Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Like Old Times

"Macy," I said for the third time as I shook her shoulders trying to wake her up. Finally, she grunted and rolled over away to face the wall. I sighed and started again, "Macy, getup."

"Why?"

"Because you have school today. You're not missing it. You've worked too hard to get to this point. Now get up and get a shower, kiddo."

She groaned and slid out of bed. With her head down and her arms hanging limply at her sides she stumbled into the bathroom giving a large, loud yawn before slamming the door behind her.

After her shower, she came downstairs to find a plate of food waiting for her. "Ham, eggs, toast. Breakfast of champions. And, by the way, I'm picking you up from school today because we're going to spend some time together."

Macy paused with a mouthful of food to look up at me, after a moment of thought she nodded her head with approval. Macy’s school lets out at three which gave me a few hours to spend some quality time with an old friend. And that was my first stop after dropping Macy off.

Mary Jane opened the door with a smile on her face. "Come on in, handsome.” Katelyn was at school, and Derrick was busy with making up the schedules for the club this week. “I’m so glad you wanted to spend the day together. We haven’t had a day to ourselves in forever.”

“I was hoping maybe we could hang out here and talk a little before we go out to do some shopping?” I wanted to get MJ’s opinion on things with Lanie.

“Of course. Sit down, and I’ll make us a glass of iced tea.” Her house was immaculate for having a six-year-old. Katelyn wasn’t a normal six-year-old kid though. She learned to be fabulous from her Uncle Cameron, she’d grown up without a mom, and she was the least spoiled child with the sweetest disposition in the world. It was easy to see how Mary Jane took on the responsibility of being her mom without a second thought.

Instead of paintings or even family pictures, the walls were adorned with framed drawings that Katelyn had done during the years. It was kind of cool to see how they progressed from abstract art to a family photo that I noticed had a date shortly before Derrick and Mary Jane began dating.

Mary Jane returned, and I pointed at the picture confused, “This date…”

“It’s wild isn’t it? Derrick noticed it a few months back. It’s like she predicted we’d be together. The mother is even holding a pink flower that resembles a carnation, my favorite.”

“I knew that the kid was special. Thanks,” I said as I took the glass from her and had a quick sip before setting it on top of the coaster on the coffee table.

“How are things with Lanie?”

“That’s one reason I wanted to talk. We’re on a break…whatever that means.”

“Why?”

“Angel. She…um, Lanie that is, said she wants me to focus on helping Angel. She said that having a relationship on top of that would be too much to handle. Do you think it’s an excuse for her? She said she loved me, but I mean, maybe she isn’t interested in me as much as I thought?” Mary Jane snorted as she took a gulp of tea. I had no idea what could be making her laugh.  “What’s so funny?”

“When I dropped Katelyn off this morning I ran into Lanie. She asked about Angel, Macy, even Cameron before she finally asked how you were. She’s into you, Tristan. No doubt in my mind. It was as though she were scared to ask about you. She kept dancing around it. I knew something was up but figured you’d tell me if you wanted me to know. Take the time she offered and use it wisely with Macy. She needs you right now. Trust me, Lanie isn’t going anywhere soon. I waited two years in the hope that I’d be with Derrick. After everything we went through, look at us now.”

“Whoa, slow down MJ. We’re nowhere near marriage and kids,” I grew nervous at her comparison of this happily ever after life she had now. My bachelor side wasn’t sure I was ready for such a strong commitment. My bachelor side and romantic side are at odds currently on what I should do.

“I only meant that some things are worth the wait. And since we brought Angel up, I need you to keep me updated on her progress. I hate that I can’t see her for a whole month. When it’s time for visitor’s day, let me know, and I’m going to send a letter with you each time.”

“She’d like that. We thought that adding too many siblings would be a bit suspicious. Plus,” I paused nervously for a moment and then finished, “She’s not comfortable around you right now.”

