Fallen

Carson was driving me out of my mind for the past two hours, exploding with insane amounts of energy and was all go-go-go. Never fucking again am I letting him stay home on a weekday off, I muttered to myself as I followed the loud bang down the hallway toward his room. I entered the room, immediately cutting my eyes at the little boy who was standing on his bed with a “oh shit” look on his face. His dresser knocked down, the television that sat atop it was on the floor, too.

“That’s it, Car. You’re going to GiGi’s,” I barked at him. “Get your shoes on and be in the living room in five minutes or I’m beating your ass.”

“Yes, Momma,” he said, getting off the bed and holding his head low. I didn’t like to threaten him, especially with a curse word, but it got the point across and now he knew that what he did was bad.

I ran my hand through my hair and walked away, heading toward my bedroom and letting out a deep breath. I looked in the mirror and shook my head at my reflection. I had been cleaning the house all day, between chasing after Carson and his mischievous behavior, and looked like shit. My hair was a frizzy disaster, half up in a bun the other half falling down my neck. I had no make-up on, and my glasses sat atop my nose. I was in a old t-shirt from college that had bleach stains, and a pair of Brandon’s sweatpants that really needed to be thrown out. I took annual leave this week, having an entire week off to myself before I would have to work the weekend again since I was covering for a coworker. Today was day one of it, and I most definitely was not going to be having the little shit home with me for the next four days.

“Momma, I’m sorry,” Carson’s voice spoke from my doorway and I turned to look at him, his face red and tear-stained. “I didn’t mean to knock it over.”

“Yes you did, bud,” I gave him a small smile and squatted down. “Come here,” I extended my arms and he came over, wrapping his small ones around my torso as I pulled him into an embrace. “You can’t knock things over like that. What if it fell on you?”

“I would be hurt,” he sniffled out.

I nodded and kissed the top of his head, “And then we’d have to go to the hospital. I don’t want to go to the hospital, Car. I need you to behave. I kept you home today because you were going to be a good boy while I got stuff done.”

“I know,” he pulled away from me, but still looked at the ground. “Do I still have to go to GiGi’s?”

“Sorry kid, but yes,” I laughed and stood up, ruffling his hair. “Hop up on the bed. I am going to shower and then we will go.”

I helped Carson onto my bed and he nuzzled himself under my sheets. I headed to the bathroom and showered quickly, then ran a brush through my hair. I changed into more acceptable clothing, a pair of leggings and a sweater. When I exited the bathroom, Carson was in a better mood and much more willing to go to GiGi’s house. The drive there was nice, as Carson talked to me about what he had learned at school last week and how he was excited that Cash’s birthday was next month. He and Carson were exactly two months difference in age; Carson being a hair younger. Once we pulled up to my mom’s he nearly leaped out of the car and darted into the house looking for Bentley, her doberman. I knew he wanted a dog at home, but I just didn’t have time right now.

“You want to stay for a while?” My mom asked me with a concerned look on her face as I started to walk out the front door. “Talk over some coffee?”

I shook my head, “No. I just have a million things I wanted to get done today, and they’ve all gotten pushed back by five hours because he’s bouncing off the walls. Thank you for watching him and I’ll come pick him up later.”

“Are you sure that this stress has nothing to do with a certain child’s dad?” She raised an eyebrow, now looking at me questioningly.

She wasn’t wrong. I was thankful that Val had the kids last week. I stayed the night with Matt after we had slept together, and was once again woken up to breakfast and three children waiting patiently for me to arrive in the kitchen. As soon as we were done breakfast I had an excuse as to why Carson and I had to leave, then he called me three times within the two days after that. I didn’t answer, and he stopped calling. I hadn’t heard from him since. Val and I had our discussion about Kennedy on Wednesday, and she affirmed to me that Matt did sleep with Kennedy a handful of times. She felt that Matt was actually interested in me, and thought I was being childish by being ashamed of sleeping with him, and not wanting to continue on romantically with him. I didn’t like the situation that he was in with Kennedy, even if she is a shitty, all-California mother. No one deserves to be strung along with their feelings involved, although Val says Matt made it clear from the start that it was just sex and nothing else. I was nervous for the boys play-date on Wednesday. I didn’t know what to expect from Matt.

“I promise you,” I laughed and hugged my mother. “I’ll be back around dinner time. Make sure you have a plate waiting for me.”

“Always,” she smiled and let go of me.

I made a few pitstops on the way home… once at Target, once at the pet store to get a new training pouch since Melody got ahold of mine last week and tore it apart, and then I stopped for McDonald’s like the champion I knew myself to be. Sometimes you just have to indulge in a McDonald’s coke, and that’s okay. I pulled onto my street and noticed a familiar truck parked in front of my yard, next to the entrance to my driveway. My stomach instantly twisted when my eyes fixated on the person standing at my front door, their hands shoved in their pockets and a backwards hat on their head.

I pulled into the driveway and hopped out of my Jeep, grabbing the couple bags from my passenger seat and my Coke. I slammed the door and made eye-contact with him, raising an eyebrow, “In the neighborhood and just stopping by to say hello?”

