"Brayden! HURRY!"
Little pounding footsteps sounded above Nick's head and then he heard the rubber soles hitting the wood floor. Nick walked and met Brayden in the hallway, "You finally ready?"
Brayden nodded, "Yep!"
"Alright..come on."
Brayden nearly had to run on his little feet to keep up with his father. Nick was in a bad mood for some reason, and had been all morning. All Brayden knew was his dad got a phone call and then had told him to get ready and they were going to Orlando.
Nick settled Brayden in the backseat and got in, and pulled out of the driveway a minute later. "Daddy?"
Nick looked in the rearview mirror, "Yea?"
"Are you mad at me?"
Nick sighed and shook his head, "No, I'm not mad at you."
"You're in a bad mood.."
"Yea..I am."
"Why we goin' to Orlando? To see Brian!"
"No..not this time buddy.."
"Then..why?"
"Your mommy called..she wants to see you."
Brayden grew quiet then, and looked out the window. The car was silent as it rolled down the freeway.
Finally, Brayden looked forward again, "Mommy's coming?"
Nick nodded, "Yea..she wants to see you.."
"Why?"
"I don't really know.."
"Is that why you made me wear my good outfit?"
Nick smiled slightly, "Yea, buddy."
"Oh...is she going to come home with us?"
"No."
"Oh. Why not?"
"Your mommy hurt my feelings alot when she left..."
"Do you not love her no more?"
"I love her...I'm just not in love with her anymore."
"Oh."
Nick smiled a little and looked in the rearview mirror at him, "You'll understand when you get bigger."
Brayden nodded, "Okay."
"If you don't wanna see her...you don't have to. But, she just wanted to see you.."
"I wanna see her daddy..."
"Okay...just makin' sure."
The rest of the car ride was in silence, the radio playing low in the background.
Nick pulled into a McDonald's restaurant parking lot. He looked around but didn't see his ex-girlfriend, Kate, just yet.
He parked and got Brayden out of the backseat. Brayden began to pull back a little on his hand, "Daddy?"
"Yea?"
Brayden looked at the ground, "I scared.."
Nick knelt down to Brayden's level, "It's okay to be scared...you haven't seen her in a long time..but it'll be alright, I'm gonna be right there with you..if you don't feel comfortable, tell me and we can go, ok?"
He nodded, "Okay."
Nick leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead, "Alright..let's go, ice cream afterwards sound good to you?"
"Yea!"
"Alright, little man."
Brayden kept ahold of Nick's hand as they made their way into the slightly crowded fast-food restaurant.
Nick spotted his ex, Kate, sitting near the back of the restaurant. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and his heart, and walked over in her direction.
Kate was a year younger than him...but now..she looked so much older. Her dirty blonde hair looked thin and hung limply around her face, her once bright blue eyes were dull and surrounded by dark circles. She looked up as his shadow encased her, no smile crossed her face, she just stood up, "Hi."
Nick could only nod as he was a little speechless, but he managed to finally utter, "Hi."
Kate then spotted the little boy beside Nick. "Is that him?"
Nick looked down, Brayden had hidden behind his legs, "Yea...Brayden, come on out.."
Brayden poked his head out and a tenative smile crossed his face. Kate knelt down to his level and a smile finally crossed her face, although it seemed a little forced, "Hi there Brayden..do you know who I am?"
Brayden nodded a little hesitantly, "Yea..you're my mommy?"
Kate nodded, "I sure am.."
"You hungry buddy?"
Brayden looked up at Nick and nodded, "Yea..."
"Ok..sit right here and I'll go get you a happy meal..cheesebuger or hambuger?"
"Cheeseburger.."
"Okay...I'll be right back."
Nick went to stand in line and Kate helped Brayden sit at the table.
Nick kept looking over, just to make sure he was still there at the table. He didn't know why he was so jumpy...well, could be the fact that the woman had left him with a baby and then had just decided to pop back into his life without warning. Nick sucked in a breath and unclenched his fists...he was so angry..there were so many questions...and so little time to get them answered.
Nick got the food and took it back to the table and sat next to Brayden. He looked over at Kate who was on her way to chain-smoking through an entire pack of cigarettes. "Where you been?," Nick asked.
"Around."
"Oh..like where?"
"In L.A. for awhile..and New York...and New Orleans...was in Texas for a year and a half.."
"Are you living here?"
She shook her head, "No! I'm just passin' through, that's all."
"And thought you'd finally see the son you left?"
She glared across the table at him, "I didn't leave him Nickolas. And don't do this in front of him.."
"Bray, why don't you go play on the playground, we'll take your food home."
Brayden ran off without another word. Kate watched him as he played on the jungle gym with another little boy, "He looks good."
"I take care of him."
"He okay? Smart?"
"He's very smart Kate. Why'd you leave?"
"Because I wasn't ready to be a mother Nick...and..I wasn't going to be good for him."
"Why now?"
She shrugged, "I was passin' through...figured I needed to see him at least once.."
"So..this is the last time you'll see him?"
Another shrug, and she lit up another cigarette, "Who knows? Maybe when he's like..16 or so."
"16?! He's fuckin' four years old Kate! So you're just gonna pop back in to his life twelve years from now?!"
"Maybe..what does it matter Nickolas? I'm his mother."
"No..you're the woman who carried him for nine months and gave birth to him, but you are not his mother. If you were his mother, you woulda stayed around...you woulda got up with him in the middle of the night for those 3 a.m. feedings, or when he was sick...you would have been there for his first t-ball game or his first soccer game...I was. I've been there through all of that...you think I was ready to be a dad? I was twenty-one Kate!"
"Yea..and you were some big-time pop star who thought he could do anything and get any woman."
Nick rolled his eyes, "I never cheated on you and you know it."
"Whatever."
"Yea..whatever. Look at your son one last time, we're leaving."
Kate waved him off, as if dismissing him, "Whatever Nick.."
Nick stood up quickly, the chair being pushed back into the other table behind them, "Goodbye Kate."
Nick walked outside and found Brayden up at the top of the slide, "You ready to go get ice cream buddy?"
Brayden slid down and hopped into his father's arms, "Sure! Can I say bye to mommy?"
"Sure..come on.."
They entered the restaurant...and the table was empty. It looked as if Kate had never even been there. Nick's heart dropped as he watched Braydens' eyes fall and his lip trembled, "She gone?"
Nick looked around, kinda hoping she was still there, then he looked back to his son, "Yea...I think she is.."
Brayden sniffled, but did not cry, "Oh.."
Nick sighed and pressed a kiss to his temple, "Come on..we'll head home..."
Brayden was silent the entire ride back home. He didn't even want ice cream anymore. Nick had a major migraine beginning and knew nothing was going to get Brayden out of his funk. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Jordyn's number, over the past few weeks they'd become pretty good friends.
"Hello?"
"Hey Jordyn, it's Nick."
"Hey..what are you doin'?"
"Well..on my way home actually.."
"Did you and Brian have a basketball game?"
"No..umm...Brayden's mother called..wanted to see him in Orlando.."
"Oh..," She said quietly, then, "You okay?"
"I got a major headache..but yea..I think so.."
"How's the kiddo?"
"He's pretty upset...she left before he could say goodbye.."
"What a.....okay, I won't say it...want me to grab some Cookie Dough ice cream and Toy Story and head over?"
"Think it'll work?"
"Worth a try..I'll see you later.."
"Alright...and thanks."
"No problemo. Bye."
"Bye."
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