Mary Jane nodded her head sadly, “I know. I understand why, but she shouldn’t feel guilty. We’re fine,” she commented as she placed her palm against her swollen belly. “This little guy is a fighter. He’s rooting for Angel too.”

“He?”

She giggled, “Yep; you’re the first to know. We’re telling Ashton and Gracie over dinner tonight. Derrick said it’d be fine if I told you today. Hand me my purse.”  She pointed at a maroon bag next to the couch. When I handed it to her, she pulled a picture from the front pocket and gave it to me. “That’s our little Craig Jacob Collins.’”

Noticing the middle name I had a little laugh, “Hey it’s like a piece of me in there. How’d you come up with the name?”

“Well, Craig was Derrick’s father’s name and we thought Jacob because of your last name. Plus we could call him CJ, which is like my nickname.”

“Seriously?” I was beyond shocked. “Why me?”

“You mean a lot to both of us. You were there for me every step of my first pregnancy. I couldn’t add your name to that baby because it wasn’t mine, but this one is.”

Again I was astonished. This woman had a knack of doing that to me. “I’m truly honored, MJ.”

She gave me a grin with ulterior motives behind it, “I’m glad, can we please go shopping now?” I knew that a grin like that had double meaning. Mary Jane had been aching to go shopping for the baby’s room. Gracie had been too busy with work and family to go with her, and the guys were busy with the club, so I was the only one left due to Angel’s current predicament.

“You’ve been very patient. Come on, let’s go purchase everything blue we can find.” She cheered as I helped her up off the couch.

The baby superstore was bigger than I imagined it would be. There were two long aisles for diapers alone. Mary Jane grabbed four jumbo packages off the shelf.

"I thought we were getting the décor today for the nursery?"

"These diapers are on sale, better to stock up now. Ooh, grab that multi-pack of wipes too." My eyes followed her index finger to see the stack of baby wipes wrapped in a cellophane of four packs. I grabbed them off the shelf and threw them in the cart.

She dragged me to the cribs where she cooed over a cherry convertible set that apparently meant that the bed was like Optimus Prime in that it looks like a crib but transforms into a toddler bed later. We grabbed the bar code for that one so they could scan it at the front. Next she snatched the barcode for the
Terminator
of strollers. It would lead you to safety ('Come with me if you want to live'), and it was a shiny silver. Comparing the items to
Transformers
and
Terminator
made me feel a little more manly.

The manliness was about to be stripped from me as we went into the clothing section. "Look at these tiny socks!" Mary Jane exclaimed. She went through about a million more exclamations over every outfit she lifted.

"I'm getting this one for you," I commented holding up a onesie that had a bat symbol on the front with a small cape on the back.

"That is so cute! Derrick will love it!"

"Great. Batman makes me feel a bit more masculine here. So can we go now?"

Glancing over the cart, Mary Jane made a sour face and said, "Ooh…yeah, we probably should. I think I might have gone over budget a little."

She'd gone over budget by over three hundred dollars, so we put back everything but the crib and a few decorative items for now. Next we went to the home improvement store to choose paint for the new room. Macy and I would be helping MJ and Derrick by painting. It was the least I could do to show them my gratitude for helping me so much with Macy.

We, well I, unloaded everything into the house, storing most of it in the guest bedroom until the nursery remodeling began. Currently, it was a plain room with nothing on the walls and a tarp covering the floor. Derrick was building shelves on one wall to hold toys and books, etc.

I lined the paint cans up against the opposite wall from the shelves. The color MJ had chosen was called clear blue sky. The names of paint colors were always weird to me. This one made sense; it was the color of a clear blue sky. However, there was one called Iceberg which I didn’t get. I did take advantage of the name to call out, "Iceberg, right ahead!" From
Titanic
, which elicited an eye roll and a snort of laughter from Mary Jane, but didn’t convince her to buy it. Something about the thought of all those people drowning in freezing water wasn’t what she wanted to think about when she walked into her baby's room. Go figure.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sibling Chivalry

Macy ran to the car turning once to wave goodbye to her friend Carter. It was nice to see they were speaking now. She slid into the car, her face aglow with excitement. "Did you have a good day?"

