Nick heard the knock on the door and hurried down the long hallway to answer it. Jordyn stood there, in jeans and a plain t-shirt and sandals, her dark hair pulled back away from her face. She smiled and held up the ice cream. Nick smiled, "Hey."
"Hey..how's he doin'?"
Nick motioned for her to enter and closed the door after her. "He's real quiet...he's in the living room watching tv.."
She nodded, "Alright..I'll see what I can do to cheer him up...you okay?"
"Yea..I'm alright.."
He took the ice cream from her and walked into the kitchen to fix Brayden and him a bowl. Jordyn found Brayden sitting on the floor, indian-style, in front of the tv. She sat down next to him, "Hey you.."
He looked over,"Hi."
"How you doin'?"
He shrugged, "I'm okay.."
"Guess what I brought?"
"Hmmm?," He answered without looking at her again.
"I brought you and me and your dad some ice cream...Cookie Dough.."
"Ohh.."
"And..I brought 'Toy Story'."
"You did?"
"Uh huh...wanna watch it?"
"You goin' to stay and watch it too?"
She nodded, "Sure am.."
"Daddy too?"
"Yea..he'll be here..."
Brayden nodded and crawled up on the couch, "Okay.."
Jordyn smiled, "Alright...heard that you saw your mom?"
He nodded, playing with a truck he'd left there, "Yea...I don't think I like her.."
"How come?"
Brayden shrugged, running the truck over the arm of the couch, "She not nice."
"Oh.."
He looked up at her, "Does my mommy not love me?"
Jordyn's heart broke just a little bit for the little boy. He was such a sweet boy, with such a big heart. "Yes, I'm sure she loves you very much...maybe she just...doesn't know how to be a good mommy to you."
"She left without saying goodbye.."
"I'm sorry...but you know what I've learned?"
"What?"
"I've learned that you have to take some bad with the good..maybe she'll make it up to you somehow, you never know. But, I do know for a fact that your dad loves you a whole lot.."
Brayden nodded, "I know...can you put the movie in now?"
She nodded and got up, "Yea...I'll stick it in and go help your dad with the ice cream, ok?"
"Ok."
Jordyn stuck the tape into the VCR and left Brayden sitting onto the couch to go find Nick.
Nick was putting ice cream into three bowls. He looked up, "You want some right?"
She nodded, "Yea.."
"He talkin'?"
"A little bit..he seems a little better."
"Thanks Jordyn.."
She smiled, "It's not a problem...ready to be entertained by toys?"
Nick grinned, "Of course."
Brayden went to bed about nine that evening, after dinner, the movie, and ice cream. Jordyn and Nick sat out back by the pool. "You have alot of animosity towards her..," Jordyn said quietly.
"Yea..I do."
"Were you in love with her?"
"Completely.."
She smiled softly, putting her hand in the cool water, "I wish I had that.."
"You never been in love?"
"I thought I was..but he was a jerk."
"Oh."
She scrunched up her nose, "Yea...I shoulda listened to my parents and my brother...but noooo, I had to learn on my own."
"Sometimes you gotta learn from your own mistakes."
"Yea..I guess that's true."
"My parents didn't like Kate...they thought something was 'off' about her...but of course, I didn't listen.."
"What'd they say when you told them she was pregnant?"
Nick sighed and looked out past the pool, "They were..shocked. I was twenty-one, I wasn't anywhere ready to be a dad. But..they were supportive. They welcomed Brayden with open arms.."
"And after she left?"
"After Kate left..there was alot of anger towards her, still is. The only babies I'd been around were my siblings and relatives or whatever..I'd never had to take care of a baby that was totally and solely my own...I had no idea what to do. My mom practically moved in, and my sisters helped out alot since they had babysat kids and stuff...."
"Least they were there for you.."
"Yea...I thought for the longest time that my life was over. I had a kid and had to raise him by myself...and I had an awesome career...I had everything going and then all of a sudden, I didn't."
"Were you depressed?"
"Probably. He's my life..when he's not home, there's a big void...I feel like I can't function. When he's home, I have to get up on time and I have to keep the house clean and cook food and all that stuff...he can't do it...well, some of it he can."
"He's a good kid Nick, you've done good."
Nick smiled, "Thanks Jord.."
She nodded, "No problem. I better get home..it's gettin' late.."
"You workin' tomorrow?"
"No..actually, I plan on doing absolutely nothing. My brother has his kids for the day and stuff, so I'm going to lay around at home.."
Nick smiled, "Sounds good to me.."
Jordyn looked back as Nick walked with her down the hallway to the front door, "What are you doin' tomorrow?"
"Heading to Orlando in the morning after Brayden goes to school, we got some meeting or somethin' to go too."
"Sounds exciting."
Nick rolled his eyes but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Yea..it is."
"Well, I had a good time Nick."
"I did too..drive careful, ok?"
"I will, talk to you later."
Nick hesitated, and he didn't know why, but he smiled again, "Alright, see you later."
Nick made sure everything was turned off and locked before he walked upstairs. He checked on Brayden one last time and went into his own room to change for bed.
He didn't know why...but he almost felt as if he should have kissed Jordyn goodnight before she left. But that was proposterous...he didn't like her like that...did he? He ran a hand absently through his hair, he knew he should move on..Hell, he should have moved on a long time ago...but something seemed to hold him back. He wanted someone that was good for Brayden as much as they would be good for him. He sighed and stripped down to his boxers and staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. He frowned at the seemingly old man staring back at him. "You're pathetic..," He said quietly to his reflection. Not like it'd talk back...but he was pretty pathetic.
Suddenly, he was afraid that everything that had gone down with Kate had ruined him for any other woman. He was afraid he'd feel the same with any other woman...he'd start to question if they would stay with him forever or up and leave him like Kate did. He sighed and hung his head, he knew he was being stupid deep down...but the fears were valid.
He brushed his teeth and did his thing before going back into the bedroom and crawling into the bed, pulling the covers up and over him. He flipped off the light and laid back, staring at the designs the moon made on the wall through the curtain.
Nick sighed, his arms behind his head, he liked Jordyn. He really did. He liked her as a friend. She was smart, funny, nice, she could relate to kids great. Brayden loved to hang out with her, he especially loved it when she came over and brought a movie or two. She'd hang out with him like he was a real person, not just a kid.
Nick loved that about her.
Nick also liked her a little more than a friend, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She was gorgeous, the epitome of the woman he so desired to have in his life.
He groaned and rolled over onto his side, why couldn't his life be un-complicated for once? And why couldn't he of found Jordyn way back in the days before Kate? He would have been much better off...then at least, he would have saved himself some heartbreak.
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