knew he wouldn’t eat, him not saying something that mortified me in front of other shoppers, or him trying to escape and run for his life. It had gotten to the point now that I almost always got a cart, just so that I could keep him contained. He hated the cart, but it was either the cart or I was going to put a harness on him and strap him to my belt. If I was just grabbing a basket, he would somehow manage to lose me in the store. I thought it was mostly because he enjoyed talking over the loudspeaker and looking for me. He always had a different explanation, though.

“I help,” he smiled at me and went to grab a bag of groceries to bring into the house. Of course, he always reached for the one that would be too heavy for him.

“Uh, uh, uh,” I took the bag out of his little hands before he managed to get it off the ground. “How about you carry the bread? Don’t drop it,” I smiled at him and handed him the bread bag. “If you drop it, there’s no grilled cheese for the next two weeks.”

“No grilled cheese!” He looked at me, fearful. He held the bag up high and marched into the house.

I shook my head, loading my arms up with the remainder of the bags so that I wouldn’t have to make another trip, and followed behind him. Carson climbed into a chair and watched me as I unloaded the bags and prepared dinner. We were just having something easy and that most kids would eat - spaghetti with homemade meatballs and sauce, and a side of garlic bread. I also had a salad for Val and I to eat. I was slowly trying to get Carson to like salad, but he preferred his vegetables cooked, and thought lettuce was the most disgusting thing.

The doorbell sounded and I walked away from the stove, reminding Carson not to go near it. I opened the door and it revealed Val with Cash down at her feet. He immediately gave my leg a hug, then ran into the house looking for Carson. I heard a crash and knew Carson jumped out of the chair. I looked over my shoulder to see him brushing the dirt off his pants and running down the hall toward his room. I’m sure the boys were going to be playing together until we forced them away for dinner.

“Thanks for having us over,” Val smiled and leaned against the counter as I stirred the sauce.

I smiled at her while I turned the stove off, “Anytime. You know that Carson loves when Cash comes to play. Those two just can’t seem to get enough of each other.”

She laughed and sipped her water, “Total best buds. How have things been since, you know? You won total custody?”

I nodded and started to make plates for everyone at the table, “It was way less of a mess than I was expecting. I guess I was hoping for him to act like a father and like he wanted his son in his life, but currently he’s too busy with his nineteen-year-old girlfriend to give a damn about Carson.”

“I’m sorry, Liv,” Val frowned. “Have you thought about getting back into the dating world?”

I shrugged and grabbed utensils, setting them out with the plates, “I’m just so busy between work and having Carson full-time. I don’t know if I have time to date someone right now. It takes such effort, and after all of this I don’t know if I’m ready to commit to doing that again.”

She nodded, “I understand. I just think it would be good for you to have someone to spend some time with outside of work, girlfriends and Carson. I know you rely on your parents to watch him when you want to go out with friends, but if you want to go out on a date you are more than welcome to have him sleep over at my house. Cash would love it, and River would probably like it, too.”

“Thanks,” I smiled at her and wandered off to get the boys.

Everyone started to dig into their plates with smiles on their faces. It was nice having Val and Cash over for dinner, and I knew Carson really loved having his best friend over for a playdate and spaghetti. With action figures at the table, of course. Those two were so engulfed in their own conversation and playing with their toys that they completely ignored Val and I.

“So, Jason and I are going to go on a vacation to celebrate our engagement,” Val said with a smile, putting her fork down. “Matt gets home from tour Friday, and was taking the boys for a week anyway, but now we extended it for two weeks. It’s going to be so weird not having them with me all the time anymore.”

She had told me that her ex-husband was the singer of a pretty popular band, and had been on tour for the last four months all over the globe. When he was home, they had shared custody of their two sons, and they spent every-other week with each of them. She and him were still close friends, which was something I wished would’ve been possible between me and Carson’s father.

“You’ll finally get to meet him,” Val laughed. “He’s heard all about Carson from Cash on the phone. I’ve forewarned him about the boys playdates every Wednesday, and that you’re a single MILF.”

I smiled, “I know Cash talks about Matt a lot, so Carson will be excited to meet him. He thinks it’s so cool that his best friends dad is in a band.” I hadn’t caught the rest of her statement, then it dawned on me, my eyes bulging out of my head, “Wait, what did you just say?”

“Nothing,” Val smirked and went back to eating. “Cash, you better take one more bite for Mommy or Spiderman is going away.”

Notes

New story!
Wanting a happier story away from Confession.
And a love-story that isn't like others I've read.

Will be updating this one as regularly.
Let me know how you feel about it and if I should continue!