"Carter asked me out again," she squealed. 

"Great, see I told you it'd be fine. Guys are just putzes when it comes to dating. When's the big date?"

"This weekend. He wants me to go to the homecoming dance with him.  I know you have plans for us today, can that include buying  a new dress for the dance?"

I cringed at the mere thought of more girly shopping. "Of course, squirt." There were only a few women in my life that could convince me to go shopping. Macy could ask me for the moon, and I'd do my best to get it for her. She was the only blood family I had left, and she had been through too much in her young age for me to deny her anything. "First, let's stop and pick up an expert in that area."

The expert in question was none other than Cameron McIntosh, our very own 'Forget calm, be fabulous' teacher. When I asked him to join us for a day of shopping for dresses, he was elated. Gracie asked to come along as well, so they were waiting for us at her house. “You two are sure you don’t mind the three of us joining?” Gracie asked, including Autumn her one-year-old as part of the group.

“We’re excited to have you guys. Give me that little one,” I said, scooping Autumn up into my arms and making faces to make her giggle.

Gracie stepped away for a moment and came back, “Damn. Ash got his harness out of the car instead of mine. It looks like we’ll have to lug the stroller.”

“Harness?” I asked curiously.

“It’s a backpack for Autumn. His is too broad for me. We usually take those so that we can carry her on our backs without having to lug the stroller around.”

“I can wear it if it helps.” I offered.

“You sure it won’t make you feel unmanly?” Gracie teased.

“Carrying this beautiful girl on my back? There’s nothing manlier than a dad, right?” I meant it. Since I’d raised Macy for so many years, I couldn’t wait to be a dad one day. Well, I can wait because I’d like it to be a few years down the road after marriage, but when it does happen, I’ll be ready and excited.

Gracie made sure the harness worked by slipping it over my shoulders and letting me bounce around the living room with Autumn to test it. “Fits you as well as it does Ash,” Gracie said.

“Luckily the smaller muscles don’t hinder me.”

She laughed, “He is a bit of a beast, isn’t he?”

Cameron whistled, “Yoo-hoo. Enough bragging about your sexy beast of a husband! We have shopping to do!”

It took about ten minutes to load the car with all the stuff we had to haul around for Autumn. Then another five minutes to get her car seat locked into a safe position in the back with Gracie and Macy on either side of her. 

We took Gracie’s minivan so that there would be plenty of space. I’d never felt more like a soccer dad in my life. The feeling wasn’t as comforting as I thought it would be; it was a little scary. In a way, it made me glad that Lanie and I were currently on a break. The utter fright of settling down crept into me quickly making me doubt that I’m ready for a committed relationship like I thought I was.

“You ok there, Tri-stud?” Cameron asked, obviously noticing my scared gaze ahead.

“Yeah, um, sure.”

We arrived at the dreaded cluster of stores filled with frilly pastel colored gowns that starred in my worst nightmares. Next door to the first shop was a bookstore. “How about if I let you all go start looking while I step in there with Autumn?” I said pointing to the chain store.  

Autumn was asleep in her car seat and never stirred as Gracie propped her up in the backpack for me. She was a chubby baby, but I barely noticed the weight. I kept a steady pace through the store as Gracie said that she slept best when being rocked, my footsteps helped keep her bouncing softly. It’s amazing how much notice I garnered from women of all ages as I walked through the store. If I’d known babies were such a chick magnet before, I might have babysat her more often. The problem is that the idea comes too late. I’ve determined I only have eyes for one girl these days. I may have a bit of commitment-phobia, but I was sure of the girl I wanted if I could face that fear.

“Oh, how sweet,” was a high-pitched whisper to my left.  “How old is she?” she asked batting her eyes at me.

“A little over a year, I think? She’s a friend’s baby; I’m just watching her while she helps my sister find a dress next door.”  Well, that was probably the wrong way to fend off unwanted advances.