“Stopping by to see why you’re avoiding me,” he said while licking over his lips. “Val said you took the week off.”

“I did,” I responded and walked past him, unlocking my front door. “Doesn’t mean you can just show up unannounced, Matt.”

He sighed and followed me in, closing the door behind himself. I put all the bags down on the kitchen counter and looked at him. He bit his lips, shook his head, then pursed his lips, “I’m sorry if you felt like things went too far that night. I wasn’t expecting that to happen, and I certainly wasn’t expecting a reaction like this from you after-the-fact. I just want to apologize if I made you at all uncomfortable.”

“I started it,” I sighed. “I’m the one that kissed you when I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have drank as much as I did. It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to apologize. It takes two people to have sex. I wanted it in that moment, and wasn’t thinking about consequences.”

“Consequences?” He asked while coming toward me, hopping up on my counter and looking at me. “What consequence came from that?”

“Awkwardness,” I responded. “Our relationship now. Cash is Carson’s best friend, and this just causes a really strange, awkward situation. I hope that we can move past it, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know that I fucked my son’s, best friend’s father.”

Matt looked at me like I had three heads, “Awkward? I wouldn’t say it’s awkward. Maybe a little too soon, but that’s all. I would’ve preferred we waited until the right moment and it was just the two of us, but I don’t regret it.”

I leaned against the refrigerator to help hold my body up as I listened to the words Matt said, a puzzled expression across my face. Was he saying…? No, he couldn’t be.

“Okay, if you’re going to stand there and look at me like that I’ll just flat out say it,” he laughed. “I like you. I like you a lot, actually. I know I’ve only been home for two months and we’re still getting to know each other, but I’m interested in making this more than just Carson's best friend’s dad. If you’re not, speak now so I can research another way to schmooze you into the idea of dating me.”

My cheeks had to be crimson as I smiled, my teeth gnawing down on the inside of my cheek. Val was right. Matt was into me; into us. I just had to get the idea of all men being pigs out of my head and allow myself to give into him. “I don’t regret having sex with you, and I like you a lot, also.”

“I know you do,” he smirked as his body language became more comfortable and composed. “How about we go back to taking it slower? What are your plans for the week?”

“What if I don’t want to take it slower,” I said quickly, moving myself closer to him. I leaned against his knee and looked up at him, taking a sip of my Coke as he grinned at me. “Are you not recording this week?”

“Taking a couple days off for mental health,” he said and tapped his right index finger on his temple. “We’ll have to figure out something for the boys on Wednesday, but maybe Thursday would you be able to have your mom watch Carson? I’ll drop my two off at my parents for the night. I’ll take you out and maybe we can have a full night alone together for once?”

I put my Coke back down on the counter and smiled up at him, resting my hand on his thigh. “That would be nice. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind. I kind of dished Car off on her today because he was driving me crazy. She likes having the little shit around,” I laughed.

“It’s a date,” Matt smiled and leaned down toward me. His lips caught mine momentarily before he pulled away with a grin, “Literally.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him playfully, walking away, “You’re something else, Sanders.”

Matt spent the rest of the day with me, mainly watching television while I cleaned the kitchen and living room. We had ordered Chinese take-out, which he went to grab while I continued my cleaning rampage. As soon as he got back with the food, I found myself sitting on the couch with him, his arm slung over my shoulder as I leaned back with a full belly. We watched some random Lifetime movie; the usual about a woman killing her husband and then trying to get away with it. At some point we both dozed off to sleep, changing positions, I guess.

I woke up on the couch long-ways, being the little spoon with Matt behind me, his left arm tucked under my head and his right wrapped around my waist, holding me firm against his chest. My head was resting on his colorful bicep, as his arm was bent at the elbow, his wrist resting against my forehead. I could hear soft snores escaping Matt’s lips when I finally became completely coherent from my slumber. I reached for the remote as delicately as I could, just wanting to see what time it was. We were asleep for about two hours, seeing as it was now pushing four o’clock in the afternoon.

“Stop moving,” Matt groaned quietly as his arm tightened around me, holding me into place.

“Matt, it’s almost four. You’re going to have to go pick the boys up soon,” I turned in his arms, now face-to-face with him. His nose was scrunched up, his brows were furrowed. It was obvious he didn’t want to be awake. I couldn’t imagine how much sleep he was missing from being in the studio for the last week straight. I poked his chest, “Time to wake up, sleeping bear.”

“Ten more minutes,” he huffed and lowered his right arm, resting it on the small of my back.

“You have to be there in thirty-five minutes,” I laughed and now poked his nose. “Get your big ass up.”

His eyes opened and hazel met brown, a soft smile creeping onto his pink lips. He leaned forward and kissed me lightly again, my body nearly melting in his arms. He rubbed my back lightly as I pulled away, resting my head on his arm again. He sighed, “I could get used to waking up to your beautiful face, Aidan Elizabeth.”

Notes

So Liv is going to give Matt a chance!
Thank god for Val, right?

Please leave feedback!
Hope you guys enjoy.

Update on Confession will be posted tomorrow; I was out of town all weekend.
Someone on Mibba is now using almost the exact same plot for their Matt story... *insert angry face here*