“That is so sweet. There aren’t many guys that would do that!” She bit her lip and gave what I think she deemed a seductive glance although it appeared more like she was confused and in pain. Or maybe confused about her pain?

As I pondered her odd mating ritual, she grabbed my phone from my pocket. “Hey!” I said, jerking back at the intrusive contact.

“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly, “I wanted to give you my number.” 

My sudden movement woke Autumn with a start. I tried adding a bounce to my walk to soothe her, but it wasn’t working.

The blonde continued to follow me around like a lost puppy. “Want me to hold her and see if I can calm her down?”

I whipped around and said, “What? No, she doesn’t know you. Look, I have to go. I have a girlfriend.” Trying to remove the backpack with the baby in it was practically impossible, so I trekked next store to get help.

Gracie appeared from the dressing room immediately. “I thought I heard my baby girl.” The moment Autumn was in Gracie’s arms, she pouted a bit and sniffed back tears as her face shook for only an instant before laying her head down on Gracie's shoulder and falling asleep.  The sight was truly spectacular, the comfort of a mother’s arms. I rolled my eyes at my thoughts; it felt like a Dr. Phil moment. Corniness aside, I might have been wrong about having a family so soon.

"Any luck finding a dress?" I asked, trying to keep myself from getting lost in my thoughts.

"Several. Cameron's in there with her offering his expertise. If you don't feel comfortable with him being in there, I can go back. She's wearing a slip to try them all on. I know he's gay, but he's still a male so he'll understand if you…"

"Gracie, it's fine. If she's comfortable, then that's fine.  I'm sorry I panicked. This crazy blonde woman kept following me around the bookstore, and when Autumn started crying I didn't know how to calm her; seems like you have the magic touch though.".

"You did great, T. She's a daddy's girl. I'm surprised I could get her quiet so fast. Normally Ashton is the one with the magic touch. Come sit with me outside the dressing room. I need to sit down with her."

I followed her to an area that was sectioned off with a few chairs right outside the dressing room. Macy opened the door and peered out at me. "Hey, Tristan. I'm going to model my three favorites to get your opinion. Cameron and I can't decide."
A moment later she stepped out wearing a sleeveless dress with a white bodice top with black floral design with a rhinestone bow belt and a black sheer skirt.

"Very elegant," I commented, pleased that she didn't come out wearing something that showed a lot of cleavage or thigh. The next dress was, as Cameron described, a red chiffon ruffled blouse with faux leather belt and black skirt. This one, however, was too grown up. The skirt fit her too snugly and went higher above the knee than I approved. "No. Too grown up looking." She sighed a bit defeated and went back into the room for the last choice.

When she came from the room in the last outfit, Gracie spoke up, "That' s the one. The square neckline is flattering, and we can easily find a nice necklace to accentuate it. The high tulip skirt is very fashionable, yet sophisticated and not revealing," she added giving me a wink." What I knew about the dress was that the top was black and sleeveless, and the bottom was a sheer long skirt over a white shorter one.

"Maybe a light sweater would go nicely with it?" All her upper skin showing was making me a nervous big brother. My little sister was at the worst age possible for getting hurt. She's vulnerable and wants nothing more than to feel loved. Her father abandoned her; she feels abandoned by her mother, and lately I hadn't been the most attentive brother.  I didn’t want her to end up searching for affection from the wrong people. That would be one of my worst nightmares for her.

"I believe a nice sweater would work well with this," Cameron added offering me a wink of understanding. He had a daughter who may be an infant, but would one day be a teenager herself.  He has become a bit more conservation since becoming a father.

Cameron grabbed a red half sweater from the rack, then took Macy over to the jewelry section. "Pick out something in red to match the sweater. Find earrings that match."

Watching Macy bounce around excitedly trying out jewelry choices, and then running to pick out sensible but elegant shoes, made this entire day fun for me. She had a smile I hadn’t seen her wear in too many years.